Mary’s Face

In tombs of Egyptian royalty there have been found hand mirrors made of polished brass from as long ago as three thousand years. These mirrors were owned by the wealthy and royalty.

Mary, on the other hand, almost certainly never owned and had possibly never even seen a mirror. She likely never saw her own face. While her family and Joseph saw her every day, she herself may never have seen her face. The same was true for most of the humble people in the ancient world.

God’s choice of Mary was like His choice of Moses. Both were people who lived in a social, family environment and both had no expectation or ambition to change their lifestyle. Neither Mary nor Moses was seeking a mission or even a close relationship with God. Their lives were apparently uncomplicated, as Moses worked for his father-in-law and Mary was a young woman living at home until her marriage. Both were startled by God’s call: Moses at the burning bush, and Mary at the visit of the angel Gabriel. God waited for each of them to agree to his calling. Mary agreed promptly.

Mary, who seldom if ever, had seen her own face, was able to believe the angel and to accept his word that she had found favor with God, and that the Lord was in fact “with” her. (Luke 1:28) She was also able to keep to herself the news from Gabriel as well as the news from the shepherds: Mary treasured these things and pondered them in her heart. (Luke 2;19) She “treasured” the visit of unkempt shepherds to the stable where her baby lay in swaddling cloths in a manger. She was moved by their testimony of the angels’ appearance. These events , and many more, must have stayed with Mary for her whole life, as even today mothers remember the details of their child’s birth.

When Jesus grew , Mary saw God in her son’s face at a wedding reception when she said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you to do.”(John 2:5) and Jesus turned water into wine.

At the cross, Jesus saw Mary’s face, and said to his mother standing near his disciple, John, Here is your son, and to his disciple he said, “Here is your mother.”(John 19:26)

Mary never needed to see her own face. She lived with and helped shape the son of God for all his growing up. As he was dying he saw her face.

Love in Him

Prue