May 11th Sermon

Today is Mother’s Day, and I would like to wish all of you who are mothers a happy Mother’s Day. And, as all of us have mothers, I trust we will all find ways to honor our mothers and express our gratitude to the Lord for the mother He gave us.

Over the years, people have found a variety of ways to distinguish extraordinary feats of mothers. If there ever were a Mother’s Hall of Fame, the following amazing women would certainly be worthy of inclusion (along with your mom, of course). There is the case of the wife of Feodor Vassilyev, who in the forty years between 1725 and 1765 in a total of 27 pregnancies, is documented in church records to have given birth to 69 children, including 16 pairs of twins, seven sets of triplets and four sets of quadruplets.

Or consider Elizabeth Ann Buttle, who gave birth to her first child, Belinda, on May 19, 1956, and her second child, Joseph, on November 20, 1997. That’s 41 years in between diaper service contracts. She may have had grandchildren older than her second child. And let’s not forget Jena Cotton, who gave birth to three children on October 2, one in 2003, one in 2006 and one in 2007, thus beating the 7.5 in 1 million odds of having three children born on the same date in different years. Still, as great as these maternal feats were, we all know that there is only one Greatest Mom in the World, and that is your mom. So, this Mother’s Day, whether it’s with flowers, a phone call, a hug or a prayer, be sure to let your mother know that she ranks above all others.

On this Mother’s Day we will continue our exploration into the biographies of important women of the Bible. We have spent previous Mother’s Days exploring the lives of Hannah, Sarah, Lydia, Ruth, Mary of Magdala, Eve, Anna, and Mary, and Martha. The woman whose biography we will explore today is Mary, the mother of the Lord Jesus Christ. Mary’s life is a little more difficult because so much is assumed about her or wrapped up in legends that are not found in the Bible. In many cases, myths, legends, and superstitions have replaced the biblical information regarding her life. I think it is wise that we focus our attention on the information found in God’s Word. In so doing, I think we will find a remarkable woman whose faith and devotion to the Lord deserves our admiration and provides an example for all of us to follow. We will divide our exploration into three parts: a look into her heritage, the amazing revelation given to her by the angel Gabriel, and her incredible relationship with Jesus Christ.

MARY’S ROYAL HERITAGE. Luke 3:23-38

Mary was a Descendant of King David. There are over seventy names in Luke’s genealogy. Luke inserts Jesus’ genealogy after God declares Him to be His Son. We find at the beginning that Jesus was “sup-posed to be the son of Joseph.” This could be better translated, “People thought Joseph was His father.” But Joseph was not Jesus’ biological father; God had already declared that He held the relationship as Father. However, Joseph did legally adopt Jesus and raised Him as his son. Joseph assumed parental responsibility and therefore, Jesus had the status of heir and first-born in Joseph’s family. You may have noticed the differences between Matthew’s and Luke’s genealogies of Jesus. Matthew, who emphasized Jesus as the rightful heir to David’s throne, records Jesus’ genealogy back to Abraham and through David. Jesus was by right, the King. Matthew traces Jesus’ bloodline back through Joseph, his adopted father. Luke emphasized Jesus as the Son of Man and traced His lineage all the way back to Adam, showing Jesus’ connection to the human race. This passage gives us the lineage of Mary showing that she is of the line of David.  This places her in the royal line, the line that would ultimately fulfill the Davidic Covenant. (2 Samuel 7:14) (Luke 3:23-38) Mary descended through David’s son Nathan, while Joseph descended through David’s son, Solomon.

Mary was a Descendant of the Patriarchs. As a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, she was an inheritor of the Abrahamic Covenant. You’ll notice all three are mentioned in Luke 3:34, “The son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham.” She was in the line of fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant of Genesis 12:2, Where the Lord said, “And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing; and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

Consequently, Mary Was in the Covenantal Line of God’s Promises. Both of these covenants provided a prophecy of the promised Messiah that would complete the Abrahamic covenant and complete the royal line God promised to David. The Davidic Covenant is found in Second Samuel 7:13-16, “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 commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men, but My lovingkindness shall not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.”

Mary was the vital link in the covenantal line. Both of these covenants provided a prophecy of the promised Messiah that would complete the Abrahamic covenant and complete the royal line God promised to David. Both Mary and Joseph were from the royal line so Jesus was doubly qualified to be the Messiah. Mary was the one to whom God gave the honor to fulfill these promises by being the mother of the Redeemer.

MARY’S MOMENTOUS REVELATION. Luke 1:26-38, 46-55

Gabriel’s Visit. There was no fanfare, no drums, no trumpets, or any other global announcement: just one angel named Gabriel sent to Nazareth. However, his message changed the world and brought redemption to millions! At exactly the right time in history, God began the process that would secure eternal salvation for lost souls by dispatching Gabriel to the obscure town of Nazareth with a message for Mary. We are told Mary was engaged to Joseph. The presence of the angel and his greeting startled Mary. In Luke 1:30, Gabriel said, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God.” Favor bears the idea of God’s grace. God, in His grace, chose Mary, not because she was sinless, but simply because of His grace. You and I are given His grace in the same way. In Luke 1:32-33, Gabriel cited Jesus’ fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant, telling Mary Jesus would be a king and His kingdom would be eternal.

God’s Chosen Vessel. Mary was God’s chosen vessel and yet she was puzzled. Mary’s question of Gabriel expressed her moral purity. How could she bear the Promised Messiah since she was a virgin and unmarried? Gabriel’s answer was that the Creator God who had created mankind in the first place, would accomplish it through a unique act of creation. Mary would remain passive and God would accomplish this miracle. Gabriel gave her the example of Elizabeth, and finished by telling her nothing is impossible with God.

Mary’s Song of Praise. The Magnificat is all about God’s greatness, His glory, the strength of His arm, and His faithfulness across the centuries. Mary praised God for His blessing. (46-49) Mary had no intention of magnifying herself in her song but instead chose to magnify the Lord. Her song reveals God as moving to fulfill His covenant promises to the people of Israel which includes granting them deliverance from their enemies and salvation from their sins and for all of this He is to be exalted. She addressed God as “Lord” showing her faith in Him as the Sovereign, Master, and Ruler of the world. The ideas of “soul” and “spirit” follow the typical Jewish modes of thinking–in Mary’s mind, these words do not show two different aspects of the heart, but points to the inner person. True worship begins in the innermost parts of our being.

It is no accident that Mary calls God her Savior. Salvation includes deliverance from enemies; however, it also includes divine pardon from sin. In Psalm 51, David asked to be cleansed and forgiven from his sins. That she called God her Savior reveals that Mary was aware of her sinful nature and had trusted in the Lord to forgive her sins. The Lord was indeed her Savior. No one else can save people from their sins. Mary’s worship was also marked by genuine humility. Mary understood her humble state–she had nothing to boast about. She lived in humble means and had found contentment. She called herself a bond-slave. This word has the idea of the lowest type of slavery and shows she had willingly given herself in submission to God’s will. She had yielded her life choices to the Lord and had decided to live in obedience to Him.

Righteous people will not call Mary blessed because of anything she has done. They call her blessed because the Mighty One has done great things for her. Mary’s words tell us that God was at the center of her life and not herself. There is not a hint of Mary worship in this passage. Mary worshiped her Lord and calls us to do the same. Mary’s worship praised God for His holiness. God possesses holiness as one of His infinite perfections and attributes. In this He transcends the world of sinful men and women. Mary was distinctly aware of her own sin and imperfections and just as aware of God’s great holiness. Mary sang about God’s ultimate and universal sovereignty. She worshiped the God who brought down rulers from their thrones and yet exalted those who were humble. She praised God for His faithfulness to Israel and confessed that while centuries had passed since God gave His promises to Abraham, now He was fulfilling His promises through the Child she would bear.

MARY’S RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS.

Simeon’s Prophecy of Future Pain. (Luke 2:34-35) Simeon’s prophecy at the Temple regarded the future sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. Mary would have to undergo the suffering of watching Christ’s agony and death on the cross. Mary and Joseph encountered Simeon as they took Jesus into the temple at Jerusalem. Simeon said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed—and a sword will pierce even your own soul—to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed”. This prophecy was fulfilled at Christ’s crucifixion, and Mary was present.

During Christ’s Earthly Ministry. Jesus first visit to the Temple. (Luke 2:41-50). During Jesus’ twelfth year, there was the famous Temple incident. Jesus was already looking ahead to His ministry to all mankind in obedience to God the Father’s perfect will. By the time Jesus was 12 years old, He understood His mission on earth. When Jesus was found, He was interacting with the teachers of the Law, listening and asking intelligent questions. Everyone was amazed (they were “beside themselves with amazement”) at His understanding and His answers.  When Mary and Joseph saw Him, they were astonished. In response to Mary’s question about why He had treated them in this manner, Jesus drew a sharp distinction between them and God, His true Father. His statement confirmed that He knew His mission and that His parents also should have known about His mission. It is obvious that His parents did not fully understand this.

The Wedding in Cana. (John 2:1-5) During the wedding, the couple’s limited supply of wine was on the verge of being completely used up. Mary, who may have been related to either the bride or the groom, turned to Jesus in hope that He could solve the problem. Did Mary expect a miracle? In the light of verse 11 this is not likely. Mary had not yet seen any miracles done by her Son. Was Jesus’ response inappropriate? Not at all. Mary did not take any offense or correct Him in any way. John also makes no comment regarding Jesus’ response. Clearly, everyone who was there took the statement as typical communication. Up to this moment, Mary was likely unaware that Jesus had entered His public ministry. She was still operating as His mother. But that relationship had to change. His calling her “Woman” indicated that the relationship had changed. Mary probably failed to realize that since her Son had left home some months before their former relationship had changed. He had been anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power, and had undertaken the special work which His Father had given Him to do. After all those years of anticipation, He entered His life’s true work. His words showed complete respect for His mother. But, if she sought His help now, she must not seek it on the basis of their mother and Son relationship. He had come to be the Savior and she must realize she needed His salvation as well. What did Jesus mean when He said that His hour had not come? Throughout John’s Gospel, “His Hour” referred to His passion: His death, burial and resurrection. For years Mary had held on to the message given her by the angel at the annunciation of Jesus’ birth. She knew Jesus was the expected Messiah, and saw this as an opportunity for Him to announce it publicly to family and friends. This was not, however, the way God intended for the announcement to Israel to be made. She had to understand that Jesus was now completely in the Father’s will, and to no one else. Mary showed her faithfulness in Christ by releasing her expectations for Him. Mary instructed the servants to obey Jesus.

Members of Jesus’ Family. (Mark 3:20, 31-35) The Bible indicates that Mary and Joseph went on to build a family consisting of four sons (Jesus’ half-brothers), and at least two daughters (Jesus’ half-sisters). It was this family who came to Jesus here. Jesus’ rhetorical question in verse 33 was not a rejection of family relationships. He was highlighting the far deeper issue of a person’s relationship to Him. His statement means, “Who are the sort of people who are My mother and My brothers?” Jesus affirmed that the relationship with Christ went beyond natural family ties. There are those who find verses 33-35 disturbing and out of character for the Son of God. But we should not read into the text. Jesus was simply expressing the exciting truth that anyone who was committed to doing God’s will was a member of His family. In verse 35, Jesus as Lord, unveiled a wonderful blessing for everyone who would believe in Him as Savior. Although a sinner is dead in his or her trespasses and sins, although they are separated from God; and although they are condemned for eternity: When anyone comes to Christ, believing in Him as Savior and thus obeying God, they are saved and immediately brought into a loving, family relationship with the Lord Himself.

At His Crucifixion. (John 19:25-27) These things took place during Jesus’ crucifixion. Mary’s anguish fulfilled Simeon’s prophecy. Seeing her sorrow, Jesus honored His mother by consigning her into John’s care. It is likely that His brothers and sisters in Galilee were not in a position to care for or comfort her.

Following Christ’s Resurrection. We do not know if Mary was present for any of Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances. In Acts 1:14, “These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.” Here Mary was meeting with the disciples as they awaited the coming of the Holy Spirit. We assume she was present when the promise of the Spirit came upon those who had trusted in Christ. It is significant that Mary’s son, James (Jesus’ half-brother) became the pastor of the church in Jerusalem. It is likely Mary stayed in the Jerusalem area, and worshiped with the other believers in that church.

After this passage in Acts, Mary disappears from mention in the Bible. It is clear that the apostles and the early church never thought of making Mary an object of religious veneration. Mary herself never claimed to be or pretended to be anything more than the humble handmaiden of the Lord. She was extraordinary because she allowed God to use her in an extraordinary way. She never thought of herself as anything more than ordinary.

Jesus was the object of her worship. He was the One she recognized as her Lord and God. He was the One she trusted for everything. Mary’s own example, seen in the pure light of the Word of God, teaches us that we should do the same.

There are many women who, like Mary, will be honored and awarded at the Judgment Seat of Christ, an event that is still future. I trust you will be one of them. To begin with, you, like Mary, must receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. I believe the Scriptures teach that receiving Christ means to seek Him for forgiveness of your sins and giving Him the ownership of your life. If you cannot think of a time in your life when you have consciously placed your faith and confidence in Jesus, may I appeal to you to do that today, on Mother’s Day?

For those of you who are already believers, may I remind you that the journey God called Mary to follow was filled with both joy and sorrow. Mary experienced amazing joy at the birth of Jesus, terrible sorrow at His death, and unimaginable joy at His resurrection. Our lives are also characterized by joy and sorrow and we are called upon, as was Mary, to remain steadfast and faithful to our Lord.