Happy Mother’s Day!

One of the most beloved Christmas hymns we sing every year is “Away In a Manger.” Part of the second verse goes, “The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes, but little Lord Jesus no crying he makes.” Now, of course, this is speculative by the lyricist, and it’s a beautiful sentiment, but unfortunately, not very good theology, because the Bible teaches us that Jesus was fully human and fully God. And, of course, human babies cry when something wakes them up at night. So Mary, in this scenario, would have done what mothers have done throughout the ages. She would get up, comfort her son, nurse him back to sleep, and likely glower at her husband, wondering why they were sleeping in the midst of cows in the first place.

Now, add to that, Herod, the king, issued a terrible edict that all baby boys from the age of two or younger, who were born in Bethlehem, were to be put to death, because he had heard that Messiah was born there, and he viewed Messiah as a threat to his throne. So Jesus’ family became refugees and flee from Bethlehem to Egypt.

Now add to that, many classical theologians believe that Jesus’ brothers and sisters were from Joseph’s previous marriage, whose wife had died. There is nothing in the Bible that affirms or denies this, but still, you can imagine the possibility that this was a pretty large family that was fleeing to Egypt, with all the chaos, anxiety and fear that would accompany them. Joseph and Mary certainly felt all of those emotions.

Now fast forward a few years. Jesus in now twelve years old. The family is living in Galilee and have traveled to Jerusalem, which is about seventy miles south, to celebrate the Passover as any good Jewish family would. As they prepare to leave, Jesus stays behind. Note that it was Jesus’ decision, but the family doesn’t know. As they are traveling back to Galilee, they realize Jesus is missing and they have to turn around and come back. As a parent, if you have ever left a child somewhere, you know the guilt, anxiety and fear you feel. To make matters worse, when they get to Jerusalem, it takes them three days to find Jesus and when they finally do, Jesus is in the Temple teaching. Everyone is amazed, but Mary is clearly a little frustrated and irritated, because she asks Jesus, “How could you do that to your family?” Jesus brings a slight rebuke to his mother saying, “I have to be about my Father’s business.” Now Mary knows that Jesus is the Son of God. That has been divinely revealed to her. But Jesus is also her twelve-year-old son who just rebuked her, so clearly there’s going to be some frustration there.

Now flash forward several more years, Jesus is a fully-grown man in the full throat of his ministry and is saying some controversial things. He is teaching in Galilee to room full of people and Mary and his brothers are knocking at the door to come in. Now Jesus’ brothers did not believe that he was the Messiah and didn’t until after his resurrection. In fact, John tells us that at one point they had tried to provoke him into giving up all of this “Son of God” foolishness. So maybe that gives us a bit of a sense of the tone of his brothers wanting to come into the meeting. Somebody tells Jesus that his family is wanting to come in and Jesus beckons to the audience and says this is my mother, these are my brothers, these are my sisters, those who hear the word of God and do it. Now one can only imagine the emotion that this would evoke in Mary, and likely she would think, “Jesus what are you saying? I gave birth to you, I nursed you, I raised you. How can you call these strangers your mother!”

Now I am not suggesting that there was tension between Mary and Jesus. The Bible is clear that Mary loved and revered her son and believed that he was the Son of God. But I am suggesting that although Jesus was without sin, Mary was a normal, human mom and would have felt all of the things that normal, human moms feel. She would have felt anxiety, fear, shame, guilt, remorse and certainly sorrow when Jesus was wrongfully crucified. But she would also feel love, joy, peace and hope because she believed that her son was the Messiah.

So moms, many of you have been cooped up with your kids now for seven or eight weeks and you are certainly feeling all of those emotions and are probably ready to punt your kids to the curb by now. So if you’re feeling some of this, give yourself a break and encourage yourself, because if Mary, the gold standard of mothers, felt all of these things, it is certainly ok for you to feel them too. Turn to Jesus and experience all of the love, peace and blessings promised to us in his word. And know that we love you.

Happy Mother’s Day!