Mary the mother of Jesus

Mary the mother of Jesus

God I pray that you would reveal your truth to us, Lord I pray that you would remove all lies, every deception, every blindness, Lord that you would open our eyes, that you would give us the truth, Lord that you would put your truth into our hearts, that you would put your truth into our minds, Lord that the truth about Mary would be preached. I pray that Mary, the women you had chosen to bring forth the Jesus would be the correct picture of the person you'd chosen. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen

Open up your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 1, verse 26 to 56. We are going to look at what the Bible has to say about the person of Mary, and so we will form a picture of who God shows Mary to be.

"In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you". Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greetings this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end". "How will this be", Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?". The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God". "I am the Lord's servant", Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said". Then the angel left her. At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!" And Mary said: "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers". Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home."

When God created the world His plan was that we would live in unity with Him. But we know that Adam and Eve chose to disobey. They chose to be disobedient and rebellious towards God and from that very day God was looking for a plan to bring unity between Him and His creation; to bring about someone who would save us from our sins. And we see that all throughout the Old Testament that God promises that he would send a saviour who would take our place for our punishment, that he would cleanse us from our sins, cleanse us from our unrighteousness, and would serve as a bridge or a mediator between God and man. And all throughout the Old Testament God promises that he would send this Saviour, a mediator, an intercessor, someone who completely understands God's point of view, but someone who will also understand completely our point of view. Someone who would feel everything that God feels and would feel everything that man feels. And God promised that He would send this person into the world and we know that this person that He sent was His son, Jesus Christ.

God had a plan that His son would be born in a human image and likeness. He would take on flesh and blood as we have flesh and blood. In order to do that He needed be born into this world. In the day when Mary and Joseph lived, God chose that time and that place to be born. If we look in the Old Testament there were certain conditions that need to be fulfilled: if Jesus was to be born who would be his parents? We know from the Old Testament, from Isaiah, that he would be born from a virgin, someone who had never had sexual relationships. We know that he was to be born a Jew, and we knew that he was to be born from the line of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Juda and the line of David. The person who was to be the mother would have to raise Jesus in the right way. I'm sure that God looked for just the right person to fill this role. The right person that would become the earthly mother of Jesus who would raise the young boy Jesus in the correct way, would teach him in the way of the Scriptures, would form a good family atmosphere. Such a person needed to be a God fearer. And I believe that in Palestine at this time, that there were maybe thousands of women who were Jews, who were from the line of David, who were still virgins. It was probably the desire of all the young girls at that time to be the mother of the Saviour, but only one could be his mother. God chose Mary. And I think that if we look at the life of Mary we can see why he chose her: because her life is a picture of humility, a life of submission to God, a life of devotion to the Lord. If you want to have a picture of who Mary is, than turn to the Old Testament, to the book of Proverbs chapter 31. And here is a description of the wife of noble character. Chapter 31, verse 10 states:

"A wife of noble character who can find? She's worth far more than rubies. Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good, not harm all the days of her life. And then it talks about her work that she does at home: that she's a hard-worker, that she wakes up early in the morning, she takes care of the needs of her family, she takes care of the needs of the other people, she makes sure that nothing is lacking in their house. She's a prosperous woman, she makes clothes and she sells them. She helps the poor, she watches over the affairs of her house. Her husband is respected."

Verse 30 goes on: "Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate."

I believe that Mary fit this description, that she was someone who loved the LORD with all of her heart, that she did good and not harm to her husband and her family. She had a noble character, she cared for others. And I believe that maybe we'd also find the description in Timothy and Titus about the wife of an elder or the wife of a deacon, and also you would find the description of, probably, who Mary looked like. You know, we as protestants want to somehow lower or remove Mary from our Bibles, because we've seen on the other side that catholics tend to lift up Mary into a place where she doesn't belong. And so on our side we have neglected or forgotten or tried to remove her. But I believe that of all the women in the Bible, that she was one of the most worthy of our respect. She is a good role model and an example for women. Let's go back to Luke, it says that the angel came to a virgin, to the virgin Mary, who was pledged to be married to Joseph. In this time they were not married yet, but they were treated like they were already in the marriage union. They were required to be faithful and that they would not be looking for another partner. So although that she was not married, at this point she was treated almost as a wife. An angel comes and appears to her. He says: "Greetings You who are highly favoured, the LORD is with you!"

Now think of it, angels don't appear every day. How many people have seen an angel lately? Have you seen an angel this week? Most likely not. So, it's not a regular, everyday occurrence. If an angel shows up he's here to tell us something important. He says: "You are favoured." What does this mean? What is "grace"? Grace is something that is undeserved, grace is something that you cannot work for. If I go to work and I work forty hours at work and I come to my boss, and he gives me an envelope with the money in it, is that grace? Or is this something that I have worked for and what I deserve? The Bible says that Mary found grace. In other words, she didn't deserve to be the mother of the Saviour, it wasn't because she was holy enough, it wasn't because she had prayed enough, it wasn't because that she was better than anyone else, but God's grace. It was something she didn't deserve, something she didn't work for. God had to choose somebody and she was one of the people that fit the prophecies at that time.

The Bible says that Mary was greatly troubled at his words. She was wondering what type of greeting this could be. Why was Mary troubled? What do you think? Angels do not appear every day, do they? If an angel showed up to you, you'd be wondering why he came. If an angel came to me, I'd be thinking what did I do wrong. It says: "She was afraid." The angel said: "Do not be afraid. You've found favour with God" in verse 30. "I'm not here to punish you. I'm here to bring a good message to you".

You see, I don't think that Mary knew that she was to be chosen as the mother of the Saviour. If she knew all along that she was gonna be the mother of our Saviour then when the angel came she would have said: "Oh, I know why you're here. I've been waiting for you". But she did not know why he was there. It wasn't because of her good works. And the angel says: Don't be afraid. Why? She was afraid. Almost every time that an angel appears in the Bible the first words were almost always Don't be afraid. Because man is afraid. Man is aware of his sins and his faults, his shortcomings. And angels always had to reassure that "I've come here not to punish you, but to bring a message from God".

Let's look further. His message: "You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you will give him the name Jesus. He will be great and be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of his father David and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, His kingdom will never end."

Mary couldn't call this son whatever name she wanted. "I think I'll call him Richard". She had instructions: the baby's name was to be "Jesus". She was obedient and gave him the name Jesus. The prophecy was: "He will be great". It doesn't say that Mary will be great, but it says "Jesus will be great". It says: "And he will be called the Son of the Most High God". It doesn't say that "you will be called the Mother of God" or that "He will be called the Son of Mary". But He will be called the Son of the Most High God. It says: "The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David". It doesn't say that He will give Mary a throne, but it says that He will give Jesus a throne. There is nothing about Mary being great, there is nothing about Mary having a throne, nothing about her ruling over anyone, but the whole focus here is on Jesus and that's where the focus should remain!

Mary's response to the angel is interesting. Did she say: "Oh, of course, I'm gonna be the Mother of God. I knew this all along? She said: "How can this possibly be?" She didn't know anything. She didn't know God's plan. She says: I'm still a virgin. Everything that the angel said was fine but she had a problem - she wasn't married yet. She had never been with a man. And that's the reason why she was chosen. God wanted to perform a miracle. Here it's not a question of rebellion on her part but it's a question of: "I don't understand how this all will work". So the angel says: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you and so the Holy One born to you shall be called the Son of God". Who was responsible for Jesus birth? Was it Mary or was it God? Really, Mary was only a vessel, Mary was only a place where Jesus would be incarnated in the flesh by the Holy Spirit. It was an act of God, not an act of Mary.

God who existed through all eternity would lower Himself to become a human being, take the form of a little embryo and be implanted into Mary. He would lower Himself as much as He could lower Himself - to a small, tiny cell. From there He grew and He was born. Mary's response is a response of humility and a response of submission. She said: "I'm the Lord's servant. May it be done to me exactly to the way you have said". So we see that Mary is a person who wanted to be in the center of God's will. She's excited, she runs to see her cousin, Elizabeth, and verse 43 says: "Blessed are you among women and blessed is the Child you'll bear".

The Bible here says Blessed are you among women. It doesn't say "Blessed are you above women" but "among women". It doesn't say that "you will be blessed by all people", it doesn't say that "people will come and bless you", but it's just a stated fact that "you are going to be a blessed person". What does the word "blessed" or "to bless" mean? It means to make happy. That's what "bless" means! If you're blessed you're a happy person, if you're cursed then you are a sad person. So to be blessed means to be happy. What would make Mary happy? The fact of being chosen, the fact of living with Jesus, the Son of God, for 30 years. If you were with Jesus for 30 years wouldn't you be blessed? If He lived in your apartment? You would be blessed! Let's say you have a two-room apartment - you're in one room and Jesus lives in the other room for 30 years. You would be blessed! "He chose to live with ME for 30 years!" Think of just her role in history, it is an example of humility and submission. All these things together would make Mary a happy person. We see that she is blessed.

People think that it's their job to bless Mary, that "I need to do something to bless Mary". To lift her up above other women. But God wants her not to be lifted up ABOVE other women. God says that she will be blessed AMONG. So God's place for her is not above us, but her place is with us. Do you understand? Her place is here, with us, on the ground, on earth. This is a typical blessing. Many people were blessed this way in the Old Testament. Verse 45 shows another reason why she was blessed: "Blessed is she who has believed what the Lord has said". You know what? When you believe the Word of God and you're obedient to the Word of God you're blessed. When you don't believe the Word of God, and if you're not obedient to the Word of God you don't have the blessings of God.

It says that Mary praised the Lord and we see in verse 46 to 56 that it's a whole song that Mary sings for God. Let's look particularly at verse 47. It says: "My spirit rejoices in God, my Saviour". I have a question. Who needs a Saviour? Sinful people. She said: "I rejoice in God, MY Saviour". If she recognized that God was her Saviour, she was admitting that she was a sinner. In this song of praise that she gives to God she recognizes that she is a weak, sinful human being that needs the grace of God. Somebody who needs to be saved. A saviour comes to save people. She needed a saviour, she needed to be saved. If she needed a saviour, then she wasn't a saviour. She was a servant who needed a saviour. Verse 48 and 49 state: "for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me and holy is his name". For the third time we see the word blessed with the word Mary. In other words it says: "the whole world will recognize that she is a happy person, because she was chosen to be the mother of our Lord and Saviour". God did great things, He showed her grace.

Let's look further. Let's go to Matthew, chapter 1 and read verses 18 to 25. This is another account of the birth of Jesus.

"This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins". All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" which means, "God with us". When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus".

One of the myths or one of the traditions that is associated with Mary is that she remains a virgin forever. Here we see in verse 25: "she had no union with her husband UNTIL she gave birth to Jesus". It would not say here "until" if the writers of the Scripture had in mind that she was to remain a virgin forever. If that were the case, it would have been written "but she had no union with her husband". Period. But it says "until" Jesus was born her husband did not have union with her. After Jesus' birth Joseph and Mary had a normal, sexual, marital relationship. Mary had other children. The Bible talks about them. The Bible mentions 4 brothers of Jesus and at least two sisters of Jesus.

Let's take a look that it was prophesied in the Old Testament that Jesus would have brothers and sisters in Psalm 69. This is a messianic song about Jesus. The whole thing is about Jesus. Verse 8 says: "I am a stranger to my brothers and an alien to my own mother's sons". Whose sons? His mother's sons. See, the reason why some people have turned Mary into a virgin forever is because they think that for her to later have sexual relationships would be to contaminate the place where Jesus had once dwelt. Some people think that her womb was a holy place, and in order for her to remain a holy person, she could not sleep with her husband. Does sexual relationships between a husband and wife somehow defile them?

Remember, Jesus humbled himself. Where was he born? Was he born in a holy place? Was he born in a clean temple? Or was he born in a stable, with the animals. Did he choose to be born to the queen of Israel or to a poor humble Jewish girl? Jesus humbled himself to become a little cell in Mary's body. Jesus wasn't so proud that he could not be lower Himself and become human. He was fully human and fully God. His divinity came from His Father - God, and his humanity came from Mary in order to be fully man. It wouldn't be normal for her to remain a virgin while being married. Do you think that the Jews of their day would allow that once they get married the wife on the wedding day says: "Listen, I've taken a vow of virginity for the rest of my life. Sorry". Is it possible that a wife can choose to do such a thing? Is it possible today to do such a thing? No! Only someone abnormal or mentally ill would say such a thing. So we see that this is a myth.

Let's read about Jesus' brothers in Luke chapter 2, verse 6 and 7: "While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn". The Bible here says "firstborn". If there was a firstborn the logic demands that there is a second born. If you run in a race and you say that you came first, isn't it logical that there is a second and maybe a third runner or even more? You wouldn't say that you were the first if you were the only runner. You would say "I was the only runner". You wouldn't say "I was the first" but you would say "I was the only one that ran".

The Bible here says firstborn. "Prototokos" is the Greek word were here. It means "one of many", "the first of many". It also means "the first in an order of many". If Jesus was her only son, then the author would have used a different word, like the word in John 3:16. What's the word there? God so loved the world that He gave his FIRSTBORN son"??? NO! It says His "ONE AND ONLY son"!!! And so if Mary had only one son, it would have been a different word: "monogene" meaning only, unique.

Matthew 13, verses 55 and 56 state: "Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother name Mary, and aren't his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren't all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?" Read Mark 6:3 also: "Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us? And they took offense at him". Catholic theologians believe that these people: James, Joseph, Simon and Judas are either Jesus' cousins or they are sons from a previous marriage of Joseph or they are some other relatives. But the Bible uses the word "adelfos", which means "brother". It's never translated as "relative", "cousin" or "brother-in-law". Each one of these words is a different word in Greek. The same is true for the word "sister". They are all different words in Greek if it was a cousin or a sister-in-law. So four of his brothers are listed by name and we know that Jesus had at least two sisters, because it says aren't his sisters here? It doesn't say "and his sister" but "his sisters". In Mark it says all his sisters. You don't use the word "all" if there is only two. And so we see that there are at least four brothers and three sisters. We see them later on in the Gospel also.

Let's read further in Luke, chapter 2 verse 21 to verse 40. We're gonna see what happens when Jesus is a little bit older. It's the story of Jesus with his parents going to the temple and the question is why did they have to go to the temple? Let's foucs on just verses 22 to 24: "When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, "Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord"), and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: "a pair of doves or two young pigeons".

They went to the temple to offer the sacrifice of purification, as it's written in the Law of the Lord. So they had to give a sacrifice. In Leviticus it gives the whole procedure of what happens when a woman has a boy or a girl born to her. After the birth they were to go to the temple and give a sin offering. If the parents were poor, then the minimum offering was a pair of doves. And after they brought their sin offering the woman would be cleaned from her flow of blood. It says here that in the time of THEIR purification, not of "Joseph's purification" but of "their" purification: both Mary and Joseph. In other words they went to the temple to give an offering for their sins. They were giving offering for their sins. Now, it's not a sin to have a child, but because of the flow of blood Mary was ceremonially unclean. So she went to give an offering for her sin. This goes directly against catholic teaching that Mary was sinless. Because we see that she gave sacrifices for her sins.

Later we see Jesus twelve years old. Look at Luke chapter 2 from verse 41 until verse 52. Jesus was in the temple, he was teaching all the wise men, Mary and Joseph lost him, they were looking all over the place for him, they found him finally in the temple, the last place they looked. And they said: We've been looking for you. Where were you? And he said "Didn't you know I would be in my Father's house?" Verse 50: "But they did not understand what he was saying to them". So we see that even his parents did not understand his calling, his mission, his relationship with the Father. But later Mary would understand.

Now let's look at the first miracle that Jesus does. This is the next time that we see Mary in the Bible. Let's read from the Book of John, chapter 2, verses 1 to 11: "On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine". "Dear woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied, "My time has not yet come". His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you". Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water"; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet". They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, "Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now". This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him. This was Jesus' first miracle and he was about thirty years old at that time".

All the way up until this time Jesus was living with his parents. We had seen that he was obedient to his parents. Now there's a wedding. Mary sees that there is a need and she comes to her son and she says: "They don't have any more wine. Do something". At this point in time when Jesus was beginning his ministry something changes. See, he was no longer going to be a son obedient and submitted to his mother, but now the mother would need to be obedient to the son. We see this first of all when he replies and says "woman", instead of "mother". Do you call your mother "woman" at home? Do you do that at home? The Jews didn't do that. They didn't call their mothers "women". Jesus continues with respect but he does something here. He was showing her that no longer is he a boy that is in need of her help, that he was no longer there to be obedient to her, but he was there to fulfil his role as saviour, healer and king. Their roles and relationship had to change now. It was time for him to start revealing who he was. Her ministry and role was now completed. She was no longer called to watch over and protect Jesus and help him to grow up. She's no longer his provider, but he becomes her provider. Mary then goes to the servants and she realises that she is no longer in control, but now her son is in control. Mary says to the servants: "Do whatever he tells you to do". In other words, she resigned. She said "whatever Jesus says you do that". "Whatever Jesus says I'm gonna to do now". Jesus goes ahead, he performs a miracle, he turns water into wine. But he does it secretly. Only the servants and Mary would know. The guests, the newlyweds and the host wouldn't know. These are the very last words of Mary in the Bible. Mary has said very little in the Bible. Here we have now already quoted eveything she ever said in the Word of God.

"Whatever Jesus tells you to do, do it". I think it is for a very strong purpose that these were her last words in the Bible. These words are not only to the servants in Galilea, I think these were her words to us also. She was no longer telling Jesus what he needed to do. In other words, she was ready now to tell others to listen to Jesus and she herself would be obedient. We see that we also need to go to Jesus and do what he tells us to do. People think and have the wrong impression that Jesus is hard and stern, but Mary is more loving and more open, and so if we want something we should go to Mary, because she is the loving motherly type instead of the mean, angry, unloving Jesus. We see that even people back in those days had that false impression. Let's look in Matthew, chapter 12, verses 46 to 50:

"While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, "Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you". He replied to him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" Pointing to his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother". See, the thinking is that because of her physical relationship of being close to Jesus, Jesus would answer her requests. Becuase she has a relationship that is close, Jesus would listen to his mother. Because of the love, the intimacy, Mary has a special relationship with Jesus. But, the Bible says that whoever does the will of the Father in heaven becomes the mother and the brother, and the sister of Jesus. In other words, Jesus was saying: "The close relationship I have with my mother is available for all of you. This special relationship between a mother and a son is also available to you". The requirement is doing the will of the Father in heaven.

The same situation is in Mark, written there in chapter 3. It is repeated also in Luke, chapter 8. Each of those times Jesus said: "You can be like my mother and my sister if you obey the will of my Father in heaven". The catholic church teaches that Jesus always answers Mary's requests. But we see that he didn't fulfill her request here, he didn't come outside! He stayed inside, he continued to teach. In all three accounts Mary says "Come out", in all three accounts Jesus stays where he is. He did not listen to his mother. He was showing that his earthly mother and brothers were not more important than his spiritual brothers. You see, Jesus wants to have this close relationship with you. That's why he came.

Why was Mary and his brothers there trying to get in? Why did they want to come in and speak to Jesus? Mark, chapter 3, verse 20 and 21: "Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind".

Why was Mary and his brothers there? Because they thought that Jesus had gone crazy. And they came there to say: "Poor Jesus. You come back with us. You've been in the heat too long." "He's been standing out in the hot heat in the desert roads and the sun has been beating on his head too much." Or maybe Mary was jealous, it says "there were great crowds there" and she was losing her son to the crowd. "We need to come and put Jesus into line". That's why Mary and his brothers were there. They didn't believe that he was the Messiah, they didn't believe in his mission. Not until later.

In Luke, chapter 11, verses 27 and 28 Jesus is speaking to a crowd and it says: "As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, "Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you." He replied, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it". What is Jesus saying here? He's saying: "Yes, Mary is blessed. But those that listen and obey the word of God are more blessed." If Jesus ever meant for Mary to be blessed or lifted up, or worshiped this was the time to do it. When the woman called out "Blessed the womb who gave you birth! Blessed are the breasts that have nursed you!" Jesus chnages the focus: "There is something more important than the womb and the breasts. More important are those that hear the word of God and obey it". You've are more blessed than Mary if you become one of disciples.

He's'not saying anything bad about Mary, but he is saying something very positive about you and me. You can have the same blessing that Mary had if you listen to His word, if you obey His word, if you become submitted to His will. I believe that Mary is in the Bible for a reason, and she's there to give us an example of humility, submission and dedication.

We see her at the cross and through the whole time of crucifiction she's dedicated to be there at Jesus' side. We see that even after Jesus' resurection that she's with the church in Jerusalem, that she's there on the day of Pentecost. It says that she's there with the Lord's brothers praying to God and with Jesus' own brothers. Finally the eyes of Jesus' family were opened, they believed. They were there with the church praying not to Mary but to God, on the day that God sent his Holy Spirit and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.

The last time we see Mary in the Bible she's part of the church. She is praying with the other believers, and she's a Spirit filled Christian who speaks in tongues and is proclaiming the Gospel to others.

The real focus of the Bible is not on Mary, but on Jesus. Only he healed the sick, cast out demons, raised the dead, taught the crowds, suffered and died for us on a cross, rose again on the third day and now sits at the right hand of God the Father. It is Jesus who will one day return to judge the living and dead. If you want to pray to someone, worship someone, dedicate your life to someone - then give your life to Jesus.

Notes:
1. The Book of Judge (chapter 5, verse 24) calls Jael, who killed Sisera in her tent, blessed ABOVE other women: "Most blessed of women be Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, most blessed of tent-dwelling women". (New International Version) or "Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent" (King James Version). The Israelites never worshiped Jael nor considered her better than other women. God called her blessed above women and yet there was no cult or adoration of Jael among the Jews.

2. The Book of Genesis (18:18) says that THROUGH Abraham all nations of the world will be blessed: "Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him". Israelites honored the memory of Abraham and set him as an example, but there was never any worship or cult of Abraham among them.

3. The Greek word translated as highly favoured (Luke 1:28) is "kecharitomene" (nom. sing. fem. part. perf. pass. from "charito" ) and does not apply to Mary only. The apostle Paul uses another form "charito" (3 pers. sing. aor.1, ind. act.) in the Book of Ephesians (1:6) when he says: "He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves" (NIV). All believers are highly favoured by God in Jesus Christ.

4. The Book of Judges (6:12) tells us that when the angel of the LORD came to Gedeon he greeted him saying The LORD is with you: "When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior" (NIV) . It didn't not mean, however, that Gedeon was sinless or meant to be worshiped.

5. In Luke 1:32 David is called the father of Jesus and in many other fragments Jesus is called the son of David (e.g. Matthew 1:1, 9:27, 12:23, 15:22, 20:30-31, 21:9.15; Romans 1:3), just like Mary was the mother of Jesus and Jesus was the son of Mary. Catholics believe they can call and praise Mary as the Mother of God, because Elizabeth called her the mother of my Lord (Luke 1:43) and because Jesus is God. And yet they dare not proclaim or praise David as THE FATHER OF GOD. Why not? If David is called the father of Jesus and Jesus is God why not call David the Father of God? Why don't catholics praise David or ask him for intercession? Isn't he the Father of God just like Mary is the Mother of God?

6. If Mary was sinless why was she afraid when an angel came to her and why didn't she realise that she had found favour with God (Luke 1:30)? Why didn't she know that she was going to be the mother of Christ, why didn't she know earlier the will of God for her life, why didn't she understand that she was to give birth to the Messiah? Why was she surprised to learn that God would be incarnated in her womb? Jesus always knew the will of his heavenly Father, but Mary many times showed that she did not know the will of God at all ? (a) she was absolutely surprised hearing the prophesies concerning her son (Luke 2:19.33); (b) she did not know or understand that the boy Jesus was to be found in the house of his heavenly Father (Luke 2:49-51); (c) she did not realise that Jesus was doing the will of his Father when he preached all day long and she went to stop him (Mark 3:20-21.31-35).

7. Why do catholics believe that Mary never had any sexual intercourse with her husband Joseph? Would she be in any way defiled or made less holy if she had slept with her husband? This would mean that marital sex makes people in some way unworthy in God's sight. If not, then what does it matter whether Mary was a virgin until her death or not? Why is it so important for catholics to believe that Mary remained a virgin after Jesus was born? Would she have become in any way unclean or unholy if she had slept with Joseph afterwards? The question of Mary's virginity shouldn't really be the subject of any serious arguments if we believe that marital sex is pure, holy and fully accepted in God's sight. The Bible teaches that losing virginity to your husband is no sin at all (1 Corynthians 7:28.36; 1 Timothy 4:3; Hebrews 13:4). So does it make any real difference whether Mary remained a virgin or not? It shouldn't make any difference at all.

The above is an edited message given in Lublin, Poland. Unless indictae otherwise, the New International Version of the Bible was used.