What Can We Learn from the Mother God Chose for His Son? Part 3

Mary Made Mistakes, But Got Past Them

God chose Mary to be the mother of his only begotten son. Her role in this was particularly important in believing what God said to her about becoming pregnant with his son; it was also important in keeping both her faith and the growing baby alive until his birth. But, being Jesus’s mother was a role in life that never left Mary; so God’s choice for her to be in this privileged—but embattled—position continued to reveal characteristics that he is looking for in all of us.

One of her valued qualities was that even though she made mistakes because of her normal humanness, she got past them humbly and continued meekly in her God-appointed assignment:

Mary Lost the Boy Jesus–

She lost touch with the Living Word in the growing phase:

(Luke 2:41–43 NKJV) His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. (42) And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast. (43) When they had finished the days, as they returned, the Boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and His mother did not know it.

No doubt, initially the excitement of the birth and the gravity of her God-given mission as the mother of His Son kept Jesus in the front of Mary’s mind. But, after a decade or more, she became very familiar with having Jesus in her life … perhaps she became a bit over-familiar and complacent about the presence of God and his living Word. This showed when she visited Jerusalem at Passover, and then unwisely assumed he was with her in the crowd as she headed into a new year.

Sadly, Mary had lost touch with what was most important in her life. She was excited about the friends, the travel, the time away from home, etc.; and she lost touch with where Jesus was. Mary had drifted from the priority and responsibility of keeping God’s living word close to her and in constant communication. We could say: distracted by all the every day life and worldly pleasures, she backslid.

Did Mary recover from this shocking mistake? Yes; when Joseph and she returned to Jerusalem seeking Jesus, they found him where the living word is … with the teachers. (This certainly has an application for us all; let’s never lose touch with the living word; let’s keep him near and in focus. One of the ways to do this is to listen constantly to what God is saying through his anointed teachers, prophets, and preachers.)

Compounding her mistake, Mary’s initial response was to blame Jesus for this separation:

(Luke 2:48 NKJV) So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.”

In truth, Jesus had not done this to them; they had wandered off from him. After he corrected them, saying that he must be about his father’s business, they resumed their God-given roles: she as a focused mother, and Jesus in submission to his parents … until he was 30 y.o. At that time, during the wedding in Cana, he relocated his first submission from her directly to his heavenly Father.

B. Mary Misunderstood Jesus’s Mission:

(Matthew 12:46–50 NKJV) While He was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him. (47) Then one said to Him, "Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You." (48) But He answered and said to the one who told Him, "Who is My mother and who are My brothers?" (49) And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers! (50) For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother."

Half way through Jesus’s public ministry, we see in this passage that Mary was outside Jesus’s meeting. Instead of being inside—with the greatest teacher—where the word was alive and active, Mary was outside … seemingly in a compounding mistake of wanting to correct him. To even be outside with this attitude is bad enough, but to try to call Jesus away from teaching—his God-given role on earth—is an even worse mistake.

For his listeners, Jesus quickly explained that his true family were those submitted to the same Father as him—those who were fully focused on sitting at his feet and hearing Father’s living word; those who do his Father’s will. I wonder if someone inside that meeting eventually relayed the message to Mary: “He’s not coming out to you; he says his true mother and brothers are in there.” Whether anyone told her what he said or not, this would have been a very challenging time for Mary. Again, she had lost touch with Jesus, the living word.

Would Mary recover from her drifts from Jesus? Would she finally get past her mistakes?

C. Mary Recovered from Her Mistakes

She Stood By Him at the Cross:

(John 19:25 NKJV) Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

She Waited in the Upper Room with the Rest of His Disciples:

(Acts 1:13–14 NKJV) And when they had entered, they went up into the upper room where they were staying: Peter, James, John … with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.

Mary certainly had her priorities right when she stood by the Lord Jesus at his cross. Most of his followers fled at that point; she stayed till the end. She may have drifted at times from close fellowship with the living Word, but she never lost love for her son … even when she didn’t understand his mission or actions.

Then we see that after Jesus died and rose again, Mary took her rightful, humble role—not as Jesus’s instructor—but as his disciple. Like his other devoted followers, she sat with his chosen leaders in the upper room, listening to those through whom Jesus was speaking, praying with them, and awaiting the arrival of the Holy Spirit.

Today, I encourage you to avoid the mistake that Mary made: don’t ever lose touch with the living Word of God; he is Jesus, he loves you, and he has the solution to every problem you face and the provision for every need you have. He is your King, provider, healer, wisdom, righteousness, grace, and access to Father.

When you do make this or other mistakes, be like Mary; renew your mind, repent of the wrong thinking and actions, humble yourself; and return to meekly sitting at Jesus’s feet, listening to him, believing what he says, and obediently submitting to what God is saying to you. Stay in your lane; remain focused on your God-given assignment and responsibility, with your eyes fixed firmly on Jesus—the living Word of God—at all times.