Luke 1:26-38
Toward the end of the group’s career, the Beatles recorded a
couple interesting songs, one with a refrain addressed to Krishna and another
that begins with these lyrics.
When
I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking
words of wisdom, let it be
And
in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me
Speaking
words of wisdom, let it be
Let
it be, let it be, let it be, let it be
Whisper
words of wisdom, let it be.
Since John Lennon had once said the Beatles were “more popular
than Jesus,” Mary might have had a few words for him but I’m not sure they
would have been advice on handling troubles by just accepting them. In fairness, Lennon eventually clarified the
remark by saying that Jesus was “okay” and adding that both rock-and-roll and
Christianity would eventually fade away.
But he couldn’t say which would be the first to go.
In any case, I want to talk about this woman Mary, a woman so
well-known that the Beatles could sing about her without identifying her.
The Protestant attitude toward Mary has changed in recent
decades. We see her as a woman of faith,
a woman worthy of our careful study and, to some degree, a woman who should be
an example for us.
Historian Ruth Tucker summarizes the appeal of Mary.
Mary has been the object of both
excessive adulation and unnecessary belittling.
But the portrait in Luke’s birth narratives and the further unfolding of
her experiences in the Gospels reveal a woman who both loved God and needed to
grow in faith.
It’s this Mary I want us to look at this Mother’s Day morning.
Would you be surprised to learn most scholars believe Mary to
have been no more than fourteen or fifteen at the time of Jesus’ birth?
Of course, a fourteen year-old in the first century was probably
considered more mature than a typical fourteen year-old in the twenty-first
century. She would have been considered
ready for marriage and ready to start a family.
And, so, when we meet Mary she is “betrothed” to a man named Joseph, who
himself may have been no older than eighteen or nineteen (though, some
traditions suggest he was several years older).
In the Jewish culture, betrothal was more binding than our
engagement but did not include the right of sexual intimacy. In fact, to not bring her virginity to the
marriage bed would be a disgrace for a Jewish bride and an insult to her
husband. Mary, who appears to have been
a devout young woman, had lived in purity, anticipating her marriage.
This contributes to the puzzlement she felt at the angel’s
announcement. But her faith was strong
enough to accept the angel’s assurance,”…nothing is impossible for God.”
Never forget, she made her commitment in the knowledge that her
family, friends, and, perhaps, Joseph would not believe her. She might have faced ostracism, ridicule,
gossip, and community condemnation.
(Stoning was unlikely at this time but some might have whispered that
she deserved it.) Mary was never smug
but simply confident in God.
Everyone's First Christmas
What follows is the beautiful story we rehearse every
Christmas. After the shepherd’s visit,
Luke, who probably interviewed Mary about the birth of Jesus, writes: "Mary treasured all these things in her
heart and always thought about them”.
To all of these things she was thinking, Mary must have added
one more incident which took place just over a week after Jesus was born. She and Joseph took the infant to the Temple
to be circumcised; had they been at
home, they would have gone to the local synagogue for this traditional Jewish
ceremony. As they were entering the
Temple, the family was stopped by an old man who was a fixture there. His name was Simeon and he cherished a
conviction which he claimed was based on God’s own promise to him that he would
not die before he had seen the Messiah.
Simeon took the infant from them and loudly declared that God
had fulfilled his promise. Then, he
added these words, “This child is the reason that many people in Israel will be
condemned and many others will be saved.
He will be a sign that will expose the thoughts of those who reject
him. [Then, perhaps looking straight at
Mary, he added:] And a sword will pierce
your heart.”. The ritual done, Mary,
Joseph, and their newborn went home.
The couple settled down
and except for the brief disruption following the visit of the wise men when
Jesus was about two, they lived what was probably a fairly ordinary life with
Jesus and his siblings.
The Lost Boy Who Wasn't.
Then when Jesus was twelve, the age when Jewish culture believed
adult responsibilities begin, another incident took place. Jesus’ family visited the Temple during the
Passover, which was their tradition.
After the ceremony, the family joined other pilgrims to head back home
to Nazareth. A full day into the
journey, Joseph and Mary discovered Jesus wasn’t with them.
Getting back to Jerusalem as quickly as possible, the couple
found Jesus calmly discussing theology with some of the teachers in the
temple. When Mary reproved him, Jesus
responded, “Why were you looking for me?
Didn’t you realize that I had to be in my Father’s house?”
It wasn't quite, "Lost! I wasn't lost;
I knew exactly where I was."
It was his way of saying: Where
else would I be, I’m getting my priorities in order.
Once again, Luke adds “His mother treasured all these things in
her heart.” We don’t know all she may
have been thinking, but it may have been something like, “It’s starting. Things are going to change.”
But they didn’t change.
Jesus returned home and things were pretty much what they had been
before.
When we think of Mary’s involvement with Jesus during his public
ministry, it’s natural to recall the wedding at Cana, the site of Jesus’ first
miracle. You remember that the wine ran
out, a terribly embarrassing situation for a host to find himself in. Mary informed Jesus of the situation, clearly
hinting for him to do something about it.
Jesus replied, "Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come." John 2:4 (ESV)
Still, he did perform a miracle.
So, what did his words mean?
While referring to one’s mother as “Woman” was uncommon, it was
roughly equivalent to calling her “Madam.”. It wasn't disrespectful. He seemed to be placing distance between
himself and his mother. He seemed to be
saying, “Things have to be different now.”
Jesus resisted losing perspective. He determined to focus on his ministry. John does not mention the temptations
(Matthew 4, Luke 3) where Satan’s goals were to lure him into misusing his
power, to persuade him to take the easy road.
Evidently, the concern here was not misuse of his power but acting in
such a way which would prematurely draw attention to himself. The “hour” to which Jesus refers would be the
culmination of the ministry of Jesus—the crucifixion and the resurrection. There was much to be done before that.
Very soon after this, Jesus set out on a road which would
clearly bring him into conflict with the authorities. The sons of peasants usually did not fare
well in those conflicts.
It was in the midst of this activity that we read about an
incident involving Jesus’ brothers. It’s
found in Mark 3:
Then he went home, and
the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. [21] And when his family heard it, they went
out to seize him, for they were saying, "He is out of his mind." Mark
3:20-21 (ESV)
It's tempting to ask if Mary had instigated their visit.
Jesus eluded them but they would try again.
Later in the chapter, Mary becomes involved in another of these
failed interventions.
And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, "Your
mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you." [33] And he answered them, "Who are my
mother and my brothers?" [34] And
looking about at those who sat around him, he said, "Here are my mother
and my brothers! [35] Whoever does the
will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother." Mark 3:32-35
(ESV)
What was Mary thinking?
Perhaps Mary’s heart said, “Not now.
Not this way.”
After all, there’s no reason to think Mary may not have shared
the common view that the Messiah would be a political hero. She may have expected him to challenge the
Romans, not the religious leaders of the day.
Then, too, Simeon’s dreadful prophecy was probably never far
from the surface of her memory.
Maybe she thought if she could stall things long enough, the
plans would change, God would find another way.
From our vantage, we know how impossible that would be. But this was a mother who may have been
grasping at any semblance of hope.
So, the woman who said "I am the Lord's servant, and I am
willing to accept whatever he wants” seemed to waver in that surrender to God’s
wisdom and power.
If you’ve never faced that struggle, count yourself
blessed. If you have, you can understand
Mary a little better.
At this point, it may be Mary was unable to surrender to a
reality which transcended the mother/child relationship. In one sense, Mary was struggling to accept
the hardest thing a child may say to a worried parent, “’Trust me; I know what I’m doing.”
Then, too, Jesus’ words about his true family made it clear it
was time for their relationship to change.
Many a parent has struggled with that, causing trouble as a son tries to
commit to be a husband, as a daughter tries to commit to be a wife. If Mary could come to accept and support
Jesus in his new role, so can they.
Scene Three: A Cross and
an Upper Room
Whatever Mary’s fondest wish may have been, she felt that sword
pierce her heart. She saw her beloved
son crucified.
It would be a tragedy for any parent but we recall the moment
because the Apostle John recorded it.
When Jesus saw his
mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother,
"Woman, behold, your son!"
[27] Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" And
from that hour, the disciple took her to his own home. John 19:26-27 (ESV)
Despite his heaven-given agenda, Jesus had not forgotten his
obligation to his mother.
After Jesus died, his closest disciples were gripped with
despair. They felt their hope
crushed. There’s no reason to believe
Mary’s own grief wasn’t marked with the same despair.
But three days later, that grief was turned to joy. Jesus had defeated death.
We don’t know if Mary was among the 500 witnesses to the risen
Christ. There’s no record of her seeing
him but it’s reasonable she may have. In
any case, the last time we see Mary is in the upper room where she is with the
other disciples awaiting the promised gift of the Holy Spirit. Luke says, [the remaining Eleven
disciples]…with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with
the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.” Acts 1:14 (ESV)
Mark tells us that Jesus’ brothers and sisters did not accept
him; but on the eve of the church’s
birth his brothers—and, perhaps, his sisters-- were among the disciples. So was Mary.
She had come to see Jesus in a new way.
Ruth Tucker helps qualify that new way of seeing him: While Mary would never stop thinking of him
as son, she now thought of him as Savior.
Conclusion
On this Mother’s Day look at Mary in a new way.
See her as a real person.
If the woman who was described as “blessed among women” could have ups
and downs in her faith, should you be surprised if you do?
See the model she presents.
If she saw her need for Christian fellowship, shouldn’t we? If she understood her need for the Holy
Spirit in her life, shouldn’t we”
As it was with Mary, if we want to come to a place where our
faith is what it should be, we may need to see Jesus in a new and clearer way.
The time must come when every Christian moves from seeing Jesus
as…
..the hero of exciting Sunday school stories to seeing him as
the Word made flesh, as God incarnate,
…the Babe in the Manger to seeing him as the dying Redeemer
whose death makes possible our life;
…a good teacher who should inspire our respect to seeing him as
the Lord who merits our worship and obedience now and forever.
