The Seven Marys
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
There are six Marys spoken of in the New Testament, and there is one outstanding Mary in the Old Testament. The six in the New Testament, in the order which we will consider them, are as follows: Mary, the mother of Jesus; Mary Magdalene; Mary, the wife of Cleophas; Mary of Bethany; Mary, the mother of John Mark, and Mary of Rome. Our seventh Mary is discussed in our Scripture; she is Mary (Hebrew, Miriam), the sister of Moses and of Aaron.
We can never cease to thank God for the Bible Marys, They are representative women from various walks of life, women who knew God and served Him in all fidelity. As we study them today we will learn that there is a vast difference in Christians, and yet there is much of similarity. All the Marys of the New Testament loved Christ devotedly, and Miriam was just as loyal, as they, to her Lord. Of the majority of the New Testament Marys, we read two things wherein they excelled. They were last at the Cross, and first at the tomb.
1. You may remember how some of these Marys stood around the Cross during the crucifixion with a love toward their Savior that was. undying and unquenchable. When, at last, He was taken down from the Cross and laid in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathaea, the women followed Him to His burying-place, and watched not far from the Tomb. Their hearts, beyond a doubt, were crushed, but no ignominy or shame which had been placed upon their Lord could break their faith in Him. Finally, they left the scene of interment and wended their way homeward.
2. On the first day of the week while it was yet dark these women came to the sepulchre. They came with spices, but they found the stone rolled away, and the sepulchre empty.
3. The devotion of women to Christ did not end with the devotion of the Bible Marys. It went on into the early Church, and into the centuries which have followed. This very hour the women who publish the glad tidings are a great host. As we study the seven Marys we trust that every one of us will profit thereby. Let us seek to follow the Lord as they followed, and serve Him as they served.
4. The saints of today need the same spirit as those women of yore demonstrated in their fidelity to Christ. We fear that not only the women, but many of the men, are carried away with divers lusts. The world and its allurements has carried them from their faithfulness.
However, not all, by any means have left their Lord. There is a verse in the Book of Revelation which says this concerning overcoming saints: "These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins." They were not virgins in sex, but in purity, in faithfulness. They lived above reproach, and now in the Book of Revelation we read of them: "These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth."
We are sure that the seven Marys of whom we are to study today will be numbered among God's elect. May God grant that each one of us may find our names enrolled with theirs. One thing we know: those who truly love the Lord will never be turned from their faithfulness for Him.
The Song of songs sets this forth in all clearness. Solomon, in his kingly powers, sought to win the Shulamite away from her shepherd lover. He utterly failed, and the conclusion of the Book of Canticles is thus stated: "Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned." Thus it is that those who love and trust Christ can never be won from that love which will not let them go.
I. MARY, THE MOTHER OF CHRIST (Luke 1:48)
The first Mary of the New Testament was none other than the one whom God chose, and thus signally honored, to be the mother to our Lord. There are three things about her which we would like to bring to you.
1. Her undaunted faith. When it was told Mary by Gabriel that she had found favor with God, and that she would bring forth a Son whom she should call "Jesus," she did not hesitate, nor demur. She quietly said, "Be it unto me according to thy Word."
It was not because of Mary's faith that the Lord chose her; it was because of God's omnipotent power and predestinating will. Among all the women who had ever lived, this one woman was singled out. Our admiration for her increases as we think of the confidence she had in God. When her cousin, Elizabeth, saw her a few days later, she said unto Mary, "Blessed art thou among women," and "Blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord." Thus it was that the faith of Mary is plainly seen.
2. Her humility of heart. When Mary rejoiced before Elizabeth, among other things, she said this concerning the Lord: "He hath regarded the low estate of His handmaiden." Mary did not claim, therefore, any inherent superiority among women.
To be sure she was of the line of David and was, therefore, from royal blood, yet her lowly estate, as the espoused wife to a carpenter, showed that the glory of her relationship to David had at least departed from her.
Is it not true that the Lord often chooses the humble, the meek to fulfill His greatest purposes? Not many noble are called, but God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the mighty.
3. Her praise. Elizabeth first sounded a glorious magnificat, but when she had ceased, Mary spoke and said, "My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior." It was to God that she gave honor and glory. It was He who had, according to Mary, done great things, Mary said, "He hath shewed strength with His arm; He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts."
Mary finally added these words, "As He spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever." Would that such words of praise and glory might ascend from all our lips unto God. Remember that Mary was never known for any greatness that was inherently hers. The Church never recognized her as a leader. She was at the Cross, but she had no authority, and no power either to deliver the Savior of men, or to quiet His sufferings.
When the saints of the early Church met together, she was there, but she did not have any outstanding attention paid to her. There is not a recorded word in the whole Bible where the saints of Christ's day or the saints of the early Church, ever gave any peculiar or particular honor to Mary.
II. MARY MAGDALENE (Luke 8:2)
1. She was demon-possessed. This does not, by any means, suggest that she was an impure woman. The impure woman who anointed Christ was not this Mary. The name of that woman is not given in Scripture. Mary Magdalene, however, had been possessed of evil spirits. Nevertheless she was a woman who had means, because she frequently administered to Christ of her substance. She was one of those well-to-do women who was under the control of evil spirits. No doubt, she was illtempered, high strung, and disagreeable.
2. She was remarkably saved. When she saw the Lord she needed Him, and He recognized her need. She saw Him, and trusted Him. He saw her, and delivered her, and saved her with a wonderful salvation. "A Calcutta paper relates that recently a young Brahman came to the house of a missionary for an interview. In the course of the conversation he said; 'Many things which Christianity contains I find in Hinduism; but there is one thing which Christianity has and Hinduism has not.' 'What is that?' the missionary asked. His reply was striking: 'A Savior.'"
3. She was zealous. From the day that Mary Magdalene was saved, she never forgot the One who saved her. She was true to Him through His life of service. She was true to Him when He hung upon the Cross. She was true to Him when He lay in the grave. She knew and loved the One who was her Redeemer.
We have read of "a girl whose wonderful grace and purity of character charmed every one who knew her. One day a friend touched the spring of a little gold locket which she always wore on her neck, but which she would let no one see, and in it were these words: 'Whom having not seen, I love.'"
III. MARY, THE WIFE OF CLEOPHAS (John 19:25)
Our key verse says, "Now there stood by the Cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene."
1. Mary the wife of Cleophas was the mother of one who was chosen to follow Christ. Here was a real honor. She herself had known the saving grace of the Son of God, and from her two sons, one was chosen as a disciple. This was no small distinction. Any woman who loves the Master rejoices when she sees her offspring called to serve the Living God. Hannah had no greater joy than to know that her Samuel was the Prophet of God. Thus it was, when James the Less was serving with Christ, going hither and thither with the Master, then Mary the wife of Cleophas, the mother, rejoiced.
2. Mary the wife of Cleophas was herself a faithful follower of her Lord. She, too, stood at the Cross when Christ died. Her son had forsaken and fled, but not she. She, too, was at the empty tomb along with the other women. Her son was not there, but she was there. It is required of a servant of the Lord that he prove faithful.
What made this Mary so devoted to Christ? "What is it," says one "that so draws men, that wins their allegiance away from every other master, that makes them ready to leave all for His sake and to follow Him through peril and sacrifice even to death? Is it His wonderful teaching? No man ever "spake like this Man." Is it His power as revealed in His miracles? Is it His sinlessness? The most malignant scrutiny could find no fault in Him. Is it the perfect beauty of His character? None nor all of these will account for the wonderful attraction of Jesus, Love is the secret He came into the world to reveal the love of God He was the love of God in human flesh. His life was all love. In most wonderful ways during all His life did He reveal love. Men saw it in His face, and felt it in His touch, and heard it in His voice. This was the great fact which His disciples felt in His life. His friendship was unlike any friendship they had ever seen before or even dreamed of. It was this that drew them to Him, and made them love Him so deeply, so tenderly. Nothing but love will kindle love. Power will not do it men will take your gifts and then repay you with hatred. But love begets love; heart responds to heart. Jesus loved."
IV. MARY OF BETHANY (Luke 10:42)
1. Let us observe certain contrasts. Mary stands among us as the representative of the spiritual versus the carnal, and, as a contrast of the spiritual versus the social. She and Martha were both saved. Both of them loved the Lord devotedly, and yet they lived in altogether distinct realms of vision and of spiritual life.
We wonder if Mary in her beautiful spirit, her desire to hear the words of her Lord, and in her devotion of service to Christ stands in contrast to us. Are we as spiritual as she? Do we listen as she listened? Do we serve as she served?
2. Let us observe that she was a woman of deep thought. In this she excelled the Apostles who had been with the Lord far more than was she. She not only sat at His feet and heard His words, but she believed them. She weighed them; she carried them with her, and meditated upon them. It was for this cause, that she saw depths of meaning in what Christ said, depths that no others saw. It was she, only, who anointed Him against the day of His burial.
Such spirituality as was Mary's can come to us only as we know Christ in a personal and real way. We have read the following story.
"On the inside of the dome in the rotunda in Washington are painted a number of angels. When the artist first showed his work, the committee said, 'Your form and color are all right, but the faces lack spirituality.' Again he painted, and again was told the same thing. He tried once more and received the same criticism. Completely discouraged, he went to his studio and wondered why he could not paint to satisfy his critics. It began to dawn on him that, in order to get the spirituality into the faces of his angels he first must have it in his heart. God heard his cry and gave him the "new life." He then went at his task again. This time he succeeded in painting into his angels' faces that spirituality, without which his work was useless.
"We can have no power in bringing others to Christ unless we show them that we have had the 'new life' ourselves."
V. MARY, THE MOTHER OF JOHN MARK (Acts 12:12)
We now pass over the Marys mentioned in the Gospels to a special Mary who was well known among the disciples of the early Church. There are some noteworthy things about this Mary.
1. She was a woman who delighted to yield her home to the church in Jerusalem as a gathering-place. She evidently had a large house, and she was, therefore, a woman of means. Not only that, but she had a large house to which the saints were, not once, but always welcome. Our key verse tells us that when Peter was released from prison, he at once went to the house of Mary, the mother of Mark, and found the saints gathered there praying.
Beloved, anyone must be a real Christian, when she yields her house, time and again, for the gathering of saints. There is much of work about it, both by way of preparation, and also by way of after cleaning.
2. She was a woman who gave her son to the Gospel. It was John Mark who traveled with Paul. He was Paul's right-hand man for a long time. In this she was similar to that other Mary, the wife of Cleophas.
As we see it, no mother could have a greater joy than to give her child as a missionary, a preacher, or an all-time worker for Christ. We remember the joy that thrilled our own mother when we told her that we had been definitely called to preach the Gospel. She was simply overwhelmed with gladness.
VI. MARY OF ROME (Romans 16:6)
Now we go to a Mary who is mentioned in Romans 16:1-27. Our verse is very simple. It reads: "Greet Mary, who bestowed much labour on us."
1. This Mary was a Roman, who had, no doubt, adopted the name of "Mary" upon her conversion. This was quite customary in those days. It is still the custom in foreign fields for converts to assume the name of some noted believer. There is, however, something very beautiful in the fact this woman chose the name she did. You can all imagine why. Perhaps she was thinking of Mary, the mother of Christ, or of Mary Magdalene, or of Mary the wife of Cleophas, or of Mary of Bethany, or of Mary, the mother of John Mark. There was something in one of these Marys, or in all, which touched her and caused her to select that name.
2. This Mary was an ardent laborer for the Lord. By this we do not mean that she was a preacher, or an evangelist. Not at all. In the New Testament days women were not known as evangelists, preachers, or teachers. They were known because they sustained and strengthened the hands of the ministers who did preach. Thus Mary bestowed labor upon Paul. Paul says "on us." Perhaps it was Paul and John Mark; it may have been Paul and Silas, or Paul and Barnabas. However, she was a woman who served the saints. Let us do likewise.
VII. MARY, THE SISTER OF MOSES (Exodus 15:20)
1. Mary was a prophetess with a song. We must remember that in her youth she had stood over against the river and watched as her brother, Moses, lay in an ark of bulrushes. It was she who ran down and spoke to the daughter of Pharaoh suggesting that she secure a Hebrew nurse for the baby. However, that little babe in his earlier years was in the palace of Pharaoh, and afterward, in his maturity he dwelt in the land of Midian. It was only when Moses was eighty years of age that Moses returned to Egypt as the deliverer of Israel. Miriam, had, therefore, known far more of Aaron, than she had known of Moses. However, when Moses returned, she was there to greet him, and when Pharaoh's host was overthrown in the Red Sea, it was she who led the women in a wonderful song of deliverance. Study the words of her magnificat.
2. Mary was conscientious for the right. In Numbers 12:1 there is a startling statement. It reads like this: "And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman he had married." We admire Miriam and Aaron because of their faithfulness to God above their faithfulness to Moses. However, there is a tinge of sadness, because both Miriam and her brother, Aaron, no doubt spoke against Moses partly because they were jealous of him, even though he was their brother.
This jealousy is revealed in Numbers 12:2 of the chapter named: "Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? hath He not spoken also by us? And the Lord heard it."
Let us be very careful lest any of us allow ourselves to become jealous of another, and then lest we use our fidelity to God and to the truth as an excuse to condemn our brother. We must ever give honor to God's right of choice in the selection of individuals to do His work.
AN ILLUSTRATION
"Our Mothers An Appreciation: 'When Jesus therefore saw His mother,' etc. (John 19:26-27), Our Debt to Motherhood: 'Render therefore to all their dues: honor to whom honor' (Romans 13:7).
God and Motherhood: 'For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother' (Matthew 15:4).
A Holy Family: 'Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me' (Isaiah 8:18).
A Mother's Wages: 'Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages' (Exodus 2:9).
The Nobility of Motherhood: 'The price of a virtuous woman is far above rubies,' etc. (Proverbs 31:10-13).
An Utter Folly: 'A foolish man despiseth his mother' (Proverbs 15:20).
The Law of Thy Mother: 'My son, keep thy father's, commandments, and forsake not the law of thy mother' (Proverbs 6:20).