30/06/10

Blessed women

Judges 5:24, 25 - Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent. He asked water, and she gave him milk; she brought forth butter in a lordly dish.


There are two women in the Bible who are given the title 'blessed', one is Jael and the other Mary. If one observes the titles say 'blessed above women' for Jael and 'blessed among women' for Mary (These are not my words but those from the scriptures as they are written. In fact I noticed this scripture today for the first time as I received it for today's message).

Mary was given the title 'blessed among women' because she was a chosen vessel through whom Christ came. She was chosen not because she had done anything special or she was holier than other women. She was chosen because she was a decedent of David and she was at the perfect time and place. She was born of sin like any other person since her parents were sinners. This is the reason she called Jesus her Savior. What people do not understand that sin gets transferred from the father unto the children, not directly from the mother because of the curse of God. If the mother is holy and the father a sinner the child is born sinner, but if the mother is a sinner and the father holy the child is born without sin. The Father of Jesus was Holy Spirit and therefore Mary being sinner yet Jesus was born without sin. Sin and curse is not in the flesh of a being but in the inner man (soul) of the being. Mary's womb was not holier than the womb of any other woman.

Now the sins and curses of the mother do get transferred to the child only if the father is man and they both have come to know each other (have physical relationship). When two people have physical relationship they become one flesh. In Jesus' case this was not applicable since His Father was not man in flesh but God and Spirit. This was the only way Jesus could come as man but yet without sin.

Mary needed Jesus as much as you and I need Jesus. She was weak in flesh as much as we are and there are two clear incidents in the Bible which show her weakness.

First is at the marriage of Cana (which people misunderstand) where she wanted to impress others and forced Jesus to do the miracle. Jesus did object to this by saying 'Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come' since all His miracles were done only to glorify the Father not Himself, His glory will be when He comes again. Yet she stubbornly pushed Jesus to perform by commanding the servants to set things ready. Just out of respect for her and not to insult her there Jesus did abide and do the miracle and this did cause the people to glorify Him and bring Him fame as feared.

The other place where the weakness of Mary is shown was when Jesus was preaching and she with her other sons had come to meet Him concern that He had had been possessed, believing the people (she with her sons went to the extent of disturbing Him in between His preaching because of their concern). Here too Jesus upset with their faithlessness showed this when He answered to a query saying his real brother, sister and mother are those who keep His Word.

In the case of Jael, she was given this title because of what she had done for her people, becoming a hero. For this a long song of full one chapter (Judges 5) has been written praising her courage.

This is not to put Mary down but to bring the truth to you. Even today my love for Mary is as much any other human honored in the Bible (excluding Jesus of whom I am just crazy of). In fact I would be dearer to her than any Catholic because I do not abuse her name or blasphemy God using her name.


[ Prayer Starter ]
Lord Jesus, You came as man through the womb of a woman to fulfill righteousness. Even though You were man yet You were without sin since your conception was holy. Lord, open the eyes of those who are misled by the evil one using the tricks of Jezebel. Lord, give courage to your people to stand for the truth and not to fear man...

We make this prayer in Jesus' Name, Amen.


[ Reference Scriptures ]
Exodus 20:4-6 (Second Commandment)
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

Luke 1:28, 41-56
28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
41 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:
42 And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.
43 And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
44 For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.
45 And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.
46 And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,
47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
48 For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

Mark 3:28-35
28 Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme:
29 But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:
30 Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit.
31 There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him.
32 And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee.
33 And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren?
34 And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!
35 For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.

Luke 11:27
27 And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked.
28 But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.

John 2:1-11
1 And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there:
2 And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.
3 And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.
4 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.
5 His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.
6 And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.
7 Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.
8 And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.
9 When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,
10 And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.
11 This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.

Luke 2:34-35
34 and Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the falling and the rising of many in Israel; and for a sign which is spoken against;
35 yea and a sword shall pierce through thine own soul; that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed.

The Word of God was given free to us, therefore we should also share it freely with others. (All rights are with God)