Calvin Synod Herald, 2006 (107. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2006-07-01 / 7-8. szám
CALVIN SYNOD HERALD 9 Mary: Handmaid of the Lord In Luke’s gospel, he wrote, “And Mary said: ‘Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.’” The angel of God had told her she would give birth to the Son of God. Who was this woman? The saying goes: “The hand that rocks the cradle can rock the earth.” Who can under estimate the impact of three women upon the Church by their influence upon their sons Ulrich Zwingli, Martin Luther or John Calvin? Their monumental works altered the life of the Church and civil society as well, impacting immediately upon the newly discovered continent of the Americas. But it was mothers who shaped their childhood years and their lifelong values. A look at Jesus’ life demands a look at Mary, His mother, yet little is known about her, although literature is abundant which is built upon legend and speculation. From Luke’s narrative we know that she was an unmarried Jewess living in Nazareth. She had a close relative Elizabeth who was married to a priest and was also expecting a child, although beyond the normal age to give birth, who was John the Baptist. Mary was betrothed, probably an arranged marriage, to the carpenter Joseph, age unknown, also of Nazareth. Suddenly, an angel appeared out of nowhere to tell her, “Hail, O favored one, the Lord is with you.” The immediate purpose of the Lord was to bring forth on earth the Son of God, and Mary was chosen by God to be Jesus’ mother. But why her? This was no accidental choice. God could have chosen another. Probably a lot of other women would have liked to be chosen - can you imagine Jesus being raised by some filthy mouthed neighborhood scold? God could also have chosen a local beauty, a women with a wealthy husband to give him everything, or a woman in the religious home of the Temple in Jerusalem. But the God who chose each prophet by name chose a chaste virgin in a small town, Mary. Kentucky) • The First Hungarian Reformed Church in Walton Hills, OH (Conference: Calvin Synod) • Faith United Church in Tamarac, FL (Conference: Florida) • Shepherd of the Hills Church in Bechtelsville, PA (Conference: Pennsylvania Southeast) • The First Hungarian Reformed Church of Los Angeles in Hawthorne, CA (Conference: Calvin Synod) • Salem United Church of Christ in Klingerstown, PA (Conference: Pennsylvania Central) • Christ Evangelical & Reformed in Klingerstown, PA (Conference: Pennsylvania Central) • New Gilead Reformed UCC in Concord, NC (Conference: Southern) Bob Thompson, Pastor Corinth Reformed Church Hickory, NC www.corinthtoday.org Mary: Queen of the Castle To understand who Mary was, it is necessary to recognize that, like all women, she was the queen of her home. Like most husbands, Joseph was king of his castle, however it was humble. We find later that their temple offering at Jesus circumcision was the one assigned for the poor. But it is an unfortunate misnomer to call her “Queen of Heaven.” As the creeds and confessions so clearly state, Jesus the Savior is fully man and fully God, yet the two should not be confused and mixed, as they are completely separate. As the apostle Paul said, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” so we acknowledge that Mary also was a sinner in need of redemption. He also wrote, in consequence of original sin, “death spread to all men because all men sinned,” which eliminates any possibility of a biblically unfounded miraculous assumption into heaven. That Mary was a woman like all other women is essential to understanding the full humanity of Jesus. The priest, who is one of the people, takes all their sins in prayer unto God, and he offers up their sacrifice to the Lord. The Nicene Creed and Apostles Creed were written to emphasize the human nature of the Savior. Mary: The Mother’s Home Without going beyond the scriptures into areas of legend and fiction, we can gain an understanding of the home life of Jesus as a boy, a youth, and young man. Joseph was a party of that home, and neighbors knew the young man Jesus as “the carpenter’s son.” What kind of man was the husband of Jesus? The first clue to his character and temperament are noted where he declined to expose Mary when she became pregnant, “being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame,” He considered her crucial situation rather than what would be insulting to him. But God had also chosen him carefully, the kind of man who would raise up his Son, as one who would also be caring of women in crisis. An indicator of the religious character of their homes was their insistence upon Jesus circumcision on the eighth day, and taking Him to the temple some weeks later for the rites of purification. (As an assistant to Rev. Alexander Daroczy in Carteret, NJ, during my seminary years, he passed along to me a Service for the Churching of Women, for purification forty days after giving birth). We are told they took the long journey, over seventy-five miles, every year to celebrate the Passover in Jerusalem, and when Jesus was twelve. It was in that home that Jesus grew and matured, most importantly to learn the scriptures He quoted so readily. We have no indicator of Joseph’s death, although he was not around any more when Jesus on the cross entrusted His mother to the care of John. It is likely that Jesus was not the only child in the home who was raised in godliness, because we read that His bother James was in leadership in the church at Jerusalem. It seems that some understood the Letter of James was written by him, and therefore placed first among the Pastoral Letters that follow Hebrews. Continued on page 10
