“Mary the Mother” Part 3
Even stranger than giving birth to the Son of God in a barn, were the comments of those who met Him in His newborn life.
When I had my children, only my sisters, mother and mother-in-law came to see them immediately after their birth. Friends and other family waited awhile visit, giving me time to heal and the baby time to get a stronger immune system.
Today healthcare professionals suggest keeping babies out of crowded public places for the first 6-8 weeks of life, although you don’t have to say holed up at home.
If you’ve ever seen a traditional nativity scene, they depict a pretty crowded stall, including wisemen, shepherds, angels and animals. But, of course, that is not an accurate depiction.
Let’s see who did show up, and what we might learn from Jesus’ first visitors.
Luke tells us that angels visited some nearby shepherds and gave them the good news:
Luke 2:10-12 [NKJV] 10 Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 "For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 "And this [will be] the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger."
The shepherds rushed over to see Christ the Lord while hew was still lying in the manger [verse 16]. Then, they ran around telling everyone else about it [verse17-18].
Note that they got the announcement the same day that Jesus was born.
What did Mary think? How did she react to their story of seeing the Messiah’s star and hearing about the message the angel brought to them.
Luke 2:19 [NKJV] But Mary kept all these things and pondered [them] in her heart.
She was a thinker, this Mary.
When Jesus was 8 days old and it was time for Him to be circumcised and the sacrifice for a first son that was required by the law, Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the temple and offered the sacrifice of poor people [compare Lk 2:24 with Leviticus 12:8]. There, they encounter two more people who were excited to see Jesus, the Messiah.
Simeon, to whom God had made the promise that he would not die before seeing the Messiah, had words of prophesy about Jesus being “a light to reveal God to the nations”. Anna, a widow, who spent her time at the Temple, worshipping with prayer and fasting, gave thanks and then spread the good news to everyone looking for the Messiah to come.
The scripture tells us that Mary and Joseph were amazed. [See Luke 2:33] It cannot be that they were amazed that Jesus was the Messiah. Afterall, they were told he would be. I think they were amazed at how quickly the word got out. And it was likely amazing to them that these two people knew that Jesus was the Messiah when Mary and Joseph hadn’t said anything about it. The shepherds had been visited by angels. Who told Anna and Simeon, they must have wondered.
There is a joke that says there are three ways to get the news out – “telegram, telephone and tell a woman”. Well, the gossip hot line has nothing on the angel and Holy Spirit network!
Then the “wise men” showed up. Unlike the shepherds, the star did not take the wise men all the way to the place where Jesus was sleeping. Instead, they got as far as Jerusalem and needed to ask for directions. Assuming he would have heard and known everything about it, they went to the chief Hebrew ruler of the day, Herod.
Incredibly, some random shepherds knew all about it, Simeon and Anna knew all about it, and we know that at least Anna and the Shepherds ran around telling everyone about it, but the leader at the time was clueless.
Luke 2:19 [NKJV] But Mary kept all these things and pondered [them] in her heart.
These wisemen must have shown up sometime after the Jesus was circumcised and could have even weeks. Why? First of all, they brought gold, frankincense and myrrh. Had Joseph and Mary had these precious items in their possession, there would have been no excuse for giving the poor person’s sacrifice of two doves or pigeons, instead of something more. Second, Mary, Joseph and Jesus were in a house by that time.
Matthew 2:11 [NLT] They (the wise men) entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
They opened their treasure chests! And they bowed down and worshiped the little baby. Amazing.
Mary’s head must have been swimming. In addition to the strangeness of shepherds telling tales of angelic proclamations, prophets blessing Him, visitors from afar worshipping Jesus, their lives went from impoverished to (at least comparatively) wealthy overnight.
What can we learn from this part of the life of Mary? Well, when God calls you, and you humbly obey, not knowing what will happen or even how you are going to accomplish what He asks, there are beautiful and unbelievable things in store for you.
Count on it.
Thank you for joining me in this study of Mary. We aren’t finished learning from this young woman who bore and raised the Son of God.
You can write me now in the chat, or any time at Nancy@DymanicChristianMinistries.org.