Mothers Day | Mary, Mother of God | Luke 1:26-38,46-55 | TJ Torgerson
This past weekend, many people celebrated Mother’s Day. So, as we continue this short series on Jesus, I thought it would be good to take this opportunity to point out something significant about Jesus: he had a mom. You might be thinking, "Well, duh, of course he did—everyone has a mom. Why is this significant?"
Often when we think about Jesus, we consider how he is God in the flesh, how he healed the sick, walked on water, and raised the dead. How he was crucified, dead, and buried, raised again on the third day, ascended into heaven, and will return in glory and power to judge the living and the dead. These are all true things about Jesus, but sometimes these things can make us think Jesus was not REALLY human. He was more like Superman; he looked human, yet at the same time, he was bulletproof and could leap small buildings in a single bound.
Jesus did heal the sick and raise the dead. Jesus is the second person of the Trinity. And he also had a mom. I think that should change the way we think about him.
Let me put it another way. A while back, I was made aware of an almost newborn baby that was in the hospital fighting for his life because of the evil actions of his parents. A newborn baby is unable to protect or defend itself. He/she depends on mom and dad to do that. The God of the universe put his life in the hands of a mom. That is trust! That should inform the way we think about Jesus. Jesus didn’t just float down from heaven as an adult, do some cool things, and then teleport away, right? He was born into the world the same way we are: through the labor pains of a mom, the shouts and screams and pushing, the exhaustion, the frazzled nerves, the joy, the excitement, and a dad pacing back and forth not knowing what to do.
Jesus would spit up, and he would need to be potty trained. He would learn to walk and talk. Who took care of all of that? It was Mary, Jesus’ mom. To me, all of that is mind-blowing! Mary must have been special to be entrusted with such a task. I mean, think about it. I would venture to guess that most moms, at some point in their life, received from one of their kids a card with a sentiment on it that said something like, “If moms were flowers, I would pick you.” The sentiment that if I had a choice of a mom, I would still pick you. Here is the thing, Jesus did have a choice, and he picked Mary. He entrusted himself to her. You can read all about it in Luke 1:26-38.
As I imagine the role Mary played in Jesus’ life, it gets even more interesting. Luke tells us on two different occasions early in the life of Jesus that Jesus grew in wisdom and stature (Luke 2:40, 52). How did that happen? What were the contributors to Jesus growing in wisdom and stature? I am sure it was a lot of home-cooked meals. It was working with dad in the shop. It was Mary and Joseph who helped Jesus, God the Son, grow in wisdom and stature. I suppose the other option is God downloaded information to him Matrix-style and just like that he knew King Fu.
The way I see it, if God went through the trouble of being born and of dying on the cross, if he experienced the waters of baptism and enduring hot summer days and cold winter nights, if his feet were sore at the end of a day of traveling, if he subjected himself to temptation, if he experienced the grief of loss— if Jesus went through the trouble of being extraordinarily and simply human in all of these ways, then why would God take a shortcut when it came to how he grew in wisdom and stature? It makes sense that the common, ordinary ways we learn, and grow are the same ways Jesus would learn and grow.
Here are some possible examples:
Luke 2:41 says that Mary and Joseph went to Jerusalem every year for Passover. When you read the Gospels, where do we find Jesus during Passover? He went to the Temple in Jerusalem, every year. You could say, well, of course, he did, he was a good Jewish man. But who taught that to him?
Luke 4:16 says that it was Jesus’ custom to go to synagogue on the Sabbath. Who formed that custom in him? Isn’t it reasonable to think that not only every year did Mary and Joseph go to the temple, but each and every Sabbath Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the local synagogue to hear scripture being taught? That was almost certainly part of the family routine.
Or how about this, very often during the Christmas season, we are asked to consider how difficult it would have been for Mary as a young Jewish girl in the first century to be pregnant and not be married. How difficult that must have been. Was she shunned and looked down upon, were there rumors and whispers in the streets? Probably. So how do you think that experience affected Jesus? Seeing his mom and dad go through that? Hearing the whispers and rumors or having kids in the community say things to him?
It makes me wonder about the stories in the Bible of Jesus showing compassion to women of whom others looked down upon. Women whom there were rumors and whispers. How much of that compassion that Jesus showed was a result of Him being the son of God and how much was a result of him being the son of Mary? How much did his experience with and love for his mom play into these encounters?
I wonder also about Jesus in the garden. The night before he is to be crucified and he prays the famous prayer, “Lord not my will but yours be done.” Those words and that sentiment sound very similar to Mary’s words in Luke 1:38, “I am the Lord’s servant… May your word to me be fulfilled.”
Jesus had the sort of mom that demonstrated with her whole life and attitude that following the plan and will of God despite difficulty was worth it. He had the sort of mom that showed God could be trusted. Isn’t it possible that the faithfulness and trust that Jesus exhibited in the garden was at least in part learned from Mary?
Or how about this. Who did Jesus the great storyteller learn or hear his first stories from? Try this, print out Mary’s song in Luke 1:46-55, go through it line by line and go through each gospel and notate where there is overlap between the words Mary sang and the things Jesus said and did. Perhaps one day I will do that in detail so I can post the results on the site.
Jesus had a mom—and that is not insignificant because it speaks to the true humanity of Jesus. I know it might be challenging to imagine how these things worked out. It may even feel like a denigration of Jesus’ divinity. So please do not hear what I am not saying. I absolutely affirm the full humanity and divinity of Christ. This is a mystery to be wrestled with, and that is what I hope this post is doing by asking the question of what role did Mary have in raising the Lord and savior of the world.
My point in all of this is also not to emphasize how great Mary must have been. Though I do think she was certainly very special. My underlying point is look how good God is. That he came truly as a human. Not just a pretend human, but as a human son. That experience birth, and being raised, and dying on a cross.
It is to say look how good God is that he entrusted something so valuable to a mom. That should not surprise us, though, because God often entrusts valuable things to people. He entrusted Adam and Eve with creation, he entrusted Abraham with a covenant promise, the nation of Israel with the law and the covenant, Mary with Jesus, the apostles with the gospel message, and today he still entrusts valuable things to us.
One of the greatest gifts God gives is the gift of responsibility. We trust God’s provision. We understand that apart from him we can do nothing, yet at the same time, we are given responsibility.
There is a story of a preacher that was driving by an impressive farm. The fields were beautifully cultivated. The fences, house, and barn were clean, neat, and freshly painted. A row of fine trees led from the road to the house, where there were shaded lawns and flower beds. The preacher saw the farmer working in the field, so he stopped his car and told the farmer, “God sure has blessed you with a beautiful farm.” The farmer stopped and thought a moment and replied, “Yes, He has, and I’m grateful. But you should have seen this place when he had it all to Himself.” God has entrusted us with many valuable things: our children. He has entrusted us with the church, with one another. He entrusts us with the message of Christ. So much in the same way Mary was asked to carry Christ in the most literal way, we are asked to carry him each day.
These are beautiful and wonderful gifts from a good God. What will we do with them?
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