Why we love our mothers

1 Kings 3:16–28 NASB95

Then two women who were harlots came to the king and stood before him. The one woman said, “Oh, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house; and I gave birth to a child while she was in the house. “It happened on the third day after I gave birth, that this woman also gave birth to a child, and we were together. There was no stranger with us in the house, only the two of us in the house. “This woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on it. “So she arose in the middle of the night and took my son from beside me while your maidservant slept, and laid him in her bosom, and laid her dead son in my bosom. “When I rose in the morning to nurse my son, behold, he was dead; but when I looked at him carefully in the morning, behold, he was not my son, whom I had borne.” Then the other woman said, “No! For the living one is my son, and the dead one is your son.” But the first woman said, “No! For the dead one is your son, and the living one is my son.” Thus they spoke before the king. Then the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son who is living, and your son is the dead one’; and the other says, ‘No! For your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.’ ” The king said, “Get me a sword.” So they brought a sword before the king. The king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.” Then the woman whose child was the living one spoke to the king, for she was deeply stirred over her son and said, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him.” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him!” Then the king said, “Give the first woman the living child, and by no means kill him. She is his mother.” When all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had handed down, they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice.

a. Motherhood (모성) is hard (3:16-21)

b. Mothers are sacrificial (22-28)

1. INTRODUCTION

2. BODY

a. Motherhood (모성) is hard (3:16-21)

i. The context of 1 Kings up to chapter 3 is Solomon was fighting to be king. David is growing old and he was on the verge of death and at that time Solomon’s older brother Adonijah was trying to take the throne from Solomon. God had already chosen Solomon to be king in 1 Chronicles 28:5-6. So David acts quickly to make Solomon king and in 1 Kings 2, Solomon was king.

ii. After Solomon is made king, David dies. Adonijah then is executed, some others as well and it leads us to chapter 3. In Chapter 3, God comes to Solomon and says to him, “Ask what you wish me to give you.” (1 Kings 3:5).

iii. Solomon’s response is found in 1 Kings 3:9. He asks God for an understanding heart to judge Your people to discern between good and evil. I love Solomon’s response because he recognized that he was king over Israel, and yet, Solomon refers to the people as Your people.

iv. Solomon understood that God was truly king and although he was given the position as king of Israel, Solomon knew that God was ultimately king.

v. Verse 10-14 God responds to Solomon by blessing him with wisdom and because he didn’t ask for riches and honor, God gives him riches and honor so that there would not be a king like him.

vi. This brings us to the context for today’s message. From the context, we can understand that this scenario is not specifically about mothers, or even these women. It is about Solomon’s wisdom and the first test of Solomon’s ability to judge his people rightly. But from this story, we can get a closer glimpse of what motherhood is. Although today’s text is not primarily about mothers or motherhood, we can learn a lot about mothers and our own mothers.

vii. The story opens in verse 16 where two women dispute regarding the child that they gave birth to. Verse 17-18 starts with the opening dialogue of the first woman. She states in verse 17 that she gave birth to the child. Now in verse 18, it tells us that on the third day that she had given birth, the other woman who lived in the house also gave birth. She completes the story by telling Solomon that nobody else was in the house at the time.

viii. So in verse 19, we find out how the child of the other woman dies. What I wanted to emphasize here is how hard motherhood is. Notice that this child died because the mother laid on top of it. The way this child dies is sad but the first woman goes on to explain through verse 21. She explains that her child died, and she arose from the middle of the night and took her son. She is stating that the second woman took the child from her and replaced her dead child with the living child. It’s an amazing story to hear that this second woman, crushed her baby and killed it, and took another child to replace her baby.

ix. But how could this mother be so tired that she could crush the child? Well if you are a mother you know how exhausting it is, I think we would understand. I remember seeing my wife passed out while other kids are screaming and kids are jumping on top of her while she was asleep and she kept sleeping. Why? Because when you read verse 21, mothers are on call 24/7. The baby needs feeding, the baby needs attention all throughout the night. The baby doesn’t stop bothering you because you are tired. No, the baby keeps crying until it gets what it wants.

x. You could tell that this mother, was exhausted. As I was reading this, I was reminded of how much my wife does for our family, but also all the wives in this church. Mothers are constantly working hard for their families and receive very little credit, if any, for their hard work all throughout the year. As a pastor, many people might give me the credit for a successful ministry, but as I look back, it’s because of my wife that any of these things are possible.

xi. I would think that all the married men here would say the same thing about their own lives. Because of the wives that God has given us, we can be where we are today. All our successes are because God was gracious in giving us the exact woman that we needed.

b. Mothers are sacrificial (22-28)

i. We saw through verse 21, that being a mother is hard. It’s hard work. But in this next section, we want to see how mothers are sacrificial. As the story goes on, we now see the other woman respond. She says that the living child is her son and the dead child is the first woman’s son.

ii. One point to highlight here is how available the king is. These women are not significant women, but Solomon was available to listen to the trial that these women had brought up. Solomon was now available to put his wisdom on display, as he had sought out to God. God gives him the ability to discern what is right and just before these people.

iii. So what happens? The king listens to the story in verse 23, and then in verse 24-25, Solomon speaks and gives the verdict. He calls for a sword in verse 24 and in verse 25, decides to divide the living child into two, so both women could receive one half. This decision by Solomon indicates that Solomon would know who the true mother is by threatening death to the child which would reveal the feelings of the true mother.

iv. Verse 26, says that the woman whose child was the living one, doesn’t indicate whether or not it was first the second, was deeply stirred over her son and said, give her the living child. The word there for deeply stirred is the idea of “filled with compassion, her bowels grew hot” She would rather give up the child and let the child live then to have a dead child. We see the stark contrast between the true mother and the fake mother. The fake mother says, he shall neither be mine nor yours, divide him. The fake mother was willing to sacrifice the life of the child just so the other woman would have the same loss that she had incurred. The true mother on the other hand, was willing to give up her child so that the child could live.

v. When we think about this decision, we could see the sacrificial heart, the heart of compassion that mothers have for their children. Afterall, mothers bear this child inside of their bodies for 9 months and grow attached by feeding the child, and watching as the baby grows within them.

vi. When we think about the love of a mother, this helps us to understand how all mothers feel towards their own children. This gives us a glimpse of the love of mothers, but more, about the love of Christ. Although we could never understand the true nature and totality of God’s love for us, we can see a glimpse of that love through the love of our mothers.

vii. Mothers are there to remind us of the love of God. Mothers love us unconditionally, even when we fail, mothers are there to encourage us and give hope to us. Mothers are there to support us, even when they make a mistake or if we make a mistake, that they will always stand with us. But most importantly, mothers are there to show us God’s compassion upon us. Mothers as we saw in this story, are willing to give up everything so that we would live and although they incur loss, they are willing to incur loss for our benefit.

3. CONCLUSION