# Who was Mary, the mother of Jesus?

Mary was a young woman of Nazareth, engaged to Joseph, when the angel Gabriel told her she would bear the Son of God. She said yes. She gave birth to Jesus in Bethlehem, raised him in Nazareth, stood by his cross, and prayed with his followers after he rose.

- When: Jesus was born about 6 to 4 BC. Mary lived at least into the first weeks of the church, about AD 30 to 33.
- Read: Luke 1–2, John 2 and 19, Acts 1. Start with [Luke 1](https://www.lumin.faith/read/luke/1).

Source: https://www.lumin.faith/bible-people/mary-mother-of-jesus. Scripture quotations are from the Lumin Translation.

## Mary, the mother of Jesus’s life, in order

1. **The angel’s news** ([Luke 1:26-38](https://www.lumin.faith/read/luke/1#26-38)). Gabriel tells Mary she will have a son by the Holy Spirit. “Here I am, the Lord’s servant.” Map: [Nazareth](https://www.lumin.faith/bible-map#nazareth).
2. **With Elizabeth** ([Luke 1:39-56](https://www.lumin.faith/read/luke/1#39-56)). She hurries to her relative Elizabeth in the hill country of Judah and sings the song called the Magnificat. Map: [The hill country of Judah](https://www.lumin.faith/bible-map#hill-country-of-judah).
3. **Born in Bethlehem** ([Luke 2:1-20](https://www.lumin.faith/read/luke/2#1-20)). Mary gives birth and lays Jesus in a manger. She treasures what the shepherds say. Map: [Bethlehem](https://www.lumin.faith/bible-map#bethlehem).
4. **A sword will pierce** ([Luke 2:22-35](https://www.lumin.faith/read/luke/2#22-35)). At the temple, old Simeon blesses the child and warns Mary of sorrow to come. Map: [Jerusalem](https://www.lumin.faith/bible-map#jerusalem).
5. **To Egypt and back** ([Matthew 2:13-23](https://www.lumin.faith/read/matthew/2#13-23)). Warned in a dream, Joseph takes Mary and the child to Egypt, then home to Nazareth. Map: [Egypt](https://www.lumin.faith/bible-map#egypt).
6. **The wedding at Cana** ([John 2:1-11](https://www.lumin.faith/read/john/2#1-11)). When the wine runs out, Mary tells the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Map: [Cana](https://www.lumin.faith/bible-map#cana).
7. **At the cross** ([John 19:25-27](https://www.lumin.faith/read/john/19#25-27)). Mary stands near the cross. Jesus gives her into the care of the disciple he loved. Map: [Jerusalem](https://www.lumin.faith/bible-map#jerusalem).
8. **With the disciples** ([Acts 1:12-14](https://www.lumin.faith/read/acts/1#12-14)). After Jesus goes up to heaven, Mary prays with the apostles and Jesus’ brothers in Jerusalem. Map: [Jerusalem](https://www.lumin.faith/bible-map#jerusalem).

## Key verses

> Mary said, “Here I am, the Lord’s servant. May it be done to me as you have said.” Then the angel departed from her. ([Luke 1:38](https://www.lumin.faith/read/luke/1#38))

> Then Mary said, “My soul declares the greatness of the Lord, and my spirit is overjoyed in God my Savior… ([Luke 1:46-47](https://www.lumin.faith/read/luke/1#46-47))

> But Mary held on to all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. ([Luke 2:19](https://www.lumin.faith/read/luke/2#19))

## What the Bible says, and what tradition adds

### How old was Mary when Jesus was born?

**Not known.** The Bible does not say. She was engaged and not yet married, and girls were often betrothed in their early or mid teens then, so many guess she was young. It is a guess.

### Did Mary ride a donkey to Bethlehem?

**Tradition, not the Bible.** No donkey is in the text. Luke says only that Joseph went up with Mary. The donkey comes from later retellings. See [Luke 2:4-5](https://www.lumin.faith/read/luke/2#4-5).

### Did Mary have other children?

**Readers disagree.** The Gospels name brothers and sisters of Jesus. Many Protestants read them as Mary’s later children. Catholic and Orthodox Christians teach that Mary stayed a virgin and read them as cousins or Joseph’s children from an earlier marriage. See [Mark 6:3](https://www.lumin.faith/read/mark/6#3).

### Who were Mary’s parents?

**Tradition, not the Bible.** The names Joachim and Anne come from the Protoevangelium of James, a 2nd-century writing that is not in the Bible.

### What happened to Mary at the end of her life?

**Tradition, not the Bible.** The Bible does not say. Catholics hold that she was taken body and soul into heaven, and the Orthodox speak of her falling asleep. Neither is told in Scripture.

## Related people

- [Joseph of Nazareth](https://www.lumin.faith/bible-people/joseph-of-nazareth): Married Mary. Raised Jesus as his own. Never says a word.
- [John the Baptist](https://www.lumin.faith/bible-people/john-the-baptist): Prepared the way. Baptized Jesus in the Jordan.
- [Mary Magdalene](https://www.lumin.faith/bible-people/mary-magdalene): Healed by Jesus. First to see him risen.