Jesus Had A Mother Too

“Jesus Had A Mother Too”

Mike Harris

Mother’s Day, May 13, 2001

Intro: Happy Mother’s Day!

Song: “Mary Did You Know” ….. written about a mom—holding her baby Son in her arms….

…and dreaming about the future…

…soaking in that brief moment in time…

…realizing how incredibly awesome her role of being a GOOD MOM is going to be in the life of her child…

Now—true…. This particular family situation was a little UNIQUE… being a virgin and giving birth to a child always makes you more than a little unusual….

BUT--- doesn’t this tell us something of how important God sees the family….

--- the fact that God the Father chose for His ETERNAL Son—

…to be BORN INTO an earthly FAMILY…

…with a mother and a father…

(vs. being born into some monastery somewhere in the mountains…)

NO--- the fact that Jesus had a MOTHER TOO…. Tells us how important the role of MOTHER is in the development and life of every child…

And when it comes to the CELEBRATION of Mother’s Day…

--if you think about it…

--It really involves 2 parties….

It involves

1) MOMS--- a day for YOU and your ROLE to be honored and celebrated…

….because being a MOM is no light thing!!!!

…it’s a major thing to be a MOM…

--and moms everywhere need to be affirmed in this important role…and they need to recognize the awesome responsibility of rising up to the challenge of being a MOM…

BUT—the celebration of Mother’s Day—also involves another PARTY….

2) ALL KIDS…. A day for US to honor and celebrate not only OUR moms—but also this honored role of motherhood…

This morning I want to take a few minutes and talk to EACH of these groups:

All Kids:

God teaches us in one of the 10 commandments that we are to … “honor our father and MOTHER…”

But what does it mean “to honor…”

(literally) “to honor” = to show respect or esteem…

Now--- as a kid myself--- I’ve discovered that…

The application of this changes as we grow older.

Let me explain that….

There is a difference in how we are to honor our moms---when we are YOUNG….. and when we are OLDER…

The young: (young children…growing up living in the home)

The Bible teaches that

One of the best ways to honor your mom (at this age) is to embrace the attitude of obedience.

God says in Ephesians 6:1 – “Children OBEY your parents…” (notice the wording here is not optional…)… it’s the right thing to do…

Illust: John Maxwell tells a story about 2 boys on their way to school…and –talking about their families..

One boy said—“I’ve figured out a SYSTEM for getting along with my MOM…. It’s very simple--- She tells me what to do….AND I DO IT!!!”

What a concept!!!!

NOW---- here’s the important thing to understand about this…

THERE COMES A TIME IN A CHILD’S LIFE--- 18 –ISH--- WHEN A CHILD IS NO LONGER COMMANDED BY GOD TO OBEY HIS PARENTS….

The command still holds that we are to HONOR our parents…but remember “to honor” means to “show respect & esteem”

----IT DOESN’T MEAN OBEY….

And WISE moms (and dads) will make sure their kids are RELEASED with their blessing into adulthood….

And so---for the older kids…. (adult age)

One of the best ways to honor your mom is to honor God with your life.

In the Bible…John 2…. There’s a brief exchange between Mary & Jesus …. That really illustrates this ….

Set up --- Jesus was 30 years old…. When his formal ministry began… he began teaching and many people followed him everywhere….

--- of those people – he chose 12 men to be his closest disciples-

He’s just getting started--- when he gets invited to a wedding…

“The next day Jesus’ mother was a guest at a wedding celebration in the village of Cana in Galilee. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the celebration.

Celebrations would last several days in this culture… huge party…

The wine supply ran out during the festivities, this was a big problem

…don’t just hop on down to the 7 –11 and pick up some more…

…this basically meant – “the party is over… embarrassing…

so Jesus’ mother spoke to him about the problem. “They have no more wine,” she told him.

Obviously it seems Mary has some influence in the house of this family…

She’s very concerned about this--- and rather than going to the Bride & Groom---and embarrassing them… she goes to Jesus… her son…

Now--- realize at the same time--- MARY has lived her entire life with the knowledge that Jesus—her son--- was really The MESSIAH… the one SENT FROM GOD to save the world…

And “hey—the guy’s 30—and he really hasn’t done anything yet--- except gather together these really cool fisherman….!!”