Mary of the Nativity

By Elizabeth Prata

It’s the time of year when we regard the Nativity. The Babe’s miraculous conception, His soon arrival, and the lowly circumstances of his birth. During this time it is natural to center thoughts, sermons, devotionals, etc, on Mary, the Messiah’s mother. Her submission to the News, her Magnificat of praise, and her visitation with cousin Elizabeth- who has a miracle of her own to report- are crucial elements of the story.

There can be a tendency to exalt Mary’s role beyond its bounds. By the same token, a tendency to downplay her role as a reaction to not wanting to exalt her.

RC Sproul wrote in “The Messiah’s Mother,” over-exaltation of Mary can be blasphemous.

[A]nyone familiar with Roman Catholicism also knows that pleading for Mary to intercede on one’s behalf is central to Roman Catholic piety. By contrast, evangelicals laudably and unambiguously affirm the biblical truth that there is only “one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5).

Sproul again,

In so doing, however, we often reduce Mary’s role to the extent that she is almost an afterthought in the Lord’s plan of salvation.

As with everything, let’s take a balanced and clear-eyed look at Mary. As Sproul noted, Mary IS “blessed among women” (Luke 1:42), and she is also a “favored one.” (Luke 1:28).

She is, as the Council of Chalcedon affirmed, the theotokos—”God-bearer” or “mother of God.” This title was not given to Mary to confer quasi-divine status upon her; rather, it was given to defend the truth of the deity of Christ. That is, the title is for Jesus’ sake. (Sproul).

Yet it is comments like this one below that display one’s interior restlessness and discontent with the facts of the Nativity as they are revealed in scripture:

The overwhelming male-ness of the nativity scene felt jarring. For millennia and across many cultures, including in the days of Jesus, birth was an exclusively female event: a laboring woman was attended by midwives and female family members. Only after the groans of productive agony had ceased and the blood and afterbirth were cleaned up were men permitted to enter. There is little reason to suppose Jesus’ birth was any different. (feminist ElleK “The Forgotten Women of the Nativity”).

Oh, but it WAS different … SO very different.

The Truth of the Nativity, by John MacArthur, excerpt-

Luke 2:7 sets the scene: “[Mary] gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”

That verse is explicitly concerned with a lonely birth. There were no midwives, no assistance to Mary at all. The Bible doesn’t even mention that Joseph was present. Perhaps he was, but if he was typical of first-time fathers, he would have been of little help to Mary. She was basically on her own.

Mary brought forth the child; she wrapped Him in swaddling cloths; and she laid Him in a manger. Where usually a midwife would clean the baby and wrap Him, there was no one. Mary did it herself. And where usually there would have been a cradle or basket for the baby, there was none. Mary had to put Him in an animal’s feeding trough.

When Christ entered the world, He came to a place that had some of the smelliest, filthiest, and most uncomfortable conditions. But that is part of the wonder of divine grace, isn’t it? When the Son of God came down from heaven, He came all the way down. He did not hang on to His equality with God; rather, He set it aside for a time and completely humbled Himself (Philippians 2:5-8).

The feminist writer above asserts that women are “written out” or “forgotten” in recorded histories. Laying aside the fact that the scriptures are perfect in their original languages because they are inspired by the Holy Spirit, it is a shame that the official record recorded that Mary was favored by God and chosen to bear and raise the Messiah. Sad that this is not enough for some.

But for us who know the miracle of a God who loves, who saves, who chose to depart glory and be born, live, and die in humiliating circumstances, it is MORE than enough! The wonder of the Nativity is multi-faceted, like a diamond among the straw. A jewel among the animals. A miracle of love. What more can we ask or even think of a God who would send His Son to do this? Who sends angels to bring Good News, to comfort, protect, and warn? Of a God who chose His people before the foundation of the world knowing we would hate Him until He touched our heart with the gift of repentance?

Praise Him for all His ways. He is the inscrutable God, who chose to reveal Himself in His Son, who as we view him this month, as a baby!