More than a Mother: Mary’s Vocation

What we learn about Mary in Luke 1

Photo by Wonderlane on Unsplash

Recently, my daughter’s friends have begun calling me “Lucy’s Mom!” and I grin each time their sweet voices ring out from across the playground. I imagine Mary also smiled when she was referred to as “Jesus’ Mom,” when friends, disciples, followers, and then the world identified her as “Mary, Mother of God.” Our focus on Mary oftentimes centers on her role of mother; a designation in which I am sure she took great pride. A role to which she dedicated her life, a vocation which spanned Christ’s childhood, adulthood, and even past his death, resurrection, and ascension.

Yet, when I studied Luke 1, I found myself asking the question: was motherhood all that Mary was called to?

You see, Mary not only received an annunciation heralding the birth of Christ; within the same conversation with the angel, Gabriel, Mary was also given a vocational call. In the Old Testament each time we read an annunciation there is a specific form: an appearance of a celestial being, the announcement of the birth of a son, the naming of the son, and the destiny of the son. We see this exact form earlier in the chapter with Zechariah and the annunciation of John the Baptist, except Zechariah asks questions of the angel and is struck dumb until John’s birth.

So, when Mary proceeds to ask a question of Gabriel after hearing the annunciation of Christ, the reader should assume she will receive the same punishment as Zechariah. However, Mary not only received an annunciation informing her of Christ’s birth, but also a vocational call of her own. Within scripture vocational calls God states what a person’s vocation will be, the individual voices his or her objections, God refutes these and provides a more detailed explanation, and then a sign of confirmation is given.

In Mary’s case, she is told she will give birth to a son, his name will be Jesus, and He will reign forever (Luke 1:31-33). She replies, “How will this be, for I am a virgin?” (Luke 1:34). Then Gabriel explains it will be through the power of the Holy Spirit and as a sign tells Mary of Elizabeth’s miraculous pregnancy with John the Baptist. Luke’s writing structure makes it clear that Mary received both an annunciation and vocational call.

Clearly motherhood was a key element of Mary’s vocation, motherhood to the Savior no less. From the start, Mary’s ministry was marked by an embodied nature of service; a physical, tactile, active sacrifice.

Yet, Mary was not an active mother in the sense of wiping noses, cutting food, and teaching life skills for all of Christ’s life. Goodness, the poor woman misplaced Jesus at the tender age of 12 on a family trip to Jerusalem (Luke 2:41-51). So, what would we call Mary’s vocation? How do we coalesce this idea of Mary as mother with her care for Christ and his followers during his time on earth as a grown man? Or her care for his disciples and the early church after his ascension? Is Mary’s motherhood relatable, or even relevant, to men, singles, or those who do not have children?

After a good deal of prayer and deliberation, I think we should call Mary’s vocation caring for the Body of Christ. Any caretaker of young children can relate the messiness of the care that babies and toddlers require. Once when both my little ladies were sick, I called my own mother in tears over the fact I had nearly every bodily fluid splattered somewhere on my person. Caring for a body is no small feat.

Mary’s care persisted far after Christ’s needs were bodily. It was Mary who urged Christ to perform his first miracle and save a newly married couple from the embarrassment of running out of wine (John 2:3-5). Mary is believed to have traveled alongside Christ and his disciples as one of the women who supported his ministry. Mary was present at the crucifixion, witness to the tragedy of her life and the world. And the last mention of Mary in scripture shows her as a part of the early Christian Church (Acts 1:14), working alongside the disciples to spread the news of the gospel. We see in each of these vignettes glimpses of Mary, a woman whose vocation was to care for the body of Christ, whether that looked like shepherding Christ as a toddling child or ministering to his flock of believers. The annunciation told Mary of her approaching motherhood; this vocational call beckoned her to a life of service to her God - in a manner more tactile and taxing than she may have ever imagined, that held equal parts surprise and wonder.

Like so many of us, Mary’s faith journey looked differently than she presumably imagined for herself. Yet, through Christ’s story we see her adapt and grow gracefully; continually caring for her Son and those whom he called his Church. Caring for the body of Christ is a call we all receive but appears in a unique form to each of us. Mary provides us with an example of a woman who loved her family and served the Church in previously unimaginable ways. Her physical, earthly, in the flesh ministry inspires me to explore how we are called to serve with openness and bravery, like Mary, mother to us all.  

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Coming Soon

If you’ve read along for a bit, you know how dearly I love studying and writing about women in scripture. Be on the lookout for a series on ‘The Outsiders: Non-Hebrew Women who changed the course of Israelite History.’