The Savior's Mom

The Savior’s Mom
Matthew 1:18-25
May 9, 2021

How can a review of Mary, the mother to our Lord Jesus Christ, not grip all of us in some way?
Mother’s Day gives me the opportunity to talk to you about a topic I’m passionate about.

What I can tell you is most of the godly women in the Bible – Sarah, Ruth, Hannah, Rachel – God made them wait many long years to have children, but God blessed them in-spite of the long delay.

My prayer for you is to trust Him in your situation, through your unanswered questions, through long delays in your life – He will give you the special grace and strength you need to trust Him the way these great ladies did.

For those moms and grand-moms here, I want to talk about a godly mom, the Saviors mom, the life of Mary.

I. Make Yourself Available to God’s Will

I don’t think we give Mary enough credit. She was a godly woman, a spiritual woman. You know otherwise, God would not have chosen her to be the mother of the Lord Jesus – He chose her because He knew she would be a holy and proper mother for raising and nurturing the incarnate Son of God.

A.  A handmaiden endures public shame

Mary, as a godly mother, was totally available to God’s will in her life.

• As a young girl, I’m sure life was full of plans, a virtuous young lady engaged to Joseph, planning her wedding, all of the sudden God sends an angel to her and completely redirected everything in her life.
• Mary becomes pregnant before marriage – in ancient Israel this would have been looked upon as utterly scandalous. Can you imagine what is was like for her to tell her friends how this happened?
• “Well I was down drawing water and this angel appeared to me and told me that God was going to make me pregnant.” Right!
• The ridicule and the disgrace that Mary carried in the nation of Israel was ever present – even when Jesus was a grown man.

John 8:41; The Rabbis said to Him, “We were not born as a result of sexual immorality; we have one Father: God.”

God stepped in and totally redirected Mary’s early married life, even intimacy with Joseph – Matthew chapter 1 v25; Joseph kept Mary a virgin, had no sexual relations with her until after the birth of our Savior.

• Redirected the delivery of her first child – I’m sure she looked forward to being with her family in the comforts of Nazareth, instead she gave birth in a dirty stable, surrounded by animals, laid that baby in a dirty old trough not a handcrafted cradle.
• Finally, God directed Mary’s plans for a tranquil family life – remember the story of Herod the Great who wanted to kill baby Jesus.
• Mary’s plans for her whole life, plans laid out and cherished for years – all shattered by the entrance of God’s will into her life at that very point in time.

Luke 1:38; And Mary said, “Behold, the Lord’s bond-servant; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

B. Embrace God changing your plans

Mary was so committed to God she was willing to let God rearrange her entire life if that’s what it took for her to be in the center of God’s will.
Mary was not just available to God for her plans to fit into His – she was available to God even if His plans scrambled her plans.

This type of availability to God is a central ingredient when it comes to godly motherhood – just like Mary, virtually every mom has plans & dreams for life. As a mother, just like Mary, we must temper our plans with the words, God willing.

Personal Illustration
There are many things my children learned from Sherri as she chose to allow God’s will to mold her new priorities and now, with 10 grandchildren and counting, I believe she will be called blessed until God takes her home.

To all of us, being available to God’s will everyday in your life doesn’t just mean during unfortunate tragedies…
• it happens in the every day affairs of life – like when that little gift from God reduces your 8 hours sleep to 3…
• like when that little person’s needs change your to-do list to a didn’t-do list…
• like when those braces cause whatever it was you had planned for the house to evaporate before your eyes…

II. Be A Person of Spiritual Depth

A godly mother just like Mary is a woman of spiritual depth.

When Mary took Jesus to Jerusalem, He was only 12-yrs old. At the temple He said a bunch of things to the Rabbi’s and they didn’t understand what He was talking about.

Luke 2:20; But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.

Mary treasured these things, she meditated and pondered them – She went deeper.

John 2:5; “Whatever He tells you, do it.

Why would she say that? Because her digging deep-er into spiritual things had yielded in her life an understanding of the power and authority and character of who Jesus the Messiah was.

Reason she or anyone else became such a spiritual woman wasn’t because she was born that way – but because she purposed to be that way – cultivated & developed her relationship with a living God.

I believe to be a godly mother, one must have this same spiritual passion & zeal in your life. A woman of the book – pursues God in her heart – ponders God’s truth – a woman who sinks her roots into God.

Henry Ward Beecher –
To train children in our homes, a mother must pursue spiritual depth. Now men if you think you are off the hook, you are sorely mistaken. Do a word study on how God commands us to treat and serve our wives, actions that will energize and increase their ability to be more like Mary.
How does this happen? Simple – spending time with God Himself.

Psalm 119:104; From Your precepts I get under-standing; Therefore I hate every false way.

Psalm 119:130; The unfolding of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple.

A life verse for every godly mother could be –
Psalm 119:15; I will meditate on Your precepts And regard Your ways.

A. The urgency for godly moms

Mom’s, I know finding a moment to breath at the end of the day is a tall challenge…

Urgency is right now – when they are young – to mold them into lives that honor Jesus Christ, to mold them into people who walk with Him.

Parents, I know free time is at a premium, but I’d like to urge you to use whatever free time you have to make sure first/foremost you use that time to cultivate your relationship with God.

The greatest gift a mom could give her children is not creature comforts – it is to walk and to know God and they will grow up to call you blessed…

B. Godly motherhood requires sacrifice

Mary’s life demonstrates that she was willing to let God have His way with her child regardless of the cost to her as a mother.

John 19:25-26; Now beside the cross of Jesus stood His mother, His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. So when Jesus saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He *said to His mother, “Woman, be-hold, your son!”

Others ran away, not His mother, there He is, her son, hanging on the cross bleeding, bruised, rejected, dying – you have got to be a mother to even begin to understand what was going on in the heart of Mary.

But remember, Mary had been warned this day was coming –

Luke 2:34; And Simeon blessed them and said to His mother Mary, “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and as a sign to be opposed— and a sword will pierce your own soul—to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

Now she could have reacted like many of us would –
She didn’t – Mary released her child to God’s will and His plan, even though the cost to her was so high.

C. Build a godly legacy

Everyone has dreams for your kids – you want more for them than what you had – I’m sure Mary had dreams for Jesus – but as a godly mother, she set that boy free to pursue God’s will.

I know some of you here or some of you listening or some will hear this message in the future from our library –
This is hard stuff, to release our kids to the will of God. But a godly mom says son/daughter – more than anything else – I want you to find God’s will for your life.

If like Mary, God’s will in the life of a child may bring you pain – Mary would demonstrate for you how to rise above that pain, find joy as a godly woman, and embrace it for your child.

Summary –
1. Total availability to God’s will in her life.
2. A passion for spiritual depth in her life.
3. A surrender of her children to the will of God for their lives.

Many of us had moms like this. Don’t allow the legacy chain in your home to be broken if you had a mom like this.
Many of you, however, didn’t have a mom like this – so you have a chance to start a new chain –
I’d like to say to all the mom’s and grandmothers here and those listening today – who have dedicated yourself to be godly moms.
We as your husbands, we as your children – we honor you for all that you’ve done and we thank God for you from the depths of our hearts.