This Sunday we celebrate our mothers. It’s probably impossible to look at motherhood, through God’s plan, without looking at Mary the mother of Jesus. Is there any other woman in history whose role is better defined as that of a mother than Mary?
The Messiah could have come to earth as a fully-grown man. God didn’t need to come through the womb of a woman, but yet He chose that path. This monumental choice makes it clear the importance God places on motherhood. Moms matter! Jesus shares with all of us the very human experience of being born and cared for by a mother.
I’m a mom. Many of you reading this article are moms. Motherhood is not an extraordinary thing. No, on the contrary – motherhood is very ordinary. But going back to the Gospel, how did the ordinary compare to the extraordinary when it came to impacting the life of Jesus. He was born to an ordinary girl who lived an ordinary life. Yet there were extraordinary choirs of angels singing his arrival that night in Bethlehem! And then three extraordinary wise men came bearing gifts for a new born baby, laying in a manger – gifts that were customarily reserved for royalty!!
However it is not the choir of angels or the three wise men who are found throughout the Gospel. It is that ordinary girl, Mary, the mother of Jesus, who is found throughout the Gospel. From the time Gabriel came to her to announce she had been chosen among all women to give birth to the Messiah, to Jesus’ birth, throughout His ministry and even during His Death, Resurrection and Assumption. Mary was there as God’s plan for redemption through His son unfolded. Her role was not that of a co-redeemer. No, her role was that of a loving mother, who had hope and a strong faith in God’s ultimate plan of salvation, through her much loved Son, Jesus.
We know that Jesus loved His mother and was even concerned about her well being. As he was dying on the cross, His thoughts about His beloved mother are clear. (John 19:25-27) “But standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 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 the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.”
Even though Scripture doesn’t go deeply into the time of Jesus’ life before His ministry started, I can imagine how precious the little boy Jesus was to his mother, Mary. How she would take care of her son, what she may have cooked for him, how she taught him how to walk, talk, and even shared moments of goofy laughter and tears of sadness with her Son all the years He lived with her at home. She was a mom, much like you or me. Sometimes that human quality of our dear Savior is overlooked. But just like us, Mary must’ve cuddled Jesus in her arms– probably not wanting to let him go; perhaps not wanting the years to click by so quickly. Did her heart ache, perhaps knowing His destined role and what that may have ultimately meant?
When I look at Mary, as a mother, I am reminded that it is the little daily things I do for my children that matter. I am not extraordinary by the world’s standards. No – far, far from it. But I am a mom who will hopefully influence my children’s lives through the little things I do for them, the loving words I say to them and the way I behave around them.
God has a purpose for each of us. This purpose my be reached through ways which seem very ordinary, but touch the hearts of our children in extraordinary ways!
Happy Mother’s Day to all the mother’s out there! May God continue to give you daily amounts of wisdom, strength, perseverance, peace and abundant joy. What you do on a daily basis really DOES make a difference!
About the Author: Lisa Strnad is a freelance writer/blogger, who regularly contributes to What’s in the Bible? and Jelly Telly. She is a homeschooling mom of two, who works independently in Christian media in the areas of writing, promotions and marketing. She lives with her husband and children in Nashville, TN.
