Mary is Hardcore

Posted on by The Modern Christian Mom

The Virgin Mary is one of the most hardcore women in the Bible. If you’re a woman you’ll agree with me. I hate how people make Mary out to be this gentle mom with a soft glow in a cute little stable with Jesus in a cute little manger. There is nothing cute about this scene, except maybe the idea of Jesus as a baby.

First, let me point out Mary was a teen. She was engaged to Joseph. This alone wasn’t a cute little love story. Joseph would have paid for her and it would have been an arrangement between Joseph and her parents. Let me reiterate that she was a teen! In those times they were married as teenagers. 13-16 years old. That’s hard in itself.

If Joseph hadn’t pardoned her and taken responsibility she would have been killed for getting pregnant before married. It’s hard enough being pregnant without a father in the picture now a days. Can you imagine if you were at risk of being murdered for it?

It was an unplanned pregnancy. She didn’t expect Jesus, and only had 9 months to prepare. Part of that was spent away at Elizabeth’s hiding from angry crowds. She also had to travel, on a donkey days away to Bethlehem. I hated riding in a car while pregnant, let alone on a donkey in the desert for days?

There were no hospitals. There wasn’t even a car or hotel for her to rest in, let alone give birth at. No one was letting a pregnant teenager probably having contractions in there place. Not only did they just not want to deal with the mess, and high risk of death due to pregnancy in those times, but a mother was considered unclean after giving birth. That would be like letting someone into your business knowing they have COVID-19 then having to shut everything down and every one in there have to quarantine.

An innkeeper allowed them to stay in his stable. A barn. It’s not cute like the movies or pictures. It is a barn. It is full of dirty cattle. It smells (and us mamas know how smells are while pregnant). There is poop everywhere. Where Marry laid Jesus, it wasn’t cute either. A manger is a feeding trough. Slop, grain, hay are put in there. The animals have food fall out of their mouths into it. It is unsanitary and disgusting.

They had no doctor. They had no midwife. She had Joseph who was a blacksmith and most likely didn’t know anything about delivering a baby. She had no epidural. Think about the umbilical cord. If they were lucky they had scissors, hopefully at least a knife. Then she has to deliver her placenta?!? I’d assume it didn’t need to be stitched up, but for all we know she did and that’s why they had to lay Jesus in a dirty feeding trough.

Then think of the pressure. Your child is God fully human. The God that created you. The God who created the earth, the angels, the universe. You are in charge of being His mom. His caregiver. That would be so much pressure! Can you imagine the mom guilt and shame she felt when she lost him for three days?

Lastly, think of the pain. Crucifixion is one of the most painful ways to die, and she watched her son die on that cross. She watched him be ridiculed, mocked, and torture. She watched soldiers gamble over his clothes. She saw him buried in a tomb, possibly not realizing what would happen in three days. She experienced a grief I hope to never encounter

Mary was hardcore. She went through so much that we hopefully never have to. She went through all that so the Savior would be born and die for us. Think on this and thank God for Mary of the Bible.

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Published by The Modern Christian Mom

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