Mary A Terrific Teenager

MARY - THE TERRIFIC TEENAGER

Luke 1:26-38

A remarkable thing about God is that he trusts us with His work. He trusted men and women in Bible times to receive and record His revelations of Himself. He entrusted His church with His supreme revelation, Jesus, and with the great commission (Mt. 28:18-20) to preach the gospel.

This trust often costs God. Sometimes the work does NOT GET DONE. In the first nine chapters of Acts we find the church failing to reach out to the world and witnessing mainly in southern Palestine. Worse than this, many times GOD’S NAME is dishonored by the way we do it or the attitude we have in doing it.

Like it or not we represent Christ to the world, and it judges him by us. When we sin, we bring reproach on the church and upon Christianity and even upon Christ. That’s why Paul told the people of his day, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you!” (Rom. 2:24).

In our text we find the greatest example of divine trust in the word of God. God trusts a young Jewish girl, perhaps in her late teens or early twenties, with the birth, care, feeding, nurturing and teaching of His son.

And Mary was trustworthy. She was faithful. The work of God was done and the name of God has been honored because of her. This beautiful person has been mistreated by the church.

The Roman church has DEIFIED her and made her the Queen of heaven and almost co-equal with Christ.

But Protestants are guilty of over reacting to this and have DEMOTED her by downplaying her character and contribution. Think first, then, of. . .

MARY AND THE CHURCH

The Bible doesn’t tell us much about Mary. We see her first, submissive to the will of God in the BIRTH NARRITIVES, as she accepts God’s assignment, visits Elizabeth to share the good news, give birth in a manger, dedicates her baby to God and then runs for her life with Joseph to escape Herod’s murder of Jewish babies.

Since Jesus had four brothers and some sisters (Mt. 13:55-56), we see Mary BEING A NORMAL MOTHER

.

1) We see her distraught over Jesus being left behind when He was twelve (Lk. 2:41-50).

2) Eighteen years later we see her ask for Jesus’ help at the wedding in Cana (Jn. 2).

3) At the height of Jesus’ ministry, we see her and her other sons trying to get Jesus to quit working so hard and come home to a rest (Mt. 12:46).

4) Then we see her weeping her heart out at the cross and hearing Jesus tenderly giving her to John’s care (Jn. 19:25-27).5)

5) The last time we see her is in the upper room worshiping Jesus and waiting for the Holy Spirit with the other believers 9Acts 1).

Where the New Testament ends the imagination of man begins and Mary, through legend and dogma, is exalted to a blasphemous position, separate from and superior to all other human beings.

The perversion began almost immediately. In a second century work the Protevangelium of James, she is said to have been born to a rich but childless couple Joachim and Anna as a result of fervent prayer. In gratitude, they dedicated her to a life of service in the temple. There, from the time she was three, she lived and was fed by an angel. At age twelve she was betrothed to a widower, Joseph, who was pointed out to her by a sign from heaven.

Other legends appeared and Roman catholic leaders built upon them their absurd teachings that make her almost a female god. Titles bestowed on her include: “Most Holy Mary,” “Virgin Mother of God,” “Queen of Heaven,” “Advocate of Sinners,” “Dispenser of Divine grace,” “Door of Heaven and Intercessor,” and even “Mary of America.”

A study of the catholic chapels and churches in Rome showed 121 dedicated to Mary, but only 15 to Christ.

One searches the New Testament in vain for all this exaltation. In fact, almost every mention of her outside the birth narratives gives her a SUBORDINATE role.

1) When she expressed concern over losing Jesus at age twelve and finding Him in the temple, he said, “Didn’t you know I had to be doing My Father’s business?” (Lk. 2:49).

2) When she asked him for help when the wine gave out in Cana, He said, “Dear woman, who do you involve me? My time has not yet come” (Jn. 2:4). This was a mild rebuke, not in the use of the word “woman” but in His gentle reminder that God called the shots in His life, not her.

3) Later, when she and His brothers came to see Him at the height of His ministry, He said, “Who are my brother and sister and mother.” (Mk. 3:33, 35).