Mary’s posture

So, why do we think that Mary was someone who demonstrated humility?

Mary takes the posture of a servant

When the angel Gabriel explains that the Holy Spirit will come upon her and she will conceive a baby who will be the Son of God, her response is immediate:

“Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word”. (1:38).

What sweet humility! Mary puts herself in the place of a servant, submitted to God’s will for her, whatever that might mean – and, as we have seen, from her vantage point, that would have meant shame and ostracism, and possibly even death.

So Mary took the posture of a servant. It is reminiscent of Jesus himself, as described in Philippians 2: who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 

Such was the posture of Mary – the posture of a humble servant, ready to do whatever God asked of her.  Kenneth Bailey, in his book ‘Jesus through Middle Eastern Eyes’, says this about Mary: She was a saint from beginning to end and was wiling to accept the costly discipleship of being the mother of Jesus.….She humbly accepted a discipleship that she knew would bring shame on her in the eyes of the community and could be the cause of her death.

Immediately after being given her assignment by Gabriel, Mary goes to visit her relative Elizabeth and it is there that she proclaims what we have come to know as The Magnificat – Mary’s Song of Praise – which we find in Luke 1:46-55.

Mary takes the posture of a sinner 

Again we see Mary’s humility in her song. Not once does she call herself the mother of the Son of God. In fact, the song doesn’t draw attention to herself at all – it praises God for what he has done:

“My soul magnifies the Lord,

    and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,

for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.

    For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

for he who is mighty has done great things for me,

    and holy is his name”. Luke 1:46-49

She calls God her Saviour, putting herself in the posture of a sinner who needs a Saviour. Although she says “from now on all generations will call me blessed”, she freely acknowledge it is not because of anything she has done, but because “he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name”.

Mary begins to understand what her particular call to serve God means when Jesus is born. We are familiar with the story. Mary had no doubt made preparations in their own home in Nazareth, where Joseph, the master carpenter, would perhaps have constructed all that was needed to welcome their baby. But then the census was announced and they had no choice but to travel to Bethlehem.

Can you imagine how distressing it was for Mary to have to place her Son in a manger, among the animals? Did she ever wonder what was happening? Did she feel responsible? Did she ever ask herself why an angel hadn’t come to tell her what to do? 

Mary takes the posture of a spectator

And then the shepherds came to visit the baby – shepherds, who were regarded as the lowest of the low. But they had something important to say, which Mary didn’t miss: apparently angels had appeared to them and told them where to find Jesus – “And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger”. Luke 2:12. So it was the manger which led the shepherds to Jesus! People marvelled at what the shepherds said but Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart 2:19. Although deeply involved in the narrative as the mother of Jesus, Mary is also listening to others, watching Jesus, putting pieces of the jigsaw together, pondering in her heart.

When Mary and Joseph present the baby Jesus at the temple, Simeon blesses the child and his father and his mother marvelled at what was said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” 2:33-35. This is something else for Mary to ponder – a sword shall pierce your own heart also – what does that mean? When she humbly accepted this assignment, did she have any idea what it would mean?

When Jesus is twelve years old, he and his parents visit the temple. Jesus stays behind and Joseph and Mary, three days into their journey home, think he is lost. Can you imagine the anguish as they retrace their steps and search through Jerusalem for their son? When they find him in the temple, discussing with the religious leaders, again we are told that the onlookers are amazed – but his parents are astonished. Mary rebukes him: “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” Of course Jesus says he must be about his Father’s business and Mary and Joseph do not understand. But, as they return home, we are told that his mother treasured up all these things in her heart 2:52.

Already Mary is beginning to take the stance of a spectator – she is watching Jesus, listening to what he says, listening to what others say about him, treasuring up all these things in her heart. And that posture just increases as Jesus grows up. Sometimes the wisest thing we can do is keep quiet and watch and listen. As Mary watched and listened, she was learning so much about who Jesus really was.

Jesus starts his public ministry and performs his first miracle – changing water into wine at the wedding in Cana. In setting the stage for the story, John tells us: When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” John 2:3-5.

Jesus’ address for his mother – Woman – as well as his question to her, are expressions of polite distance. Mary is becoming more and more of a spectator as her Son takes on his public role and goes about his heavenly Father’s business. But again we see Mary’s humility here. She is not put off by the words of Jesus. Rather, she tells the servants: “Do whatever he tells you”. And wasn’t that her own attitude to God? When the angel had come and told her she would be the mother of Jesus, her humble response had been “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word”.

The final exchange we see between Mary and her Son is a very moving one. After his betrayal by Judas, after his denial by Peter, after his mock trial, Jesus is hanging on the cross. And we read that standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. John 19:25-27.

What does this tell us of Mary? She was with him till the end. It’s difficult to know how many of the disciples were there at the cross. Matthew and Mark both tell us that all of the disciples had forsaken him and fled (Matthew 26:56); Mark 14:40). We do know that Peter accompanied him to his trial and John tells us so did ‘another disciple’ – scholars take this to refer to John himself.  But who was there to watch him die, to be with him in his final hours? We are told that there were several women there, among them his mother Mary and her sister and Mary Magdalene – and the disciple whom Jesus loved. This was how John referred to himself – not that he thought he was the only one Jesus loved, or even the one he loved most, but that John just could never get over the fact that he was loved by Jesus – a theme which he develops in his epistles.

I wonder, as she stood there at the cross along with the other women and John, if Mary recalled those words of Simeon spoken over the baby Jesus in the temple that day: “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also)”. Her heart must have been breaking. Possibly she had never felt more like a spectator than when she watched her beloved Son being crucified so cruelly, being taunted by passersby, being mocked by one of the criminals at his side and offering salvation to the other criminal on his other side. I wonder did she understand that the death of her Son would bring salvation to the world. 

But in his final hours, in the midst of his suffering and anguish, Jesus thinks about his mother. As Mary watches and waits for him to die, Jesus asks his disciple, John, to care for Mary, who was almost certainly widowed and probably in her late 40s or early 50s at this point. Seeing them both, he says to Mary: “Woman, behold, your son!” and to John: “Behold, your mother!” We are told that from that hour John took her to his own home.The One who was cared for since birth by Mary, now, in his final breaths makes sure that she will be cared for by one of his closest friends. 

The last time we see Mary in the New Testament is in Acts 1, when the 11 apostles are gathered in the upper room after the ascension of Jesus. All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.1:14. It is just a comment that she is there with the disciples, no more than that. But perhaps we are meant to understand that she has taken a more active role now in the group of disciples – certainly she was welcomed and included among them, as she had been welcomed by John when he took her into his home.

So Mary was a woman who walked humbly with her God – in the posture of a servant, a sinner and a spectator.