In this Christmas season; as we remember the birth of the Messiah, we ought also to remember His mother. She was no ordinary woman. She had the stomach to deal with the threat of King Herod. She was a strong enough parent to reprimand her teenage son for worrying her when He dallied at the temple. She was bold enough, when He had reached manhood to tell Him to do something about a rapidly diminishing wine supply at a wedding banquet. She was fearless enough to take her other boys with her to Capernaum to rescue Jesus from death threats. And she was tough enough to follow Him all the way to the cross, to watch her boy die, when all His men had deserted Him. She was quite a woman, our Mary.

When the angel told her that she would be pregnant out of wedlock, by the Holy Spirit, she showed no signs of fear. She said only, “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.” (Luke 1:38, NIV) She surrendered to God, but she was not a passive woman. She was a firebrand of the faith. Later, at the house of her cousin Elizabeth, she sang an anthem of liberation.

50 His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
55 to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors. – Luke 1:50-55, NIV

This is a subversive song. If you were a poor woman in the first century, if you were hungry, and you announced that God was going to bring down the social order, you had better get ready for the powers that be to crush you like a bug. King Herod with his ten wives would not take this lying down. Caesar Augustus would not let this stand. The Roman coins celebrated him as the “son of a god”, the “prince of the Roman peace”, “the savior of the world.” Not this upstart Jew. However, Mary believed the Angel Gabriel when he told her that her boy would be “Jesus” (“savior”) and “Son of the Most High God”. And she stayed the course. She was a quite a woman, our Mary.

Our Roman Catholic friends have always revered Mary. Indeed, they have done so to such a degree that we have serious doctrinal issues with them over it. Unfortunately, because of this, we have almost said to the Catholics, “Mary? You can have her.”

I won’t have this! Mary is our Mary too. She is one of the greatest people to have ever lived. Jesus always loved her, honored her and respected her. We should too.