We Protestants hear very little about Jesus’ mother unless we are hearing a Christmas sermon or a sermon about Him turning the water into wine. While these two stories are certainly important in our understanding of the life of our Savior, a little reflection on Mary seems appropriate this time of year. While we do not hold Mary as divine or an intercessor; we seem to shy away from looking at what the bible tells us about her. Let’s look at what happened to her in her life.
As a girl of about 14 or so, she was visited by an angel: scary! Then she is told she will bear the Messiah, conceived without a husband: scandalous! Thankfully, with that same angel’s help, her betrothed accepts the situation: sigh of relief! Then, almost ready to bear her son, she is told the government says she has to take a trip, on an ass no less, and ends up giving birth in a stable: sense of humor running a little thin? But then some shepherds come to see your newborn because that same angel spoke to them also: not looking her best!
Soon after three magi appear at your door bearing gifts: things are looking up! But they warn them to leave immediately as the king wants the baby dead: spoils the moment doesn’t it? They relocate in Egypt: HOT!
Twelve years later, while on a trip, she thinks Jesus is with friends in the caravan. She suddenly finds He is missing: “ATTENTION Kmart shoppers, we have a lost little boy here”! She finds Him teaching some adults a thing or two: don’t they all. When she expresses her worry about Him being gone, He asks her questions: see the big doe eyes here?
A few years down the road, and now a widowed single parent raising more children, she and Jesus are invited to a wedding feast: finally, a break from housework! But during the party, the wine runs out. Knowing her son’s secret, she asks Jesus for a little help for the embarrassed groom: a mother’s work is never done! With this first miracle, Jesus’ ministry starts: “He never calls”.
With Jesus on the road so much, she starts to follow Him: aren’t mothers always the biggest fans? She sees attendance to his sermons reach into the thousands: “That’s my boy, just like His Father”!
After some time, she begins to learn the authorities are after him. She becomes concerned. Then comes the night He is arrested. She sees her boy lied about, spit upon, beaten and scourged. Those who proclaimed to love Him abandon Him. Her heart is in agony, broken to a thousand pieces. She had heard the scriptures, but she never realized how many told of this moment also. All she can see is her child in pain and agony. As one of His disciples helps her to the foot of a cross, her son tells her that now this same disciple will be her son.
She hears Jesus cry out to His true Father in Heaven as he dies. A mother’s worst nightmare comes true; her child has died before her: what has God done? Mary has lost her son Jesus at the ripe old age of about forty-eight. A mother shouldn’t have to bury her children.
I have injected some humor into the biblical highlights about Mary’s life. She was a human mother, like any of ours; with trials and troubles, dreams and aspirations, worries and fears, joy and happiness. I have also shown the tragedy of her losing a child. Jesus was not an ordinary child, but we must remember He was her child also, to be born and raised by her. God chose her to care for Him, the same as He chose all our mothers. She is an example for all those mothers.
The bible tells us God knew us before we were born. Well, He had to know our mothers also. Think about that. God chose your mother for a reason.
The wonderful ending to Mary’s story is she saw Jesus after he rose from the grave. What a happy ending. That same ending can apply to all our lives. You can see mothers and fathers, husbands and wives, children and family again in Heaven. But you must accept Mary’s son, God’s only begotten Son first. Will you accept Jesus today?
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