Women of the Bible
Mary of Nazareth in the Bible
The woman to whom Gabriel was sent, who asked how, believed the word, sang of God's mercy, and was still with the disciples after the resurrection.
Read the passages first
Loading Luke 1:26-38…
Loading Luke 1:46-55…
Loading Luke 2:33-35…
Luke introduces her with no titles. Luke 1:27 gives a virgin, espoused to a man named Joseph, in a town called Nazareth, and that is all the standing she has when the angel arrives.
Everything Scripture says about her is worth reading carefully, and so is everything it does not say. This study keeps to the text, which is both more restrained and more remarkable than most summaries of her.
Where Scripture speaks of her
Every passage in view
- Luke 1:28-30
Gabriel greets her; she is troubled at the saying, and is told not to fear.
- Luke 1:34
She asks how this will be, since she does not know a man.
- Luke 1:38
Her answer: behold the servant of the Lord, let it be to me according to your word.
- Luke 1:39-45
She travels to Elizabeth, who calls her blessed for believing.
- Luke 1:46-55
Her song, on God's mercy, his reversals, and his promise to Abraham.
- Matthew 1:18-25
Told from Joseph's side, including the angel's instruction and the name given.
- Luke 2:7
She brings forth her firstborn son and lays him in a manger.
- Luke 2:19
She kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.
- Luke 2:48-51
In Jerusalem she questions the twelve year old Jesus; she keeps his sayings in her heart.
- John 2:3-5
At Cana she tells him the wine has run out, and tells the servants to do what he says.
- Mark 3:31-35
She and his brethren stand outside asking for him, and he speaks of whoever does the will of God.
- John 19:25-27
She stands by and is committed to the disciple he loved.
- Acts 1:14
Named among those continuing in prayer with the apostles after the ascension.
Kept apart on purpose
What the text says, what it allows, what it withholds
What Scripture says outright
- She was a virgin espoused to Joseph, Luke 1:27, and Luke 1:34 has her say she does not know a man.
- Gabriel says the will come upon her and that the holy thing born will be called the , Luke 1:35.
- Elizabeth calls her blessed because she , Luke 1:45.
- Her song calls God her Saviour, Luke 1:47, and says he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden, Luke 1:48.
- Simeon tells her a sword shall pierce through her own soul, Luke 2:35.
- Twice Luke records that she kept things and pondered or kept them in her heart, Luke 2:19 and Luke 2:51.
- She was at , John 19:25, and with the praying disciples afterwards, Acts 1:14.
What we are drawing from it
- Scholarship
Her song in Luke 1:46-55 shares its themes, and much of its vocabulary of reversal, with Hannah's song in 1 Samuel 2:1-10.
- History
Nazareth was a small settlement in Galilee, and John 1:46 records a dismissive attitude toward it in the period.
Where this comes from
- Language
The word rendered handmaid in Luke 1:38 is the ordinary term for a female servant or bondmaid, not a title of honour.
Where this comes from
- Debated
The relationship of Jesus' brethren, Mark 6:3, to Mary has been understood in more than one way across Christian history. Audela states the readings without adjudicating, since the gospels do not settle the question directly.
What Scripture does not tell us
- Scripture never records her birth, her parents' names, her age, or her death.
- It never says she was sinless, and Luke 1:47 has her call God her Saviour.
- It never directs prayer to her, and no passage records anyone praying to her.
- It gives no account of her thoughts beyond what Luke records her saying and keeping.
Her place in the biblical story
Gabriel's words in Luke 1:32-33 are not general encouragement. They speak of the of his father David and a kingdom without end, which reaches back to 2 Samuel 7:12-13.
So the announcement is a announcement. What God had promised to David is being carried out in the household of a young woman in Nazareth, and Luke 1:55 has her name Abraham as she sings.
Her question and her answer
Luke 1:34 is a real question, and it is worth setting beside Zacharias in Luke 1:18. He asks for a sign and is silenced; she asks how and is told how.
Her answer in Luke 1:38 uses the language of a servant. She does not negotiate the cost, and the cost was real: an unexplained pregnancy in a small town, and a husband who at first intended to put her away privately, Matthew 1:19.
What her song is actually about
Read Luke 1:46-55 counting the lines about herself. There are two, Luke 1:48-49. The rest is about God: his mercy on them that fear him, his scattering of the proud, his putting down of the mighty, his filling of the hungry, and his remembrance of his promise.
That is why her song is not a celebration of motherhood. It is theology sung by someone who has just been told that the promise is landing in her house.
The hard sayings
The gospels do not romanticise her. Mark 3:31-35 has Jesus redefine his family around doing the will of God while she stands outside. John 2:4 has him answer her at Cana in a way that keeps his hour in his own hands. Luke 2:50 says his parents did not understand what he said to them.
This is honest writing. Following Christ did not exempt her from misunderstanding him, and Scripture lets that stand.
What Scripture does and does not give her
It gives her the title blessed, Luke 1:48, and Elizabeth's reason for it: she , Luke 1:45. It puts her at , John 19:25, and among the praying church, Acts 1:14. That is a substantial place.
It does not give her worship, prayer or mediation. Audela states this plainly, without hostility toward Christians who hold otherwise, because it is what the text contains and does not contain.
- Scripture
No passage of Scripture records prayer addressed to Mary or presents her as a mediator; 1 Timothy 2:5 names one mediator between God and men.
Trace the story
From the promise to the cross
This trail starts in Luke and reaches back to the promises the angel's words depend on, then returns to where the gospels leave her.
Scripture interprets Scripture
How later passages read her account
Loading Galatians 4:4…
Paul says God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law. He does not name her, and the point he draws is about the fulness of time and about our adoption, not about her.
Not smoothed over
The hard parts of this account
What does blessed mean in Luke 1:48?
Elizabeth gives the reason in Luke 1:45: she . Mary herself says all generations shall call her blessed because God has done great things for her, Luke 1:48-49.
The blessing is real, and its ground is God's action and her faith. Luke 11:27-28 is worth reading alongside it, where Jesus answers a blessing on his mother by blessing those who hear the word of God and keep it.
Why does Jesus answer her as he does at Cana?
John 2:4 has an address that sounds abrupt in English. Commentators note that the Greek term is not disrespectful in itself and that the point is his hour.
What follows matters: she tells the servants to do whatever he says, John 2:5, and he acts. Her response is to defer to him.
Questions the text can answer
Take these back to Scripture
How much of her song is about herself?
Look at Luke 1:49. Read Luke 1:46-55 and mark each line's subject.
How does her question compare with Zacharias' question earlier in the chapter?
Look at Luke 1:18. Read Luke 1:18-20 and then Luke 1:34-35, noting what each asks and how the angel answers.
What does Jesus say when someone blesses his mother?
Look at Luke 11:28. Read Luke 11:27-28 and notice where he redirects the blessing.
Pray it back
A prayer from this account
Father, you sent your word to a young woman with no standing, and she called you her Saviour.
Give us her answer, that your will be done in us according to your word, without our arranging the terms.
Teach us to keep your sayings and turn them over, as she did, even when we do not yet understand them.
You have remembered your mercy and kept your promise to Abraham. We thank you for the Son who was born, who was , and who lives. Amen.
Sources consulted
Themes in this account
- Faith. Taking God at his word before the outcome is visible.
- Motherhood. Children, barrenness and household life as Scripture treats them.
- Covenant. God's promises to Abraham and to David, carried forward.
- Discipleship. Following Christ, including when he is not understood.
- Witness. Telling others what God has done.
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