Did Mary Experience Pain in Giving Birth to Jesus?
by Joe Leavell
Photo by Rafael Henrique from Pexels
If you have ever seen a movie where a woman gives birth, you would get the impression that delivering a baby requires maybe two minutes of painful cries, several intense deep breaths, and sometimes maybe even some sweating. Within mere moments however, a baby’s small cry can be heard and immediately all of the pain and exhaustion of a whole 120 seconds of labor simply evaporate from the woman’s face as she beholds her baby. Interestingly, this child that she supposedly just delivered is usually about a 2-3-month-old infant and has already been wiped clean. Oh, and there are no after birth affects either and often, there is no cord to be found.
Wait! Hollywood Gets it Wrong?
I don’t mean to shock anyone here, but as a father of four, I can quite certainly assure you that the depiction of childbirth in the movies is not precisely what labor looks like in real life. I know this is a surprise to some of you, but the TV and film industry does not always portray life 100% accurately. Who knows? Perhaps the director is trying to avoid an ‘R’ rating if they showed it like it really is.
In one way I am thankful. Does anyone really want to sit through the whole eight hours of a woman in labor in the middle of their movie or at the least see a realistic description of the pain that a woman really has to endure? I suppose it would tend to slow down the plot arch of a movie and would likely drain the entertainment value into a highly disturbing cinematic experience.
What Was Giving Birth Like for Mary?
When considering the birth of Jesus, what impression do you get when you think of Mary giving birth? I wonder if we tend to easily gloss over the hardships of labor and hit “fast forward” on the story to get to where baby Jesus was already wrapped in swaddling cloths in the manger. I think we get a romanticized view of her experience, when in reality, it may have been quite traumatic for the young woman.
Think about it. How would her body have handled the effects of childbirth, especially having traveled the long journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem at 9 months pregnant? Would God have shielded her from sore muscles? Surely, because she was giving birth to the Savior of the world, God would give her a pass on the pain associated with childbirth, right? At worst, it was 120 seconds of saying “Oh. This feels uncomfortable” and then instantly Joseph hands Mary baby Jesus who looks like he is 2-3 months old and is completely clean. Oh, don’t forget “no crying he makes” so between no sounds of agonizing labor or a crying baby, it totally must have been a “silent night” right?
Now, to be sure, the text does not give us a whole lot of clues as to how the delivery went one way or the other. It simply informs us that, “she gave birth to her firstborn son.” Yet the same God who did nothing to provide Mary and Joseph a room in the inn may not have given her ample room in the birth canal either.
Nowhere does the text say that because this was the birth of the Christ that Mary was given a pass on the pains of childbirth. An average length of childbirth for a first-time mom is eight hours, with an hour to two hours of active pushing. We have no reason to believe that the delivery of the Christ-child was anything other than any a normal birth. In fact, because Mary was still a virgin, it may actually have been an even more difficult delivery.
Not all Pain is Physical
The pain of childbirth was not the only pain Mary had to endure in giving birth to the Savior. She also had to endure the criticism of those who believed Mary’s pregnancy to be the result of immorality. She had to experience the shame and the heartache wondering if Joseph would publicly shame her or would at least give her a private divorce.
Mary had to endure pain for doing something right and viewed this not as a disgrace but as a honor bestowed upon her from God. This suffering was not brought on by something she did wrong. Rather, it was because she found favor in God’s sight, and was blessed to give birth to the Savior of the world.
Think about that for a moment. In order for God’s purposes for redemption to be accomplished, Mary was forced to endure real social, emotional, and deeply physical pain. Why?
“Mary had to endure her very real suffering so that God’s purposes to one day end all suffering and pain could be accomplished.”
Suffering that Isn’t Fair
Mary’s experience of giving birth to Jesus is a powerful reminder that not all suffering and pain is the result of doing something wrong. Sometimes God’s people suffer pain because they are doing something right. Suffering happens for many reasons and sometimes, God is blessing His people by including them in what He is doing, even when we do not see it or understand it.
As God did with Mary, sometimes God’s blessings and purposes are only accomplished through real pain and trauma. Think again for a moment of what she endured for finding favor in God’s sight.
I would think that if you asked Mary during labor if she still looked at giving birth to the Messiah as a blessing she might struggle to say “yes” and might even have a choice few words directed towards the one asking the question. Similarly, it is hard for those who are suffering to look at their pain through the lens that God is doing a work much larger than they can even understand.
There is Still Pain Today
If this Christmas is a hard one for you today because of going through difficult circumstance, it may be because you are reaping the consequences of your poor choices and your own sin. If that is the case, I invite you to turn from your sin and turn in faith and obedience towards Christ.
However, maybe you are suffering because someone else wronged you significantly. Perhaps you are enduring shame for something you didn’t even do. When your suffering is not the result of something you did wrong then understand that there may be something much larger going on and God has decided to include you in His designs.
Focusing on the Pain or on God?
If Mary had simply focused on the pain of labor, it would have been difficult to see the goodness of God. But in simple trust, she gave birth to the One who would rescue us from our sins.
Similarly, when we focus on our pain and zero in on just the specific suffering that we are enduring, it is difficult to make any sense of it. It doesn’t even seem fair. But when step back a bit and look to our God, His character, and how others like Mary were asked to endure hardship for the cause of the Gospel, we are able to simply trust Him because He is sovereign and He is good.
Mary trusted God. Her soul magnified the Lord and her spirit rejoiced in God her Savior, even when the specifics of what she was going to have to endure did not make total sense. She saw God’s favor on her as a blessing, even though included suffering.
These truly are tidings of great joy!
Why?
Through suffering, the Christ was born into this world.
Through suffering, “Immanuel, God with us!”
Through suffering, He saved His people from their sins!
Through suffering, our pain will one day give way to great and enduring joy!
Glory to God in the Highest!
From all of us at Biblical Counseling of Arizona, we wish you and your families a Merry Christmas!
