Post 31: 2 Iconic mothers in the bible

Image: Graphic showing a silhouette representing Adam and Eve under the tree of knowledge of good and evil, as well as a graphic representing Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus. The text "2 Iconic Mothers" are displayed on the top right corner and the text "bytesofsalvation.com, May 2026" are displayed on the bottom left corner.

Summary: This Mother's Day Post discusses, Eve and Mary the Mother of Jesus Christ, 2 very important mothers mentioned in the bible.

For Mother’s Day this year, I thought I would be apt to write a quick post honoring 2 very important mothers in the bible, Eve and Mary, the Mother of Jesus. At the end of the post, I'll also conclude with a quick shout-out honoring my own mother.

Eve, mother of all living
Eve is the first woman and mother that we meet in the biblical narrative of creation and human history. Dubbed the mother of all living, Eve comes into view in Genesis 2.

God had previously created and formed the heavens and the earth, including mankind, in 6 days, and chose the 7th day as a day of rest (Genesis 1-2). God had formed man in His image from the dust and place him in the Garden of Eden to work it and keep it (Gen 2:8, 15). God later commands Adam not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil that was in the midst of the Garden of Eden (Gen 2:16-17).

God sees that it is not good for man to be alone and determines to create a partner fit for man. God causes Adam to fall into a deep sleep, removes a rib from Adam, and forms woman from Adam's rib to be his "helper" and wife (Gen 2:18-25).

Some time later, the woman (Eve) is tempted and deceived by the serpent (Satan) to eat from the forbidden Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, subsequently offering it to the man (Adam) (Genesis 3:1–6).

Because of this disobedience, God curses all parties involved (Gen 3:14-19). As part of the curse on the serpent, God puts a deep-seated hostility between the serpent and the woman, as well as between both of their offspring (Gen 3:15).

In cursing the serpent, God also declares "he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel". This statement suggests that one future offspring will eventually overcome him and shows the earliest glimpse of the gospel (Gen 3:15). This would later be fulfilled in Jesus Christ, who the Bible shows in the New Testament as having "overcome" Satan (Hebrews 2:14-15).

As part of the curse on the woman, God adds to her pain in childbirth (Genesis 3:16). If there are any women reading this who have bore children, then you know full well the pain that comes in rearing chidren. Also part of the curse on the woman was that "her desire would be contrary to her husband, but he would rule over her (Genesis 3:16). My ESV study bible commentary suggests that this means there would be altered relationship dynamics with her husband or put another way, an ongoing struggle for leadership in the marriage relationship.

She is called the mother of all living because from the union of Adam and Eve came all future offspring (Genesis 3:20). The bible begins to paint this picture of how all future offspring came from Eve in the geneologies presented in Genesis 4, Genesis 5, and Genesis 10.

I believe Eve is also presented here as both a central participant of the fall of mankind and the mother of all living who brings life, embodying both human weakness and God's saving grace.

Mary, mother of Jesus
Mary, the mother of Jesus is another obviously amazing mother in the bible! She is mentioned in all four of the Gospels, but for this writing I will be referencing details found mainly in the Gospel of Luke.

Luke 1: 26-38 details the foretelling of the birth of Jesus Christ to the virgin Mary who was engaged to a man named Joseph who was a descendent of David. During this time, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to greet Mary to announce that God has favored her and that she will will conceive Jesus, the Son of God (Luke 1:26-33).

Mary initially expresses some reservations at the angel's initial announcement of God's favor on her (Luke 1:29), and then again at the angel's announcement of conception by virgin birth (Luke 1:34). The angel then confirms to her that this conception will come by the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35), and further assures her that nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37).

Mary then answers the angel, saying "I am the Lord's servant. May your word to me be fulfilled". This response showed that she now believes the angel's message and by faith submits herself to God's will (Luke 1:38).

Mary is mentioned again in Luke 1:39-56 in the context of her visit with Elizabeth, her relative. Mary goes off to visit Elizabeth after Angel Gabriels' previous virgin birth announcement. During this previous announcement, the angel Gabriel said that Elizabeth, who thought to be barren, was now in her 6th month of pregnancy. At the sound of Mary's greeting, Elizabeth's baby lept for joy in her womb (Luke 1:41, 45).

During Mary's visit, Elizabeth, being filled with the Holy Spirit, also cries out to Mary, "blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb"(Luke 1:42)! I can only image how both Elizabeth and Mary must have felt here knowing that Mary will eventually give birth to the blessed Savior of all mankind!

I love verse 45 in this same passage, which says "And blessed is her who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord"! Here, we see that Mary was also blessed because she believed the message of the Lord from the angel and put her trust in the truth of the Word of God that was delivered to her. This is a picture of what Jesus asks of us, in that we who believe that He has taken the penalty of our sins on the cross will be gifted with His eternal salvation (John 3:16, Romans 6:23). His salvation is the most amazing blessing we can receive in this lifetime!

In Luke 1:46-55, Mary offers a song of praise. This song shifts from focusing on Mary rejoicing in the Lord for many of His attributes and how He has blessed her to highlighting what her son's birth will mean for those who believe!

If you're interested, check out my post titled Jesus, Gods Greatest Gift which discusses Christ's birth and how it is generally celebrated.

By the Holy Spirit, Mary brought into this world the most important man ever to be born, Christ Jesus! It is only because of Christ's miraculous birth (Matthew 1:18), sinless life (2 Cor. 5:21), and sacrificial, atoning death on the cross (Mark 10:45, 1 Pet 2:24) that we can be forgiven (Eph. 1:7) and of our sin (Eph 1:17) and reconciled to God our Creator (Romans 5:10)! In Christ's substitutionary crucifixion, our sins have been graciously atoned for! Only by believing in who Jesus is and what He has done for us can someone be saved from the eternal penalty of their sins (John 3:16-18, Mark 16:16)! Thank you for this amazing grace, Lord! AMEN!

Conclusion
Eve and Mary might just be two of the most important mothers in the bible. They are both very instrumental in the overall biblical narratives of creation, human history, and redemption.

Since this is a mother's day post, I want to also give a quick shout out to my own mother, who is the most influential woman in my life to date! I thank God for such an amazing mother who has always demonstrated a Christ-like life as far as I can remember!

Happy Mother's Day to my mom, and all the other mom's out there! May God bless all mom's!