There are at least six women in our New Testament who bear the name ‘Mary’. None of them is true to the meaning of her name for the name means ‘bitter’ and there is a certain sweetness with each of these women. Mary the mother of Jesus is the first of these to be mentioned. There is an interesting three-fold way of approaching the story of this divinely favoured maiden from Nazareth. Her sayings, her song, and her silence, will all reveal the beauty of her character. In the records Mary speaks only five times. She speaks twice to Gabriel, twice to Jesus Himself, and once to the servants at the wedding in Cana.
Her question to the angel betrays a child-like simplicity; ‘How shall this be?’, she asks. This is not unbelief or mistrust, like that of Zacharias to the same angel. This is the question of an enquiring child, simply asking for further light and knowledge of the purpose of God. That further light is given. She is to be the virgin mother of the Messiah. Virgin mother? The men of Nazareth will never believe it. There will be scandal, misunderstanding, reproach, misrepresentations and insinuations. But it is the will of God, and in a beautiful submission to that will Mary replies, ‘Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word’.
Jesus is twelve years old when we hear Mary speak again. His parents have lost Him during the visit to Jerusalem. After three anxious days they find Him in the temple. Mary asks a question which has been asked by sorrowing saints in every age, ‘Why hast thou thus dealt with us?’ It is a question born out of perplexity. It is not wrong to ask ‘Why?’ In our sadness we may humbly ask for the reasons for God’s so dealing with us, but we must never question sovereignty.
Mary speaks to Jesus again at the wedding in Cana. How tactful she is – not dictating, not even directly asking Him to do anything, but simply stating the need, ‘They have no wine’. But she knows that He will act and she speaks accordingly to the servants, ‘Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it’. What good and sound advice was this from one who knew the Saviour so well. May we heed Mary’s advice and emulate her qualities.
