T HE K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S have been th e m other of Jo h n ), and Mary Magdalene. Can you en ter into th e thoughts th a t must have surged through th e m ind of th e m other of Jesus, and of Jesus Himself, as these p arting words were spoken? Contrast them w ith the words of th e angel Gab riel. (4) THE HONORED GUEST AT PENTECOST. We -have only one more picture of Mary,— a t th e gathering in th e upper room on th e day of Pentecost (Acts 1:14) “ T h e s e a ll c o n tin u e d w it h o n e a c c o r d in p r a y e r a n d s u p p lic a tio n , w it h th e w o m e n a n d M a r y t h e m o th e r o f J e s u s , a n d w it h h is b r e th r e n .” She participated in th a t wonderful m anifestation of th e power of th e Holy Spirit. We are left to th ink of h er as one of th e faith fu l women who min-/ istered, as did others, of th e things of Jesus. She is not to be worshipped. She was a worshipper. But she is to be hon ored always as the one woman in all th e world, chosen of God to be th e medium through- which— by th e Holy Spirit^—th e King of kings and Lord of lords was to tak e th e form of man^— God m anifest in the flesh. PERTINENT QUESTIONS (1) Why did God select Mary to be th e g reatest among women? (2 ) Was it essential th a t His Son should be born of a virgin? (3 ) Do you th ink Mary had a full understanding concerning the Deity of her Son, un til after His resurrection? (4) Why have we such lim ited facts concerning h er. home life w ith Jesus? (5 ) Why do we never h ear of her a fte r th e nfeeting a t P en te cost?
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ing characteristics in clear lignt. Two causes have oper- COMMENTS ated to d isto rt and SELECTED By make un real th e K eith L. Brooks very clear and viv id image of Mary left for us in the Gospels. Roman Catholic dogmatic and sentim ental ex aggeration has well nigh removed Mary from history. On th e other hand, re action and over emphasis upon certain featu res of th e Gospel n arrativ e have led some to credit Mary w ith a nega tive a ttitu d e tow ard our Lord and His claims, which she assuredly never oc cupied. It is im portant th a t we should follow the narrative w ith unprejudiced eyes and give due weight to each suc cessive episode. . Mary appears in the following pas sages: The infancy n arrativ es (Mt. 1 and 2; Lk. 1 and 2 ); th e wedding a t Cana (Jn. 2 :1 -1 1 ); th e episode of Mt. 12:46; Mk. 3: 21,' 31; th e incident at th e cross (Jn. 1 9 :2 5 ); th e scene in the upper chamber (Acts 1 :1 4 ). (1) It is to be noted, first of all, th a t Mary and her expel:enees form the n arrativ e core of both infancy docu ments. She is obviopsly the object of special in terest to Luke. Luke tells the story of her deeply personal expe riences: her call (1 :2 6 ); her maidenly fears (1 :29 , 3 5 ); her loyal submis sion (1 :3 8 ); her o u tbu rst of sacred and unselfish joy (1 :39 -55 ). Matthew tells the story of th e outward expe riences of Mary; th e shame an c suspi cion "which fell upon h er ( 1 :1 8 ); her b itter hum iliation (1 :1 9 ); h er ultim ate vindication (1 :2 0 ). Here the two n ar ratives supplement each o ther by fu r nishing different details, but, as in other instances, converge upon the crit ical fact— the central fact here being Mary herself, her character, her thoughts, h er experiences. One can hardly fail to be impressed w ith Mary’s quietness of spirit;' her meditative inwardness of disposition; h er adm irable self-control; h er devout and gracious gift of sacred silence. The canticle (Lk. 1:46-55) indicates th a t she is not accustomed to dwell upon her self, and th a t her m ind is satu rated w ith th e sp irit and phraseology of the Old Testament. The intensely Jewish quality of h er piety thus expressed, ac counts for much th a t appars anomalous in h er subsequent career as depicted in th e Gospels. The first episode which demands our atten tion is th e wedding of Cana of
The biography of th e mother of Jesus is gathered about a brief series of epi sodes which serve to exhibit ner lead-
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