KBM The Mother Of Jesus

In studying the “Life of Christ” we would be remiss if we didn’t talk about the great lady that God chose to protect his only begotten son from birth, Mary. When it comes to Mary there are typically two extremes people view her with. On the one hand, you have those that put her on par with God by worshiping her. On the other hand you have those that will talk about all the other faithful women of the bible and leave Mary out. As one man put it, “they are more interested in the ‘virgin birth’ than the virgin.” Though Mary was not divine she was chosen by her Creator to raise God’s child and that alone tells us a lot about her faith and her heart. When we dive into the life of Mary and start examining that heart she had, we find three of particular interest.

We she had a “pure heart.” For God to be born of woman that woman would indeed need a pure heart. She was a virgin of course, which meant she was sexually pure (Luke 1:27; Luke 1:34). In today’s society the idea of keeping one’s self sexually pure is laughed at but God demands it. Mary also didn’t live a “good town.” She lived in Nazareth which had a very bad reputation. Remember, Nathanael, in John 1:46, asked, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” I bring this up to show that one’s environment doesn’t determine one’s faithfulness. God chose a good girl from a bad town.

We can also find that Mary had a “pondering heart.” More than once we read that Mary took the things she witnessed concerning Jesus and treasured them. When the shepherds came to worship Jesus as a baby we read in Luke 2:19…

Luke 2:19 ESV

19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.

When Jesus was twelve years old and Mary found him in the temple we read in Luke 2:51…

Luke 2:51 ESV

51 And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart.

With every step, with every scrapped knee, with every bible lesson taught; Mary was aware that she was teaching the “Son of God.”

The last heart I want us to consider from Jesus’ mother, the faithful Mary, is that she had a “pierced heart.” It must have been an overwhelming responsibility to rear God. To change the diaper, to nurse, to say “no no” and hold God in your arms. To watch God learn to walk, learn to read, and play with other kids. Not only did she have that responsibility but she did so with a stigma, of one that had been pregnant out of wedlock. Now with all that imagine that “proud parent moment” when your child moves out. But unlike other kids who get their own place, get a good job, maybe a family, Mary’s son, God, goes out preaching and “soon” has the very people she likely admired, the Jewish leadership trying to kill “her” son. And then, that same leadership, succeeds in doing the very thing she feared, they hang him on the cross.

John 19:25–26 ESV

25 but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!”

Her heart was pierced that day, but rejoiced with the others three days later. Mary, like her husband Joseph, we know nothing of her death. In fact nothing is mentioned of her life after the gospel accounts, but rest assured this great lady who had a pure, pondering, and pierced heart is now with her son in Paradise awaiting that great day of judgment.