“I am the LORD’s servant,” Mary answered. “Be it unto Me as You have said.” Luke 1: 38, NIV.
Gracious God, please teach us how important, our influence as mothers, can be as we meet here to study Your holy Word. In the blessed name of Jesus we humbly pray! Amen.
Many adages have been penned about mothers. Perhaps, the most famous, and I would endeavor to say, most important, of these, is: “The hand that rocks the cradle, is the hand that rules the world.” I believe that this adage was God-inspired. The influence of mothers upon their children is seen every day. Of course this by no means eliminates the exercise of personal choice, by children, but it does exert a mighty influence upon those choices, as the following examples suggest:
Paul said of the young man Timothy, “I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice, and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also” (2 Timothy 2: 5, emphasis provided).
Much of the evil, of the reign of Nero, the fifth emperor of Rome, can be traced to his mother, Agrippina the Younger.
I believe that there is a reason why the names of the mothers of the kings of Judah and Israel are mentioned. Two examples are: “Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah, of Boscath” (2 Kings 22: 1, KJV, emphasis provided). “Now Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, put himself forward and said, ‘I will be king’ (1 Kings 1: 5, emphasis provided, NIV). The life of a mother impacts the life of her child, for good, or for evil!
Today, we will take a look at the greatest life ever lived, the life of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and see if we can trace this principle in the relationship between mother and child. When the angel Gabriel visited Mary to tell her that she would be the mother of the Messiah, this must have been quite an experience for a young girl (14-16 years old). Have you ever thought about the great confidence God deposited in this young mortal, choosing her as the vessel to carry the Son of God? Have you pondered the fact that the Divine was going to wrap His divinity in humanity and come to earth and be raised by a human mother? Have you given thought to the fact that Mary had to live an exemplary life before the Son of God, because her life would have a direct impact on Him? Did you think about the fact that she had to play an incredible part in the education of the Son of God? I believe these are things worth thinking about.
What caught my attention, and on which I would like to comment briefly, is Mary’s response to the angel’s message. “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus . . . ‘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 . . . Mary answered. ‘Be it unto Me as You have said’ ” (Luke 1: 28-31, 34, 35, 38, NIV). Notice that Mary did not say, “This cannot be,” but rather, “How will this be?” In other words, just tell me what You plan to do. As soon as she was told, her response was, “Your will be done in me, just as You said” (My paraphrase).
It has been said, that it is on our deathbed that the real you, and the real me, shows up. I would like to submit for your consideration, some of Jesus’ last words, in the Garden of Gethsemane, when His life began to ebb away from Him: “My Father, if it is possible, May this cup be taken from [M]e. Yet not as I will, but as [Y]ou will” (Matthew 26: 39, 40, NIV). This sounds very much like mother, like Son.
Mary’s faithfulness was rewarded. By the death of her Son, Jesus the Christ, she received salvation! One day He will rule the world in justice, and “of His kingdom, there will be no end!” Have a very Happy Mother’s Day!