Real Bible People: Mother Mary

Mary the Bondservant

Mary Listens to the Angel

Mary the mother of Jesus may be the most difficult real person to discern in the gospels, with the real person overlaid by centuries of traditional views closely held by the faithful. But besides being one of the prime icons of the church, she was a living, breathing human being who encountered good times and bad times, opportunities and snares, hopes come true and shattered dreams.

We first encounter Mary at about 15 years old, when she has a wondrous vision of an angel named Gabriel speaking to her, and she listened carefully. If you should be one of those persons to whom an angel appears, listen closely, for an angel is a messenger of God, and will not show up unless he has a special message for you.

The angel that appeared to Mary had an astounding message: she was about to become pregnant at age 15, without ever having "been with a man." Not only that, but her child was going to be extremely special, one who would grow up to inherit King David's throne over Israel and be called the Son of God.

Such a message could hardly be anything but disturbing for a young girl, yet Mary's reply to the angel was also astounding. She said, "I am the handmaiden [bondservant] of Yahweh the Lord, and I am willing to do whatever He wants. May everything that you told me come true."

Mary did not hesitate, but spoke directly from her heart. Yet this girl could not have helped but wonder if she had spoken too quickly. Strange and powerful things were about to happen that would affect her life forever.

Mary the Early Bride

Mary the Bride

Mary's first fear would no doubt be telling all this to Joseph, the man to whom she was betrothed to be married. But finding herself pregnant, her only choice was to tell him. Joseph did react negatively, as she had feared, and planned to end the betrothal quietly. But then Joseph had a dream in which an angel said to him, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for she shall have a Son who will save his people from their sins."

Joseph was a descendant, a "Son of David." The message of Gabriel was beginning to come true already. By Joseph's act of accepting and adopting this child into his household, the boy would become part of the legal line of succession, eligible to ascend to the throne of the long-dead King David.

Immediately Joseph acted to cut the year-long betrothal process short. He married the girl right away and brought her into his house and under his protection. Even so, the old wives of the village did what old wives do--they talked about the scandal and gossiped about how she might have become pregnant and who might be the father. We can be sure that both Joseph's and Mary's reputations in the village suffered due to the abrupt and unseemly marriage before the completion of the betrothal process.

Mary the Mother of Jesus

Mary Gives Birth

Now as a part of Joseph's household, she became part of Joseph's problems. One of those problems was his need to go to David's ancestral home of Bethlehem and register his name in the new Roman tax roll. For Mary's care and protection, Joseph brought Mary along with him, even though by this time she was many months pregnant.

Joseph located rudimentary lodging for his family in Bethlehem, and Mary gave birth to her son. Strange and wondrous things happened while they were there: Shepherds came to see the child, telling of their vision of angels declaring the birth of the Savior of Israel. Wealthy strangers came on a long trip to present gifts to the prophesied King of Israel. Prophets in the Jerusalem temple proclaimed the infant to be the savior of the whole world.

Mary treasured all these things in her heart, and shared them with her son as he was growing up. Joseph, it is clear, provided the youngster with a thorough background in the beliefs of Israel and the contents of its holy scriptures. The young boy was to come to treasure especially the prophetic content of the book of Isaiah, and would shape his life and ministry around the prophecies long told.

Mary the Husband of Joseph

Mary and Joseph Bond with Jesus

Mary's life with Joseph was much different than the pastoral scene above that shows a young couple centered around a single child. The first two centuries of the Christian church attest that Joseph was not a young man when he took Mary for his wife. No, Joseph was already well along in years and had both sons and daughters born to him before Mary and Jesus came  into his life.

Joseph was a widower with a large family. His first wife had died, most likely in childbirth, leaving him with five or six children to care for, plus a newborn infant (probably a girl). Immediately he had to hire a wet-nurse to nurse the infant, and begin looking for a help-meet to marry, who could share with him in raising his family.

If Mary came from a poor family, this provided her family with a means to guarantee her future in life. A poor family would struggle to provide the expected dowry, to be held for the bride's benefit in the event that the husband died or the marriage failed. But Joseph was in critical need of a wife to help raise his kids, and would not have been a prisoner to niceties.

Mary and Family in Egypt

The Flight to Egypt

When King Herod got wind of this new "King of the Jews" being born, he resolved to do away with this prospective rival, in case a rebellion should rise up against him and declare the new babe as the rightful king. But Joseph was warned in a dream to flee, and he left immediately. The only way to keep all of his kids safe was to get them out of Herod's reign forthwith. The image above portrays Jesus as two years old by this time, which was a possibility.

Fleeing to Alexandria in Egypt, they would have found a large and vibrant Jewish population, with more Jews than in Jerusalem. They would have been welcomed, and a home would have been found for them to stay in for a while. The only problem? Nobody there spoke Aramaic. The residents of Alexandria spoke predominantly Greek, with Coptic spoken in the hinterlands.

Greek was used by Jews in Palestine as the language of trade, when dealing with non-Jews. But now, Mary and her family were plunged into full-time Greek, which became an asset later for two of the boys, James and Jude. Each of these boys were to grow up to write a letter in Greek that later became two of the books of our Bible.

Mary the Stepmother of Four Boys

Mary, Jesus, and the Sons of Joseph

Mary at age 16 was confronted with the task of being stepmother to the four sons of Joseph, in addition to  raising  her own son Jesus. Their names, from oldest to youngest, were James, Joseph (Jr.), Simon, and Jude. James was probably between 13 and 15 at the time their father was wed to Mary, with Joseph Junior not far behind.

A calm disposition would have served Mary well in dealing with these teenagers. The boys were not likely to relish respecting a girl, barely older than themselves, with the respect due her as stepmother to the family. It is without doubt that there would have been some difficult times, when Joseph Sr. would need to be called in to deal with certain issues. Later blog posts will expand on the lives of these sons of the elder Joseph.

Mary the Stepmother of Three Girls

The Daughters of Joseph

The Bible assures us that there were at least two step-sisters of Jesus. (A first-century writer would have found no need to include the "step-" specification.) The church provides us with the traditional names for these two girls: Mary and Salome. These two names were the most popular names for girls among first-century Jews. As adults they are identified as living in (or at least visiting) Nazareth. They probably attended the marriage in Cana and possibly the visit by their brothers to Simon Peter's wife in Capernaum.

A third sister, Anna, is identified in at least one source in the early church. This would have been the infant child that survived the death of her mother and was adopted by Mary the mother of Jesus. It is certain that these two women developed a strong bond for each other, for Mary was the only mother that Anna ever knew.

It is possible that Anna is the woman being married at Cana, with Jesus, her step-brothers, and her mother all in attendance. Jesus was "invited" to the wedding, in spite of being absent for a couple of months to get baptized, then flee into the desert, then return to gather five or six disciples before heading for Cana. The disciples were also "invited" to the wedding, presumably on the authority of Jesus himself, for they knew nothing of the wedding before meeting Jesus.

Mary the Matriarch of the Wedding

Mary Matriarch at Cana

I suggested above that Anna, the youngest step-sister of Jesus, was the one being married in Cana. Mary the mother of Jesus plays a prominent part at that wedding, taking care of the lack of wine and  commanding the servants to do whatever Jesus tells them to do. It was the bridegroom's task to provide the wine, but for some reason they had run out. Could that have been because of all the extra guests Jesus brought with him?

Mary clearly acts as if she were the one in charge, although that position is reserved for the Master of the Feast. In this case, the Master of the Feast would have been James, the oldest son of Joseph, who has been head of  the family since the death of his father Joseph. James tasted the new wine created from water by Jesus, and complimented the bridegroom on his handling of the wine.

What a great joke this would have been, when the servants let out how the wine had actually been made!

We'll have much more to say about James, the oldest brother, in the next blog  post. James plays a surprisingly prominent part not only in the church but also in the ancient history books.