MARY OF NAZARETH As the mother of Jesus Christ, Mary of Nazareth is probably the most famous woman in history. We meet Mary in Luke 1 where she was living in a city called Nazareth which was in Galilee. She was engaged to be married to Joseph, (a descendant of the house of David), at that time. The angel Gabriel appeared to her and told her: “ Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women! ”, (Luke 1:28) He also told her: “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, y ou will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus . He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest ; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end ”, (Luke 1:30-33). Mary seemed to be confused at this, as she told Gabriel that she has never been with a man, so how would she become pregnant? Gabriel however reassured her and told her that the Holy Spirit would come over her and that this child will be the Son of God. He also explained to her that Elizabeth, a relative of her was six months pregnant at that moment. Elizabeth was already very elderly, but “For with God nothing will be impossible”, (Luke 1:37). Mary accepted this and said: “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word ”, (Luke 1:38). In the meantime, and angel also appeared to Joseph to explain to him what was happening with Mary “and she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins ”, (Matthew 1:21). After her encounter with the angel Gabriel, Mary went to Judah to visit Elizabeth for about three months. When Elizabeth heard the voice of Mary, the baby in her womb, (who would one day be John the Baptist), leapt in her womb and she was immediately filled with the Holy Spirit. She spoke blessings over Mary and recognized that Mary would be the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ. Mary answered Elizabeth with a song that is recorded in Luke 1:46-55. A decree went out from Caesar Augustus that there should be a census and that all people had to be registered. As Joseph was from the house of David, he took Mary with him to Bethlehem, the City of David to be registered. While they were there, Mary went into labor. With all the people participating in the census, the inn was full, and Mary ended up having her baby in a manger. At that time, an angel appeared to a group of shepherds in a field nearby telling them the good news of their Saviour being born. “ For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord . And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger ”, (Luke 2:11-12). After this a multitude of heavenly hosts appeared singing: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” (Luke 2:14) The shepherds went to look for Mary, Joseph and the Baby, and once they found them, they quickly spread the word of Jesus birth. When the Baby was eight days old, He was circumcised and given the name “Jesus” as instructed by the angel. As per the custom in Jewish Law, Jesus was then taken to the temple to be presented and for a sacrifice to be offered. “As it is written in the law of the Lord, “ Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord ”), and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.” (Luke 2:23) At the temple, Simeon took Jesus in his arms and said: “Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel ”, (Luke 2:29). We can see at this stage, that Mary might not have fully known the importance of her baby boy Jesus, as she and Joseph marveled at the things Simeon spoken about Jesus. Simeon, who fully understood who Jesus was, blessed Mary and Joseph and said: “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and f or a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” (Luke 2:34-35) King Herod who heard about this Child being born, was troubled to hear this as this Baby would be known as the “ King of the Jews ”. He instructed three wise men to find Jesus. He told them that he also wanted to come and worship Him. The three wise men found Jesus and when they saw Him, they immediately fell down to worship Him. As they were warned in dream, they knew that Herod’s intentions with Jesus was not honest and honorable, so they did not return to Herod to tell him where the Baby was. When the wise men departed, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and instructed him to take Mary and Jesus and immediately go to Egypt as Herod wants to destroy the Child. They would stay in Egypt until the angel instructed Joseph to leave. Joseph did as he was told and fled to Egypt with Mary and Jesus. Herod then issued a decree that all baby boys from birth to the age of two years be put to death. Once Herod died, an angel appeared to Joseph in Egypt and instructed him: “ Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child’s life are dead ”, (Matthew 2:20). When they returned to Israel, Joseph was warned in a dream about Archelaus, the son of Herod who was now reigning over Judea. Joseph then took his family to Nazareth. This fulfilled a prophesy about Jesus that stated: “ He shall be called a Nazarene ”, (Matthew 2:23). The next time we see Mary was when Jesus was twelve years old. Mary and Joseph went to Jerusalem every year for the Feast of Passover. Once they were done with the feast, they left for Nazareth. Jesus however, stayed behind in Jerusalem. Only after a day, his parents realized that he is not with their traveling group. They returned to Jerusalem and found Him in the temple where he was asking questions, listening and answering questions with the teachers. Mary almost rebuked Him. “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.” And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? D id you not know that I must be about My Father’s business? ”, (Luke 2:48-49). Once again we can see that Mary did not quite understand the importance of her Son, as we read in Luke 2:50: “ But they did not understand the statement which He spoke to them ”. After this, Mary went quiet until the start of Jesus three-year ministry. When He was at a wedding in Galilee, it was Mary who came to Jesus and told Him that there was no more wine. Here we get the feeling that Mary had a better understanding of her Son, as she wanted Him to do something to salvage the situation. She even instructed the servants to do whatever He tells them to do. Jesus answered her: “ Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come ”, (John 2:4) In our modern language, it might be seen as rude for Jesus to address His mother in this way, but we need to understand the language and translations of the time. Addressing her at that stage as ‘woman’, can be seen as being addressed today as ‘madam’. This shows us that Jesus was not rude to His mother, but in the way that He addressed her, He is almost laying the groundwork. From this moment on He would be more than her Son, He would be the Son of Man. When Jesus was crucified, His mother was standing by the cross. That is when Jesus instructed His mother and His disciple John: “ Woman, behold your son !” Then He said to the disciple, “ Behold your mother! ” And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home”, (John 19:26-27). Once again we see Jesus addressing Mary not as His mother, but as ‘ woman ’. Some might find it interesting that Jesus told John to look after His mother and not His own brothers. This could possibly be because at that stage, His own brothers did not fully comprehend whom He was, (John 7:2-5), and He wanted His mother to stay with somebody who fully believed in Him. The last time we see Mary is on the Day of Pentecost where the Holy Spirit was poured out on a hundred and twenty people. She was among them. After this, we don’t see or hear from Mary again. It is presumed that she might have travelled with John or stayed in his home. Mary was a true faithful believer in God, as she did not object when the angel Gabriel appeared to her and told her she would become pregnant without knowing a man. She was also well read and knew her scriptures as in Luke 1:46-55 there are many references to scripture in her song. Mary was extremely blessed as she was the chosen woman to bring our Lord Jesus Christ into this world in human form. We should however we careful to elevate her to a status higher than that of her chosen role. After Jesus ascended to Heaven, Mary is not mentioned again. The Apostles did not elevate her. Her death is not even recorded in the Bible. Although many refer to Mary as the ‘Virgin Mary’, we need to take note that she did not remain a virgin for her entire life. Matthew 1:25 tells us that Joseph did not ‘ know ’ her until the birth of her firstborn Son. The New International Version states that Joseph did not consummate the marriage until the birth of Jesus. The word ‘until’, indicates that Joseph did have normal sexual relations with Mary after Jesus was born. Mary also had other children that were not miraculously conceived. We read that Jesus had brothers and sisters. “ And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us ?”, (Matthew 25:55-56). There are also other scripture references to Jesus' siblings in John and Acts. Statues of Mary are erected in many churches today and people will bow down to them and worship them. We are not allowed to engage in idolatry. The ten commandments are very clear on this: “ You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath , or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them ”, (Exodus 20:4). Just as Jesus died for our sins, He also died for the sins of His mother Mary. For Mary to be saved and go the Heaven, she also had to accept her Son Jesus Christ as her only Saviour. John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “ I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me ”. If Mary was in any way excluded from this statement, Jesus would not say ‘no one’ as that would make him a liar and we know that Jesus cannot lie. There are many different Christian denominations today that believe Mary is a mediator between us and Jesus and when we pray, we need to pray to her to bring our prayers to Jesus. Nowhere in the Bible is this doctrine recorded. 1 Timothy 2:5: “F or there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus ”. We should rather remember Mary for who she really was. She was faithful, obedient, knew her scriptures and a devoted mother until the very end.