A Mother to Die For
Luke 1:26-38; Matthew 2:1-23; John 2:1-11
Abraham Lincoln was a great statesman who is credited with ending slavery and holding a nation together. After he had risen to power he is quoted as saying “All I am or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.” You’ve heard the worn out riddle, “What came first, the chicken or the egg?” And the answer is of course, the mother. Before there was Abraham Lincoln, there was his mother. Before there was Bill Gates, there was his mother. Before there was Billy Graham, there was his mother. Before there was Mel Gibson, there was his mother. Now I can’t tell you in detail what part these women played in the success of their children. But they each played a part. They each contributed to the character of children who would one day make notable contributions in the world.
Even before there was Jesus, there was his mother Mary. Mary undoubtedly played a key role in preparing Jesus for his ministry. This morning, we’ll look at Mary’s life and the character that helped her raise the most influential man in human history.
1. A Mother of Devotion
I believe Mary was first of all a mother of devotion. Luke 1:26-38 says:
Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming in, he said to her, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you." But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. "And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. "He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end." Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" The angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. "And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. "For nothing will be impossible with God." And Mary said, "Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.”
Mary had an unwavering devotion to God. She did not bat an eye, she did not balk, she did not shirk from the huge task God placed before her. Be it done to me as you say. Yes Lord, I’ll do it. Maybe she answered quickly because she didn’t really understand. She didn’t realize the whispers and stares that would follow her for the next 30 years. Maybe she accepted the challenge so readily because she didn’t know Jewish law very well. She didn’t know that this virgin birth opened her up to be divorced and shamed by Joseph. Or maybe she did understand, she did know what God was asking. She did have some idea of the cost, and she was willing to pay the price anyway. And that’s why God chose her—because He knew that Mary’s heart was completely devoted to Him, and that she would be completely devoted to the task of raising the young Messiah.
When many of you mothers here accepted the challenge of babyhood, you might not have understood what you were getting yourself into. My wife would say that she dove into motherhood, and didn’t realize how deep the water was until she had delivered boy number 3 and boy number 4 was on the way. Nobody can adequately express how late the nights and early the mornings will be. Nobody can prepare you for the constant attention a baby requires. If a mom really knew what she was getting in to, do you think she would still do it? …Yes, I think she would still do it, because a mom has a devotion that is unmatched.
2. A Mother of Strength
Mary was a mother of great devotion. If we proceed through the life of the young Christ, we can also see that Mary was a mother of great strength. This passage we are about to read in Matthew Chapter 2 happens shortly after Jesus’ birth. Remember the Magi with their gifts have come to visit the Christ. They have followed a star that came to rest over the house where Joseph, Mary and the toddler Jesus where staying:
"Now when they [the Magi] had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him."
So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt. He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: "OUT OF EGYPT I CALLED MY SON." Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi."
I don’t know if you’ve ever traveled with a 2 year old, but it’s not much fun. That’s when you are traveling in a car, with your baby strapped in so you don’t have to wrestle him, with air conditioning, plenty of juice and animal crackers, and Barney music blaring on the radio. All those amenities still don’t ease the strain sometimes involved in moving a child from one spot to the other. Now, consider moving a two year old, over 264 miles from Bethlehem to Egypt, possibly by foot, through the desert, and you started the trip in the middle of the night! That makes Barney and gummed up animal crackers sound great.
It takes a lot of physical strength for a woman to make a trip like that. Forget the fact that she was going to a country far removed from any family that might give her the relief of a nap and help with the laundry when she arrived. Imagine the emotional strength required to bear up under the knowledge that someone wants to kill your baby. What would be even more unnerving is leaving your home country where the ruler wants to kill your son, and be taking him into a country where a similar slaughter of Hebrew boys had taken place 1400 years earlier. A mother that could make that trip into Egypt with a toddler is a mother of great physical and emotional strength.
If you are a mom, there have been times when you’ve had strength that you didn’t realize you had. It takes a fair amount of physical strength to lug around that car seat. To carry a car seat on one arm and a toddler on your other arm is a decent workout. According to my wife Melissa, if you really want to build physical strength, carry a baby on your hip, while you’re pregnant, and lean down every three steps to pick up toys off the floor. Then there’s the strength it takes to spend 3 nights in a row changing sheets and cleaning up after the stomach flu. There’s also great emotional strength involved when a mother lets her child make a mistake so he can learn from it.
Just like the mothers we have here today, Mary was a mother of great physical and emotional strength. She was also a mother fully devoted to God and the Son He has given her.
3. A Mother of Guidance
Years pass in the life of Jesus, and now we see Mary as a mother who offers guidance. Read with me in John chapter 2 verse 1 and following.
1 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; 2 and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine." 4 And Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come." 5 His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it." 6 Now there were six stone waterpots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each. 7 Jesus said to them, "Fill the waterpots with water." So they filled them up to the brim. 8 And He said to them, "Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter." So they took it to him. 9 When the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom, 10 and said to him, "Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now." 11 This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.
Jesus seems reluctant to get involved in this wedding. We don’t know why, but we can speculate a little. Jesus says he doesn’t want to get involved because ’His hour had not yet come.’ Jesus says a similar phrase two other times. He says it once when His disciples were headed to the Feast of Booths in Jerusalem. John 7 records that the Jews were searching for Jesus to kill Him, so Jesus chose to stay in Galilee because the time for him to die had not yet come. The other time Jesus says a phrase similar, he says it differently. Mark 14 records the story of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. In verse 41, Jesus says, “the hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.”
Perhaps in this scene at Cana we get a glimpse of an uncertain Jesus. Remember, he is God, but he is also man. He didn’t wake up as a five year old and know the full purpose and plan of His life. It appears through the few glimpses we get into Jesus’ early life that God slowly revealed the plan of Jesus’ life. And certainly God used Mary to guide and instruct Jesus to that end. At this wedding, we see Mary nudging Jesus, moving Him towards His final purpose. Jesus says, “my time hasn’t come.” Mary says, “but you have to start somewhere." Mary might have said "It’s not time for you to die, but it is time for people to begin to understand who you are."
Many of you mothers find yourself in the same position. You have a son that wants to play professional basketball, and yet wants to quit the freshman team because he’s not getting enough playing time. So mom, you push him in the right direction. You guide him to stick it out. Or you’ve got a daughter who doesn’t know what she wants. And you mothers have the unique gift of coaching and listening until she figures out what purpose God might have for her.
You mothers are like Mary in the way you guide your children.
4. A Mother of Patience
Mary was a woman devoted to God. She had great strength. She guided Jesus into His ministry. She also had great patience.
This seems especially evident in the last hours of Jesus’ life. Mel Gibson does a beautiful job in his movie “The Passion of the Christ” portraying what Mary was probably doing as Jesus suffered those last hours. It was the week of Passover, and according to Jewish custom, even if Mary didn’t live in Jerusalem, she would have most likely come to the city and stayed with relatives or camped in a tent outside the city. And if Mary was in Jerusalem, there is no doubt that she would have known what was going on. In the movie we see Mary following at a distance, watching her son endure false accusations and beatings. We see Mary grieve and weep for her son. But she watches quietly. She doesn’t burst into the trial and scream, “He IS the Son of God. I can testify to that! You must believe Him!” She doesn’t throw herself at the feet of Pilate begging for the release of her Son who is indeed the King of the Jews. Instead, she watches with patience. And just as Jesus understood the purpose for which He was born, Mary surely knew also.
Mary’s devotion, and strength, and guidance had led them both to this moment of great patience—the patience involved in seeing the work of Christ finished on the cross.
You might be a mother here today that is feeling like a failure. You are devoted to the Lord. You have served your children with all your strength. You have given them the best guidance that you could. But your children have not turned out like you thought. They have walked away from their faith. Or maybe they have made mistakes that grieve you deeply. Now it is time for you to step back like Mary did and watch for God’s work to be done. God can work their suffering and mistakes for good. Pray, and trust that God will work everything out. God can take all of their mistakes and fulfill a great purpose in their life.
The great Saint Patrick is an example of this. As a young boy in Rome, his family was believing, but he was not. In fact, Patrick himself claims to have denounced the faith of his family.
As a young teenager, Patrick was captured and sold into slavery on the island of Ireland. He worked as a shepherd on the hillsides. I’m sure Patrick’s mother worried sick about him. Where is he? What in the world is my faithless son involved in?
But God was working. When Patrick was out in the lonely countryside, God was working. Patrick could not help but sense the presence of God as he sat hungry and scared under the stars.
Several years later Patrick escaped and returned home, most certainly as a new young man, the man that his mother had worked so hard to bring about, the man that his mother had prayed so earnestly for. After becoming a Priest, Patrick returned to Ireland. Before his death years later, he had converted the whole island to Christianity.
There’s a phrase we hear sometimes that means excellent. You might have heard a teenager say it when she sees the perfect prom dress, or when a young man sees a great car. But it’s a phrase that certainly describes mothers—mothers who devote themselves wholly to their children, mothers who give every degree of strength, every bit of guidance and every ounce of patience to their children.
It’s a phrase that I’m sure Jesus used to describe his mother- the mother whose devotion, and strength, and guidance gave us all a Savior. It’s a phrase that most aptly describes Mary, the mother who was patient enough to watch as God finished His work on the cross. The phrase: A Mother to Die For.
