British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication data: a catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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2 The Messengers Series: MARY by Robert and Ro Willoughby Scripture Union, Queensway, Bletchley, MK2 2EB, UK Scripture Union Australia: Locked Bag 2, Central Coast Business Centre, NSW Scripture Union USA: PO Box 987 #1, Valley Forge, PA ISBN First published in Great Britain by Scripture Union 2007 Robert and Ro Willoughby All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of Scripture Union the exception being the photocopiable pages which can be freely photocopied by the person who has purchased the book. The right of Robert and Ro Willoughby to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act Scripture quotations are taken from the New International Version of the Holy Bible, 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society, used by permission of Hodder and Stoughton Limited; or from the Contemporary English Version Bible (CEV), used with permission of Bible Society; or from The Message Eugene H Petersen. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication data: a catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Cover design by David Lund Design, Milton Keynes Internal illustrations by Helen Gale Internal page design by Creative Pages: Printed and bound by Henry Ling Limited, Dorchester, UK Scripture Union is an international Christian charity working with churches in more than 130 countries providing resources to bring the good news about Jesus Christ to children, young people and families and to encourage them to develop spiritually through the Bible and prayer. As well as coordinating a network of volunteers, staff and associates who run holidays, church-based events and school Christian groups, Scripture Union produces a wide range of publications and supports those who use their resources through training programmes.

3 Contents Introduction... 5 When and how to use MARY MARY THE WOMAN Bible encounter Elizabeth and Mary as agents of God s salvation 2 MARY THE MOTHER Bible encounter The angel Gabriel calls by and nine months later 3 MARY THE CONTEMPLATIVE Bible encounter The growing child and beginnings of ministry 4 MARY THE RADICAL MESSENGER Bible encounter Mary s song Personal Journey Personal Journey 1: Mary the woman Personal Journey 2: Mary the mother Personal Journey 3: Mary the contemplative Personal Journey 4: Mary the radical messenger Mary labyrinth for all ages Mary at Christmastime carol service outline Bible exploration activities How many Marys? Mary and Elizabeth... 13,16

4 The artist s view Francesco de Mura s The Visit between Mary and Elizabeth Elizabeth Wang s The Visitation Georges de la Tour s St Joseph Rossetti s The Annunciation Leonardo da Vinci s The Annunciation Ethiopic illustration of The Annunciation Michelangelo s Pietà Botticelli s Madonna of the Magnificat The writer s view Excerpt from Robert Harrison s Oriel s Diary...32,24 The poet s view Steven Waling s The Annunciation Stewart Henderson s Magnificat The musician s view John Taverner s Annunciation Graham Kendrick s Let it be to me, according to your word Mark Lowry s Mary, did you know? Sam Hargreaves My soul glorifies the Lord... 39,42 Creative activities Mary s journey... 14,17 Mary s thoughts... 14,18 Drama of Mary s welcome by Elizabeth Nazareth News headlines... 18,20 The senses star... 21,25 Baby in the womb / Baby s hand... 22,26,27 Mary s meditation... 32,35 Clay symbols Communion with Mary Prayer consequences... 37,41 Artistic praise... 39,43 Greetings cards

5 1 MARY THE WOMAN Purpose: To discover more about Mary, a woman who played a central role in what is sometimes called salvation history. Neither Mary nor Elizabeth her cousin was the actual saviour for there is only one saviour, Jesus. But they were willing participants in making possible the story of salvation through Jesus. Throughout this study, we shall be constantly reminded of salvation history and the key role that many women played in that. Getting started If this is the first session where you are meeting together as a group, make sure that there is opportunity to set a relaxed atmosphere and get to know each other. Either in pairs or altogether, make a list of all the women in the Bible you can think of. Which would you would put in your top five? You will need to decide what criteria you use for deciding. The bravest? The best known? The most independent? If the criterion were: The women who played the most important part in God s salvation of the world, which five would you choose? We did girls versus boys with a time limit, which introduced a rather fun sense of competition. The girls won 19:17! We then looked up some of the more obscure women in the Bible using the book, Every Woman in the Bible by Sue and Larry Richards (STL, 2000). 11

6 Did you include any little-known women on your list such as Shiprah and Puah, the midwives (Exodus 1:15 21) or Jael (Judges 4:17 22; 5:24 27)? Were Elizabeth and Mary included? Luke certainly sees them both as people who bring deliverance. One woman in the group was so intrigued that she decided to find something from the local Christian bookshop so she could explore the details of all these women she knew so little about. Worth a look! Women of the Old Testament and Women of the New Testament See page 62 How many Marys? How many Marys were included in everyone s lists? Clearly, this book is focusing on Mary the mother of Jesus. The Gospels, however, make reference to three other women called Maria or Mariam, the Greek form of the Hebrew name Miriam, and it would be good to clarify who the others are! Mary was a popular name! Mary of Bethany The sister of Martha and Lazarus (Luke 10:38 42; John 11:1 44). She anointed the feet of Jesus with perfume and wiped them with her hair (John 12:1 11). Mary Magdalene This Mary was exorcised of evil spirits by Jesus fairly early on in his ministry. Along with several other women, she helped to support the travelling disciples (Luke 8:1 3). She is sometimes linked to the sinful woman of Luke 7:36 50, but Luke does not make that link. Mary Magdalene reappears at the cross along with other women (Matthew 27:56,61) and at the empty tomb (Matthew 28:1). She informs Peter that the tomb is empty (John 20:1,2) and later that morning seems to be the first to actually see the risen Lord (John 20:10 18). Mary, mother of James and Joseph This Mary was also present at the cross (Matthew 27:56). She is probably the other Mary of Matthew 27:61 and 28:1. She also took some spices to the empty tomb with Mary Magdalene and some other women (Luke 24:10). She may also be Mary the wife of Clopas mentioned in John 19:25. And more Marys Check out Acts 12:12 and Romans 16:6 for mention of more Marys. Bible encounter Elizabeth and Mary as agents of God s salvation Luke 1:5 45,57 60 Background notes Some of the insights here are dependent on the excellent book by Richard Bauckham, Gospel Women: Studies of the Named Women in the Gospels (T & T Clark, 2002). 12

7 Luke 1 and 2 are extremely unusual in the Bible in giving a key role to three women Elizabeth, Mary and Anna. It is very rare for the biblical account to be about women only, where men are barely present at the event or in the conversation. Other exceptions would include some of the stories at the resurrection of Jesus and the actions of the midwives in Exodus 1: Apart from Gabriel coming to Mary, there are only two occasions where an angel meets with a woman alone Hagar in Genesis 16:7 14 and Samson s mother in Judges 13:2 5. The close relationship between Elizabeth and Mary is also noteworthy. It is striking that so much time is spent describing their meeting and their feelings. Read Luke 1:5 45,57 60 aloud. You could read this as a narrative with people taking the roles of the angel, Zechariah, Mary, Elizabeth and the narrator. Or you could use the Comprehensive Dramatised Bible by Michael Perry (Collins, 2004). The artist s view There are many art images of Mary s visit to Elizabeth, usually called The Visitation. By typing painting Visitation into Google or searching Wikipedia, you will be given a number of options. Often the two women are shown on their own, but that is not always the case, as in Pontormo s sixteenth-century painting. But generally this meeting is portrayed with all the intimacy one would expect. Other images you might like to download and look at are The Visit between Mary and Elizabeth by Francesco de Mura (around 1750) and the contemporary painting by Elizabeth Wang, The Visitation, which shows the two women standing on top of the world. Talk about these images as you engage with this story. In some paintings, Mary is bowing to the older woman, Elizabeth, whereas in the one by Pontormo they are standing as equals. We talked about how they might have greeted each other. We also noted the presence of the angel in one but weren t sure who the extra people were in the other. Why are these extras looking straight at us? Are they trying to involve us in the drama of their meeting? We used The Dramatised Bible for the reading, which powerfully brought the story to life. We also looked at two paintings and thought about what was in the paintings, comparing it with what was in the Bible. Bible exploration: Mary and Elizabeth Using the verses, fill in the photocopies of page 16 and discuss the questions. If you are a large group, you might prefer to split into two smaller groups and then compare your notes. This is not an examination paper but just a means of helping focus the discussion. Note that although it was Elizabeth s husband, Zechariah, who was given the description of John s role, Elizabeth obviously understood the historical and spiritual implications. I liked the fact that Mary s response was basically I m up for it! That s quite a good role model for me in my relationship with God. (Interestingly, this comment was made by a man!) 13

8 Getting creative Give the group members the choice of these activities, detailed below: working as individuals on a map based on Mary s journey writing Mary s thoughts, using the blank thoughts bubbles working in pairs on the drama: Mary s welcome by Elizabeth Mary s journey Create an imaginary map of Mary s journey from Nazareth to the hills just outside Jerusalem, sketching in her home and Elizabeth s home, the road between and places where she might have stopped for the night maybe as many as four, since she would have travelled 100km, probably in the company of others. You could use the map on page 17 as inspiration for your own map. Mary s thoughts On the map are thoughts bubbles as completed by one of our trial users. Give out blank thoughts bubbles photocopied from page 18 and write your own diary entries of what Mary might have been thinking as she made her way to Elizabeth. Those who prefer could draw what might have been going on in her mind. The use of the paintings earlier in the session had stimulated lots of discussion about the emotions of the encounter between Mary and Elizabeth, which helped us look at this. Drama: Mary s welcome by Elizabeth Work on a drama exploring the emotions of that extraordinary encounter. Two women group members spent 15 minutes exploring this. It was all the more poignant because Jenny 21 and six months pregnant chose to identify with Elizabeth, while Maureen in her fifties and single took the role of Mary the opposite of what you might have expected! In discussion they shared the impact on Mary of seeing Elizabeth (who at six months pregnant may well have been blooming, as Jenny was). Mary was presumably at the very early stages of pregnancy. Was she experiencing morning sickness? Were Elizabeth and Mary drawn together by mutual need and longing to meet another woman whom God had touched so uniquely? What words describe their joy in the meeting? What were the dynamics of an older woman and a younger woman sharing together? As they were related, perhaps this was simply natural. More mundanely, was Mary simply escaping the scandal which may have erupted in Nazareth on finding she was pregnant? This proved to be a most powerful and memorable experience for both these women. Share your insights from the creative activities. 14

9 Prayer response Arrange the members of the group so that women and men sit separately. In these single-sex groups, discuss how you might pray for the other gender to fulfil the calling that God has given them as part of his plan of salvation today and spend some time praying. Interesting! The women spent quite a few minutes discussing what they might pray about while the men talked for only about 30 seconds and then got started! One man after another prayed without hesitation throughout the time allocated, deeply appreciative of the women in the church and in their families and pleading with God to make the women more effective. Prayer like this was strikingly different from what we would normally do and expect! If you are using this material during Advent or Lent, remember to pray for any special events in your church that are planned for the season. Give out photocopies of pages and encourage people to use the Personal Journey in between this session and the next. 15

10 Bible exploration: Mary and Elizabeth Personal details Her son s role His place in history Her response Elizabeth Mary How important was Mary s role in God s plan of salvation? Is it an exaggeration to say that her role was probably the most important role after that of Jesus? If Mary and, to a lesser extent, Elizabeth could play such important parts in the plan of salvation, does this say anything about the role women have in God s plan through history? And for the present day? In answering this, you might want to refer to the list of women you made at the start of the session. In what ways is Mary an inspiration to women in general? And to those who feel marginalised in society? Or marginalised in the church community? What about Elizabeth, an older woman who demonstrated spiritual intuition and prophetic utterance! How might she be an inspiration?

11 Mary s journey

12 Mary s thoughts Nazareth News MARY, GYMSLIP MUM! ARRANGED MARRIAGE GOES WRONG! OLDER MAN STANDS BY HIS GIRL 18

13 MARY Robert and Ro Willoughby Discovering the real Mary a journey for individuals, small groups or churches What s the truth about Mary? Just for Catholics? Of interest only to women? Or a significant and challenging biblical role model who can teach us all a great deal? This resource offers a menu of imaginative, thought-provoking and fun activities: personal and group Bible study creative crafts prayer activities worship ideas dramatic readings interaction with classic art and sculpture music and poetry games PLUS! complete carol service outline how to create a Mary labyrinth for all ages Use it in small groups, youth groups, church services, fellowship weekends, evangelistic seminars or for personal study and enjoyment. No previous Bible knowledge assumed. Tried and tested by real people! Ideal for Advent or Lent but suitable for any time. Invaluable for leaders providing plenty of varied, ready-to-use activities with photocopiable pages. ISBN ËxHSLIOEy271849z