Mary, Mother of Jesus

MARY

Mother of Jesus

Scripture References: Matthew 1; 2; 12:46-50;  13:55-58; Luke 1; 2; John 2:1-11; 19:25-27 Acts 1:14

ABOUT HER

Mary was:

• the daughter of Heli
• of the tribe of Judah
• the cousin of Elizabeth
• betrothed to Joseph, the carpenter of Nazareth
• a virgin when pregnant
• mother of Jesus
• visited by the angel Gabriel

Mary’s Name: “As a name Mary is related to the Old Testament Miriam, to Mara, the name Naomi used to describe her affliction, and to Marah, the name of the bitter water reached by the Israelites in their wilderness journeys. The original and pervading sense of these root-forms is that of ‘bitterness,’ derived from the notion of ‘trouble, sorrow, disobedience, rebellion.’’ -Herbert Lockyer

When it comes to her name...it is not that Mary was rebellious or bitter as scripture says quite the opposite of that about her. However, she would experience and witness the world’s rebellion and bitterness toward the Son she would birth into the world and taste those things on the journey that God had her on.

Nothing is said about Mary’s physical appearance or beauty.

“Her love for God qualified Mary to be used by God.” -Elizabeth George

HER TIME TO LISTEN

Read Luke 1:26-45

v. 34 -This wasn’t a question of unbelief as was with others such as Sarah.

v. 38 -Go Mary! What a great example of a submissive heart toward the Lord.

God chose Mary.

“God’s choice meant that Mary would be pregnant before she was married and therefore branded a fornicator (John 8:41). God’s choice meant trouble with her husband-to-be, trouble at home, trouble in Nazareth, and trouble among the children she would one day have.” -Elizabeth George

Sometimes God’s choice for your life means trouble!

Mary didn’t live her life as if God existed to serve her. Mary lived her life to show she existed to serve God.

HER TIME TO RESPOND

Read Luke 1:46-56

Mary’s song is known as the “Magnificat” -”It reveals poetic and prophetic genius of the highest order, and takes its place among the finest productions of the world.” -Herbert Lockyer

This song reveals an overflow of God’s Word stored up in Mary’s heart.

“The surest test of a heart is indeed the caliber of its speech -the quality of the words which issue forth from it.” -Elizabeth George

“Mary first conceived Christ in her heart by faith, before she conceived in the womb” -Augustine

v. 46 “My soul magnifies the Lord” -are you like a magnifying glass so that when others look on your life they look at you and God seems bigger and clearer to them?

v. 47 -Mary recognized her need for a savior.

v. 48 -Mary looked to the future beyond the reproach she would bear for Christ. Mary had an eternal perspective and was not short-sighted! This shows us her mature character.

Read 1 Peter 1:3-11

Are you continuing to grow in your walk? Where do you still need to grow? What character qualities does the Lord still need to develop fully and richly in you?

Our tendency is always going to be to turn to the external instead of deal with the internal.

(Read Oswald Chambers devotional for March 27th)

Vision By Personal Character, My Utmost For His Highest

“Come up hither, and I will shew thee things.” Revelation 4:1

An elevated mood can only come out of an elevated habit of personal character. If in the externals of your life you live up to the highest you know, God will continually say – "Friend, go up higher." The golden rule in temptation is – Go higher. When you get higher up, you face other temptations and characteristics. Satan uses the strategy of elevation in temptation, and God does the same, but the effect is different. When the devil puts you into an elevated place, he makes you screw your idea of holiness beyond what flesh and blood could ever hear, it is a spiritual acrobatic performance, you are just poised and dare not move; but when God elevates you by His grace into the heavenly places, instead of finding a pinnacle to cling to, you find a great table-land where it is easy to move.

Compare this week in your spiritual history with the same week last year and see how God has called you up higher. We have all been brought to see from a higher standpoint. Never let God give you one point of truth which you do not instantly live up to. Always work it out, keep in the light of it.

Growth in grace is measured not by the fact that you have not gone back, but that you have an insight into where you are spiritually; you have heard God say "Come up higher," not to you personally, but to the insight of your character.

"Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?" God has to hide from us what He does until by personal character we get to the place where He can reveal it.

v. 56 -First Trimester Time!

HER LABOR STORY

Read Luke 2:1-38

2:1-7 -Mary had a very lonely and untraditional birth experience. A lot of times in a believers life we won’t keep up with the “traditions” of our culture ..and sometimes in our “church culture”!

2:8-21 -Angels played a huge part in orchestrating this event! I love how the Lord lets us see the spiritual realm so much in Mary’s story.

The Shepherds, Simeon and Anna the Prophetess

The Lord gave Mary these treasures to hold onto because He knew the road that lay ahead of her. This was Mary’s baby shower from the Lord!

What are treasures that the Lord has given you?

God told Joseph in a dream...

Others will not always understand why you do what you do. Being led by the Lord does     not always make sense to others. Life is unpredictable.

“Mary followed God’s plan for her life as a wife and followed her husband...an act which saved their young son’s life. Do you realize that faith in God is what enables us women who love God to follow our husband? Just like the holy women of old -women like Mary -who loved God and trusted in Him, we are to adorn ourselves with God’s beautiful, submissive spirit and follow our husbands (1 Peter 3:5-6). Faith in God enables us to do so.” -Elizabeth George

v. 23 -This was the offering of the very poor.

HER PARENTING

Read Luke 2:39-52

“Later Mary was married to Joseph the carpenter and she bore him four sons and several daughters, the former being named -James, Joses, Judas and Simon, and the daughters unnamed (Matthew 13:55, 56; Mark 6:3). During His ministry, none of His brothers believed in Him. In fact, they sneered at Him, and once concluded that He was mad, and wished to arrest Him and take Him away from Capernaum (Mark 3:21, 31; John 7:3-5).” Herbert Lockyer

Mary had some real-life family issues!

2:19, 51 -Mary was a contemplative person and when her time to shine came...she was ready!

“Mary’s alone was the privilege of rearing a perfect child. One in whom was no sin or guile. The boy Jesus heard God in everything around Him and saw His beauty everywhere. This was His Father’s world. Mary’s child had perfect, uninterrupted fellowship with the Father, and gradually developed to the full consciousness of mission.” -Frances Vander Velde

2:48 -Mary still had to deal with real, motherly concerns. It was at this time Mary had to start to separate herself in her heart from Jesus in this form of caring for him.

“For the next eighteen years He yielded to His home authority. It is felt that during this period Mary lost the protection of her husband, for if he had been alive he would have been certainly mentioned in succeeding events (Mark 3:31; John 2:1; 19:25).” -Herbert Lockyer

John 2:1-5 -Mary had a “Martha” moment!

Matthew 12:46-50 NASB “While he was still speaking to the people, behold his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. Be he replied to the man who told him, ‘Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?’ And stretching out his hand toward the disciples, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

“I think it is important for us to see this side of Mary, see her as a woman taking action. Otherwise we might get the impression that mary was a passive woman who agreed to anything; ‘whatever will be will be.’ Her submission to God’s will was not robotic in nature, and if we believe that it was, we would under-appreciate Mary. She had great privileges and responsibilities in God’s redemptive plan, but her participation didn’t always come easily. Her submission wasn’t automatic. It involved consideration and struggle, and at times a personal cost.” -Brenda Poinsett

John 19:25-27 NASB “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.”

“At previous meetings with Christ, Mary expressed her feelings. Now, as He dies, she stands in silence.” -Herbert Lockyer

Mary was evidently a widow as Jesus puts her into John’s care. Even though she had other children who could have cared for her, Jesus was providing for her spiritual care as her other children were not believers.

HER DESTINY

Read Acts 1:12-14

“Mary let go of Jesus as her son and accepted Him as God’s Son.” -Brenda Poinsett

This “letting go” as a mother wasn’t something she did once for all when the angel Gabriel spoke to her and she wrote her song. It was something that she needed to do every day.

HER LESSONS TO US

Humility -We never see Mary complaining or having self-pity.

Obedience -A prominent trait in Mary’s life.

Her character gave her a nobility. This is the kind of character the daughters of God need to have as we are a royal priesthood!

Discussion Questions:

1. Try to imagine Mary’s son as He played, studied and worked; imagine His attitude toward His playmates, His parents, the natural world. Was He different from other children? Could Mary have had any problems with her child?

2. What makes Mary unique to you personally?

Deborah

Deborah

Scripture References: Judges 4-5

Her Situation:

The heart of where the Israelites were at:

               “They were hardly steeled in the land when they proved to be greedy, selfish, and forgetful of Him from whom all blessings flowed. They took God’s earthly gifts but rejected His Word. God’s purpose was the destruction of idolatry, but theirs became the enjoyment of their vineyards and the mixing of cultures. In spite of pious promises, the Israelites turned their backs on God and became carnal and increasingly corrupt, becoming friends with the sensual Canaanites and bowing down to their idols (Judges 2; 3:5-7). Then the anger of the Lord burned against the children of Israel and, wherever they went, the hand of Jehovah was against them for evil. God’s promises to His people are sure, but He cannot condone disobedience and evil. His hate of sin is as certain as His marvelous display of grace. God’s people had forsaken Him, and now He would no longer help them to drive out the rest of the Canaanites. Many heathen nations would now remain in the land (which they could have possessed completely), and these people would be like unrelenting thorns in their sides. Their gods would be snares to them. Distressed as Israel became, they had no excuse for their predicament, for Jehovah had warned them repeatedly and had reasoned with them, ‘Why have ye done this?’ With their lips they said, ‘We will serve Jehovah,’ but they bowed in the dust before Baal and gave the strength of their bodies to Ashteroth. How like God’s ancient children we are! We say, ‘Use me for Thy glory,’ and then seek our own. We pray, ‘Help me to live for Thee,’ and then spend all of our strength to satisfy selfish desires. We read that God sold the nations to their enemies, as if to say ‘They are not Mine, they are yours; do with them as you will’ (Josh. 23:13; Judges 4:2). So Israel was exploited and burdened; their crops were eaten by another, their property pillaged. People were turned out of their homes, their women were molested, and their young men were made slaves. Warriors were cowed and leaders dispersed. They were in extreme distress. Independence was gone, and they were oppressed by a strong military power with no sense of justice. This time it was Jabin, the king of Canaan, and ruthless Sisera, who held them in iron clutches. At last there was no way for this stiff-necked people to look but up. They cried out to God, and He heard and provided a deliverer, the strong-minded Deborah. It was in her ear that they poured out their troubles. They knew her to be a courageous, wise, and godly woman, and they cried, ‘Awake, awake, Deborah: awake, awake, awake, utter a song’ (Judges 5:12), hoping that, though they were sore distressed and deeply humbled, they would once again come to sing the glorious praises of the great I AM. ” –Frances Vander Velde

Her Inspiration

Read Judges 4

Deborah was a prophetess. The gift of prophecy is “the ability to discern the mind and purpose of God and declare it to others.” –Herbert Lockyer

She was the wife of Lapidoth. (This is the only genealogy we have of Deborah)

Lapidoth’s names means “torches” or “lightning flashes” which indicates he may have sparked the flame in Deborah’s heart to do what she did.

“To become like Deborah –a woman used powerfully by God, a woman entrusted with leadership responsibility, a woman given a great ground for service to the kingdom –you must first be faithful as a wife.” –Elizabeth George

The role of a wife:

To Help: Genesis 2:18 NLT “Then the LORD God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.’”

To Submit: Ephesians 5:22 KJV “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.”

To Respect: Ephesians 5:33 ESV “However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.”

To Love: Titus 2:4 NKJV “that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children”

She was called “a mother in Israel,” though we have no record of her children we are not sure if she was just a mother figure to Israel or actually bore physical children. Either way, she was a mother figure in Israel. She portrayed a tender power and was approachable to the men around her.

If you are going to be a powerful woman of God and influence others around you and gain their respect, you must have a motherly sense about you. Others will not respond with this lacking as it will keep them from trusting you.

Deborah was the only woman to serve as a judge of Israel. She was the fifth judge.

She was also a poet.

Deborah’s name means “a bee,” which would leave me to believe that Deborah was a very hard working woman.

“Science confirms the ancient belief that, of all the animal kingdom, the bee ranks among the highest in intelligence,” says Mary Hallet. “So Deborah stands out as among the wisest of all the Old Testament women.”

How did Deborah show wisdom with her position? Through HUMILITY.

●     Judges 2:16 tells us the Lord raised up judges. The Lord Himself had raised her up and given her this position.

●     Deborah called for Barak to lead the people, not seeking to do everything herself.

●     Deborah served Barak when he asked her to come alongside him in the mission.

The way to be great in God’s kingdom is to walk the path of humility.

1 Peter 5:5 NKJV “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

1 Peter 5:6 NKJV “Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.”

Deborah ruled under a palm tree and this was a land mark because palms were rare at that time in Palestine. (Judges 4:5)

What idols do you personally struggle bowing down to? (A perfect Christian marriage or home, a booming ministry, wealth, beauty, control)

What sins do you need to confess to the Lord and forsake them and DO SOMETHING ABOUT THEM? (self-worship, self-centeredness, self-dependence, impurity, hypocrisy, discontentment, worry, discouraging others, complacency)

Leviticus 19:4 NASB “Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods; I am the Lord your God.”

1 John 5:21 NASB “Little children, guard yourselves from idols.”

1 Corinthians 10:14 NASB “Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.”

“Paul knew something that many Christians still have not learned –that the human heart is idolatrous and will worship anything it can possess. Therein lies the danger of the ‘good’ things. We have surrendered evil things, bad things, but we hold on to the good things and these we are prone to worship. Whatever we refuse to surrender and count but loss, we will ultimately worship. It may be something good, but it gets between you and God –whether it be property or family or reputation or security or  your life itself.” -AW Tozer

Prophets were inspired and Deborah the prophetess was full of inspiration! She had the gift to stir up people and move and motivate them.

Her Bravery:

Deborah saw a need and rose up and did something about it! She did a good job because the land had rest for forty years.

Deborah called for Barak, telling him to deliver the country. He said he would go only if Deborah went with him. They needed a brave heart!

The odds were against them but Deborah believed her God.

Deborah was a warrior.

Her Song:

Read Judges 5

Out of the conquest and victory, Deborah wrote a song. Her calling from God not only inspired her to fight, it inspired her to sing.

Outline of Deborah’s Song

(v. 1-5) –History verifies that the Lord sent a rainstorm and all of Sisera’s 900 chariots got stuck in the mud.

(v. 6-8) -Shagmar was a previous judge at a time when it was not safe to travel on the highways.

             -Deborah’s pride was in that she was a mother.

             -The people rejected the One True God and turned to false gods and worshiped them.

(v.9 ) –Deborah showed her support for other godly rulers in the land.

(v.10-11) –The gates were a place of assembly and where the people would meet and talk about topics of the day. Now the topic would be the righteous deeds of the Lord.

(v.12-13) –After the victory Deborah still tells Barak to rise up.

(v.14-18) –not all the tribes helped. Reuben acted as if there was no war. The tribe of Issachar stood with Deborah and Barak. Dan was busy in commerce. Asher continued on the seashore. Zebulun and Naphtali fought really well.

(v.19-20)  –These former enemies of Israel helped fight at the water of Megiddo which is near what will be Armageddon one day.

(v.21-23) –Meroz did not come to help the work of the Lord and they were cursed. The Lord secured their victory.

(v.24-31) –Jael is blessed. With a motherly heart, Deborah thinks of Sisera’s mother. Taking anyone’s life is sorrowful.

Life Lesson:

“May we, like Deborah, awaken to the need of the kingdom of God, arise to do our part, and march on with the Lord of Hosts to victory. And those who love and serve Him will “be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might” (Judges 5:31). –Frances Vander Velde

Discussion Questions:

1.      Where did Deborah live? Who was her husband? Where did she sit as judge?

2.      How would you describe Deborah’s personality?

3.      What can you personally apply in the story of Deborah that you want to share with the group?