Celebrating a Mother’s Love
Scripture — Luke 2:4-7 (NRSV)
Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
Focus
On Christmas we celebrate God’s love for the world, a love demonstrated in the gift to us of God’s own Son. We often use profound biblical passages to inspire our celebration, passages like John 3:16, where God’s love for the world is the motivation for God’s sending the Son to us. It’s right to affirm and celebrate the wonder of God’s world-saving love. But as we do this, let us also remember that God’s love for us is like that of Mary for her baby. This isn’t just a matter of profound theological truth. It’s also something deeply personal to receive, to feel, and by which to be transformed.
Devotion
Today is Christmas Eve. Throughout the world, on this day Christians will gather to begin our celebrations of the birth of Jesus. In churches, families, and friendship groups we will remember the unusual circumstances of Jesus’s birth, usually by reading a portion of the Christmas story in the Gospel of Luke.
Luke’s account of the birth of Jesus is quite concise. He writes of Joseph and Mary who had made it to Bethlehem, “While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn” (Luke 2:6-7). If you’ve ever experienced a birth, either as a mother, a participating father, or a birth coach, you know that there was quite a bit involved in “she gave birth to her firstborn son,” especially considering the lack of medical care available in a stable in Bethlehem.
Luke tells us that Mary wrapped her baby “in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger” (2:7). Though I usually appreciate Luke’s brevity as a narrator, in this case, I wish he had filled in a few more details. We are left to imagine what it was like for Mary when she first saw her baby, when she first cuddled him, comforted him, and nursed him. How amazing it would be to watch the gentleness of this new mother as she first expressed love for her child.
When I think about this scene in Luke 2, my mind goes back almost exactly 32 years. Linda’s and my son, Nathan, was born on December 21, 1992. Not quite Christmas, but close. I was present when Nathan was first presented to Linda. I watched in awe as she held him with such tenderness, stroking his cheek and whispering words of love. Linda had loved and worked with children for years, but never before had I witnessed such a demonstration of deep motherly love from her. I was spellbound and deeply moved.
The Bible sometimes uses the image of a loving mother to convey the depth and strength of God’s love for us. Through the prophet Isaiah, for example, the Lord said to the people, “As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem” (Isa 66:13). A few chapters earlier, God reassured Israel in this way: “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me” (Isa 49:15-16).
Of course, there is much in Scripture that emphasizes the fatherly love of God. But the ways in which God loves us like a mother deserve our attention, especially on Christmas Eve when we’re remembering the love of Mary for her new baby. Even as her love was conveyed through exceptional tenderness, so it is with God’s love for us. You may recall that a few days ago I reflected on Zechariah’s celebration in Luke 1 of God’s “tender mercy.” I pointed out that “tender mercy” translates a word that literally means “womb-mercy.” God’s tender love for us is gentle and merciful, like that of a mother for her newborn child.
On Christmas we celebrate God’s love for the world, a love demonstrated in the gift to us of God’s own Son. We often use profound biblical passages to inspire our celebration, passages like John 3:16, where God’s love for the world was the motivation for God’s sending the Son to us. It’s right to affirm and celebrate the wonder of God’s world-saving love. But as we do this, let us also remember that God’s love for us is like that of Mary for her baby. This isn’t just a matter of profound theological truth. God’s mother-like love for us is also something deeply personal, something to receive, to feel, to enjoy, and by which to be transformed.
Merry Christmas!
Reflect
When have you experienced or observed a mother’s tender, passionate love for her child?
What helps you understand and experience the mother-like tenderness, gentleness, and resilience of God’s love for you?
Act
As you reflect on God’s love for you, be open to loving someone else with this kind of love today.
Pray
Gracious God, how we rejoice in the birth of Jesus. Thank you for loving the world so much that you sent your Son to save us and give us true life.
Thank you also for the picture of love we see in Luke’s Gospel, even though it requires reading between the lines a bit. It’s wonderful to imagine how Mary loved her new baby. But this kind of motherly love is also something you have for us. You comfort us like a mother. You never, ever forget us, like a mother. You treat us with tender mercy, like a mother. Thank you, loving God. Thank you.
May our celebrations of Christmas include the joyful remembrance of your love for us, not just as a world full of people, but as individuals, as children loved by you with motherly tenderness and passion. Amen.
Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the High Calling archive, hosted by the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: The Gift of Christmas.
Mark D. Roberts
Senior Strategist
Dr. Mark D. Roberts is a Senior Strategist for Fuller’s Max De Pree Center for Leadership, where he focuses on the spiritual development and thriving of leaders. He is the principal writer of the daily devotional, Life for Leaders,...