Mark: Yes, Jesus Understands Moms

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Have you been a mother of babies and small children? Or, you likely know of a few moms of littles. Being continually surrounded by needy, hungry, and tired little humans is exhausting. How could Jesus possibly know how mothers feel since He was never a mother? Could He truly understand moms? The answer is, “Yes.” Jesus does understand moms. This article will give you a biblical basis for that confidence.

My Journey as a Mother

My journey into motherhood began when my first child was born. Before then, I was a mom-to-be who read all the books available and thought she was prepared with the techniques of mothering. Oh, how naïve I was!

I had made straight A’s in school for years and earned lots of awards for achievement. But mothering this baby girl who was so unpredictable was the hardest challenge of my life. When I complained to the pediatrician at the first postnatal visit that my baby girl did not do anything the books said she should do (such as sleep 20 hours a day, be comforted when I rocked or nursed her), he told me in a lighthearted way that she had not read the books!

Being a mother of babies and small children, continually surrounded by needy, hungry, tired little humans, is exhausting. How could Jesus possibly know how mothers feel since He was never a mother? Could He truly understand moms? Studying the gospels, we see that the answer is, “Yes.”

Through my own Bible study, I gained more and more confidence that Jesus understood what I as a mom was experiencing. I discovered most of the examples below as I was teaching the gospel of Mark to moms of preschoolers. The same is true for all caregivers of children, not just moms.

The Disciples Were Jesus’s “Children”

Those twelve disciples Jesus chose to be with Him were in a sense His children. He even calls them “children” in Mark chapter 10.

The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! (Mark 10:24)

Think about it. They were with Him all the time for almost two years (Luke 8:1). Jesus took them on trips in His “car” (the boat) and had to give them something to do by themselves so He could have time to pray.

Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray. (Mark 6:45-46)

Moms have to be creative in getting time away from small children and spending time with the Lord.

When we expand His “family” to include the crowds that followed Him, they sometimes did not leave Him alone long enough to eat (Mark 3:20 and Mark 6:31). We see that He was exhausted by the constant demand for His attention by needy, in some ways childlike, people. He had to take naps whenever and wherever He could, even sleeping through a violent thunderstorm as in Mark 4:35-38. That is tired like any mother can be tired!

Jesus Taught Them Lessons

Jesus was constantly teaching His disciples

He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything. (Mark 4:34)

But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” (Mark 12:42-44)

He took advantage of those teachable moments.

Sometimes He had to teach the same lesson over and over. For example, He had to teach them how to multiply and divide in the feeding of the 5,000 in Mark 6:38-43 and the feeding of the 4,000 in Mark 8:5-8. After that lesson, He quizzed them on what they should have learned.

Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?” “Twelve,” they replied. “And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?” They answered, “Seven.” He said to them, “Do you still not understand?” (Mark 8:18-21)

Moms are constantly teaching the same lessons too.

He answered their questions

Jesus was always answering their questions. Lots of questions.

When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables …Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? (Mark 4:10-13)

After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? (Mark 7:17-18).

Sometimes it seemed like they just were not listening to the answers! Yep, that is another mom experience.

Others Questioned His Parenting

Others questioned His parenting. You can see this in these passages:

Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?” Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast. … One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” … Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:18-20, 23-24, 27-28)

Here is another example:

So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?” (Mark 7:5)

Jesus was followed by those who considered themselves much smarter and holier than Jesus and His disciples were. They watched what Jesus was doing with His “children” and thought He was not doing it right. That happens to moms too.

Jesus Disciplined Them

Jesus disciplined His children when their behavior was wrong. Here is His discipline of Peter.

But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” (Mark 8:33)

People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”  (Mark 10:13-15)

He also had to confront sibling rivalry. Look at these incidents:

They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest. … When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.  (Mark 9:33-34; 10:41-44)

His children even forgot their lunch at times.

The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. (Mark 8:14)

Jesus Loved Them and Prayed for Them

Yes, Jesus loved His children dearly.

It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. (Mark 13:1)

Mothers understand that kind of love.

And He prayed for the ones being tempted to do wrong that they would turn back and learn from their experience. He did this for Peter.

“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat.But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” (Luke 22:31-32)

Do you think He would have liked for Peter to listen to His advice and not betray Him? Of course!

Jesus understands that moms teach and warn but must let children learn lessons by experience for themselves.

Jesus Understands Mothering

Yes, Jesus understands what moms experience. As Hebrews 4 says,

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:15-16)

That is so true. He sympathizes with our weaknesses and experiences. And those words are so comforting to me as a mother.

My dear friend said this recently,

We have everything we need to be an excellent mom. (Jennifer Byrd)

Jesus knows what we need. He felt what we experience. He understands the temptations we face as moms. That is another wonderful reason why we can trust Him as women, especially as mothers! Jesus satisfies our hearts in every way.

See all these examples and more in our Heartbreak to Hope Bible Study of Mark.

AI was not used to generate this post.

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