Mary, Mother of Jesus

In Mark’s Gospel

• Jesus is called "the son of Mary" by the Nazareth crowd (Mark 6:3) — an unusual formulation (men were normally identified by their fathers), possibly reflecting local knowledge or contempt

• His mother and brothers came to take him, thinking "he is out of his mind"; Jesus answered, "Whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother."

  Mark 3:21, 3:31-35

• Note: "Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses" watched the crucifixion (Mark 15:40) and came to the tomb (Mark 16:1). Whether this is Jesus's mother is debated — many hold she is a different Mary.

Who they were

• ✦Humble and obedient — "let it be to me according to your word" (Luke 1:38)
• ✦Pondering — "treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart" (Luke 2:19, 2:51)
• ✦Courageous — stood at the cross when the disciples fled (John 19:25)

Read about them

Faces of Faith

“Surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses” — Hebrews 12:1

A keepsake of Mary, Mother of Jesus’s story — the portrait on the front, the key moments on the back.