As Mother’s Day approaches, it’s also time to honor not only biological mothers, but everyone who performs the duties of a mother – grandmothers, aunts, older sisters, and others. It’s also a good time to consider a very important woman in the Bible – Mary.

Mary is shown to be a woman of great faith – one might say she had faith beyond her years, as she was likely engaged as a young teen. But, who was she?

The Bible – the Inspired Word of God

To start, it’s important to establish that the Bible is the Word of God. The writers didn’t follow man’s wisdom – they were moved by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21), which is one way God manifests Himself. It’s like saying water vapor is one way H2O shows itself. Water, ice, and vapor are all H2O. The Father, Son, and Spirit are all God. God is three in one, and one in three. That is the Trinity, or as the Bible calls it, the Godhead. (Col. 2:9 and others). Jesus promised to send the Comforter – the Holy Spirit/Ghost – to the disciples (John 14:26, etc.), and also to all believers. (Eph. 1:13-14, etc.)

So, God Himself instructed the writers to write the Bible, while allowing the writers to keep their own individual traits and styles. God’s Word is truth. (John 17:17)

Mary’s Attitude & Christ’s Virgin Birth

One thing we notice quickly is Mary’s attitude. Numerous times, as things happen, she “ponders them in her heart.” This shows that she was wise enough to know she must be humble. She didn’t have all the answers, and she knew it. That’s an important trait. Some mothers are faced with children of widely varying personalities. They must know how to treat each in a loving manner which befits that child. She comes right out and asks the angel how she was going to conceive, if she had never been with a man. The angel saw her heart and answered graciously. Jesus would be born miraculously, because the Holy Spirit would “come upon her,” (Luke 1:35, Mat. 1:20) and “overshadow” her, like a cloud. (Luke 1:35) Once she is informed of this, she has the faith to understand that this would be a miraculous work, performed by God. It would be very different from normal, because God had to provide a way to bypass the seed of man, because through man – Adam – all are dead. Through Jesus Christ, God in flesh, however, all are made alive again. (Rom. 5:12-21) Mary accepts this willingly.

Mary’s Rejoicing at her Salvation and God’s Promise

The Bible gives us Mary’s song of praise to God. (Luke 1:46-55) She especially praises God as her Saviour. (Luke 1:47) This is important. It shows that she knew she wasn’t perfect. She was in need of the Saviour, just as everyone is.

But, wait, some may say. In Luke 1:43, Elizabeth – Mary’s cousin and mother to John the Baptist – refers to her as the mother of the Lord? Even if Mary was in need of the Saviour, does this show she has a special place of honor? Let’s look at what the Bible says elsewhere. We’ll see the answer is apparent.

Why does the Holy Spirit lead Elizabeth to call Mary this?

There are two good reasons why Elizabeth calls Mary this.

First, it shows that blessed fact that Jesus Christ was God in flesh. He is the Lord – He is not just a God, He is, was, and always shall be God. In many other places, we see He is one with God. (John 10:30, etc.) Yes, at times God has a reason for distinguishing between God the Father and God the Son, often to remind readers of His sacrifice. However, this is one more place where we see Jesus is God.

Second, she is humbly accepting that it was a great honor that Mary would come to her. Mary is a great mother. Think about it. God knew that when He came in flesh, to Earth, He would have it rough. He’d be hated, mocked, ridiculed, probably called every name in the book – and not just as an adult. The old devil, full of tricks, would likely rile up those in his neighborhood to no end, just as Herod was fueled by jealousy and rage to kill every little boy in Bethlehem, in hopes of killing Jesus. Bullies may have taunted him mercilessly, and others cheated may have him consistently. Why? Because if He had been made to sin even once, He would not have been able to be the sinless sacrifice for our sins when He died on the cross, and rose from the grave.

We know Jesus was sinless, though. His perfect blood provided our redemption. Could He have come out of a dysfunctional home? Sure, He was God. However, God knew that the burden of growing up as He did would be lessened considerably by providing Him with a loving, caring family to grow up in, so He wouldn’t have to face any more than He had to. Mary and Joseph recognized that God needed to be at the head of their household.

So, Mary had been given a great honor. However, she was only given this honor because she was totally ready to make God number one in her life.

We can see this in the only command she gives in the Bible. That command was given to workers at a marriage feast in Cana.

Mary’s command – “Whatever Jesus Says, Do It”

The command Mary gives comes after servants at a feast run out of wine. She goes to Jesus and informs Him of this. However, Jesus doesn’t perform a miracle just because she asks Him to; His statement to her is a mild reminder that He is God, and is not bound by what she requests Indeed, He’s not bound by any of us; His plans and ways are perfect. He knows what is best in each of our lives, better than we do.

Some have wondered about His calling her “Woman.” This was the customary Jewish term when speaking respectfully to a woman, as seen in other verses. It can be done very tenderly, and was, by Jesus. Indeed, He uses this same term on the cross, to fulfill an obligation. He told John, His closest disciple, to take care of her, as she was almost certainly a widow at this point – hence He says “Woman, behold thy son.” (John 19:26) yes, she had other children the natural way, as noted in several verses. However, as the oldest, Jesus had the duty to provide for her.

There is another reason Jesus doesn’t call her by the term “Mother” in this verse, though. It relates to the first point – He was not bound to obey just because she had given birth to Him. This is not only because He is God, but because he knew there could be confusion if she was seen to influence Him at any point.

She shows that she understands that in the next verse. She tells the servants “Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it.” (John 2:5)

With that command, she humbly backs away, realizing that Jesus, and He alone, is God, and only He should be obeyed. Jesus was right, that people might get confused otherwise, as a woman approaches Him at another point during His Earthly ministry, and praises Mary, calling her blessed. Jesus corrects this woman, too, saying, “rather, blessed are they that hear the Word of God, and keep it.” (Luke 11:27-28) In other words, the one who is blessed is the person who keeps – that is, obeys – the Word of God.

Mary does say, in the Magnificat, that the world would call her blessed. Mary was a wonderful, humble woman who kept God close in her heart. She willingly backed away, as she realized that Jesus is God in flesh, and that He alone should be approached for things. She is saying she’ll be called blessed in the same way all those who received Jesus by faith were blessed with that great privilege, to see our Lord Himself in the flesh.

We can be joyful, too, because, “To as many as received Him, gave He power to become the Sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” (John 1:12) That verse is special, because it is one of many verses where God, in His Word, tells us what to do in order to receive His free gift of salvation. It is not just for those who receive Him – it is for those who believe on His name.

What Jesus Tells Us To Do:

How do we do that? He wants us all to com to Him by prayer. He calls on all, “Come unto Me, al lye who labor, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of Me, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Mat. 11:28-30) We do that through prayer, letting Him work in us through God the Holy Spirit. We can go boldly before the throne of grace. (Hab. 4:16)

It is not by vain repetitions (Mat. 6:7) – Jesus gave us a model prayer, but it is clearly a model, as He just gets done saying to just say the same thing over and over. It shows that we pray to God the Father, in Jesus’ name. Yes, when we do that, we’re really praying to God the Son, too, but that that means is, we’re praying because we are in Jesus – we have His Spirit living inside us. That’s the only way we can pray to God.

This is why the first prayer God will hear, and answer “yes” to, is the “sinner’s prayer.” You may ask, is that in the Bible? A type is – it’s what prayed by the thief on the cross in Luke 23. More generally, when someone refers to it, they’re referring to the act of trusting in Jesus as we are commanded in Eph. 2:8-9, Rom. 10:9-10, Rom. 10:13, John 1:12, John 3:16, and so on. All these verses in God’s Word – His commands for us – tell each of us we must: 1. Admit we’re sinners, that we fall short of God’s perfect Heaven, and can’t save ourselves; 2. Believe that Jesus Christ, God in flesh, died for our sins taking our punishment, and rose from the dead; and, 3. Choose to repent – turn away from our sins – and receive Him into our hearts as Saviour, letting Him make us new inside.

God gave us His Word because he wants us to know Him personally, to know for sure we are going to Heaven. (1 John 5:13, Rom. 8:38-39, etc.) Churches have set up traditions, but Jesus warns us against following traditions that go against His Word, just as He does against vain repetitions. He wants us to follow His Word, and that alone.

When we trust in Him, He promises to guide us through anything, give us peace that passes understanding, wisdom whenever we seek Him, and many other great things on Earth, in addition to salvation from our sins. Indeed, when the servants went to Jesus at that marriage feast, Jesus gave them what they needed. Not because they went through Mary – Jesus said they couldn’t go through Mary, and Mary specifically told them not to go through her, but to go through Jesus and do whatever He said. Turning water into wine was a little request compared to the big miracles Jesus did – it wasn’t healing or raising from the dead. But, this just shows that Jesus will hear any request, from the smallest to the greatest. And, He will give us what is best for us when we ask in His will.

That’s because Jesus – God Himself – comes to live inside us, through his Holy Spirit, when we receive Him by simple faith. And, if we stray, He lovingly guides us back – sometimes He has to nudge harder, if we struggle too hard, but He will always lovingly work in us to make us more like Him, because that is what’s best for us.

Mary did a great job. She is the ideal mother; the kind women can look up to, just as they can look up to Ruth, Esther, or any Godly person. However, she is not the one any of us should ultimately pattern ourselves after.

God’s Word – which not only Mary, but more importantly God Himself, says to follow – says we should be like Christ. It is hard, because even after we receive Him, we have that fleshly nature. However, we have His promise, that once He begins a good work in us, He will complete it. (Philippians 1:6) So, we can do like Mary did, and greatly rejoice in God our Saviour. Because, just Mary recognized her need of salvation for her sins, and learned to do whatever it was Jesus said, so, too, can we all receive Him as our Saviour, and learn to follow Him – not because we have to, but because we want to.