Mary: A Flesh and Blood Biography of the Virgin Mother by Lesley Hazleton is a very special book that helped me to not only understand some of the culture in the Middle East better, but by knowing about Mary, I have a deeper understanding of Jesus. I really enjoyed this nonfiction book.
Mary’s true name is Maryam. She had brown skin and almost black hair. She was from Galilee, Nazareth. A tiny place with only 200 to 300 people living there. Galilee is never mentioned in the Hebrew Torah because it was so small. it’s name means, “small fort.” Galilee is located along the Silk Road to the Jordan River, in Palestine. The villagers were very poor. Though many riches were carried along that road, they were only passing through. Maryam and her neighbors would never have seen any of them. Although we often see Maryam in a while gown and blue shawl, she would have never worn those colors, for those colors were afforded only to the rich. Maryam would have worn black, red or yellow, or faded versions of those colors because there were flowers in the area that were used to color their fabric.
Drought was common in Galilee and water was never wasted. Nothing was wasted. Water used for washing was used to water plants. The remaining wheat, after threshing was used in sleeping pallets. Animal dung was used as fuel for fire. The people were lean just like the land. Although some people in the bible lived very long lives, these people were the rich ones that could afford proper nutrition. Most people were poor, like the villagers in Galilee. Most people did not live longer than 40-50 years. Life was hard. Puberty meant fertility and fertility meant marriage. Mary was 13 when she had Jesus. This was not uncommon.
Maryam and everyone in her village were illiterate but they knew the stories of their Hebrew history. They would tell them every night around the fire. She was not ignorant. Maryam knew of the prophets and of Yahweh.
“What we now think of in the west as the separate spheres of religion, politics, ethnicity, and culture were so deeply intertwined that there was not distinction between them.
A Jew—Yehudi in both Aramaic and Hebrew—was literally someone from Judea, Yehuda. Judean-ness was an ethnic and national identity, and the Jerusalem temple, with it’s recognition of Yahweh as the ultimate god, was the cement binding that identity.”
Before Jesus, the temple was a slaughterhouse for constant sacrifices. The temple was not a place for worship. As parts of Judea changed hands through wars, temples were destroyed. Historians were beginning to see that although people could live under laws, laws did not have to control minds. This was part of John the Baptist’s message. This was the beginning of religion as we know it.
“What Baptist preached was inclusive; every person mattered, registered on the grand scale of things, and made a difference in the world. The temple cult depended on birth, wealth, and influence; the populist one, on faith and commitment.”
The fact that Baptist preached that God was inside you and not in a temple, was a threat to the King’s authority. This is the true reason Baptist was killed.
There was so much oppression from the rich on the poor. Families lost their land and sold their children to pay taxes imposed by the King and the tax collectors. As the people fought back, they would be crucified in plain sight by the Romans. When people were crucified, it was never one at a time, or even 3, like it tells us in the story of Jesus’ crucifixion. There could be hundreds or thousands crucified at one time. The guards were not paid well and did not like to take the bodies down and left them there for days to be ravished by vultures; when they were taken down, the bodies were not buried, but thrown in the open ditches alongside the the area where the crosses were, to be devoured by wild animals, which was disgraceful to the Jews. Because Maryam was a shepherd girl, she would have known all the perfect hiding places and every cave and tree for shade. She would have helped the rebels.
“To be killed in the struggle for independence was to achieve a form of immortality. It was to be celebrated in song and story as a death chosen rather than imposed.”
Maryam’s grandmother was the village healer and midwife. She used herbs to heal people. When Maryam is out in the hills, she collected herbs for her grandmother. Maryam learned all her grandmother had to teach about healing. Maryam knew about birth control and abortion. Both were necessary, especially among very poor families. Her, “Yes,” to God to become pregnant, was also a, “Yes,” to bear and give birth to the child. She could have changed her mind. She had the knowledge to end the pregnancy at any time.
Maryam taught Jesus everything she knew about shepherding and healing. He was an excellent student, as if He already knew how. Jesus was her only son and Maryam was at the cross to witness his death. She must have felt HIs pain as her own. The fact that Jesus was buried is abnormal. The women that joined Maryam to clean and anoint and wrap Jesus’ body were the beginning of Christianity.
After Jesus’ resurrection, Jesus passed Maryam to John, His disciple, to care for her. She couldn’t go back to Nazareth after all the turmoil Jesus had caused, so they may have lived in Ephesus. However there are accounts that lead some people to believe Maryam didn’t stay with John, but joined with the women that were part of the followers of Jesus. They lived and worked together, teaching each other and healed each other and others that came to them for physical, spiritual and mental healing.
“Each time a woman gives birth, each time a woman sits between another’s legs and cradles the emerging newborn’s head, each time a woman sings in joy or wails in mourning, seeks out knowledge or teaches it to others, works for justice or acts for peace or risks her life for freedom, the mantle of Maryam is handed on.”
This book is full of history, politics, relationship and humanity. I feel so inspired after reading it. Maryam is more real to me, than she ever has been. I am thankful that I found this book.
I got this book from my personal collection you can get your own copy of Mary: A Flesh and Blood Biography of the Virgin Mother by Lesley Hazleton on Amazon.
Read My Review on GoodReads:
Mary: A Flesh-and-Blood Biography of the Virgin Mother by Lesley Hazleton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Mary: A Flesh and Blood Biography of the Virgin Mother by Lesley Hazleton is a powerful book that studies many facts and accounts from around the history and culture of the Middle East and the time when Maryam, the mother of Jesus Christ was alive. This account of what may have really happened helps create a true human experience for the woman that gave birth to the Son of God and raised Him to change the world. I found this book fascinating and could hardly put it down.
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My name is Summer. That is how you can call me. I hope that I am a blessing to you. I am not perfect. I will fall again. But I am forgiven. For anyone reading this that isn’t a Christian, unapologetically, I am a Christian, but I believe there is room for lots of beliefs and religions in the world. It is not my intent to offend people with different beliefs than I have and I would be open to open-minded conversations with no goals of changing anyone’s mind, but sharing information. If you are interested in becoming a Christian…Do you know Jesus? Do want the Holy Spirit to fill you and give you understanding and salvation? Ask Him. Want someone to pray with you? Contact me.
If you would like to know Jesus as your friend, but want to make this amazing commitment by yourself please pray something like this: Thank you Jesus that You are the Son of God, the God that created heaven and earth. Thank you Jesus that You came to earth in the form of a man so that You would be able to empathize with my humanity. Thank You that You did this in order to fulfill the promises You made at the foundation of the world. I realize that I am a sinner and do things that hurt myself and keep myself away from you. Thank You that You died for my sins so that You could defeat death and bring me into Your life. Please forgive me. I ask You to be Lord of my life. I ask you to heal my hurts and show me what my new life, empowered by You looks like. Thank You for Your mercy.
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