Mary was a common name among Jewish women. The Mary we will look at today was the one chosen by God to be the mother of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Luke gives us the account of Mary’s surrender to the will of God to become Jesus’ mother. In Luke 1:26-27, the angel appears to Mary to give her the announcement that she will bear the Christ child. Here, we find she is a virgin, engaged to be married to Joseph, and she was of the lineage of David. In Luke 1:38, Mary surrendered even though she did not understand. These details are important. She must be a virgin, as prophesied in Isaiah 7:14, and there must be no doubt about who the Father was. This child was God’s Son. She showed an obedient, submissive spirit when she told the angel in verse Luke 1:38: “And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.” She was totally surrendered to God’s will for her life.
Luke 1:26-27 “And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.”
Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
She was totally surrendered to God’s will as a baby. In Luke 2:27-35 “And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”
Luk 2:33 And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts amy be revealed.” We see that Mary and Joseph marveled at what Simion told them but they did not become scared and run. If someone had told me that about my son, I would probably have grabbed my child and moved so far away that no one who knew me before would ever find me.
At age 12, Jesus again gave Mary a challenge. They were traveling in a large group home from Jerusalem, where they all attended the Feast of the Passover. Mary and Joseph thought Jesus was with others in the group, but at the end of the day, they realized he was left behind. They returned to Jerusalem, and after three days, they found Him in the temple, sitting with the doctors and teachers. He was both hearing them and asking them questions. All who heard Jesus were astonished at His understanding and His answers. When His parents found Him, it was reasonable that they would ask Him why and what He was doing. Luke 2:48 -51 gives us the surrender of Mary’s will to the will of the Father for her Son.
Luke 2:48-51 “And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? Do you not know that I must be about my Father’s business? And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. 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.”
In John 19:25-27 we find Mary surrendering her Son to death. A weeping mother stood by with no power to rescue her son from the sacrifice He would make for all mankind. “Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.”
After a night of unfathomable grief, she gathers spices with her friends to anoint the body of her Son. I can only imagine the rejoicing she expressed as she came to understand that He was alive! All the puzzles of the past are now becoming clear. Yet, from her life, we see that her obedience was not dependent on her understanding.
We find in other passages that Mary had other children. In Matthew 13:55-57, “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things? And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country, and in his own house.” We know from John 7:5 that at the time of the crucifixion, they were not believers. John 7:5 “For neither did his brethren believe in him.” Maybe this is why Jesus asks John to take care of His mother after His death. If they were not believers they may have felt scorn for Him for bringing the reproach of crucifixion on their family. We don’t know their exact sentiments since it is not stated in scripture but we do know that John was trusted by Jesus for the awesome task of taking care of His mother. What we do know is that they later became believers. James was the author of the book of James, Jude was the author of Jude, and we are not sure where Jose, Simon, and His sisters did, but it would have been hard to resist the grace of their Lord and brother, Jesus.
Mary has been misunderstood for years by many denominations. She was a woman who was just like us. She had a family to raise and a God to love and obey. She submitted to God and surrendered her life to His leadership. We, too, are asked to do the same thing. We are not the mother of the Savior of the world, but we have the same responsibilities as she did. She was not superhuman, nor was she a saint. She was just a woman who loved God and surrendered to Him however He saw fit. We are to totally surrender because partial surrender is not surrender at all.
