the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Dictionaries
Mary, the Mother of Jesus
Morrish Bible Dictionary
or She was the virgin that was prophesied of in the O.T. who was to bear a son. Isaiah 7:14 . Gabriel was sent from God to announce to her that the Holy Spirit should come upon her, and the power of the Highest should overshadow her, and she should bring forth a Son, and should call His name JESUS. She had asked how it should be, and it being thus explained she piously answered, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word." She then went to visit her cousin Elisabeth, who, being filled with the Holy Spirit, pronounced her blessed, and hailed her as 'the mother of my Lord.' Mary also praised God: He had regarded the low estate of His handmaid: all generations would call her blessed. Luke 1:26-56 .
An enrolment, or census, decreed by the imperial power of Rome, caused Joseph, to whom Mary had been espoused, to take her to the city of Bethlehem, where, according to prophecy, Jesus was born. Thither came shepherds to whom His birth had been announced by angels, accompanied by a multitude of the heavenly host praising God. Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. When the babe was presented in the temple the pious Simeon blessed Mary, but had to tell her that a sword should pierce through her own soul. Homage was also rendered to Him by the Magi, but, to avoid the murderous intentions of Herod, Joseph was directed to carry Mary and the young child into Egypt. On returning they abode in Nazareth.
Mary is next met with when Jesus remained at Jerusalem after the Passover, and was found among the doctors. This had caused her great anxiety, and she had to hear His mysterious reply as to being about His Father's business. She was with Him and His disciples at the marriage feast at Cana, when He uttered another mysterious sentence: "Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come." She nevertheless instructed the servants to do whatever He told them, which resulted in their having the best wine at the end (as it will be in the kingdom). Once afterwards Mary came with His 'brethren' desiring to speak with Him; but again a mysterious saying declared that those who did the will of His Father were His brother, and sister, and mother. Matthew 12:46-50 .
No doubt Mary subsequently understood the depth of these sayings when she came to learn what His death accomplished. She stood near the cross and saw her Son and her Lord nailed thereto: now the sword must have pierced her soul. She was commended by the Lord to the care of John, who took her to his own home. She was with the eleven at Jerusalem waiting for the gift of the Holy Spirit, and that is the last record we have of her. Christians gladly call her Blessed, for indeed it was a high honour to be the mother of Jesus; but it is not revealed that she held any place of authority or privilege beyond other saints; indeed, the way the Lord spoke to her, and of her, contradicts any such theory. Jesus was called her 'first-born son,' clearly implying that she had other children. The crowds said, "Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us?" Mark 6:3 , etc.
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Morrish, George. Entry for 'Mary, the Mother of Jesus'. Morrish Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/mbd/m/mary-the-mother-of-jesus.html. 1897.
