Mary, the Mother of Jesus

2018-09-01

There is confusion about who Mary is and what role she plays in Christianity. Let us discuss some of the details surrounding this godly woman.

Highly Favoured

And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. (Luke 1:26-30)

According to this scripture, the angel Gabriel told Mary that “the Lord is with thee” and “hast found favour with God.” If God the Father chose her to be a mother to His Son, then this woman must have been godly.

She also had great faith and humility. Being a virgin, she took the word of the Lord at face value, believing that she would have a Son: “And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her” (Luke 1:38).

After Mary heard these words, she went to her cousin Elisabeth, who had a miraculous pregnancy in her old age. She recognized that God was at work in their family. Elisabeth told Mary, “And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord” (Luke 1:45). Mary was a woman of faith who believed the promises of God.

The Magnificat

And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, (47) And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. (48) For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. (49) For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. (50) And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. (51) He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. (52) He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. (53) He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. (54) He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy; (55) As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever. (56) And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her own house. (Luke 1:46-56)

This passage of Scripture is called the Magnificat, because of the word “magnify” in Luke 1:46. This shows us a lot about Mary.

She was a worshipper of God. She recognized God’s greatness in all that He had done in her life and in the life of her people. Luke 1:46
She recognized that she needed God as her Savior. All godly people know that they need God to be their Savior, and Mary was no different. Luke 1:47
She was of low estate. She was poor, but more significantly, she would have been considered an outcast if she were with child before her marriage was consummated. She did not have a lot going for her in this life. She was godly, and God honored that. She recognized that, because of God, many would call her blessed. Luke 1:48
She recognized that God did great things for her. Since the word “things” is plural, she is praising God for more than this honor of being the mother of Jesus Christ. She praised God for everything in her life. Luke 1:49
She recognized that the Savior to be born would redeem Israel and bring shame to their enemies. The remainder of this prayer shows that Mary saw that the coming Saviour fulfilled the Old Testament prophets. Having known all that God had promised, she was seeing those promises being fulfilled, and praised God for it.

Being the Mother of the Savior

Being the mother of Jesus was a unique situation that no mother could ever relate to. When Mary met the shepherds who saw visions of angels concerning her Son, she “kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2:19). Shortly after that, she saw Simeon and Anna (Luke 2:22-38), very old people waiting for the coming Christ their whole lives. These two recognized the Lord by the Holy Ghost and were praising God. Mary knew God must have been doing something big through this little boy.

After Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem after the Passover, Mary was worried about him when she discovered Him missing: “Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing” (Luke 2:48). Jesus’ response was not understood by her: “And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49). Jesus was about the business of His real Father, who is God the Father.

Mary knew that Jesus could fulfill a need at the wedding in Cana of Galilee (John 2:1-12). Mary was the one who asked Jesus to help them, knowing that He would if she requested.

Mary had children with Joseph after Jesus was born (Matthew 1:25; 12:46-47; 13:55-56; Mark 3:31-32; Luke 8:19-20; John 2:12; 7:3-5; Acts 1:14; 1 Corinthians 9:5). These half-brothers did not believe on Him (John 7:5). When we see Mary and His brothers desiring to seek Him (Matthew 12:46-47; Mark 3:31-32; Luke 8:19-20), we see that they were without the group that was listening to His teaching. They were not among His followers:

While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him. Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother. (Matthew 12:46-50)

Jesus’ real disciples are not people genetically related to Him according to the flesh. His real disciples are those that “do the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 12:50).

Nonetheless, Mary was at the foot of the cross when Jesus was crucified. As a mother, she loved her Son, and Jesus loved her. Jesus commanded the apostle John to take care of His mother from that day on:

Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home. (John 19:25-27)

The last we see of Mary is that she and her other sons are with the disciples in the upper room (Acts 1:14). They clearly believed on Him at this point, and were with the inner core of the disciples and witnesses of the resurrected Christ. Two of His brothers, James and Jude, are authors of the New Testament books bearing their names.

Who Mary Is Not

Mary was a godly person, but she should not have a venerated status, neither be prayed to as if she were equal with God. No human being should ever be worshipped, except the Son of God who became a Man. Let us consider some of the misconceptions of this godly woman.

She was a sinner in need of a Savior. As we saw previously, she needed a Savior (Luke 1:47). All human beings need the Savior Jesus Christ. All descendants of Adam are sinners (Romans 5:12). Only Jesus Christ, the Son of God, had no sin (Hebrews 4:15).
She did not always have a perfect faith in Christ. We see that she was not in the inner circles of His disciples, but on the outside (Matthew 12:46-50; Mark 3:31-35; Luke 8:19-21), until after His ascension (Acts 1:14).
Whenever someone tried to praise her, Jesus rebuked them. The Bible tells us, “And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked. But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it” (Luke 11:27-28).
People worshipped Christ, but never worshipped Mary. The wise men who saw Jesus with His mother worshipped only Jesus; no veneration of Mary is seen: “And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.” (Matthew 2:11).
Mary had at least six children after Jesus was born. Jesus had four brothers, James, Joses, Judas, and Simon, and multiple sisters, though we only know there was more than one (Matthew 13:55-56). See all the references here: Matthew 1:25; 12:46-47; 13:55-56; Mark 3:31-32; Luke 8:19-20; John 2:12; 7:3-5; Acts 1:14; 1 Corinthians 9:5.
Jesus is the Mediator between God and man, not Mary. “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5). There is only one mediator, and there is no mediatrix.
Mary does not have a central role in the Christian life or in worship. The last we see of Mary is Acts 1:14, with perhaps the indirect reference in Galatians 4:4. The rest of the Bible, which details the Christian life in explicit detail, is silent on Mary.

Conclusion

We should be aware that Mary the mother of Jesus was a godly woman, but she was not without sin. She has no role in our worship of God. The religions out there that put this undue emphasis on Mary prefer their own tradition over the Word of God. The Catholic religion is one such faith that does this.