Mary the mother of Jesus

Also known as: Mary · Family: Jesus's family · Role: mother · First appears: Matthew 1

In Luke 1, Mary is a virgin engaged to Joseph the husband of Mary when Gabriel tells her that she will conceive Jesus through the Holy Ghost. She accepts the announcement, saying, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.” Elisabeth is identified as her cousin and blesses her, while Mary worships God.

In Matthew 1, Mary is found pregnant with Jesus through the Holy Ghost, and Joseph the husband of Mary takes her as his wife after an angel’s command. She gives birth to Jesus, whom Joseph names, and in Luke 2 she lays her firstborn son in a manger at Bethlehem. Simeon blesses Mary and Jesus at Jerusalem, warning that the child will be opposed and that sorrow will reach Mary; later, after Jesus is found teaching in the temple, Mary tells him that she and Joseph have sought him sorrowing, and he says he must be about his Father’s business.

In Matthew 2, Mary travels with Joseph the husband of Mary and Jesus to Egypt, returns with them to Israel, and settles with them in Nazareth. In Matthew 13, she is identified as Jesus’s mother during his teaching. In Matthew 28, Mary worships Jesus when he meets them after his resurrection and receives his command to tell his brethren that they will see him in Galilee.