Mary, The Mother of Jesus
Study Scripture: Luke 2 :15 – 19, John 2: 1 – 5, 19: 25 – 27
Background Scripture: Luke 2, John 2: 1 – 5, 19: 25 – 27
Lesson #8 July 25, 2026
Key Verse
But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
Luke 2:19
INTRODUCTION
Our Lesson Study focuses on the plan of God to remove sin from the earth in a way which involves the activity of human beings, for human beings were the one responsible for bringing sin and their experience of an incredible amount of pain into the world.
Our story therefore begins in Genesis 3:12-15 where Jesus faced the sinning Adam and Eve and outlined for them what would happen in history. We therefore put down on paper what Jesus said so we can know where to begin our story:
“And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat?
And the man said, the woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, the serpent beguiled me and I did eat.
And the Lord God said unto the serpent, because thou hast done this,, thou art cursed above all cattle and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
And to the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception: in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children, and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall shall rule over you.”
This stage had been set for sin had entered into the world. The Man, the woman, and the Serpent would now be locked into the tragedy of life. The only relief that would come would be at the time of the coming of the Promised Redeemer, His sacrifice on the Cross for the remission of sin, and the subsequent wrapping up of the age.
Our Study therefore looks at the woman that was chosen by God to be the key figure in the entry of the Messiah Redeemer and Savior into the world.
This of course would be an incredible event for it would involve the coming of the Lord God Himself the Lord Jesus Christ into the world as a human being, for only He would be able to face the temptation and the hostility of Satan, the “anointed cherub that covereth”, the “angel of light” that had been cast out from heaven because of his rebellion against God the Father and his attempt to usurp the position of God the Father.
We do not therefore have to wonder about this supernatural birth that had to occur. One writer brings us up to date on the seriousness of this matter which seems to be often avoided by many humans, including professing Christians. He states:
“But who would want to compare the truth about the conception of the birth of Caesar Augustus? Caesar’s mother visited the temple of Apollo and there she was visited by a serpent and the fruit of the union of the mother of Caesar Augustus and the serpent was Caesar Augustus.
Who would want to compare that with the story of the New Testament record?….
In Greek mythology Pallas Athena, the goddess of the Greeks, jumped fully armed out of the head of Zeus.
And if the Christians were seeking to popularize their truth by inventing a sensational account of the origin of their leader, they surely did a very poor job of it in giving us an account of a woman who was in a manger with a few shaggy shepherds standing around and a little baby placed in that manger.
That surely would not compete with the sensational account of the origin of the gods.
No the only thing that satisfies the facts is that the virgin birth is a fact.
Early literature attests it, the old Roman confession attests to it. Justin Martyr in the second century not only believed it but defended it.
Ignatius spoke of it as one of the mysteries to be shouted about and he died in 117 A.D. as a martyr.
The New Testament accounts are independent, we have Matthew’s account. We have Luke’s account. We have a statement by Paul in Galatians 4:4……
In the final analysis, as you probably know, the credibility of the virgin birth rests upon the miraculous.
In a final analysis God is the miracle.
He is not imprisoned within natural processes, the simplest things we do not understand..
In the final analysis it is a fact that rests upon God, this virgin birth. Amid a God, that mistress Supreme that cause uncaused, all other wonders cease, nothing is marvellous for him to do. Deny him, all his mystery besides.
Mary knew it was a problem. That’s why she said, “How shall this be seeing I know not a man?” And the angel comforted her by saying,“ Now Mary, your cousin Elizabeth, you remember she is the one that is barren, she is 6 months pregnant”.
By the way, you will notice the first thing Mary did was take a trip to see. And she was 6 months pregnant, not one month, so you could be sure and see it Mary. But then he added,
“With God, nothing is impossible”.
We are advised further:
“There are four ways for God to make a human body; he can make a human body with a man and with a woman as I and as you were made.
He can make a human body without a man or a woman, as he made Adam.
He can make a man without a woman, as Eve.
He can make a woman without a man as Eve was made.
And he can certainly make a human body without a man, as Jesus Christ was made”.
We therefore as we look at this Study we have to go to Isaiah 9:5-7 which prophesies:
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulders: and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end,, upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this”.
In a rebuke to the wicked king Ahaz, the prophet stated when Ahaz refused to listen to the word of God he was even told to ask for a sign to corroborate the word of God to him, giving the nation comfort at the protection of the nation. So the prophet stated:
“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign: behold, a, Virgin shall conceive. And shall bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel”.
Our Study therefore focuses on the woman chosen by God who is described by the Angel who came to her as a woman that was “ highly favoured”.
This single word used to describe her means “much grace”. Mary had received God’s grace, much grace.
Note that grace is “unmerited favour”, that is, grace is a blessing we receive despite the fact that we do not deserve it.
Mary knew she needed grace from God and she knew she needed a Savior just as the rest of us do. So because Mary understood this fact in Luke 1:47 she declared, “My spirit rejoices in God my Savior”.
This very godly woman is an example for us for Luke 2:19 tells us that with all the strange things happening around her, “But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart”.
Mary did not only react at the event of Jesus’ birth and the response of the shepherds message about Jesus but she also felt the same way when she and Joseph took Jesus to the temple for a circumcision.
Simeon recognized that Jesus was the Savior and gave God the praise and Joseph and Mary marvelled at what Simeon told Mary which is as follows:
“Behold this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed and a sword shall pierce through your own soul also, so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed”. Luke 2:34-35.
When Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the temple when He was 12 years old, she and Joseph were upset when Jesus could not be found in the caravan which had left for Nazareth apparently without Him. They were very distressed and so they went back to Jerusalem looking for Him. There they found Him still in the Temple. When Mary told Jesus bluntly that they had been distressed about His absence He told them as recorded in Luke 2:51, that He must be in His Father’s house. Jesus appeared to have expected that His parents would have known what His priorities were. He states that they should have known that He would remain in the Temple asking questions and answering questions. But yet after this encounter and exchange Jesus then returned to Nazareth with His earthly parents and submitted to them. Once again we are told that Mary “treasured up all these things in her heart”. Luke 2:50.
So let us look at the facts about Mary, this beloved and chosen mother of Jesus Christ in some detail. She was a godly woman who treasured up the knowledge of God and the memory of the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ and the prophecies in the Scriptures.
So should we. We should follow her example.
But we note that later in the public ministry of Jesus when His family including her were concerned greatly about Him after Jesus had attacked the scribes who had come down from Jerusalem and accused Him of having Beelzebub, and doing His work by the ruler of the demons, casting out demons. Jesus had then pointed out to them that they had committed the unpardonable sin.
Mark 3:31-35 and Luke 8:19-21 record this incident which has disturbed many when they consider Mary and her faith as opposed to the disbelief about Jesus and who He was. Many in her family apparently did not believe that Jesus was the promised Redeemer:.
Mark 3: 20 and 21 gives the additional detail that multitudes were coming together so that they could not as much as eat bread. And in that situation it is commented:
“And when his friends heard of it they went out to lay hold on him for they said he is beside himself”
We are told by Mark that after this the scribes from Jerusalem then attacked Jesus for casting out devils by Beelzebub the prince of demons. Jesus had responded by accusing them of committing the unpardonable sin (verses 22 through 30). He clearly stated that their position was very illogical for Satan could not be divided against himself and survive. It is after this incident that we read starting from verse 31:
“Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him calling Him.
And a multitude was sitting around Him,, and they said to Him “Look, Your mother and your brothers are all outside seeking you.
Then he answered them saying, “Who is my mother, or my brother”. And He looked around, in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whosoever does the will of God is my brother and my sister and mother”.
When His family arrived Jesus proclaimed that it is those who do the will of God who are His family.
Jesus’ brothers did not believe in Him prior to the crucifixion but at least two of them did afterwards– James and Jude otherwise named Judas who was the author of the New Testament books bearing their names.
We can only conjecture what role Mary played in this incident. It is difficult to believe that she thought that Jesus was out of His mind but her presence at that incident disturbed many who do believe that Mary believed in Jesus throughout His life,
THE CHARACTERISTICS OF MARY, THE MOTHER OF JESUS
We must first understand that Mary was certainly a teenager and her betrothal to Joseph was more than what we think is a modern engagement. Betrothal was totally binding and it lasted for 1 year during which time the couple were known as husband and wife though they did not have the rights of husband and wife. The betrothal could not be terminated except on the grounds of divorce.
So clearly Mary would have had traditional expectations but the appearance of the angel announcing that she was the one chosen by God with her womb to carry the Messiah would have been astonishing.
She would be certainly be feeling fear at that news even though all young women in Israel knew about the prophecies of Isaiah that a virgin would conceive and bear a son sent by God. (Luke 1: 30-31),
It is expected that there would be joy at that choice which the angel said affirmed the miraculous nature of that conception.
But for Mary one can imagine the shock that the news brought by the angels, for this news would have produced the shock of scandal within Mary’s family and community. Being “found with child” outside of the marriage covenant was a great scandal., Mary would have certainly faced ridicule social ostracism, and most certainly scorn, surrounded by gossip and sideway glances of horror.
The pregnancy was such a scandal that Joseph, Mary’s betrothed husband, reacted to the community’s attacks determining to privately divorce her according to Matthew 1:18-19. The angel of God had to intervene and provide Joseph with the facts. He would have to understand what God was doing and given instructions to preserve the family.
So when we look at Mary we see a woman who was meek, certainly quiet but strong. She responded to this life- altering news with a great deal of fortitude.
She certainly loved to have been the one chosen by God to bring the Redeemer to the earth.
She was filled with meekness to what God had done instead of being motivated by pride.
We would have expected a woman who was not strong in God to feel pride in God choosing her as indicated by Gabriel’s appearance to her.
Her response then was to glorify God while acknowledging in her response that she had a humble place in this plan of God. See her response in Luke 1:46- 49.
So we see no pride but we see humility, meekness, and acceptance of the plan of God the Father to be the Messiah’s mother.
She was pliable and yielding to the will and plan of God and so she was obviously one through whom God would do great things.
She had responded quite appropriately to God and yielded to His purpose.
This woman of God named Mary or Miriam had a meek spirit which did not cover up a weak or timid personality of many individuals. She was a woman of courage and strength..
Some will look at this story of Mary and might find it difficult to appreciate the perilous situation in which she found herself after this great and astonishing news from Gabriel. She had no guarantee that Joseph would stand by her when she obviously courageously shared the news according to Matthew 1:18-19..
Courage shines all the way through their difficulties and she had to be courageous to tell Joseph about the conversation with Gabriel and then afterwards share the news with family, friends and the community.
We hardly would expect that any of those people including Joseph would initially believe a rather fantastic account.
We now see in this story that Mary was shielded by her faith.
She was not like Zachariah who when Gabriel told him that he and Elizabeth his wife would have a child though they were at a very old age, who struggled to believe.
She would obviously have pleased God with her trust and her faith according to Hebrews 11:3-6.
We can understand that Mary would be intrigued by the promises and she would likely anticipate that Jesus would soon restore the national glory as the promised Messiah who was heir to the throne of David.
But the pain would come when she remembered the prophecy of Simeon, and that prophecy of Anna the prophetess who spoke openly of the redemption that would come through Jesus.
The pain would come for she would see the months of Jesus’ public ministry, and it would become clear to her that the people would not understand the nature of the prophesied ministry of the Messiah though it had been stressed in Isaiah 52 and 53.
So she would have to accept that she would be widowed at a relatively early age, and then see the difficulty in the life of her son, then becoming a silent witness to His crucifixion.
Now you must note that throughout all of this her trust and faith never faltered. Her example of faith is incredible.
So what can we say about that? Mary was a remarkable woman.
The few insights into her life provide a wonderful example for Christians and we will profit by following Mary’s example of humility, courage,, faith and acceptance of the plan of God and our place in it.
MARY’S BACKGROUND
It will help us when we think about Mary to look at this list of her background. One writer lists these for us:
1.She was from Nazareth. Luke 1:26 and Luke 2:39,51.
2.She was related to Elizabeth, a descended of Aaron. Luke 1:5,36
3.(Scholars believe she was) possibly descended from David. Luke 1:32.
4.She was betrothed to Joseph Luke 1:27.
5. She was a virgin. Luke 1:34. The Greek word translated “ Virgin” means “ young”, “unmarried” and implies virginity. Betrothal might take place as early as 12 years old and lasted usually for a year, being as binding as a marriage contract, though without sexual relations. See also Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23.
The events in Mary’s life leading up to the birth of Jesus Christ
1.The Annunciation Luke 1: 30-31.
2. The Magnificat which expresses Mary’s wonder and joy. See also Luke 1:46-55.
3. Elizabeth’s response to Mary Luke 1:42-45.
MARY, THE MOTHER
- The birth of Jesus Christ. Luke 2:4-16.
- Her memories. Luke 2:51
- Jesus Christ circumcision and presentation. Luke 2:21-24. Joseph and Mary were poor and they could not afford to offer a lamb (see Leviticus 12:8).
- The flight to Egypt. Matthew 2:14.
- Her other children. Matthew 13:55-56. Also Mark 6: 3.
- Her anxieties. Luke 2:48.
- Her doubts about Jesus Christ. Mark 3:20- 21,31.
- She could not dominate Jesus Christ. Mark 3:34-35 pp. Matthew 12:48- 50 pp Luke 8:19-21: John 2: 4.
MARY, THE DISCIPLE
- Mary acknowledges Jesus Christ’s authority John 2: 5 At the wedding at Cana.
- Mary at the Cross John 19:25. Many Christians see this as the poignant fulfillment of Simeon’s prophecy in Luke 2:35.
- Mary in Jesus Christ’s family. John 19:26-27.
- Mary praying with other disciples. Acts 1:14.
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We see in the life of Mary, the epitome of love which of course includes motherly love, maternal love. It means loving without completely disregarding the experience of personal pain.
Clearly like Jesus she noticed the pain of others and she did something about it. Quite early in our Study we will see her asking Jesus to take care of her situation at a family friend’s wedding when the wine had run out. Mary wanted Jesus to take away the disgrace of a friend
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She would have experienced some kind of pain in her culture and we can hardly imagine what she felt because our culture is so comletely different.
Then she had to be the ‘mommy’ to the Messiah, walking Him everywhere He went when He was young, teaching Him as best she could, watching Him grow and mature as a child.
It must have been very different being a parent to God, and being placed in the role of parenting the Messiah, especially when it seemed her husband Joseph had died.
She had been warned that the burden she would have to carry would be a heavy one for she was told a sword would pierce her soul and she would experience desperate grief.
But in the end, after the painful experience of watching her son being crucified she accepted the help from Him when He told John the beloved disciple that she would now be his mother and he told her that John would now be her son. Jesus helped both of them in their grief by offering each of them the chance to care for somebody else.
He gave both Mary and John a reciprocal relationship of loving and caring, Mary would take care of John and John would take care of Mary.
So what do we learn from her?
Mary’s life clearly shows her following after the Messiah and what He stood for. We see her faithfulness, her piety,, her wisdom, her patience her devotion, her humility, and the fact that she can be considered the longest disciple of Jesus for she followed Jesus throughout His life.
THE TEXT
Luke 2: 15 – 19
Jesus was now born “a Savior”, which is not quite the same as born to be a Savior. He was born and He was God incarnate, coming to earth because of the will of the Father.
He was born in Bethlehem where the mighty hero David was born. Bethlehem we know means, “the House of Bread”.
When we look at the implications of this we hopefully will understand what this writer is telling us. He states about Jesus that He was born to be a ruler in Israel, born to be King of the Jews,, commanding your will, ruling your heart, and guiding you in everything you do; and then because you are His servant He is your ruler.
“His going forth as our surety were from everlasting. Pause, my soul, and wonder! Thou hadst going forth in the person of Jesus from everlasting. Not only when thou wast born in the world did Christ love thee, but his delight were with the sons of men before there were any sons of men.
Often did he think of them; from everlasting to everlasting; he has set his affection upon them. What! Believer, has he been so long about thy salvation, and will he not accomplish it?
Has he from everlasting been going forth to save me, and will he lose me now?
I am sure he would not love me so long, and then leave off loving me. If he intended to be tired of me, he would have been tired of me long before now.
If he had not loved me with a love as deep as hell and as unutterable as the grave, if he had not given his whole heart to me, I am sure he would have turned from me long ago.
He knew what I would be, and he has had long time enough to consider of it; but I am his choice, and there is an end of it; and unworthy as I am, it is not mine to grumble, if he is but contented with me”.
So the angels came and praised God when Jesus was born from the womb of the Virgin Mary. She brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger. The shepherds heard the worship of the angels and saw the glory of God shining round about them and they came to see this glorious praise at the birth of Christ.
Verse 15. The angels disappeared as quickly into heaven as they had come. The shepherds did not hesitate but since they now knew that the Savior of the world could be found in the manger they believed it and with a great sense of urgency they consulted among themselves and acted immediately in full assurance of the truth spoken by the angels.
Verse 16. They did not go slowly but made haste, and found Mary,, Joseph and the baby exactly as the angels had said.
The poverty did not shock them for they were being poor, understood and knew that God would have relationship with the poor. They found and what they were looking for because God told them where to look for their salvation.
Verse 17. The shepherds were very anxious to spread the news of the birth of Jesus. They were satisfied that angels had told them the truth. They believed and they told their story. They preached the gospel.
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Verse 18. Note carefully the impression that their preaching made on the people. The people certainly wondered, but none ever inquired any further about their Savior.
There is no record of any discussion as to what happened and what they should do, whether it was all right to visit their Savior and worship Him. They simply wondered and filed it away as a strange but interesting event. They wilfully shut their eyes and closed their ears.
Truly it was as the prophecy stated, “Who had believed our report?”
They behaved the same way as the Chief Priests who answered the question of the Wise Men as to the location of the child born King of the Jews correctly but never bothered to look further.
Many today wonder at the story of salvation, listen carefully to the fantastic nature of prophecy which has come to pass, but stop there
Verse 19. But Mary was different. She meditated on these matters, and constantly thought about them. She kept evidence. She took satisfaction in everything that was done.
May we ponder the things of God in our hearts and keep them there.
John 2: 1 – 5
This passage like no other is certainly designed to persuade you to believe that Jesus is who He says He is, that He is the Christ, the Anointed Son of God, and that He is as one writer says is deserving of our allegiance, our worship, and our obedience.
We are told about this wedding at Cana of Galilee, a family affair. But in this case the preparations proved inadequate. Without a remedy to the inadequacies the newlywed couple would have been ashamed.
But note that Jesus was there. His sagacious and discerning mother spotted the inadequacy for she saw that wine had run out and so she went to Jesus and asked Him to help.
Jesus chose to intervene with His miraculous power as an act of love for His mother and for the young couple who were thus just the starting out life.
But note that Jesus’ interventions was for solving the problem but it was also to tell His mother and His disciples and everyone that was around about Him, the fact that He was there to bring a fullness of joy.
Jesus firmly declared that He was in favour of love, marriage, enjoyment, and friendship. Jesus established His priority that He had with bringing joy among human beings.
So even though He would point out to His requesting mother that the time had not yet come for Him to.begin His ministry of salvation He was prepared to act to meet the inadequacies of human beings.
His mother knew Him very well and knew that Jesus was going to be a helper of men and so she gave instructions to the servants that whatever Jesus told them to do they should do it.
So Jesus in love and mercy would convert six water pots of water to wine, wine which the master of the feast acknowledged was the best quality wine that he had ever tasted.
The knowledge of wisdom was quite apparent. Knowing Jesus and who He was would always bring magnificent results.
Remember that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
You can count on Him.
John 19: 25 – 27
Verse 25. The time for the death of Jesus had come. And the foot of the Cross was Mary Jesus’ mother, His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleopas, and Mary Magdalene. All faithful women.
The first thing Jesus said from the cross which is recorded in the Gospel of John is a statement made to His mother Mary and to John the beloved disciple.
Notice that Jesus is caring for two people that He loves. But He is also telling us about the family, the value of family and the nature of family itself.
This Jesus does in the midst of His suffering on the Cross. He thinks about Mary and John as they grieved at the foot of the Cross. So there is grief all around.
Jesus notices the pain of others while He was suffering immense pain. He does not call on God the Father to send angels to relieve Him from His pain. He’s hurt but His love for those around Him exceeds everything.
Now let us be careful here for that doesn’t mean we should ignore our own pain and pretend that we do not have pain in our own experience and that we live totally by loving others and ignoring our own pain.
But note carefully that Jesus notices a particular person. He notices His mother Mary. We do not hear a great deal about her in the Gospels but here Jesus pays attention to her. He knows that she is watching her eldest son humiliated, tortured, and crucified for a crime that He did not commit.
We can simply imagine her pain in her mother’s heart when she felt or heard the crowd demanding that her son be crucified for a crime that He did not commit.
But she is courageous and she stands near the Cross. She did not run away but she watches her son being killed.
This would require a tremendous amount of spiritual and mental strength.
One can imagine her remembering the prophecy that a sword would pierce her soul.. and so she is in desperate grief.
This must have been a very difficult road for Mary but Jesus notices her pain and provides for her. She will lose her son, but Jesus will give her a new son and give John the beloved disciple a new mother.
We see in this situation that Jesus wanted to take away any element of disgrace by telling Mary to take the hand of John and care for him, while He told John to take the hand of Mary and care for her.
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Jesus helps those at the Cross in their grief by offering them a chance to care for somebody else John doesn’t really need a mother, but Jesus gives Mary a son so that she may have someone to care for. He’s meeting Mary’s grief with the opportunity to love another and He does the same for John.
So there is loving and caring provided by Jesus.
That is how God works. He sets up people in mutual relationship where they may take care of each other, says one writer.
So remember the church fits in to this kind of relationship that Jesus provides. Do not become interested only in being served, with having the world revolving around you and having little concern for others.
One writer points out that love happens when we serve and allow others to serve us and that is what Jesus is giving to Mary and John.
Remember therefore the importance of family. If you are in the family of God you are in a family; you are given a family so that you can worship God better.
And so everything is supposed to come together in church as Jesus told the crowd when His mother and the siblings came to seek Him
CONCLUSION
We should ask ourselves at this stage,, what happened to Mary the mother of Jesus?
We must do this because she’s one of the New Testament’s most important figures.
In doing so it will help us rid us of the many myths and foolishness that are spread about this great and godly woman.
In addition, remember that Mary is lauded in the world’s two largest religions as the mother of God’s chosen official or servant. Muslims consider Jesus to be a great prophet.
But Christians consider Him to be God incarnate.
So therefore Mary is almost without contradiction the most famous woman who has ever lived. But yet there is very little relatively speaking that has been recorded and preserves about her. We last see her at the foot of Jesus’ cross, and then being present in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost when the followers of Jesus were filled with the Holy Spirit.
Jesus’s mother Mary was there for this event. But afterwards she is never mentioned again, and there is no early historical sources that mention where she was.
It is interesting to note that there are two traditions about where Mary went. One holds that she remained in Jerusalem after Pentecost and she died and was buried in a tomb in the Kidron Valley. Some believe that after she was placed in her tomb. Upon her death it was found empty 3 days later. However one writer comments that
“The earliest of these sources date to the fifth century, and some Catholic theologians argue that Mary never died at all. Admittedly a truly “ historical” reconstruction of Mary’s life after Jesus is difficult to build”.
Another tradition tells us that Mary completed her life in Anatolia which is in Turkey today and tourists often visit an ancient ruin of Ephesus, in a small Byzantine era stone building called the House of Mary near the Old City. One writer comments about this:
“The story of Mary’s presence in Ephesus comes from the New Testament tradition that John,, whom the dying Jesus had commissioned to care for his mother had traveled to complete his own life’s work in this region.
According to church tradition John was the only one of Christ’s original disciples—besides Judas Iscariot—who did not die a martyr’s death. He did however suffer torture and exile on the island of Patmos, now a Greek island in the Aegean Sea off the southwest coast of Turkey. Perhaps John had brought Mary with him to Anatolia.
Still one cannot help but notice the late date of the emergence of the story of Mary’s Ephesian domicile. Compared to the suggestion that Mary simply lived and died in her own homeland, this idea seems unnecessarily complicated.
Interestingly the apocryphal story in entitled Transitus Mariae ( Latin for “The passing of Mary) relates that John traveled from Ephesus to Jerusalem (or Bethlehem?) to be with Mary at her death.
The versions of the story that have been preserved in different languages, in the Greek (the oldest) and in this versions, the events happen in Jerusalem.
But in a later stream of the Syriac version, they occur mostly at a house Mary allegedly had in Bethlehem. In this version, Jesus’ disciples gather around her there, and afterwards she and her entourage are miraculously transported to Jerusalem where she dies, is entombed and then found to have ascended on high”.
Notice carefully then that the life of this godly woman has been mixed up with all kinds of conflicting and quite crazy events said to happen in her later life.They quite demean the memory of this holy woman who was a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ and who was His mother who cared for Him until He was ready to assume His role and Ministry.
Let us therefore choose to direct our attention to the fact that Mary, a woman in the line of David, was a woman of God par excellence. We learn that she knew the Scriptures and was submissive to the direction of God.
She remains the best kind of model for women and also for men.
It is to this woman of God par excellence, and this man of God named Joseph par excellence, that God had entrusted His son and when we examine the Scriptures we will see why.
Let us remember that the angels sang about peace on earth and the goodwill of God toward men.
We know that this prophetic song has not yet been totally fulfilled and we therefore look forward for the Second Coming of the Lord so that He will bring about complete peace, destroy those who destroy the earth, eliminate all heresy and idolatry, and bring about His millennial reign.
We look forward to Him coming with clouds of glory,, the sound of the trumpet and with the angelic hosts.
Jesus has provided a great example for us and we should pay attention to this. In doing so Jesus has completely redefined the family social unit of society.
Jesus has told us that we should understand what our family is to be. The people of God are our new family. One writer comments:
“We are each other’s brothers and sisters. Our elders are our parents. Our children, all children, are our children. That’s incredible”.
We are to be a fairly loving and generous church. But in most cases we have a long way to go to act like family. “It’s a high calling”, we are reminded by one writer.
So never forget that in the midst of your pain God has provided and put you into a family and is asking you to serve that family.
So love your brothers and sisters even when they hurt you.
We often suffer, but in our suffering we are to keep on loving and remember that we are in the family of God.
So let us remember the life of Mary, the woman who bore the Lord Jesus Christ. Her example is great and marvellous.
Her example has been set up for you.