Who Was Mary the Mother of Jesus?

Mary, the mother of Jesus, is one of, if not the most recognized woman that has ever lived. Her name is easily recognized, but many false teachings have arisen around her. Little is known about Mary, but the Bible gives us enough details about Mary that we can know the truth about her. Tonight, let’s examine the truth about Mary.

I. Mary was human.

Contrary to Catholic teaching and many wild ideas, Mary is not the co-redemptrix. As co-redemptrix, many believe that Mary is just as prominent in salvation as Jesus is, but that is wrong. Mary plays no role in salvation.

Mary is like all humans born with a human father and a human father. She was born with the nature to sin.

Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all mankind, because all sinned—”

Mary had a human father, so Mary was not sinless.

If Mary were sinless, then Jesus would not have had to come, and he would not have had to die because if one person could be sinless, guess what that means? It means that it would be possible for you and I to be sinless, but the Bible makes it clear that only Jesus was sinless.

Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

If Mary had been without sin, she would not have died, but the Bible says all have sinned, and because all have sinned, we earn our rightful wage which is death.

Any teaching that makes Mary the Mother of Heaven or that assigns deity to her is a false teaching. Mary was just as much human as you and I are.

II. Mary was chosen by God.

What makes Mary wonderful is what makes you wonderful if you are saved. To be saved, you were chosen by God, and Mary was also chosen by God.

Luke 1:26–29 “Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was very perplexed at this statement, and was pondering what kind of greeting this was.”

Ephesians 1:4 “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love”

Mary was chosen by God. The question becomes why Mary? The Bible gives us some hints.

She was a virgin.

This is an absolute to the Christian. faith. Mary was pure which biblically means, under the Old Testament law, that she was obedient to God.

The Bible clearly speaks of Mary’s obedience.

Luke 1:35–36 “The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; for that reason also the holy Child will be called the Son of God. And behold, even your relative Elizabeth herself has conceived a son in her old age, and she who was called infertile is now in her sixth month.”

Luke 1:37–38 “For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, the Lord’s bond-servant; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.”

Mary was as obedient as the other patriarchs and matriarchs of the Old Covenant. God chose her, and she was obedient to that call.

2. She was a descendant of David.

The Old Testament prophesied that Messiah would come from David.

2 Samuel 7:12–14 “When your days are finished and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come from you, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he does wrong, I will discipline him with a rod of men and with strokes of sons of mankind,”

2 Samuel 7:15–16 “but My favor shall not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from you. Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.” ’ ””

Matthew goes to painstaking measures to prove that Jesus was indeed the son of David.

Matthew 1:1 “The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham:”

Here is an interesting fact about that. Notice what Matthew says.

Matthew 1:16 “Jacob fathered Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.”

Matthew attests to the virgin birth. He says that Joseph was from David, and Joseph was Mary’s husband, but Joseph was not the father of Jesus, but the Bible says that Jesus was the son of David. What does that mean?

It means that Mary was also a descendant of David through David’s and Bathsheba’s son Nathan.

What verse in the Bible does this fulfill? __________________

Genesis 3:15 “And I will make enemies Of you and the woman, And of your offspring and her Descendant; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise Him on the heel.””

The Bible says her Descendant in the NKJV and her SEED in the KJV. Jesus was the son of David through Mary and not Joseph. Why? Because Jesus had to be born of a virgin if He was going to be the Savior that mankind needed.

III. Mary was the typical mother.

A. She worried about Jesus. (Luke 2:48-50)

Do you remember when Jesus taught at the temple in Jerusalem when he was 12-years-old? He became separated from His parents and was inadvertently left behind. Upon returning to Jerusalem three days later, his worried parents found Him at the Temple listening to the teachers and amazing those around Him with His understanding.

Luke 2:48–50 “When Joseph and Mary saw Him, they were bewildered; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You treated us this way? Behold, Your father and I have been anxiously looking for You!” And He said to them, “Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?” And yet they on their part did not understand the statement which He had made to them.”

Like any mother, Mary was very concerned that Jesus was not with the caravan returning to Nazareth, and for three days, she and Joseph frantically searched for the child finding Him in the temple. You can feel the consternation in her voice as she tells the 12-year-old Jesus, “Your father and I have been anxiously looking for you!”

When Jesus answered Mary, neither Mary nor Joseph comprehended what Jesus meant by His answer because neither could fully understand Christ’s mission on earth.

B. She gave Jesus chores. (John 2:1-5)

John 2:1–3 “On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.””

John 2:4–5 “And Jesus said to her, “What business do you have with Me, woman? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He tells you, do it.””

Jesus and Mary were at a fancy wedding party in Galilee. The disciples were there too, and according to The Chosen so was Mary Magdalene. The wedding party lasted three days, and the host and hostess, who were evidently friends of Mary, ran out of wine.

Not wanting her friends to be embarrassed, Mary turned to Jesus and said they have no wine, and Jesus knew what His mother wanted Him to do, and Jesus did it even though His time had not fully come.

I am sure there were other times Mary was worried about Jesus as His fame spread throughout Galilee, Jerusalem, and the Roman Empire, but the saddest picture we see painted of Mary being the typical mother is the picture we see at Calvary.

C. She grieved her Son’s condition. (John 19:25)

John 19:25 “Now beside the cross of Jesus stood His mother, His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.”

Can you imagine the grief Mary experienced as her blessed child hung there unrecognizable on Calvary?

She probably had witnessed all that happened to Jesus. Can you imagine what that did to a mother’s heart? A mother’s love for their child is a different kind of love, and Mary loved Jesus, and her grief was unbearable as Jesus hung there in shame, but even in despair, Jesus proved that He cared deeply for His mother.

John 19:26–27 “So when Jesus saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own household.”

Jesus trusted the care of His mother to John. Jesus had half-brothers, but it was John who He entrusted with the care of His mother.

But even that gesture by Jesus probably did not ease Mary’s grief. Why? (Luke 1:31-33)

Luke 1:31–33 “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.””

I am absolutely confident that Mary was like the disciples. She believed she had given birth to the One who would establish Israel as the prominent world power, and the One would rule and reign forever. Neither Mary nor the disciples could fully understand Jesus’s mission on earth, and with that promise in the background of her memories, I am sure Mary shed great tears as Jesus was dying entrusting her care to John, but Mary would learn the truth some 50 days later.

IV. Mary was delivered by the One she delivered.

Mary, born with the Adamic nature, was not saved by the Baby she delivered. She was saved by the One who delivered her into His righteousness.

I had never really thought about Mary’s salvation until I started preparing this message. Many of us get blinded to the truth of Mary’s salvation because of the virgin birth, but being the virgin mother of Jesus did not save Mary.

Believing in the One Mary delivered as the One who died for her sins and was resurrected the third day is what saved her.

The One delivered in Bethlehem was who delivered Mary.

Romans 10:9–10 “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”

All people are saved in the same way whether it is the Virgin Mary or town drunk. To be saved, you must confess Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead.

I had never noticed this about Mary. Do you remember what Jesus told the two on the Road to Emmaus?

Luke 24:46–47 “and He said to them, “So it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”

Guess where Mary was on the Day of Pentecost?

Acts 1:13–15 “When they had entered the city, they went up to the upstairs room where they were staying, that is, Peter, John, James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James. All these were continually devoting themselves with one mind to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers. At this time Peter stood up among the brothers and sisters (a group of about 120 people was there together), and said,”

Mary was among 119 others who believe what Jesus told the two on the Road to Emmaus, and because she and the others believed, she and they were baptized with the Holy Ghost.

Acts 2:1–2 “When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a noise like a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.”

Acts 2:3–4 “And tongues that looked like fire appeared to them, distributing themselves, and a tongue rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with different tongues, as the Spirit was giving them the ability to speak out.”

What a woman Mary was! She was the virgin mother of Jesus Christ, and in eternity, she will be a joint heir with Him as His sister.