What’s So Extraordinary about Mary?

I have often heard it said in church circles that the Catholic church makes too much of Mary while the Protestant arm of the body makes too little. Not until I really looked into the life and decisions of Mary did I begin to realize how subversive, brave, and significant Mary is to the church, particularly women. She contributes some incredibly important and often overlooked encouragement to the role of women within the church.

1: Mary accepts God’s call on her life without consulting the men in her life.

Mary doesn’t ask Gabriel to wait while she consults Joseph on this new development. She must be well aware that becoming pregnant would probably mean the loss of her husband. I say husband because in those days, once the engagement had been established, legally a man and woman were husband and wife. Notice that Joseph went about looking into divorce or “putting her away”.

To obey God first before one’s husband is not something preached on very much. In fact, I have heard that husband’s orders should always be obeyed, unless they involve actual sin, far more often than the idea that women need to follow what God says first. I am blessed to be in a very egalitarian marriage where both my husband and I have veto power and submit to each other. But Mary did not live in a time where such marriages existed. Very much the opposite, in fact.

The significance of Mary’s choice, however, is bigger than one woman. In a sense, she has begun overturning the curse. With Eve came the conflicted relationship between men and women. Have women desired men more than God? Have men often ruled (sometimes ruthlessly) over women? You bet. But Mary chooses God and His calling over a man.

2: Mary isn’t afraid of shame.

Adam and Eve hide once the emotion of shame becomes available to them. Mary does not let the disapproval of others weigh with her. She chose to become the mother of an illegitimate child. We mustn’t ignore the significance of this. How often does God call us to appear foolish? Pretty much every time we speak the Gospel, we look like fools to an unbelieving world. Who would believe that Mary was a virgin? It looks foolish even now to believe that Jesus was born of a virgin.

But Mary’s commitment to God was such that she did not allow shame to weigh with her. And later, Jesus did not allow the fear of shame to overcome His calling either. In fact, He took on the shame of the world when He was nailed to the cross. Are we so afraid of shame or failure that we miss our destinies? Make up your mind now that to follow Jesus is to share in His cross… and all the shame that entails.

3: Mary must grow in understanding, and she must suffer.

Those of us with children do not have to come to grips with the idea that our children are part of the Trinity. Mary, from the tone of her song in Luke, evidently understands that the Messiah is to be a political leader. She is all for the overthrow of the vicious Roman rule. But her understanding of who Jesus is must go through an incredible transformation. She goes from a woman waiting for her son to take power to understanding that her son is far more than a mere earthly king. She must learn to worship Him.

Mary is the only witness to the entire life of Jesus. She is with Him at His birth and at His death. When Jesus is presented at the temple, Simon tells her that a sword will pierce her soul. (Luke 2:34-35) To be the mother of Jesus is a calling filled with confusion and wonder, I would imagine. But the cost of accepting was great, though the fruit of it was far greater.

4: We wouldn’t have the beginnings of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke without her.

Because Mary is the only firsthand witness to everything regarding the conception, birth, and childhood of Jesus, it is universally accepted that Matthew and Luke carefully recorded her story. Luke tells us that she treasured all these things in her heart tells us clearly that he knew her quite well. It is because of Mary that we know the details and the fulfillment of the prophecies surrounding Jesus’ birth.

I find it significant that a woman contributed so meaningfully to the writing of the New Testament. Just as the first evangelist was a woman (Mary Magdelene at the Tomb) so the first stories of Jesus are through the eyes of the woman who chose to be His mother and then submitted to Him as God.

So I see the Christmas story as encompassing so many important concepts. It is not just a story about the coming of Christ, though that is first and foremost. I think it is also the beginning of the overturning of the curse. Jesus began to turn things around even by His arrival. So what can we learn from Mary? Do we obey God before man? Do we embrace the shame for the prize set before us as both Mary and Jesus did? Let us enter into this Christmas, casting off the shame the world puts on us for our belief. Let us celebrate Christmas as Mary, by saying Be it unto me as You have said.

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