The Blessing of Motherhood
One thing we celebrate in May is Mother’s Day. On the second Sunday of the month, we recognize how much our moms mean to us & give thanks to them for being there for us when we need them. Mothers should be celebrated every day because that’s one job that doesn’t come with time off. Right moms? Along with fathers mothers are part of the cornerstone of the Christian family. A strong mother will give their child the love & nourishment they need to be the person God created them to be.
The love a mother has for her children is stronger than almost anything we can ever feel. Mothers want to nurture, guide, & provide for their kids. They will sacrifice their own comforts to do those things. Who do you think gets up in the middle of the night when a baby cries because they’re hungry? Who do you think gets the job of changing the baby’s diaper when they’re stinky? Who do you think gets to teach the baby the basic skills of life? Yes, in many homes the dad does help with those things. But most of the time those jobs lie on mom’s shoulders. Mom will do them for their kid without complaining.
I even had the opportunity to receive that kind of love & attention when I was grown. After I was discharged from inpatient rehab I went home to live with my mom. At that point, I still needed much attention. Therapists advised that I not be left alone for more than 30 minutes. I needed someone to cook for me, to take care of my finances, to remind me about things to do, to supervise me when I did things that could be unsafe, & other things like that. Mom & I joke around that she raised me twice! Fortunately, she didn’t have to change any diapers the second time!
After that tragic event in my life, I was uncertain about many things. I didn’t know how I would provide for myself since I didn’t have a car or a job. I didn’t know how I would keep in touch with my daughters Kennedy & Delaney who were 7 & 3 at the time. I didn’t know if my marriage with Kathy would last through recovery. I didn’t know how having a father who was disabled would affect my girls. I didn’t know how Kathy would manage to raise our daughters. I didn’t know what my future life would be like. All those things I was uncertain about. But there was one thing I did know. I did know that I could count on my mom to help me through this in any way she could. By the grace of God, she has been an invaluable part of my life through all of this.
I know she will be there for me anytime I need her. For example, she makes sure we have plenty of food in the house before she goes on a vacation. Before she went to the mountains this time, she asked me to put the groceries I wanted on a list because she was going grocery shopping that day. I put the things I wanted on the list. She went shopping & came back with everything I added to the list plus 7 or 8 grocery bags full of things I didn’t ask for. She wanted to be sure I had the food I needed. She told me to put them away so I’d know where things were. I went to 3 different freezers to store all of it! I will be good on food for a while. That’s the love & care of a mother.
Because moms are a vital part of the Christian family, God has provided examples of how to be good moms in the Bible. I’d like to share with you the stories of two great moms in the Bible. You probably already know their story but we can look at them as biblical mom models & see the type of love & devotion moms have.
The first mother we’ll look at is Moses’ mom Jochebed (Jo-Ke-bed). Jochebed was a daughter of Levi, one of the twelve sons of Jacob. This means she was born into the Israelite tribe of Levi. As a Levite, she likely grew up with religious training and knowledge of Israel’s history, promises, & laws. Jochebed married her nephew Amram & together they had three famous children – Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. All of Jochebed’s children were important in the Bible. They all grew up to be major players in Israel’s redemption from Egypt. Miriam was a prophetess & leader of the Hebrew women (Exodus 15:20). Aaron served as the first high priest of Israel & spokesman for Moses (Exodus 4:14-16). Jochebed was a great mother to all of these kids but we will focus on what she did for her son Moses because he was such a strong leader in the kingdom of God.
Moses was born at a time when the Pharaoh had ordered all newborn Hebrew boys to be killed (Exodus 1:22). What could she do to protect this child she loved? We see in Exodus 2:2 that Jochebed hid Moses for 3 months. This took immense courage & faith on Jochebed’s part. She risked her own life to save her son. That’s the kind of love a mother has for her child. Amram and Jochebed married & conceived Moses after Pharaoh’s decree that all Hebrew boys were to be drowned at birth. They did this as an act of faith that God would preserve their child somehow.
What did she do when she could no longer conceal Moses?
When Jochebed could no longer hide Moses, she put him in a papyrus basket & placed it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile River (Exodus 2:3). She knew this gave him a chance of survival even though it broke her heart. Can you imagine the sadness & fear she had to be feeling? Jochebed stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.
As providence would have it, Pharaoh’s daughter discovered the baby & had pity on him (Exodus 2:5-6). In an incredible turn of events, she later hired Jochebed as a nurse for Moses (Exodus 2:7-9). Because of her courage, & God’s divine plan, Jochebed was able to care for her precious son.
In an amazing display of God’s providence, Exodus 2:7-9 describes how Pharaoh’s daughter discovered the baby Moses & “took pity on him.” She claimed him as her own son but needed a Hebrew woman to nurse him.
At that moment, Moses’ sister Miriam, who had been watching nearby, approached & cleverly offered to fetch a Hebrew woman to nurse the child. Pharaoh’s daughter agreed so Miriam went & brought their mother Jochebed to do that job.
Pharaoh’s daughter then told Jochebed to take Moses as her son & promised to pay her for nursing him. In God’s divine timing, Moses’ own mother became his nursemaid. She even got paid to raise her son!
This allowed Jochebed precious time to care for her son & teach him about the God of his fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob before he grew up as the adopted grandson of Pharaoh.
As Moses grew older, she would have told him the story of his miraculous survival numerous times until he knew that his life had a special purpose ordained by God.
The next biblical mom we will talk about is a woman who was highly favored & blessed by the Lord. One who was probably favored more than almost any woman in history. Would any of you care to guess which woman that is? That’s right, I’m talking about Mary, the mother of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ!
Who was Mary & why was she so highly favored? Let’s talk about that. Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, was a young girl, probably only about 12 or 13 years old when the angel Gabriel came to her. She had recently become betrothed to a carpenter named Joseph. Mary was an ordinary Jewish girl, looking forward to marriage. Suddenly her life changed forever.
Fearful and troubled, Mary found herself in the presence of the angel Gabriel listening to his announcement. She never could have expected to hear the most incredible news—that she would have a child, and her son would be the Messiah. Although she could not comprehend how she would conceive the Savior, she responded to God with humble belief and obedience.
Although Mary's calling held great honor, it would demand unimaginable suffering too. There would be pain in childbirth and motherhood, as well as the stress & uncertainty of being the mother of the Messiah.
The angel told Mary in Luke 1:28 that she was highly favored by God. This phrase simply meant that Mary had been given much grace or "unmerited favor" from God. Even with God's favor, Mary would still suffer much. Suffer out of love for her child.
Although she would be highly honored as the mother of the Savior, she would first know disgrace as an unwed mother. She nearly lost her fiance Joseph. Her beloved Son was rejected and cruelly murdered. Mary's submission to God's plan would cost her dearly, yet she was willing to be God's servant.
God knew that Mary was a woman of rare strength. She was the only human being to be with Jesus throughout his entire life—from birth until death.
She gave birth to Jesus as her baby and watched him die as her Savior.
The beautiful hymn Mary Did You Know? ponders if Mary truly knew that this Son she would be having would change the world. That song says:
“Mary, did you know
That your baby boy will one day walk on water?
Mary, did you know
That your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?
Did you know
That your baby boy has come to make you new?
This child that you've delivered
Will soon deliver you”
Mary also knew the Scriptures. When the angel appeared and told her the baby would be God's Son, Mary replied, "I am the Lord's servant ... may it be to me as you have said." (Luke 1:38). She knew of the Old Testament prophesies about the coming Messiah.
Mary was young, poor, and female. These qualities made her unsuitable in the eyes of her people to be used mightily by God. But God saw Mary's trust and obedience. He knew she would willingly serve in one of the most important callings ever given to a human being.
And there was more about her being pregnant at this time. Mary and Joseph were not engaged when Jesus was conceived, they were betrothed. In today’s culture, we see no distinction, but in ancient Jewish culture, that distinction meant everything. There were two steps to marriage, the first being the betrothal wherein the couple formally committed to marriage. At this time, they were legally considered married, they were referred to as “husband” or “wife”, and they could only end their marriage through death or divorce.
They were not, however, legally able to have a child until after the second step of the marriage process or the formal home-taking ceremony. The interval between these two events could last as long as a year. During this time, the bride prepared for the ceremony and her upcoming move, and the husband was expected to prepare the home that he would bring his wife into.
Mary was a married woman when the angel appeared to her and told her that she would be the mother of Jesus. Joseph was a married man not yet legally able to have a child with his wife. The agony he felt when he believed she had been unfaithful & was trying to decide whether or not to divorce her.
Mary was willing to submit her life to God's plan no matter what it would cost her. Obedience to the Lord would mean Mary would be disgraced as an unwed mother. Surely, she expected Joseph to divorce her, or worse yet, he might even have her put to death by stoning as the law permitted.
Being chosen by God for a high calling requires total commitment & a willingness to sacrifice everything out of love & devotion to one's Savior.
With so many reasons Mary might seem unsuitable to be the mother of God’s Child we should know why she was. Why was Mary chosen? Why was she willing to go through so many hardships out of her loyalty to God & the love for her Son? Let’s look at 4 reasons why she was so highly favored & chosen by God to bear His only begotten Son.
1. Mary was of the right lineage. Luke traces Mary’s lineage through David, Boaz, Judah, Jacob, Isaac, & Abraham. Her son would be qualified to bear the title Son of David & be the righteous “Branch” that was to come from David’s family (Isaiah 11:1).
2. Mary was engaged to a man whose heritage would require him to visit Bethlehem at just the right time. Micah 5:2 foretold the birthplace of the Messiah, pinpointing Bethlehem in Judah. Many virgins may have known God’s favor & may have descended from King David’s line, but not many would also be in the small town of Bethlehem when it was time for the Messiah to be born.
3. Mary was a virgin. It was critical that the mother of the Messiah be a virgin to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14 which says, “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”
Matthew reminded his readers of that prophecy, which was crucial in verifying Jesus’ identity (Matthew 1:23). She could not be married, or the world would assume Jesus had an earthly father. She could not have a bad reputation, or no one would have believed her story about a virgin birth, not even her own family. The virgin birth, in bypassing a human father, avoided the transmission of sin & allowed the Messiah to be a sinless man.
4. Mary was from Nazareth. Prophecies given hundreds of years before Jesus’ birth declared that the Messiah would be of little reputation (Isaiah 53; Zechariah 9:9; Matthew 2:23). To be called a Nazarene or a Galilean was something of an insult in those days (see John 1:46). Had Mary been wealthy, socially prestigious, or from an affluent city, Jesus could not have easily connected with lowly people, the ones He’d come to save (Luke 19:10; Mark 2:17). But because He was from Nazareth, Mary’s hometown, the humility and commonness prophesied about Him was fulfilled.
Mary was just a person God used for His purposes. Because of certain misunderstandings about Mary, it is important to note that she was not chosen because she was more holy than other people. Mary was surely a godly woman, but that is not the point. Gabriel’s emphasis was on her privilege, not her piety. She had “found favor with God” (verse 30), but that says more about God’s goodness than Mary’s. She was the recipient of God’s grace, His undeserved favor.
Today there are a great number of unexpected, or unplanned, pregnancies in the eyes of man. But every single child is a blessing of the Lord to the mother & father. God has created every baby with a purpose in mind. Psalm 127:3 tells us, “Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.”
Every child is a gift of God. Just as becoming a mother is a godly gift. We should cherish each of these. May the Lord bless all of His children today.
Before we close would any of you like to share stories about how your mother is/was a blessing to you?
Closing Prayer:
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the gift of motherhood. Today, we celebrate the loving sacrifice of biological and spiritual mothers who nurture and guide us in Your ways. Bless them with joy, strength, and love to continue their selfless devotion. May they feel deeply appreciated and honored not just today, but every day Father. Today we lift up all mothers to You. Grant them the strength to face the daily challenges with courage and the wisdom to guide their children toward a life of faith and service. Encourage them when they are weary and inspire them when they feel overwhelmed. Bless them with Your peace and love, now and forever. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen!
