I recently took it upon myself to study Mary, who played a significant role in Jesus’s life. Much has already been written about her, centuries of study to be precise. So I figured to do my own little biblical research with the aim of uncovering the truth. Revisiting all that I had been taught about her and what the research tells me and share what we could all learn from her.
This is a journey through the entire bible, from the Old Testament through to the new where Mary played an important role in the Messiah’s life who is the center of the word of God. To get a full picture, I thought it best to look at all references to her in the bible. This spans from before Mary’s existence; prophecies in the Old testament through to their fulfillment in the New. In addition to this, I also delved into the word to find her identity, a 360 degree view; who she said she was, what those close to her said of her and who God said she was.
Prophecy of the virgin with child
Let’s go back to the beginning, way back to when the prophets of old prophesied of the virgin. This prophecy is mentioned in the Old Testament in the book of Isaiah. That in the future their salvation would come when a certain virgin would miraculously conceive and this child would be their savior
Virgin to conceive and give birth to a son
“Therefore the LORD himself will give you a sign; the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14
Isaiah analyzed the failures of the nations around him and pointed to a future Messiah who would bring peace to the nations and the earth. He goes on to say that the people living in darkness have seen a great light, to those living in the deep darkness a light has dawned. This light refers to the same Immanuel (God with us), the Messiah
“For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace.
7 Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this. Isaiah 9: 6 -7
In the New Testament we see a virgin introduced to us; this virgin’s name was Mary pledged to be married to Joseph, a descendant of David. An angel appeared to her with a very special message, a prophecy of her child who would have the throne of his father David and whose kingdom would never end.
“In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, 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 greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him 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 Jacob’s descendants 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 on 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 unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.” Luke 1: 26 -38
The prophecies all come to pass, Jesus is eventually born; born of a virgin, she conceived him through the Holy Spirit, and he was in the lineage of King David through Joseph. His genealogy is clearly detailed in Matthew 1:1-16 and Luke 3:23-37
Virgin until the birth of Jesus
One thing I would like to point out is that Mary was a virgin all through her pregnancy until the birth of Christ. After his birth she and her husband Joseph had other children. Here is the evidence as recorded in the New Testament. The first when the angel of the LORD appeared to Joseph.
“When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son .And gave him the name Jesus.” Matthew 1:25
Once Jesus began his ministry some people did not believe in him, those in his home town. They questioned his authority and power by saying.
“Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas (Jude)? Aren’t all his sisters with us?” Matthew 13:55 – 56
Mary’s identity: Her own perspective
Lord’s servant
When the angel Gabriel visited Mary to inform her of the birth of Christ she received the news with humility. She accepted what the Lord had planned by saying;
“I’m the Lord’s servant, may your word to me be fulfilled” Luke 1:38
She humbly refers herself as the Lord’s servant some translations put this as maid servant, she understood that her life was in the hands of the Lord and fully accepted is will.
Later on she goes to visit Elizabeth, her cousin who was also with child in her old age.
Blessed
Elizabeth welcomes her warmly indicating that she was aware of her pregnancy with the Messiah. Mary bursts into song; Luke 1:46 – 55.
She also confesses that from then on people would call her blessed for the Mighty One had done great things for her and continued to praise his holy name.
Mary’s Song
“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,
just as he promised our ancestors.” Luke 1:46-55
Mother
She and her husband were concerned parents of Jesus. When Jesus was a boy he and his family went to Jerusalem for the Festival of Passover as was their custom. However on one trip when he was 12 he was left behind. His parents searched for him all over and found him after three days in the temple courts. (I think these 3 days are pretty significant and point to him being the Passover lamb and would be resurrected after 3 days.)
Upon finding him Mary asked “Son why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you”
Mary’s Identity: Perspective of those around her
Blessed
In her visit to Elizabeth during her pregnancy Elizabeth welcomes her with the well-known greeting as she was filled with the Holy Spirit.
“Blessed are you among women and blessed is the child that 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!”
Luke 1:42- 45
I took the liberty of pasting the entire context here as you will note I have done for most of the scripture references as there have been several misquotations that have been widely circulated over the several centuries.
Elizabeth refers to her as blessed among women and mother of my Lord. Elizabeth knew through the Holy Spirit that Mary had the Messiah in her womb hence referred to him as my Lord.
One time when Jesus was teaching the people, a woman from the crowd called out “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you” Luke 11:27 to which Jesus promptly responded;
“Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it” Luke 11:28
Mother
She was also the mother of other sons and daughters whom she had with her husband Joseph, as earlier mentioned in Matthew 13: 55
“Isn’t this carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas (Jude)? Aren’t all his sisters with us? “Matthew 13:55 – 56
At the wedding in Cana where she informed Jesus of the lack of wine he responded “Woman why do you involve me? My hour has not yet come.” John 2:4
At the time of his crucifixion, he saw his mother there along with the disciple John and he said to her endearingly.
“Woman, here is your son and to the disciple “Here is your mother” From that time on this disciple took her into his home” John 19:27
Jesus must have cared for his mother, he knew very well in the custom at the time that widows were often shunned and he being the first born and male, it was his responsibility to care for her.
At the beginning of his ministry, his family heard that he had appointed disciples and was performing miracles .He entered a certain house and crowds gathered, his family went to take charge of him .Upon arriving Jesus was informed that his mother and brothers were outside looking for him to which he responded;
“Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother” Mark 3:34 In so doing ,he made it clear that anyone who did the will of God would be blessed as part of his family.
Mary’s identity: The Lord’s perspective
Highly Favored and blessed
Angel Gabriel’s visit to Mary he addressed her as highly favored one and blessed for the Lord was with her. She had found favor with God for he chose her to give birth to the Messiah.
“The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Luke 1:28
Woman
As Jesus hang on the cross dying ,he noticed Mary at the foot of the cross weeping next to his disciple John. He spoke to her addressing her as Woman and giving John to her as his son and she his mother. The NIV translation points out that the Greek word for Woman used in the original scripture does not denote any disrespect. The bible reference for his is John:19:25-27
Believer and Follower of Christ
After the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ ,she was with the other disciples who regularly met in the upper room to pray and was even present in the selection of the twelfth apostle who would replace Judas Iscariot.
Mary and her younger sons were also among the disciples and other believers on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came upon them as tongues of fire. This is recovered in the book of Acts 1: 12 – 2:4
Lessons we can learn from Mary’s experience
Humility and Faith
I believe that Mary is to be respected as she had an important role to play in Christianity. She accepted to be conceive a child yet she was betrothed .Back in the day a woman caught in the scandal of adultery was stoned to death. Joseph knowing this fully well opted to divorce her quietly to save her from the wrath of the law. However his fears were calmed after the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream confirming that she really did conceive through the Holy Spirit.
We can all learn from her on how to embrace humility and still have steadfast faith in God. She did not object or reject the Lord’s will in her life, she accepted it willingly knowing full well the implications of what it would mean in her day. She not only risked her reputation but risked death by stoning for she was found with child, yet was unmarried. She worshiped God and praised him for his deeds his mercy and faithfulness.
Respecting her as one would the other women and men of faith in the bible is what we should do .The Veneration of Mary however is not biblical and hence should be discouraged.
Worship
Mary praised God and glorified his name for the great things he had done in her song that is captured in Luke 1:46-55.
“My soul glorifies the Lord
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
50 His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
55 to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors.”
When Mary gave birth to Christ in Bethlehem ,Magi from the east came in search of the new born child, King of the Jews. When they found him with is parents ,they bowed down and worship him and presented gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. They worshipped the Messiah for the knew who he really was.
At his dedication in the temple at 8 days old an old man named Simeon ,righteous and devout had the Holy Spirit upon him ,when he saw baby Jesus he praised God saying that he has seen the Lord’s promise ,his salvation and a light for revelation .A prophetess who had lived in the temple for several years worshiping night and day, fasting and praying said that he was the redemption of Jerusalem.
In all these cases, worship was directed to the Lord Almighty and the Lord Jesus Christ alone. The famous greeting from Elizabeth called her blessed for she had believed that the Lord would fulfill what he had promised her, therefore she too glorified the Lord. It is therefore imperative for us ,followers of Christ to direct our worship and adoration to the Lord Almighty and the Messiah alone.
Prayer
Mary’s song ,found in Luke 1 is the main reference we have of Mary’s prayer life.
It seems she was praising him for prayers she made to him that were now answered. The Lord was mindful of the humble state of his servant. He had showed her great mercy and she was grateful for it, knowing that this mercy would go on for many more generations.
The Lord heard her prayers and those of the faithful in Israel by remembering the covenants he had made to Abraham and their ancestors and showed them mercy and sent the promised Messiah. Once again her prayers and praises were directed to the Lord Almighty.
Fast forward to the New Testament, when her Son the Messiah finally begins his ministry ,he teaches his disciples how to pray. He gave them and us the Lord ’s Prayer.
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one. “Matthew 6: 9 -13
Jesus also taught his disciples further about prayer, in the Gospel of John .He explained to them that they should pray in his name so that the Father may be glorified.
“And I(Jesus) will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”
John 14:13-14
We learn from Mary that all prayer is directed to the Lord Almighty. Jesus further teaches us that we should pray in his name so that the Lord Our Father is glorified. In the New Testament we learn that Jesus Christ is the only mediator between man and God.
We should not therefore invoke any other person’s name while praying ,be it an ancestor, be it Saint, be it Mary ,and be it a prominent personality dead or alive.
“Salvation is found in no one else (other than Jesus Christ) for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12
“For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all people” 1Timothy 2:5
I hope this has been insightful and my prayer is that this would invoke deep introspection in every reader and seek the Lord’s guidance on the way forward.
Now that we are home on lock down due to Covid 19, I’ve been watching these flowers in my Mum’s garden- day in day out. These flowers bud, bloom, grow and eventually wither and die .Bud, bloom, grow, die. The process repeats itself over and over .It’s like clockwork. Interestingly ,the flower instinctively knows what it should be doing and at what time .It’s as if it understands its God given DNA and the elements required for it to flourish and how to behave when these elements are met or not.
ComeFullCircle 
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