Mary - An Ideal Woman

MARY - AN IDEAL WOMAN

Scripture Portions: Luke 1:26-38; 46-56

INTRODUCTION:

The Name “MARY” is the Greek form of the Hebrew Name “MIRIAM” which means “Loved by Yahweh.” This was a very common name in the first century Palestine. There were six Mary’s found in the New Testament.

1.  Sister of Martha and Lazarus (John 11:1; Luke 10:42)

2.  Mary Magdalene (Jon.20:1; Lk. 8:2)

3. Mother of James and Joses (Mark 15:40, 47).

She is also called as Mary the wife of Cleophas (Joh 19:25) and Matt 27:61 & 28:1.

4.  Mother of Mark (Act 12:12)

5.  Mary who was greeted by Paul (Rom 16:6)

6.  Mary the Mother of Jesus (Luke 1:26-38; 46-56)

There are some false concepts passed throughout the church history about Mary, the mother of Jesus. The concepts such as “Immaculate conception of Virgin Mary” “Ascension to heaven without death” and “Mother of God” have no evidence in the scripture. Those are normally counted as heresies by the evangelical Christians. The first century society was male dominated, Patriarchal in nature generally. There are lots of Patriarchal influences found in the gospels, Matt 1, gives the genealogy as the list of men begat others in KJV. There are 24 appearances of “Daughters” while 327 times the word “Sons” used. The word “mother” found 72 times besides the word “father” found 293 times. The word “woman” found 78 times while the word “man” found 295 times.

The question “why God has to choose Mary among numerous women in Judea?” She must have possessed some special characteristics besides the grace of God (Lk. 1:30), it is evident who through the History that God pours his grace and people responds with their faith and submission. That makes Mary special in our devotion today. She responded to God with simple faith when God broke the silence in History through Gabriel. The following are some of the observations regarding the life of Mary which made her to be a role model woman to others.

1.  MARY’S RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD (LK. 1:26-38; 46-56)

We see the characteristics of Mary in this praise song she sang after the visit of Gabriel. She would probably 13 years old at that time. We see her humility, submission, prayer and God concern makes us astonished in that small age.

a. Her Humility (vv. 26-30): she did not fear by looking at the appearance of the angel rather feared by the greetings given by him. We see her response in v.38, “I am the Lord’s servant.” Moses learnt humility after 80 years of life but it took only 13 years for Mary to learn humility. She performed it through her action.

b. Her Concern about God (vv. 46-55): She did not bother about the people, what they would think of her neither had she complained about it to the angel. She counted it as her joy and privilege to fulfill God’s concern. She might have remembered the covenant of Abraham and meditated about the universal blessing through the Messiah. Her concern was only about God.

c.  Her Submission to God’s Will (vv. 34-37): Her question was natural. In fact she did not ask the following questions which every woman would have asked in this circumstance. “What will Joseph think of me?” “What will people think of me if I found to be pregnant?” “Will I be stoned to death, if people count it as adultery?” “What about my future disgrace?” “What will happen to my future life?” the above questions never crossed her mind. She completely submitted herself to the will of God. She is an example for all of us. She accepted her role to bear Jesus; in return God guarded her reputation and sent an angel to speak to Joseph.

d. Her Prayer to God (v.38): we see her simple prayer of submission, this should be an example to our prayers also, “I am the Lord’s servant”

2.  MARY’S RELATIONSHIP WITH JOSEPH

Her family was a blessed family with four sons and daughters (Mat. 13:55-56). Her family was an ideal home for children, we don’t see any evidence of Joseph after the incident of Jesus at the temple in the age of 12 (Luke 2:48). He might have passed away soon after that event; she was a faithful wife to Joseph and a celebrity widow after his death.

3.  MARY’S RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS

a.  She was a devoted woman: She completely knew who Jesus is, she knew the Angel’s fore-telling of His birth; Miraculous pregnancy; Shepherd’s visit; Simeon and Anna’s prophecy after two months concerning Him (Lk. 2); The visit of wise men from East after two years (Mtt. 2). She kept all those things in her mind and devoted about it (Lk 2:19,51) in her heart. She was a woman with complete devotion about Jesus.

b.  She Longed for the Motherly Love: She loved Jesus so much so that she longed for the earthly love (Mk. 3:31-35). She did not give up of the newer explanation of Jesus about His family. she might be pondering on the prophecy by Simeon when Jesus was on the cross. Her heart might have broken with the motherly love.

c.   She was a woman of Faith: She was not able to see the troubles of others (Jn. 2), the wedding at Cana was a good example where she ran to Jesus for help. She at the mean time did not take advantage of being Jesus’ mother. She shared the difficulties of people with Jesus. She is a woman of faith, she earlier believed in the words of Gabriel about His birth (Lk. 1) and later believed about the resurrection of Jesus and found in the early church (Act. 1:14). She is a woman of faith.

d.  She was a follower of Jesus: She was at the feet of the cross with beloved John when Jesus was crucified (Jn. 19:25-27). We later see her with the fellowship of other disciples (Act. 1:14); She is the prime example of following Jesus (Being a disciple) and the fellowship with the children of God.

Mary is truly an ideal woman and a role model to all believers.