Moms in the Bible - Mary

Chapter 15 – Mary

I've written about Mary as a teen HERE , but as a mother it’s a whole other story. When she gave birth to Jesus she had Joseph by her side. They were poor, but within a couple of years they had been visited by the magi and received costly gifts which certainly helped the young family set up their household when they returned from their Egyptian exile.

There are a few scenes in the Bible which show Mary’s character as a mom. She loved her son, believed in him, and had pondered all those wonderful things for thirty years before his first recorded miracle. She played a big part in that, didn't she? There was a wedding feast and the host ran out of wine. Mary hinted about the problem to Jesus, but he said his time hadn't come yet. But mother knew best. She ignored his statement and told the servants to do whatever Jesus said. And he turned water into wine. I love that she had perfect confidence in him. Good mom.

She was concerned about her son, ready to stick up for him if needed, but even after that miracle she wasn’t exactly convinced that he deserved to be followed by the masses. Mark 3 tells us of the situation after Jesus had appointed the twelve apostles: he went into a house and such a huge crowd gathered that he and his men were not even able to eat.

When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”

What an interesting translation (NIV). His own family and his mother, Mary, thought he was messed up. Immediately following this we read that the teachers of the law thought he was possessed by Beelzebub. I’ll bet Mary thought, “Well, I can say stuff about my son, but nobody else better put him down.”

Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”

Terrific mom – right there involved in his life, defending, encouraging.

And Mary was at the crucifixion, too. Take a moment to think about that horror.

Mary was also around to see the resurrection. What joy!

After the ascension, Acts 1 records that all the disciples joined together constantly in prayer along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. Those must have been some pretty bittersweet prayers. I think Mary is our most courageous and powerful example of a mother that we have in the Bible. What do you think?

Next Saturday – Naomi