MARY: THE MOTHER OF THE MESSIAH!
Motherhood is a painful privilege. Young Mary of Nazareth had the unique privilege of being mother to the very Son of God! Yet the pains and pleasures of her motherhood can be understood by mothers everywhere. *Mary was the only human present at Jesus’Birth who also witnessed His Death. She saw Him arrive as her baby son, and she watched Him die as her Saviour.*
Until Gabriel’s unexpected visit, Mary’s life was quiet satisfactory. She had recently become engaged to a carpenter, Joseph, and was anticipating married life. But her life was about to change forever by Divine Interruption.
Angels don’t usually make appointments before visiting. Mary found the angel’s greeting puzzling and his presence frightening. What she heard next was the news every woman in Israel hope to hear-that her child would be the Messiah, God’s promised Saviour. Mary did not doubt the Message but rather asked *how* pregnancy would be possible. Gabriel told her that the baby would be God’s Son. *Her answer was the one God waits in vain to hear from so many other people: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word” (Luke 1:38).* Later, her Song of joy to Elizabeth shows how well she knew God, for her thoughts were filled with His Words from Old Testament.
Within a few weeks of His Birth, Jesus was taken to the Temple to be dedicated to God. There Joseph and Mary were met by two devout people, Simeon and Anna, who recognized the child as Messiah and praised God. Simeon directed some words to Mary that must have come to her mind many times in the years that followed: “A sword shall pierce through thy own soul” (Luke 2:35). A big part of her painful privilege of motherhood would be to see her Son rejected and crucified by the people He came to save.
*Are you, like Mary, available to be used by God to bring forth Salvation to the world?*
*💪 Strength and Accomplishments:*
* The mother of Jesus, the Messiah.
* The one human who was with Jesus from birth to death.
* Willing to be available to God.
* Knew and anticipated God’s Word.
*✅ Lessons From Her Life:*
* God’s best servants are often ordinary people who make themselves available to Him.
* God’s plans involve extraordinary events in ordinary people’s lives.
* A person’s character is revealed by his or her response to the unexpected.
*Key Verse:* “And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word” (Luke 1:38).
