Mary Mother of God” Mk. 3:21,20,21, 31-35; Jn. 19:25-27  9/11/07

The number one female name in America is “Mary”.  There are as many women named Mary as there are people in the state of South Carolina (3.9 million).  The name means “sorrow” or “bitter” while some say the name means “beautiful.”  Certainly, Mary had her share of sorrow and temptation toward bitterness and her beauty showed itself through her humility.  Simeon prophesied that a sword would pierce her own soul.   The Roman Catholic church elevates Mary to almost a demigod.  They are taught to pray in the rosary in the 12^th century to Mary- “Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee.  Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.  Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.”  Protestants reacted to praying to the saints, and perhaps over-reacted to this veneration of Mary.  Mary is, in may ways, a woman to be emulated.  She was not a perfect woman, but she is still a heroin and we ought to imitate her as she imitates her Son, Jesus.

Mary was born of humble means.  There is strong tradition that she was born in Jerusalem, but we know she grew up in Nazareth.  It was a small town known for nothing.  Nathanael asked, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”  Tradition says that Mary was born of a Davidic family.  If you go to Europe today, you find a lot of families who were of the line of former kings:  Maybe the king of Wales, or the King of Burgandy, or the King of Prussia.  But they are not kings anymore, and their royal line is nothing but a memory with maybe title but no castles, no land, no riches.  Mary was probably of the Davidic line, but the Romans were the ones in control at the time.  The Davidic line had been deposed, and humbled.  When Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem- the city of David, they were not greeted as heir-apparent, but as people who had no right to a place at the Inn.  Mary had nothing but a good name and a good faith.  

The Bible tells us Mary became pregnant by the Holy Spirit.  Now what whispering neighbor would believe that?  What gossip would not be skeptical of the idea that a virgin is with child.  There are many who don’t believe it today, and there were many who didn’t believe it then.  So even Mary’s good name wasn’t worth much now.  But the Bible says she was willing to sacrifice derision, abandonment, and reputation in order to serve God.  This too shows her humility.  Her good name was taken away, and all she had left was a good faith.  Many of us will face life in this way.  Many of us may have all that we trust and hold dear taken away from us, so that the only thing left is a good faith.  Mary is an example of someone who believes having faith is enough. 

Joseph came very close to divorcing Mary because he thought she had committed adultery.  But God intervened in the form of an angel saying “don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife.”  Mary had trusted that God would bring about the right person at the right time, despite a bad name.  God had come through for her.  This is a lesson for all you young ladies and also young men who wonder if you ever will marry the right person.  Mary trusted God with her marriage. 

Jesus was born in a shepherds stall- a cave.  Soon after his birth they family fled to Egypt to avoid Herod’s soldiers who sought to kill the baby.  Mary knew what it was like to be homeless- to be a refugee.  So Christians are taught to care for those who are left out of the inn, who are refugees from mean rulers or war. 

We don’t know a whole lot about Mary’s raising of Jesus.  We know that she and Joseph let Jesus have some slack in their tether.  Jesus was with some friends in the caravan and he wandered off to the temple.  There is no record they were harsh or controlling toward Jesus. We can learn from this glimpse of her parenting.  In today’s world, it would be easy for people to live in fear.  Honestly, I think some in the media live to scare people.  When a hurricane is on the way more people watch the weather channel.  When something terrible has happened, more people watch the news.  In an environment where it pay for the media to alert people to potential problems, it may be hard not to be afraid.  It can be easy to over-react to such things by holding our kids so close to us that we smother them in protection.  We live in a time of terrorism that is fostered by the ability to know about terrorism when it happens anywhere in the world.  We are coming up on the sixth anniversary of 9-11, and it would be easy to let the terrorists win by living terrified lives.  But part of a parent’s job is to prepare their children to face the rough and harsh world.  Mary’s world was not more safe than ours- if anything it was more harsh and dangerous.  Roman soldiers could turn children into indentured servants just by pulling them out of line.  The average life expectancy was about one third of ours because of disease, war, and danger.  Yet, Mary allowed Jesus to be with his friends, and to have some freedom.  She entrusted Jesus into God’s care- which is a great example to any parent.  She obviously cared about him—because she went to find him.  But she also gave him important space. 

Tradition says Joseph died early.  If you notice there is no mention of Joseph after Jesus went to the temple when he was twelve.  Mary is mentioned several times- but it is with her other children- Joseph is gone.  Most scholars think Joseph died, and Jesus, as the oldest son, took over the carpenter business until he was 30- the age when people entered the priesthood.  We see that Mary gave Jesus the best education he could have.  He knew how to read and write.  He had memorized the scriptures.  He had learned how to reason and to speak well.  There is no doubt that he learned much from Mary, or at least that Mary made sure he was well educated.  In all reality, Mary was a single mom who raised her child with great love, sacrifice, and care.  She is an example to us of motherhood.

Mary also got her son going.  Maybe you remember Jesus’ first miracle.  It was in Cana.  There was a wedding feast (recorded in John 2).  It was Mary who pointed out the problem with the wedding- “They have no wine” she said to him.  Jesus seemed a bit hesitant- saying, “My hour has not yet come.”  But Mary told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”  Mary gave her son confidence to go out and make the world better.  This is an important part of a mother’s duty- to encourage the grown child to use their talents, abilities, gifts,  and to respond to their God-given calling in life.  Mary pointed to the problem, and set the stage for Jesus to find a solution.  Mary knew this moment would come sometime, and there was no doubt she knew when he did his first miracle it would be a step toward losing him to His work and calling.  But again, her humility showed.  She sacrificed her own welfare for the good and joy of others at the wedding and in the world.

There were some tensions also between Mary and Jesus.  John  7 records plainly that Jesus’ brothers did not believe, though they came around.  One tension is recorded in Mark 3:21 when Jesus family found out that the crowds were being so demanding on Jesus that he didn’t have time to rest or eat.  The scripture says that his family (which surely included Mary) were concerned about the physical and emotional strain Jesus was under.  They traveled the thirty miles from Nazareth to Capernaum seeking to rescue him and shelter him from these things.  But Jesus mildly rebuked them saying that whoever did the will of God (potentially including his family) was his brother, sister, and mother.  Mary and his family had done their job.  Jesus was not disowning them, but his relationship with them was different.  While Mary may have shown some doubt about her son, in the end she and her other children came to know Jesus.  Jesus’ brother James was the leader in the church of Jerusalem and the first Christian martyr at the hands of Herod.  Mary lost two children to Roman persecution.

In fact, one of the last ministries Jesus had on this earth was to his mother.  It was able to happen, however, because Mary was there at his death.  Everyone else had forsaken her son, but Mary was there at the cross.  John had come back after running away.  Jesus told his disciple John to look out for his mother as a son would look out for a mother.  The next time we see Mary she was living in Jerusalem with John and the apostles.  Tradition suggests she went to stay with John in Ephesus and died there.  The last glimpse we have of Mary is that she was following her son, believing in Him.  Jesus honored his earthly mother and father as an example for us all.  Mary was honorable in her humility and her grace. 

Max Lucado asked the question, “If I wanted to touch Jesus, who would I touch?”  It is a good question.  He went on to speak of his two worship services.  In one of the worship services the famous seven foot basketball player, David Robinson, came in.  After worship he was immediately mobbed by people.  Everyone wanted to see him, touch him, get his autograph.  In the other worship service a homeless man showed up.  No one wanted to come near or touch him at all.  Finally one elder came next to the man and put his arm around him.  But if you wanted to touch Jesus, who would you touch?