Yet even with all the craziness this month, I've been reminded about just how important this season is that we're celebrating. Really, without Jesus' birth there wouldn't have been a crucifixion. And without a crucifixion there wouldn't have been a resurrection. And without all three, none of us would have a way to Heaven. Overall? This is a pretty important holiday.
Normally we focus on the birth of Jesus, but this year I became curious about His mother: Mary. For some, she has become the object of their religion. For me, she became a picture of someone with great character and humility.
I mean, honestly, can you imagine how you would respond if you, a woman who had not known a man, found out you were going to become pregnant....and not just pregnant with any child, but with the Son of the Highest (vs. 32)? If Mary hadn't been sitting down when she heard the news, I’m sure she was after hearing that.
Yet her response to what she heard, spoke volumes of her character: Behold, the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. There was no, “Wait! I need to think about this!” or “What will everyone say about me? What will JOSEPH say?” No, it was a simple surrender to whatever was asked of her.
When later we find her visiting her cousin, Elizabeth, who was already expecting John the Baptist, Mary is not pacing back and forth or wringing her hands. She is simply praising the Lord for choosing a lowly handmaid for such an important job.
There
are two times Scripture records how the unwed, pregnant Mary was wrongly
perceived by others. The first was in Matthew chapter one when Jospeh, not willing
to make her a publick example, was
minded to put her away privily (secretly) (Matt. 1:19), and the second was in John 8:41
when believing Jews, in a conversation with Jesus, referred to his birth by
saying: We be not born of fornication. It’s pretty clear exactly how Mary had been perceived by others.
Yet for
all the ridicule she may have faced, Mary never truly forgot exactly who her
Son was and what He was sent about to do. She may have pushed a little at the
wedding in Cana of Galilee where Jesus performed his first miracle; but you can
sense her confidence when she informs the servants: Whatsoever He saith to thee, do it (John 2:5).
When we find her again, she’s at the foot of the cross, watching as her Son paid for the sins of the whole world, including hers (John 19:25). You would think this is where her appearances in Scripture ends, but as Paul Harvey used to say, “Now the rest of the story…”
When we find her again, she’s at the foot of the cross, watching as her Son paid for the sins of the whole world, including hers (John 19:25). You would think this is where her appearances in Scripture ends, but as Paul Harvey used to say, “Now the rest of the story…”
In Acts
chapter one, Jesus had just ascended to Heaven and the 120 are in the upper
room. Along with Peter, and James and
John, Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of
Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James, we find Mary
the Mother of Jesus (vs. 14) praying
on the eve of Pentecost, just before they were filled with the Holy Ghost and
3,000 souls were saved. Did she ever realize all the amazing things she would
be an eye witness to just because she willingly submitted to the word of the
Lord, not worried about how she would be perceived?
She was
just a lowly handmaid, willing to be used of the Lord, and thankful that He had
considered her for such a monumental task. When we find ourselves called by the
Lord to do something for Him that seems too daunting, and we worry how others
may perceive us, may we respond as Mary did: Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.
Great post!
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