Four Mothers and a Mother-in-law

(58) Roc Corbett - Four Mothers and a Mother-in-law - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_6Ov1zKLVs

Transcript:
(00:01) With Mother's Day coming tomorrow, I did want to focus on a subject that I I hope would relate to not only the mothers and grandmothers here, but to all of us because it does affect us all. And so, just to get started, I'll give you the title. Four mothers and a mother-in-law. And I'd like to uh take just some time today to tell the stories that we see in the scripture from these four mothers and a mother-in-law and setting the stage.
(00:36) And because I know you know these stories fairly well, I'm going to skip through many of the details and just focus on the mothers themselves and what they said and what they did and what was done for them. When God created the heavens and the earth and then created mankind, it was always his intent that there would be fathers and mothers and children.
(00:59) That there would be families that would come through the generations all the way to the time when the kingdom would be established and and God's family would be fully intact. In Genesis 2, and I'll just read it for you in verses 27 and 28. It says, "So God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him.
(01:22) Male and female he created them. And then God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply." He wanted there to be children born. He wanted there to be fathers and mothers. and that this would be the pattern that would build the family that ultimately would grow into his.
(01:44) He wanted there to be family relationships for countless generations. And here we are now at this distant age from the time when he began and the family is still growing. In Malachi 2, I'll just read this as well in verse 15 just as a reminder just setting the stage for where we're going. It reveals to us that God did this because it said he seeks godly offspring.
(02:14) He wants all of us to be part of his family, his own family. And this is still his purpose. And through Jesus Christ, we all know this. God is bringing many sons and daughters to glory. He's building and growing his family. And so even though it's a national day of recognition of mothers tomorrow, it's still something that we can focus on and learn from in spiritual ways too and take the time on a day like this when our focus is in that direction and look and see what we find.
(02:47) And so with Mother's Day being tomorrow here in the US, I'd like to just share the story of these four mothers that I've selected from the scriptures and one mother-in-law because in their experiences, we see things that were inspired to be part of God's word for all of us. God worked in miraculous ways through all four of these ladies and five of them counting the mother-in-law.
(03:12) I keep saying that because two of them are very connected. You probably already are guessing who I'm going to talk about. So that he could give his only begotten son to save the world. He worked through ladies, mothers to help that to be possible to bring many sons and daughters into his everlasting family. I'd like to start with Eve and talk about Eve in the sense of her role in God's plan to bring us into his family. Well, just a quick review.
(03:52) God created Adam and Eve and blessed them, said be fruitful and multiply. But Eve was deceived and Adam sinned and things changed except God's promise did not change. God had promised eternal life before time began. And that promise did not change even though what happened during the time of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, things changed for them.
(04:25) But God's promise of eternal life did not change. It's still there and still very valid for us. In Genesis 3, we'll pick up the story and we'll see some of the events. And I'm just going to just tie a few of these together. So, we see Eve's involvement in this story. In Genesis 3:15, we see while cursing the serpent and God made his promise to mankind, more sure.
(04:55) And this is considered to be obviously it is the first prophecy in scripture about the Messiah who would be coming. And it says here in Genesis 3:15 says, "And I will put enmity enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel.
(05:26) " And so this happened while Adam and Eve were still in the garden and they were then put out afterwards. And so we see that there was this promise of that seed that would come from Eve. her seed. A child born through the generations of those who would come from Eve would be the one who would bruise the head of the serpent.
(05:56) There would be that struggle and the seed would gain that great victory. And so this is a very good starting point to talk about mothers because Eve was the mother of all living. And we can go back in the scripture and see that from Eve's perspective, this was something that I'm sure she could hardly have imagined. There were only two people at the time living on this earth.
(06:22) And God is talking about her seed, someone yet to be born generations, many generations later. She could hardly even have imagined what was meant by this. God's plan would be worked out over time. It says in Galatians, again, I'll just read this so you because I want to stay here in Genesis, but it says in Galatians 4 uh verses 4 and 5, speaking of the time s uh the the time sequence that God had in mind.
(06:57) It says, "But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth his son born of a woman." And so there is this prophecy fulfilled then of that seed that would come through Eve would be born in the fullness of time. And in fact, he was Jesus Christ. He came to redeem those who were under the law that we might receive the adoption as sons and be brought into his family.
(07:26) But let's focus on Eve. See what we can learn a little bit more deeply from her story. In Genesis 3, chapter 3 and verse 20, I want to read this from the NIV. Genesis 3 verse 20. It says, "Adam named his wife Eve because she would become the mother of all living." And so, as I begin focusing on Mother's Day, I wanted to go back and see the plan of God worked out through mothers.
(08:00) It starts here in Genesis 4 in verse one. It says, "Now Adam knew his knew Eve his wife and she conceived and bore Cain." The name Cain means to acquire. She acquired a son. And she said, "I have gotten a man from the Lord." Now that sentence is the first sentence in the scripture that is quoting the words of a mother because she had just become a mother.
(08:37) Before that her words were not from a mother but someone who would become but now she was a mother. I have gotten a man from the Lord. She named him Cain. She was a mother who acknowledged, right? See this right here in the scripture. She acknowledged that the Lord had made it possible for her to have that first son she had, Cain. Scripture doesn't say that Eve understood the prophecy of her seed.
(09:11) She probably had no clue about the struggle that would happen between the seed of the serpent and her seed. But scripture does show that she knew that God made it possible for her to become a mother. She said, "I have gotten a man from the Lord." And so God opened that way for humanity to begin to expand and grow the generations to be born all the way to our time and beyond. So time passed. Abel was born.
(09:47) Two sons grew up making different choices in life. They were both at least of young adult age and they could have been by scripture. Looking at the accounts and the dates, we could they could have been a hundred years old when things changed and Cain killed Abel. They were old enough to raise livestock and crops.
(10:15) They were old enough to bring their own offerings to worship God. Do you know the story? Cain killed Abel. This affected their mother. Can imagine those of you who are mothers would feel the emotion of that. I'm sure fathers to some degree, but I think mothers perhaps even more. This affected their mother as well as the rest of humanity from that time to now.
(10:44) But more time passed. We don't know how much. If Cain and Abel had been young adults, it might have been a century passed before Seth was born. Because we know from Genesis 5 and verse three that Adam was 130 years old when Seth was born. So there's a long span of time in the lifetime of husband and wife.
(11:14) And we find then that Adam knew his wife again and she bore a son and named him Seth. That's in Genesis 4 and verse 25. This name Seth means appointed. She named him Seth. And so we see the the involvement of Eve in the naming of her children. Seth means appointed appointed of God. She said this her words, "For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel whom Cain killed.
(11:53) " We see the motherly connection there. And she acknowledged again that it was through God's blessing of some sort. I don't know how much she understood or didn't. The scriptures don't tell us that. But did you notice what she said? these two things. She again acknowledged that God is the giver of life and God had created Adam and Eve.
(12:19) They knew that that was very well known by them and God had made it possible for them to have children. And now she knew that God was the giver of her life. This truth that Eve knew is strongly taught throughout the scriptures. Job mentioned it this way. It is the Lord in whose hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.
(12:48) There are other verses through the scriptures that show this as well. You can see it in Isaiah. You can see it in the book of Acts and other places. So very clear that God is the giver of life for all people. It started with those children who were born the first mother on this earth who's Eve. But notice further this statement she said for God has appointed another seed for me.
(13:21) Eve with all that she had already gone through in her own life and all the things that had happened in her family. We're now talking 130 years of life. She spoke of God as the giver of life. And she spoke of the seed that had been promised. Remember back in Genesis 3:15, her seed would bruise the head of the serpent.
(13:48) That seed would someday be born into her family. And she's acknowledging that. She used the word the seed. God was working out his plan to bring many sons and daughters to glory through the lineage of Seth. Many generations later, Noah was born. And from Noah and his wives, then all of humanity that now exists came through them. All the rest of the stories of mothers in the Bible and of the seed who had been promised come from this story.
(14:26) Eve was her mother, the grandmother, the great grandmother and a thousand or more greets grandmother of all living. She may not have understood the things that God revealed later, things that we now know, but we see her story here in the scriptures inspired for us. She probably didn't know that her seed would give his life to save the world.
(14:59) But this is where the Bible begins to speak of the Messiah was to be born of this first mother Eve. And God knew and is still working out his eternal plan to create his family. So we see already in the plan of God, mothers are very important, aren't they? They play such a vital role. There's so many scriptures through the script the the Bible that teach this.
(15:29) But moving ahead couple thousand years or so, we find the story of Ruth and Naomi. Now, here's another mother and a mother-in-law that I mentioned in the title. By this time, of course, God had written his ten commandments on the tablets of stone, given them, the codified law that uh came from him, but through Moses to the people.
(15:59) He delivered the those tablets of stone. And one of those commandments, you will recognize easily, the fourth commandment is in Exodus 20 and verse 12. If you want to know for sure where that is, you could ask Ethan or Riley. Honor your father and your mother that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
(16:27) You know that commandment is mentioned 10 or more times through the scriptures by Jesus Christ himself who quoted that several times and referring back to that command. Well, one reason that I'm giving this message is to help us see the practical examples in the scripture of people who kept God's commandments.
(16:49) And of those was to honor your mother. It's one of the commandments of God. And so that's my focus today is on tightening down the focus to that to honoring mothers and grandmothers and other people's mothers and grandmothers and all of the ones around us. There's some layers in this story of Ruth and Naomi that I I hope to share with you as we we consider some of their examples.
(17:21) I'm taking the approach that their story is generally known among you here who are listening known well enough that I can skip many of the details in that section and just focus on the mothers themselves and some of the things that are there in the scriptures. And the point I want to make here is when scripture speaks of honoring mothers such honor can also be given to a mother-in-law.
(17:48) Now, I have my favorite mother-in-law and I truly do love her and I know many of you do too. Have your favorite mother-in-law and and God intends that there be that honor for them. It's an important part of a lesson from Ruth's example in the book of Ruth chapter 2 in verse 11 and 12. And let me find [Music] that. I'm getting close.
(18:36) Ruth 2 verse 11 and 12 we read this. And Boaz answered and said to her, "It has been fully reported to me all that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband." You could read the earlier parts of this book to pick up all those details. I really encourage you. It's such a fascinating story.
(19:00) We jump into it here where Boaz is saying to her, "We know what you've done and we are so very grateful to see what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband and how you have left your father and your mother and the land of your birth and have come to a people whom you did not know before.
(19:22) The Lord repay your work and a full reward be given you by the Lord God of Israel under whose wings you have come for refuge. Now at this point Ruth is not yet a mother but she has honored her mother-in-law so very well and she was continuing to do that. Ruth and Na Naomi had been through some very difficult times and and Boaz there is acknowledging that said we know it's been hard we know what you've done but Ruth had honored her mother-in-law in very very dramatic way and that example had been noticed by many people in the
(20:05) place they lived. Uh we can pick up some lessons as we go and say how important it is not just to us, not just to the one who we directly honor, but to those who see the example. Say what a great blessing it is to have family relationships among us where that is noticed and and and commented on in the community like it was here in this example.
(20:33) Ruth had honored her mother-in-law, and people around them had surely noticed and appreciated that. But notice how well this account lines up with what Jesus taught in Mark 10. And I'm going to turn and read this one. I hope you do, too. In Mark 10 verse 29 and 30, we see something that Jesus Christ said and we can apply it and see how it fits so well with the story of Ruth and what happened to her.
(21:05) What Jesus said would be the case. Certainly it was for Ruth in Mark 10 29. And so he said to them, that's my chapter 9 verse 10, chapter 10. So Jesus answered and said, Assuredly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my sake.
(21:39) In the gospels you see in there that the example of Ruth what she left. No one who has left everything like that and traveled on who shall not receive a hundfold now in this time. Houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecutions. You know, Ruth and Naomi had suffered those deprivations of life, persecutions if you will, in a sense.
(22:16) They were then abandoned if almost abandoned in a foreign country and they returned to their own place. It was very hard that they went through. It says in the age to come eternal life. And so this is a principle that Christ himself taught. We see that God honored that principle in the days of Ruth and Naomi and and he brought them there and blessed them.
(22:45) And Ruth gained relatives that she didn't know before and friends. And she became someone who was set deeply into the family of that community, protected, guided, loved, honored, and very much cared for. See, this is exactly what Ruth had done. Sometimes people in our own lifetime have had to make difficult choices.
(23:18) Ruth's example of honoring her mother-in-law can teach us about God's love. And I look around this room and I know some of your stories and I know some of you have left family for good reason. Traveled to far distant countries and still love them. And God tells you that you have mothers here and brothers and sisters, you're part of a bigger family that he is caring for.
(23:51) So this is part of the story. Honoring a mother and a mother-in-law brings greater blessings as we see it unfolding. There's an example here in the scripture of how Ruth honored her mother-in-law by following her good advice. Now, my favorite mother-in-law gives me good advice sometimes, and sometimes I follow it, and I I really appreciate it.
(24:22) She'll probably hear this and we'll smile and laugh, but she gives good advice. Naomi gave good advice to Ruth and she followed it. Let's see what happened here in Ruth 2 beginning in verse 21. In Ruth 2 verse 21, then Ruth the Moabitete said speaking now, you know the story. She's been gleaning in the field. She's coming back and and and talking to Naomi about what has happened.
(24:54) Then Ruth the Moabitete said, "He also said to me,"You shall stay close to my young men until they have finished all my harvest." So that's what Boaz said, "Stay close to my young men." He he meant it in a good way. They'll protect you. They'll guide you. They'll help you. We see what he told them, how to make sure she had plenty.
(25:17) But notice the advice then that comes from the mother-in-law. And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, "It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women." See how she turned that? And now this mother-in-law is giving absolutely great advice. Go out with his young women and that people do not meet you in any other field.
(25:47) So she stayed close by the young women of Boaz to glean until the end of the barley harvest and wheat harvest and she dwelt with her mother-in-law. She followed that advice. It was good advice and it really paid off and it helped her to bond even closer to follow those things that her mother-in-law by wisdom of age and by wisdom of knowledge of human nature and other things.
(26:15) She knew what Naomi needed. Stay with those young women and you'll be okay. And so she was. So honoring sometimes means again following the good advice we receive. Maybe maybe you could think about some good advice that your mother gave you and maybe in fellowship time we can share some of that or ways that your mother helped you and I hope all of you can do that or maybe that your mother-in-law gave you and I hope you can experience that.
(26:59) I was thinking of these things and you know how could I honor my mother who's been dead now for 20 years. My mother took us to church on a regular basis now. We didn't have a way and somehow I don't know how she did it. She arranged that someone would pick us up and take us to church. Sometimes we had a car and she would make sure that we got to church and on a regular basis we were there.
(27:30) One of you sitting in the back row was in the same congregation and we would see each other fairly often at church. And now these many years later, five of my mother's children are faithful members of the church of God. And that's a pretty big honor. My mother sacrificed her health for her children and for her grandchildren.
(28:02) And in many ways, for a long time, she sacrificed things that cost her some of her own health and caused her to be weaker physically than otherwise she would have been. But she did it out of love. My mother helped me to cope with being hungry at school when I was growing up and we often did not have enough food at home to pack a lunch or the money to buy lunch at school.
(28:36) And my mother taught me that if I would drink water through the day, drink slowly, she said, "Drink water, it'll help you." And I did that for months at a time, sometimes at school. My mother prayed for me after I went to college. And there were times when things would happen and I would be in a dangerous situation and then somehow saved out of it.
(29:08) And that night, I don't know, it happened three, four times. How did she know? I don't know. that night she would call and say, "What happened? How are you doing? I've been praying for you." And I'd tell her the story, but she knew some of those things about what happened to me when I didn't even live at home anymore.
(29:30) I'm going to work this story in. Had been my introduction to the sermon, but I'm going to work it in now because it's going to honor my mother. I went fishing on Thursday. No, Wednesday this week. I've been fishing on Wednesday and with my best buddy friend I've known for 50 some years and and he took me out fishing. He says he's my therapist and he's a really good therapist.
(30:03) So, we're out fishing for Ling Cod in the saltwater off Deception Pass. beautiful setting out there. And uh just to shorten it down, I'll tell the rest of the story. If you're interested, you can ask me later. But the part I want to say is this. I caught a fish at the very end of the day, and I was down deep in the water, 100 ft, when the fish struck, and I could tell it was a a goodiz fish.
(30:33) And I start to reel it in and the handle comes completely off of my reel. And my fishing buddy and I and God worked together to catch that fish. And it made me think of my mother. Believe it or not, made me think of my mother in this way. My mother would often tell me to go catch a mess of fish for dinner.
(31:05) and she knew that we needed more food in the house than we had at the time. And she said, "Go catch some fish." And she trusted that I could. And I got pretty good at it. And I did it because I wanted to honor my mother. And she made it seem like a command, but I wanted to be an obedient son and do what she said. So, I trudged off and went fishing many times and caught fish and brought them home.
(31:34) It's a story that I can say now to honor my mother. Believe it or not, fishing, doing things like that can remind us of good things when we were growing up. The point I'm making here is this. Relationships are meant to endure. We see this again going back to the book of Ruth. In Ruth chapter 4 in verse 13, we read this and it's about relationships enduring over a long long time of our life. Ruth 4 in verse 13 begins.
(32:12) So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. And when he went unto her, the Lord gave her conception and she bore a son. And then the women, the women said to Naomi, they're talking to the grandmother now, to the mother-in-law. The women said to Naomi, "Blessed be the Lord who has not left you this day without a close relative, and may his name be famous in Israel." And so it still is.
(32:44) Boaz is famous. And may he be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age. For your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons has borne him. She's speaking here of the son who was born. Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her bosom and became a nurse to him.
(33:11) And the neighbor women gave him a name saying there is born to Naomi. There is a son born to Naomi. And they called his name Oed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David. So you see how the story is advancing the plan of God working closer and closer to the fulfillment of what was said in Genesis about the seed who would come.
(33:45) This advances the story closer to the seed that God continued working out his plan for his family, preparing for that seed that had been prophesied would bruise the head of the serpent. Mothers and mothers-in-law are a big part of how God is fulfilling his promise. You can follow and track that through. Honor goes both ways.
(34:14) From Ruth to her mother-in-law and from Naomi back to her daughter-in-law, Ruth. This should be a pattern for all of our families. We see in these things more than stories. We see examples that we can emulate and and improve on where we can in our own lives. This is how God intended. families taking care of one another, especially widows and the needy ones.
(34:43) Remember what the women said to Naomi that he may be a restorer of life to you and a nourisher of your old age. Brethren, that's an important element, isn't it? In the story, we who have elderly relatives, mothers, mothers-in-law, fathers, fathers-in-law, brothers, sisters, we take care of them. We nourish them.
(35:09) We We make sure they're safe. We can do that. We pray for them. And honor goes in that way. This how God intended it. So, OED, Ruth's son, Oed was to carry on the name and inheritance of Ruth's first husband, Naomi's son, who had died. And that's why that's why the the women had talked to Naomi.
(35:39) That son would carry on the name of Naomi's son who had died. And so we see that connection there that keeps the families intact. Let's go to another story then a little while later in the scriptures just the next book over really another mother named Hannah. Interesting things here about this mother too. Hannah was barren and for years she had grieved because of that.
(36:12) She wanted a son and she wept as she silently prayed to God for this blessing. She poured out her soul before the Lord to the point where the priest who saw she was just mouththing the words without saying them. The priest thought she was drunk. You know that story how he just assumed something. The one thing we might miss when we think of honoring our mother is what it meant to her that we were born.
(36:48) What does it mean to mothers who want children and they don't just come along? Sometimes they have to wait sometimes years, sometimes never. But Hannah's example shows this deep emotion, the desire to become a mother, the pleading with God for that blessing. There's something to honor. God promised God granted her request. Promised her that she would have a son and she became a mother.
(37:29) In 1st Samuel 1 in verse 20 it says, "So in it came to pass in a process of time." We heard in the first message about things that sometimes take a process of time. In the process of time that Hannah conceived and bore a son and called his name Samuel, saying because I have asked for him for the Lord. See this common connection? These mothers are acknowledging God.
(38:04) And Hannah's asking the Lord for a child. And the name Samuel means heard by God. He heard and listened. He inclined his ear. He heard and understood the request. And as she had promised, when Samuel was weaned, she dedicated her son to serve the Lord. We see this in 1st Samuel 1 verse 22. But Hannah did not go up. Every year her husband and the rest of the family went up to Shiloh to worship.
(38:47) Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, "I will not go up until the child is weaned. Then I will take him that he may appear before the Lord and remain there forever." She knew, she had promised that if her if she could have a son, she would lend him, grant him, give him in service to the Lord. In verse 26 and to 28, we read this.
(39:14) And she said, "Oh my Lord, now this is the time when she's taken Samuel and and brought him to the priest, the same one who thought she was drunk. She says, "Oh my Lord, as your soul lives, my Lord." She's speaking to Eli the priest. I believe it's Eli. She said, "I am the woman who stood by you here praying to the Lord. For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition which I ask of him.
(39:48) Therefore, I have also lent him to the Lord. as long as he lives, he shall be lent to the Lord. So they worshiped the Lord there. She kept her promise that Samuel would serve God. This, brethren, was love. This took faith and courage. You think of a mother taking her recently weaned child, perhaps at that time period, three years old.
(40:21) So it's an emotional time for Hannah the mother but her emotion was joy. Look how she expressed this emotion in the next chapter 1st Samuel 2 verses 1 and 2. And Hannah prayed and said my heart rejoices in the Lord. My horn is exalted in the Lord. I smile at my enemies because I rejoice in your salvation. There is none holy like the Lord.
(40:52) For there's none besides you, nor is there any rock like our God. She was rejoicing before God to be able not only to have given birth to Samuel, but now to give him to the Lord in this way to serve him, to leave him there when she went home and to come back only on the occasions when they came back to worship. Look in verse 10, last part of verse 10, we see something as she she had this song, this prayer, if you will.
(41:28) And in her prayer, she acknowledges God's plan. Look at this. And in verse 10, at the last phrase here, it says, "He will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed." She's speaking of what God would do in and through and by the Messiah, the seed that would come that was promised.
(42:00) And we can see the fulfillment of those things in the in the gospel accounts, Luke in chapter 1 and the in the prophecy that Zachcharias spoke of. I'll just quote it for you here. In Luke 1 verse 68 and 69, Zachchariah says, "God has raised up a horn of salvation." That's what Hannah had spoken in her song, a horn of salvation.
(42:36) Matthew 28 shows the strength given to the king for Jesus Christ after he's raised from the dead in verse 18 says all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. These are things that were part of that inspired word in the time of Hannah that were fulfilled in the lifetime of Jesus Christ. Hannah's example of a mother faithful to God and with love for her child is very very inspiring to read.
(43:13) In 1st Samuel 2 verse 18- 21 we read this. But Samuel ministered before the Lord even as a child. So she gives him up goes home. Samuel begins to minister as a child wearing a linen epha. It was something that the priest would wear and at his young age he was included. Verse 19. Moreover, his mother used to make him a little robe.
(43:39) You see the tenderness, the care, the remembrance of a mother. His mother used to make him a little robe and bring it to him year by year when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. that connection that last she she was still his mother. He was still her son and there was this connection, this love.
(44:05) And I'm guessing that throughout the year and all those times she's sewing that little robe, how big is he this year? How much has he grown? Will he like this color, this pattern? All those things she's thinking about her son. And so there's other things that we can see there. But meanwhile, it says the child grew before the Lord.
(44:31) So Samuel grew and matured, became a judge over Israel. He led them in battles against their enemies. When he was old, God chose him to anoint the first king of Israel, Saul. And later, as God led him to know who he had chosen to replace Saul, Samuel anointed David. And it would be through David that the Messiah would be born.
(45:03) Now Hannah's prayers were answered by God. He was preparing the way for the seed to be born as a king. And so we see this thread that just works right through the scripture. One more lady I'd like to speak about today, Mary, mother of Jesus. She was another mother through whom God worked in miraculous ways to bring his son into the world and to make it possible for us to receive the promise of eternal life.
(45:42) You can read this account in Luke chapter 1. verse 26- 28 is where I focused that section. If you read it later, you can see it gives the details of her first awareness of becoming the mother of Jesus before she was married, before she was betrothed but not yet married. before she became a mother and a song was inspired.
(46:15) She was inspired by God and Luke recorded the song that came from this in Luke 2 verse 46 is where it starts. Luke 2. I'm just going to let you read beginning in verse 46. It's actually Luke 1. Pardon me there. Luke 1 verse 46-5. I'm going to drop down to verse 54 and 55. In this song of Mary, it says, "He has helped his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy as he spoke to our fathers to Abraham and to his seed forever.
(47:08) " You see that word seed keeps coming back into this promise and this thread of God working things out. Back in Genesis, God said to the serpent, "Her seed will bruise your head." In the time of Abraham, he said, "In your seed, all the nations of the earth will be blessed." And Galatians puts it down as a singular point. In his seed, who is Christ? And so, we see Mary's song to Abraham and to his seed forever.
(47:46) And she's relating to the promises that God had given. In chapter 2 in verse 7, we see that she brought forth her firstborn son, wrapped him in swaddling clothes. You can imagine how a mother with a brand new infant would take care of that child, wrapped him in swaddling cloths, laid him in a manger because there was no room in the end.
(48:16) So the shepherds came, found Mary and Joseph and Jesus and made widely known what the angel had told them about the child. In chapter 2 and verse 19 has this, but Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. This is a mother's way. She heard all these things. She knew what had been told her of the angel before she conceived.
(48:50) Now she's a mother. And these things are beginning to happen. and she kept them in her heart, pondered them, I'm sure, the rest of her life. This is what mothers do. They think about their children. They what is their future? What will happen? How will they change the world? Will they be safe? Well, Simeon took Jesus up in his arms and blessed God.
(49:25) And again it says in verse 33, Joseph and his mother marveled at those things which are spoken of him. Read those things which are spoken. The mother hears those things that prophets are saying. And prophetus as well. Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary. I want to read verse 34 and 35. Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, "Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against.
(50:01) Yes, a sword will pierce through your soul also. The thoughts of many hearts may be revealed." She probably was wondering, "What does this mean? How would this work out? How is this part of God's plan? She would find out later as we all have already seen in our lives too. The things that Mary pondered in her heart were about the work of God in and through his son Jesus.
(50:37) 12 years later, the family went up to Jerusalem to keep the feast of the Passover. It's an interesting story here and something that a mother said in Luke 2 verse 48. You know the story where they had been there for those days at the feast of the Passover. They left and they didn't know that Jesus had stayed back. They thought he was with a relative until they found out later he wasn't.
(51:04) They go back and find him. And then in Luke 2:48 it says this. So when they saw him, they were amazed. And his mother said to him, "I always like it when it's quoting a mother and you can see what what did she think?" Son, why have you done this to us? From time to time in my life, I heard similar things from my mother, but it was completely different circumstances than that.
(51:37) Why have you done that? But she was in the role of a mother fully, "Son, why have you done this to us?" And he explained to her he was doing the work of his father. And she pondered those things too. I almost chose that for the title of the message. Son, why have you done these things to us? He did those things because he was fulfilling God's plan to bring us all into his family.
(52:18) In Luke 2:51, it says, "Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was subject to them. He was a good and obedient son, but his mother kept all these things in her heart. things are building towards something. At the very end of Christ's earthly ministry, there's another example of the kind of honor that Ruth had for her mother-in-law.
(52:48) This is going to get to the emotional side of things. Ruth cared for her mother-in-law so very well. It's the kind of loving honor that Jesus modeled so well. He honored his mother and made sure she would be taken care of. You know, he was the one who gave the law to Moses and said, "Honor your father and your mother.
(53:18) " And here is an example of him doing exactly that in John 19 verse 25 to 27. Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother and his mother's sister Mary the wife of Clus and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing by, he said to his mother,"Woman, behold your son." He made sure there would be someone to watch after her and care for her, keep her safe, nourish her, comfort her, help her in many ways.
(54:05) And he said to the disciple, "Behold your mother." And from that hour that disciple took her into his own house. But taking care of older parents is a major part of God's commandment to honor your father and your mother. We should all pay attention to that. Many of us, many of you still help to take care of your own mothers and older relatives.
(54:37) Mary saw her son come into the world and she saw her son die. That is when the seed bruised the head of the serpent. Turn to Hebrews 2 and verse 14. So, we get back and tie this in with what God said in Genesis 3. We see this in in Hebrews 2:14. In as much then, as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared in the same, that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil.
(55:31) He bruised the head of the serpent. when he died, he fulfilled that promise, that prophecy at that point. There was much more to come. It's one more part of this story in Acts 1. In Acts 1 verse 2-4, this uh verse one is about Luke writing about Jesus. Verse two, until the day in which he was taken up, after he through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom he had chosen, to whom he had presented himself alive after his suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during 40 days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of
(56:27) God, who was there during that time? In verse four, and being assembled together with them, he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the father, which he said, you have heard from me. Verse 9 through 11 shows, and when he had spoken these things, while they watched, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight.
(56:56) And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven, as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will so come in like manner as you saw him go into heaven." Verse 12. Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Alvette, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey.
(57:27) And when they had entered, they went up into the upper room where they were staying. And this the twel apostles here. In verse 13, these all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus and with his brothers. She saw her son taken up into heaven. She knew he would return and the world would be saved.
(58:05) Brethren, in these accounts of these four mothers and this mother-in-law, we can see this thread right through the scriptures. How God is working out such a wonderful plan and how mothers have such an important part in the plan of God and always have. and certainly as the commandment of God shows deserve the honor that he said we should give them to honor our mothers.