The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1961-06-30
Mother Of Jesus
Lesson for July 2, 1861


Of Heaven, standing on a clouc
| perhaps. The other shows her
holding the baby Jesus Now the
Bible says nothing at all abou,
her being Queen of Heaven, anc
it never suggests that we should
pray to her. So ProtestantS dc
not paint pictures of Mary on q
cloud. All they see is the young
mother with the baby. This is
surely undertaking her. Ir
anxiety not to make an idol Of
Mary, many rush to the opposite
ex r e me of neglecting her
memory and failing to appre
ciate all she was and did.
Mary The Girl
True motherhood is more thar
bringing a child into the world
and holding it up to be photo
graphed or painted. Motherhood
is a lifetime thing. It begins. &C.
tually. years before the child is
born. Only the right kind Of per
son can be the right kind Of
mother. Young women in Pales
tine were betrothed fengaged
at what we would think a very
early age. Mary may not have
been much over sixteen Wher
Jesus was born. We can see
from the story that she was
poor We know that she lived ir
a village which had never beer
known for anything good. YET
God chose this particular girl te
be the mother of the world s
Savior Already as a girl Goo
looked on her with favor, as the
angel said. Already as a girl she
,, was + m | a r with the Scrip
lures, as her song testifieS. AL
ready as a girl she must have
been notably good. Would any
ordinary man in Joseph's strange
circumstances, h rave believed
the angel of his dream? 1t was
because Mary was the kind Of
girl she was, that Joseph coulc
continue to believe in her
Saints are not always ole
people, they may be very young
Mary deser we'd the title
Blessed among women" while
she was still a girl. A gooc
mother does not start being
good only when her first child is
born.
The Woman
Think rapi dly over some
things we know about Mary. the
woman who grew as her sor
grew. in wisdom and stature
and in favor with God an6
man" We are told that Jesus
the boy was subject" to his par
ents. In simple English, Jesus
obeyed his mother as well as
Joseph. She was a woman who
knew her mind, a mother who
knew how to command loyaI
obedience on a child's part, yes
and on the part of an adolescent
for Jesus was on the edge Of his
teens when Luke tells us he was
subject to" or "obedient to-
Joseph and Mary. We have nc
reason to fancy that when Jesus
left home to take up his oWr
great life of obedience to God
that he had to unlearn what he
had learned at home. Think over
the character and attitudes and
mind $50 far as we can know it,
of Jesus the grown Teacher and
Healer. What kind Of home train
ing lay behind this? Unless We
are prepared to say that Jesus
surroundings, his family, his
home had no effect on him, we
are bound to suppose that in
Jesus life and character we
have a reflection of the influence
of the mother in whose home he
lived for thirty years.
The WOrshipper
The last picture we have OF
Mary in the New Testament is
one of an upper room in Jerusa-
lem. where she was one OF a
great prayer-group. The one
quotation we most often hear OF
Mary is a prayer, the Mag
nificat," sung in many churches
every Sunday. What people are
remembered for is a key to
what they are How many PEG.
Pile in this world are remem-
bered. long afterwards, for their
prayers? Mary was such a per
son. Some people can pray
beautiful prayers but are not
much account when a job is to
be done Others are very prac-
teal. but are merely stammer-
ers when they talk to God. Mary
the woman must have been per-
son whose rayers were the
flower of life of wonderful ser
vice. Praying and serving, her
life was woven, like the gar
ment she made for Jesus, seam
less throughout"
Based on outlines copyright
ed by the Division of Christian
Churches of Christ in the u. s. A.