MARY, THE MOTHER OF OUR LORD
A. Today is Mother’s Day.
ILLUSTRATION:
All over the country grateful Moms are pushed back into their PILLOWS, the FLOWER on their BIRD of PARADISE plant (which blooms every other year for 15 minutes) is SNIPPED and put in a pop bottle, and a strange assortment of FOOD is specially prepared for her.
A MIXER whirls out of CONTROL, then stops ABRUPTLY as a voice cries, “I’m telling!” A dog BARKS and another voice says, “Get his PAWS out of there. Mom has to EAT that.”
Mom squirms and then tries to get out of bed, but the YOUNGEST child standing guard, pushes Mom back into her PILLOW.
Minutes pass and finally Mom hears, “Dad! Where’s the chili sauce?” Then, “Don’t you dare BLEED on Mom’s breakfast!”
The rest is a BLUR of banging doors, running water, rapid footsteps and a high pitched, “You started the FIRE, you put it out!”
The breakfast is fairly standard: a 32 oz. tumbler of JUICE, five pieces of BLACK BACON that pulverizes into a THOUSAND pieces as soon as it is touched, a MOUND of EGGS topped with TABASCO SAUCE to disguise the BLOOD, lumpy OATMEAL, and four pieces of COLD TOAST.
The kids line up by the bed to watch you EAT, and from time to time they ask why aren’t you drinking the PRUNE JUICE and touching the OATMEAL with the BLACK OLIVES on top spelling "M—O—M".
Later in the day, after you have decided it’s easier to MOVE to a NEW HOUSE than clean the KITCHEN, you return to your bed where, if you’re wise, you’ll reflect on this day. For the first time, your children have GIVEN instead of RECEIVED. They have offered up to you the SINCEREST form of FLATTERY—trying to EMULATE what YOU do for THEM. And they have presented you with the GREATEST GIFT people can give—THEMSELVES.
B. This morning in every corner of our NATION, America has paused to recognize and appreciate the most INFLUENTIAL group on God’s earth.
1. Someone once said, “If you want to know how somebody will turn out . . . if you want to really want to understand them . . . take a good look at their MOTHER.”
a. The greatest LIFE ever lived was certainly no exception to that rule.
b. I believe that even God’s Son was SHAPED, MOLDED, MOTIVATED, and PREPARED by the POWERFUL INFLUENCE of a GODLY MOTHER.
2. This morning, I want us to take a look at Mary, the MOTHER of our Lord. We will watch her grow from a TEENAGE GIRL where we MEET her, to a MATURE WOMAN. We’ll understand even more why Jesus BECAME what He became and DID what He did by looking at His Mom.
MESSAGE:
I. MARY THE OBEDIENT
A. The first recorded words of Mary were spoken at the FEET of an ANGEL- Luke 1:26ff
ILLUSTRATION:
God sent Gabriel to a tiny VILLAGE in Galilee called Nazareth. He went to a young VIRGIN named Mary who was ENGAGED to a local CARPENTER and tells her that she is going to give birth to a Son who she is to name Jesus.
Mary’s obvious response was: “How can this be, since I’m a VIRGIN?”- v. 34. She was keeping herself PURE for the man she was going to MARRY. She can’t imagine how this is possible. Gabriel then explained that the Holy Spirit will come upon her and she will give birth to God’s Son.
B. The first VIRTUE we see in this TEENAGE GIRL that made her the CHOSEN among all of God’s WOMEN was an unconditional SURRENDER to the unknown FUTURE that God had outlined for her.
1. She could have REFUSED—God would never force anyone to BEAR His Son.
2. But the nature of this young woman is seen so beautifully in her final RESPONSE to Gabriel:
“I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you said”- Luke 1:38.
COMMENT:
What a powerful PORTRAIT of Mary the OBEDIENT. She was willing to do whatever God asked. Mary gave birth to a Son who was entirely GOD and entirely MAN.
II. MARY THE PONDERER
A. The word “PONDER” is used repeatedly in describing Mary.
COMMENT:
In the Greek this word means to “TURN or ROTATE.” There were many events in Mary’s LIFE that STIRRED her HEART concerning her BOY.
1. After being told that she was going to give birth to God’s Son, Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth.
COMMENT:
As soon as she entered the door, Elizabeth’s unborn baby (who later became known as John the Baptist) leaped into her womb. Elizabeth, being filled with the Holy Spirit, cried to Mary, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear.”
2. The night Jesus was born a chorus of Angels dropped out of heaven, poised themselves over Bethlehem and sang, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men . . .”
3. When she took baby Jesus to the temple, the Holy Man Simeon held him and said to Mary, “What will happen to this child will pierce your soul like a sword.”
4. Then Anna, the old widow Prophetess, gazed at Mary and the baby, then turned and told all who would listen that “He had come who bring redemption to Jerusalem.”
5. Matthew records how Jesus’ life was THREATENED by King Herod, and how Mary and her husband had to take their baby to Egypt to HIDE Him.
COMMENT:
Can you imagine this TEENAGER—making the awesome ADJUSTMENTS to MOTHERHOOD—having things like that SAID and DONE to the little BUNDLE in your arms? But she did a good job REARING Jesus: “And the Child continued to grow and become strong,
increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him”- Luke 2:40.
B. We have twelve blank years in Luke’s NARRATIVE.
1. We pick the FAMILY up again in Jerusalem—Jesus is 12, His first time in the TEMPLE—BAR MITZVAH- Luke 2:41-45 (READ).
ILLUSTRATION:
On there way home, Mary and Joseph find that the young Jesus is MISSING. They search FRANTICALLY for him. (Can you imagine being given the Son of God to TAKE CARE of, and then find out that you LOST Him? Try explaining that to God. “God, we took our eyes off of him for just one minute. He just vanished!”)
They looked everywhere for Jesus, but He was no where to be found. They return to Jerusalem, and three days later they find Jesus in the TEMPLE talking LAW with a bunch of LAWYERS—a 12-year-old kid.
Remember Mary’s RESPONSE? “Son, why have you treated us this way? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”- v. 48. Jesus said, “Why is it that you were SEARCHING for Me? Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”- v. 49.
2. This was another reason for Mary’s HEART to CHURN.
C. At this point, we enter 18 long years of SILENCE.
COMMENT:
What would have been like for Mary? How would it feel to have a Son that is not truly your Son? What happened during those 18 years? I know that they must have been an EMOTIONAL roller coaster for the Mother of the King. Biblical historians assume that Joseph died during this period. If so, that left Jesus the head of a household of eight—to feed, to clothe, to look after.
D. Finally, the time came when Jesus left home.
1. We expect that with our kids, but not so in First Century Palestine.
a. It was unheard of for a young man to PACK-UP and LEAVE HIS home, his BUSINESS, his FAMILY, his ROOTS.
b. Jesus had no particular place to go, but He left everything behind.
2. Mary found herself TRUDGING along after Jesus just like His other disciples.
a. Jesus, at a WEDDING FEAST in Cana, performed His first MIRACLE—turning water into wine, after His mother persisted- John 2. (This shows the influence of His mother.)
b. Later while Jesus was speaking to the multitude, Mary came with her other sons to speak to Him. The people told Jesus that His mother and brothers wanted to see Him. Jesus answered, “Who is my mother and my brothers?” He then pointed to His disciples and said, “Here are my mothers and brothers”- Matt. 12:46ff. (Was Mary hurt by her Son’s remarks? Would you be?)
COMMENT:
No doubt, there were many more events that caused Mary’s HEART and SOUL to turn and churn within as she PONDERED the LIFE of God’s Son that she was privileged to give birth to.
III. MARY THE PERPLEXED
A. Mary is in a miserable limbo between a world that thought Jesus was DANGEROUS, CRAZY, and DEMON-POSSESSED . . . and her own knowledge that Jesus was indeed conceived by the Holy Spirit.
1. She stood and watch them try to KILL her Son when He tried to come back to His home town.
2. Her other sons didn’t believe that Jesus was the promised Messiah. (If they didn’t believe Jesus,then they couldn’t believe their mother, either. “Come on Mom, you know you weren’t a virgin!”)
B. Probably the most STRIKING scene we have of Mary is the SILENT ONE—at the CROSS.
1. She stands there uttering not a word . . . her most GRISLY NIGHTMARE is now a REALITY . . . Simeon’s SWORD that he prophesied would PIERCE the soul of Mary had finally taken its SWING and laid her HEART wide open.
2. As she watched her FIRST BORN Son writhing in AGONY, she had to remember the words of God and His angels that night long ago—and as far as she could see not a word of it came to pass.
a. Gabriel promised “that Jesus would take the THRONE of David and reign over Israel forever—His kingdom would have no end.”
COMMENT:
Mary is probably asking herself, “Is this Gabriel’s idea of a KINGDOM that has no end?”
b. The angels sang, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men . . .”
COMMENT:
Mary may be thinking, “If this is ‘PEACE among men,’ who wants it! I want my boy
back!”
ILLUSTRATION:
Nothing was happening like she thought it would. Her whole world was falling apart. It
looked like God Himself had LIED to her. Where’s the VICTORY? Where’s the PEACE?
What she was looking at now was a FAR CRY from the THRONE that Gabriel had promised her Son. All she could see was a CROSS. Surely the THORNS embedded in Jesus HEAD wasn’t the CROWN that was PROMISED.
There was her Son with BLOOD streaming down His face, LABORING to BREATH. She was the only one standing there that day who knew for CERTAIN that Jesus was God’s Son. She was a VIRGIN when He was CONCEIVED. He could be no one else’ Son but God’s. Maybe to SAVE Jesus she felt like CRYING out: “It’s a LIE! He’s not really God’s Son!” But she knows better. Now she is probably wondering along with her Son why God has FORSAKEN Him.
3. What follows next is probably the most PRECIOUS MOMENT in Mary’s life.
ILLUSTRATION:
Jesus looked down from the CROSS and spotted His Mom in that CROWD. Standing beside her was John, the BELOVED ONE, the only one of the 12 to follow Jesus all the way to the CROSS.
Looking down at His Mom he said: “Dear woman, here is your son!” And then to John He
said, “Here is your mother!”- John 19:26-27.
By that Jesus was saying, “John, my mother is now yours. Take care of her for Me!”
IV. MARY THE FOLLOWER
A. The last time we see Mary is the most GLORIOUS of all.
1. Following the RESURRECTION and ASCENSION of Jesus, those who are soon to be called Christians, gather for the very first time—and Mary is among them. She is no longer just His MOTHER, she is His DISCIPLE.
COMMENT:
Now the PROMISES finally make sense. “Of His kingdom there is no end . . . and He shall reign forever.” She now knows that this is a Spiritual Kingdom that can never be destroyed.
And the “PEACE among men” is the SPIRITUAL PEACE between MAN and GOD that all can enjoy because of the great SACRIFICE of hers and God’s Son, Jesus.
2. Surrounding Mary are her other sons: James, Joseph, Judas (Jude), and Simon.
a. They now BELIEVE that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
b. But also there is her FIFTH son, John, bound to her from the CROSS.
B. Mary can be proud of the way she reared her boys, and especially the way she reared the Son of God whom she was entrusted for 33 years.
CONCLUSION:
ILLUSTRATION:
It was winter in Korea. A woman in LABOR walked through the snow to the home of a MISSIONARY friend where she knew she could find help. A short way down the road from the MISSION house was a deep GULLY spanned by a BRIDGE. As the young woman stumbled forward, BIRTH PAINS overcome her. She realized she could go no further. She crawled beneath the bridge. There, alone, between the trestles, she gave birth to a BOY.
She had nothing with her but the HEAVY PADDED CLOTHES she wore. One by one she removed the pieces of clothing and wrapped them around her tiny son. Then finding a piece of discarded BURLAP, she pulled it over herself and lay EXHAUSTED beside the baby. The next morning the missionary’s wife drove across the BRIDGE, the Jeep sputtered and died, out of GAS.
Getting out of the JEEP, she started to walk across the BRIDGE and heard a faint CRY beneath. She crawled under the BRIDGE to investigate. There she found the tiny BABY, warm but HUNGRY, and the young MOTHER frozen to death. She and her husband took the baby and CARED for him. As the boy grew, he often asked his adopted mother to tell the story of how she found him.
On his 12th birthday, he asked his adopted parents to take him to his mother’s GRAVE. Once there, he asked them to wait a distance away while he went to pray. The boy stood beside the GRAVE with BOWED head WEEPING. He then began to DISROBE. Piece by piece he took off his warm clothes and laid them on his mother’s GRAVE. He knelt shivering in the snow. The missionary and his wife then heard him cry out to the mother he never knew, “Were you COLDER than this for me, my mother?” and wept BITTERLY.
COMMENT:
We can never repay our mothers for all that they have done for us. If your mother is still alive, tell her how much you LOVE her and THANK her for being your MOM!
(Happy Mother’s Day!)
