As Christmas and New Year celebrations roll to a close and our schedules begin to go back to normalcy, a lot of us begin to dismiss the details of the true meaning of Christmas and everything the preachers told us in church. But, if there is something that I've truly thought about during this holiday season, it's the fact that Mother Mary (the mother of Jesus, to anyone who was unaware) is one of the toughest mothers in The Bible.
Okay, I know, some of you who are well-educated Bible Warriors could fight me on this with other mothers found from between the book of Genesis all the way to the book of Revelation. For example, you could say Eve was the toughest mother in the Bible. We're introduced to her in Genesis where she is the first female, created to be company to Adam, the first male. Eve then commits the first act of sin, eating an apple from The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil; even though God told her not to. She is the first woman to go through childbirth, and the only children we really know about are Cain, Abel, and Seth. She was the first woman to ever have to bury her own child, when her son, Cain, murdered her other son, Abel. Or maybe you would argue that Sarah is the coolest mother of The Bible. For starters, she had to be tough to bear a child and give birth at the age of ninety (Genesis 17:17). Or what about Jochebed? The woman was so tough, she made the hard choice to send her son, Moses, in a basket floating down The Nile River. Or what about Hannah? After not barring any children, she pleaded God, even promising to give Him her son when he was born, and so she did when she gave birth to her first son, Samuel. She later was blessed with three more sons and two daughters.
But, alas, the toughest mother of The Bible has to be Virgin Mary.
She was the favored one.
In Luke 1:28, Gabriel greeted Mary, a virgin, with "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you." Continuing in Luke 1:30-33, Gabriel tells Mary, "Do not be afraid Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever; his kingdom will never end." God would not put this task on any ordinary mother, but only a woman He knew could tough it out.
Joseph almost left her.
In Matthew 1:19 it says "Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly." Can you imagine being pregnant with the Messiah and your own husband is planning to leave you because he thinks you cheated on him? Mary had to be tough to be forced with that situation. Thankfully as the chapter continues, Joseph decides to stay with Mary. In Matthew 1:20-24, it continues "But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through prophet: 'The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel.' When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded and took Mary home as his wife."
She survived childbirth in a dirty stable.
When you think about birth today, everything is clean and very sterile to protect the health of both the mother and the child. But that was not the case in Mary giving birth to Jesus. Mary was turned away from an inn, due to them not having any room, and was forced to give birth to Jesus in a stable. The place was covered in animal droppings, dirt, unclean hay, probably bugs and I can only assume the smell was horrible. But it was nothing Mary couldn't handle.
She faced Herod attempting to kill her son.
We all know how protective mothers can be towards their children, so imagine how Mary felt when Herod had ordered the mass murder of all boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under (Matthew 2:16).
She watched her own son be crucified on the cross.
When Jesus was crucified on the cross, His mother, Mary, was there, as it is said in John 19:25-26. Only a tough woman can truly stand and watch her son be crucified on a cross after raising him and knowing how truly powerful and great he is. And it is never even said that she then doubts God after this.
Try to fight me on this, but I am unwavering in my opinion that the Virgin Mary, the highly adored one of God, is the toughest mother in The Bible.
