A Tale Of Two Mothers: A Mother's Day Sermon

The first mother I want to introduce you to is Eve, the “mother of all humankind.”

In the beginning of time, God created Adam and Eve and placed them in a beautiful garden. He gave them the entire garden as their own, except for the fruit of two trees in the middle of the garden.

The Serpent came and tempted Eve. He said, “You will not surely die…for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:4-5). In disobedience to God, Eve reached out her hand and took the fruit. Then she offered it to Adam and he also ate the fruit.

Because of Eve’s disobedience, sin entered the world. Along with sin came great pain and heartbreak.

Eve watched her son Cain kill Abel (Genesis 4:8). She saw the world descend into chaos. But, her whole life, she held onto the promise of the “seed of the woman” (Genesis 3:15) who would come to crush the serpent’s head.

For thousands of years, mother’s passed this promise down from generation to generation. They told their little girls, “Someday, a woman will give birth to a Savior.”

But after thousands of years, many gave up hope. It seemed that a Savior would never come.

But now I want to introduce you to another mother. Her name was Mary and she is known as “the mother of God.”

She was a young girl, a teenager. One day an angel visited her and said, “Blessed are you among woman for you are highly favored” (Luke 1:28). JOKE: I told my kids this story and they went home and licked my wife. She asked why they were licking her and they explained that I told them their mother was highly flavored.

CONCEPTION: Mary replied to the angel, “May it be onto me according to your will.” In that moment, the Holy Spirit came upon her and she became pregnant (Luke 1:26-38).

BIRTH: Nine months later, in a manger in Bethlehem, Mary gave birth to Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, the Messiah. She gave birth to the Creator of the Universe, to the One who existed before time began (Luke 2:4-6).

LOSING JESUS: When Jesus was a twelve-year-old boy, his parents accidently left him behind in the Temple. One can imagine how Mary felt when she lost her boy (Luke 2:41-50)

GROWTH: Mary watched her son grow up. Even though Jesus was God, He still learned from His mother. She taught him how to dress Himself, and how to eat with manners. She taught Him how to count, and how to sing songs. She taught Him her favorite Scriptures and sent him off to school in the synagogue (Luke 2:51). The Bible tells us, “He grew in wisdom and stature and favor with God and man.” (Luke 2:52).

WEDDING AT CANA: Mary was the reason for Jesus’ first miracle. They were at a wedding and the wine ran out. Mary spoke to Jesus about the problem. He commanded the servants to fill six stone jars full of water and to serve the guests. They were hesitant to obey his crazy command, but Mary told them to “Do whatever he tells you to do.” (John 2:5)

CRUCIFIXION: Mary also experienced great pain. She watched her precious son be executed in the most horrible way possible. She stood at the foot of the cross and looked up into his eyes. She wondered if everything the angle had told her was wrong. If Jesus was the Son of God, how could he hang dying on a tree? In that moment, Jesus showed how much he cared for his mother. He said to Mary, “Dear woman, here is your son,” and He said to John, “Here is your mother.” (John 19:26-27)

RESURRECTION: Mary, the Mother of Jesus, was there to see the empty tomb (Luke 24:10).

Let’s compare these two mothers. In some ways they were similar. Both woman were mothers. Both woman experienced pain and suffering. Both saw a son die. Both loved their children.

But in other ways, these two mothers are very different:

* One mother was disobedient and brought sin in the world, the other mother was obedient and brought a Savior into the world.

* One mother was unwilling to do God’s will, the other was willing to do God’s will.

* One mother listened to the voice of Satan, the other mother listened to the voice of God.

* One mother raised Cain, the other mother raised Jesus.

* One mother brought death into the world, the other mother brought eternal life into the world.

Mary is a great example for us to follow. Now, I do not think it is appropriate to pray to Mary. JOKE: Once there was a woman in a cathedral and Jesus appeared to her and said, “I am Jesus.” She replied, “Hush.” Jesus was surprised. He tapped her on the shoulder and said, “I am Jesus, the Savior of the Lord.” Again, she responded by saying, “Shhhhh.” For a third time, he tried to get her attention and finally she responded, “Can you please be quiet, I am trying to talk to your mother.” As this story illustrates, we should only pray to God, not to a human. But, it is appropriate to honor and show respect to Mary, because she carried God in her womb for nine months.