more about mary

The birth of Jesus was foretold many times in the Old Testament by the prophets of God.
The prophets spoke for God about the things that would happen at a time in the future.
All of the prophecies about the birth of Jesus were fulfilled just as they were written in God's word.

Isaiah 7:14 "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign; Behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son and shall call His name Immanuel (which means God with us)."

I wrote about Mary a couple of days ago. Mary was chosen by God before the earth was formed to be the Mother of His Son Jesus Christ. Indeed she was a virgin, just like Isaiah foretold.

The point I want to make is that Mary, the favored one of God, was never meant to recieve the glory and honor that has been given to her in the last two thousand years.

Mary was a humble vessel that God chose to carry out His plan of redemption here on this earth.

Mary was completely human, just as we are. Yes she was given an amazing task.......to give birth to the Son of God, but she is not divine in any way.

Riding on that donkey into Bethlehem was painfully uncomfortable. Giving birth in an animal shelter was terrifying........no soft lights and music for her......nothing to ease the horrible pain. The stark reality was that Jesus was delivered on a bed of hay.

But when she held that tiny little baby in her arms that cold dark night, she was overcome with love and amazement and joy just like all of us mothers were at the birth of our children.

She knew her baby was born to die........what sadness she must have felt. When she wrapped Him tenderly in those swaddling cloths she knew their significance. Those were symbolic of the cloths that Jesus would be wrapped in after His death on the cross. (I learned this in the sermon on Sunday by the way).

Now Mary didn't move on from the manger and assume a high and exalted status. She kept on being Jesus' mother. She raised him and his brothers and sisters in her Jewish home with her husband Joseph.

We know almost nothing of Mary until Jesus started His earthly ministry at or around the age of thirty. She would then be the mother of her grown Son and she ministered to Him with the other women who walked the paths Him.

Mary saw her Son's death, burial, and resurrection probably not understanding the full magnitude of what had just happened.......no one would understand until the coming of the Holy Spirit some time later as recorded in the 2nd chapter of Acts.

From the cross Jesus uttered these words......

"When Jesus saw His mother and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, he said to His mother, "Woman, behold your son! Then He said to His disciple, "Behold your mother!" And from that time the disciple (John) took her to His own home.

Mary was Jesus' mother, but she is not to be worshipped. The humble earthly mother of Jesus would have depised the exaltation that has be given to her. We worship God and His Son Jesus Christ and that is it......

O Worship the King..."