Mothers of Jesus -Mary

What do you think of when you hear the name Mary?

I won’t lie to you, I’ve always thought of her as this amazing, selfless woman, who could do no wrong. I think especially of her quick obedience and remember faint echoes of talks that pretty much state how we should ‘be like her in obedience’. And I agree.

Yet, in many ways, her level of obedience has always felt unreachable to me. I would think, “well, that was Mary. Of course she said yes.” But, as I read through Matthew 1 and Luke 1, the word ‘ordinary’ kept making an appearance in my mind.

You would expect Jesus’ lineage to be one of perfection. However, as you read on, you’re increasingly met with the opposite and one of the last of five women mentioned in Matthew’s genealogy is Mary. According to many bible commentaries, it was unusual for a Jewish genealogy to even include women. I suppose it was even more unusual for it include women who were of no particular status, were sinners and rejected by many. Women who needed Jesus.

This is who Mary was.

If you want to dive into Mary’s life a little more, I encourage you to read Luke 1. According to historical context, her day was probably full of domestic chores and manual labour, in an attempt to live under an ever-increasing tax regime. But within Mary we see a genuine faith – she believed in the coming of the Messiah, promised to her people hundreds of years before her lifetime. We read that she is favoured by God and this seems to be the qualifier for what comes next.

What does this mean?

Through her life we learn that this has less to do with us than we think, and everything to do with the God we serve. He saw Mary. He decided that His grace and love were sufficient, not that her power, status or ability were enough.

And what next? Mary obeyed the call, and her obedience was costly. It initially cost her engagement, definitely cost her reputation and made her future uncertain. Yet God calls her and says, you are favoured, and she says I am willing.

Why was she willing? Because she believed in God and who he is.

So, I hope that when you see Mary now, you’ll see what you have in common with her.

Faith.

I pray that when God calls, your faith in Him would lead you to see that he is worthy of our obedience. And that your faith would remind you, that His grace and love are sufficient to see you through to the very end.

By Esther Feranmi