Learning from Mary's Faithfulness to God's Cause at the Foot of the Cross

By -
Although Jesus didn't make Mary the mother of humanity at the cross, although Christians shouldn't even try to get to Jesus through Mary but there's a lot of lessons to be learned by the humble woman in Mary. Do you remember when she got the visitation and she was frightened in Luke 1? She couldn't fathom the Creator of the Universe would be in her womb, she would be the earthly mother of Him who existed before her and she just told people in John 2:5 to do whatever Jesus told them. Mary herself showed her faithfulness by standing by the cross. She stood there out of full obedience to the plan of the Father.

I remembered reading the late D. James Kennedy's book "Why I Believe" which I have the old edition. In page 127 where he talks about the virgin birth - he's an interesting passage that should make you realize how faithful Mary is as a believer and sister-in-Christ:
The Virgin Birth is obviously something of a subjective nature - a very personal private matter - known ultimately only by Mary. Mary could have stopped the crucifixion. Very simply, she could have stopped the torture and the agony of her son's death on the cross. How? He was crucified for one reason: He claimed God was His Father.  
If that were a lie, if Mary would have been unchaste, she wold have had to admit that she was immoral, but she could have stepped forward at any time and said, "Stop this horror! I'm ashamed! I confess! I will tell you who His real Father is." She could have destroyed His whole pretensions and saved Him from the cross.  
No mother, to save her own reputation, would allow her son to be horribly mutilated and killed. Mary could have and would have stopped her son's horrible's death, as any mother would have, except that she knew who His Father was.  
She knew Jesus' Father was God.  

Jesus was crucified for claiming God is His Father. Mary was not unchaste. She became a faithful spouse to Joseph and proceeded to have children with him - these children would not believe until the resurrection. Jesus' maternal half-brothers were pretty much fulfilling the statement that He had become a stranger to His mother's children. The Good News Translation renders it as a foreigner to His family. The Revised Standard Version for Catholics makes it even clearer that Jesus' mother did indeed have sons with her husband Joseph. To say that God the Father wouldn't allow Joseph to consummate his marriage with Mary is absurd.

Mary herself can be seen at the foot of the cross. The 10 other faithful disciples fled in terror. At the cross we can see the faithful disciple John with Mary. Jesus would soon request John to take care of Mary - it was because His earthly maternal half-brothers have not become believers yet until His resurrection. Note that He never called Mary as "mother" but the honorable term as woman. Mary knew for well that as much as Jesus was her son in the flesh but she was her Lord. It's like as David says in Psalm 110:1 that "The LORD said unto my Lord." David was Mary's ancestor (through Nathan) and his stepfather Joseph was David's descendant through Solomon. Jesus was by the flesh still the seed of David through Mary. David would have his Lord also as his descendant - the same way works for Mary where she served as His earthly mother yet He was also her Lord.

I could imagine how Mary herself a righteous woman by God's grace still saw her very own sin crushed at the cross along with the others. She offered a sin sacrifice in Luke 2:23-23 as a requirement from Leviticus 12:2-4. She knew she was a sinner. The miracle was that Jesus was conceived in her who was a sinner - yet He knew no sin. Remember it was Adam's sin and not Eve's that caused the world to go upside down. Jesus being the Son of God would have no problem becoming born sinless from the womb of a sinner who was saved by grace. Mary saw Luke 2:34-35 get fulfilled her very eyes. It was a soul-crushing experience yet she remained faithful to the end. She was with other two Marys - Mary the sister of Lazarus and Mary Magdalene.

The faithfulness of Mary should make her a good example. She can't hear our prayers, she cannot mediate between men and Jesus but she can indirectly teach through God's Word by her example. Mary had given lessons in life such as her high respect for God and His purpose. One can always study Mary's example on how to be a good mother and a faithful servant. She herself is a good example who would only tell people to do whatever Jesus tells them to do. She would never be the proud Madonna of Roman Catholicism. She would and will always be another Christian, another follower of Christ, another beloved sister in Christ to everyone who is in Christ.

See also: