MARY – The Apostle to The Apostles

Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’ ” John 20:17

For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial. Matthew 26:12

It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. John 11:2

Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. …

But Jesus said, “Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial. John 12:3&7

But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” Acts 7:55-56

*All scriptures are from the NKJV, unless otherwise stated

Introduction

The female expression or the expression of the womb for God is real and is a major reality in the mind of God for this age in time. It is so because everything God planned from eternity and from the foundation of the earth can only be manifested on earth by man. Even the reality of salvation, for which a Lamb was killed from before the foundation of the earth, still needed a real “Lamb” in human flesh to bring it to pass on earth. Meaning, God will not do anything on this earth without the expression called man. But in this case, a man that has become a womb for Him. Meaning as there is no male or female, slave or free in the eyes of God, in the same way, the female expression or the expression of the womb for God is beyond the gender called male or female. Yes, there is a female side of God which is expressed in the female gender, but it goes beyond that, to that which is not gender. It is a spiritual reality with a physical manifestation. There are lots of things going on in the mind of God and for which accurate responses from man are required. Our accurate responses to God are critical for this season, for which we were created.

Mary the fountain of oil and the womb that prepares

On 10th of June 2016, the Vatican conferred on Mary Magdalene with the title “The Apostle to the Apostles.” I believe this came about because of what Mary did at the tomb of Christ and the assignment that followed from the Lord when He said ” go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God” (John 20:17). A movie was even made concerning this. For me personally, it’s a beautiful thing that her role in the life and ministry of Christ was given voice, thereby in prophecy, it speaks about that which must happen again in the days we are in now as regards those who have been chosen to manifest the same. For all things written in scriptures were written for our sake, to whom the end of the days have come. But permit me to say this; it is a worthless title which does not really mean anything much, if Mary did not have any eternal reality or purpose tied to her life when she was alive. Simply put, I do not necessarily celebrate the title; I celebrate the eternal reality tied to her life. She simply captured in the days of her flesh, the way, the truth and the life of God by her intimacy with Christ the Lord. This is what I celebrate, this is what matters and this is what this article is about.

Of the many things written of Mary, one thing always gets my attention, and which also got the attention of the Lord Himself. I speak of the act of worship she displayed to Christ in John 12:3, when she poured oil on Jesus, wiped His feet with her hair and with such an attitude that was so self-abandoning and beautiful that the men seated close by could only see sexual excitement in the act against the Christ who was supposed to be a prophet of God. For the Pharisee said to himself, “This Man, if He were a prophet…” And the Lord spoke and said “what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her”… a prophecy which has and is still unfolding. However, this aspect of the prophecy is not what this article is about and neither is it about what she did for the Lord in the physical sense, but what she fulfilled in the eternal story of the Lamb of God. The Lord said “Leave her alone, she has prepared my body for burial”. Wow! Oh my! This is where I am going. See it this way. Scripture says Jesus was slain from before the foundation of the world. Now Jesus is saying “She did it for my burial”. Meaning when Jesus was slain from before the foundation of the world, He wasn’t buried. Awaiting when a surrendered womb called “Mary the sinner” would show up with her long hair, her tears and her oil of spikenard to put a seal to that which was from before the foundation of the earth. Meaning, Jesus as the Lamb of God was slain from before the foundation of the world, but He was not buried, awaiting the day of Mary. And by her act of pure and passionate worship with oil, tears and her hair (her glory) she prepared the Lord’s body for burial. A seal of the redemption story of God concerning mankind. For without death there is no life and without the oil of Mary, there is no burial for Jesus and without His burial, there is no resurrection and by extension, no redemption for mankind. This is what a womb or a female expression is to God. Not a title for show or for a walk of pride. This is what in our day is expected of our lives both male and female, with wombs set apart to bring forth the eternal things in the mind of God in real time. So I celebrate Mary and her love for the Christ.

Stephen the womb of the death of death

Acts chapter 7 speaks of the man Stephen, how he was stoned to death for telling the truth of the Lord Jesus to the Pharisees. I have tried to imagine what dying by stoning looks like. I mean, with your hands and feet bound and with your naked eyes, see hails of stones flying to you from all directions and with just one intention – to kill you. It’s inconceivable. So the story of Stephen is amazing to me. Many will call it an act of martyrdom, which it really is. But permit me to see from another perspective. The life and death of Stephen was an act of a womb prepared for God. Let me explain. When the words of Stephen about the Christ became like a dagger in the heart of those listening to him,  scripture says, they gnashed at him with their teeth in anger and he looked up to heaven and saw the Lord Jesus standing at the right hand of glory. Amazing, right? But much more amazing is this. Scripture says in Psalm 110:1 and Hebrews 1:13 The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” The Apostle Paul also said in 1 Corinthians 15:26 “The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.”  If you put the two scriptures together, it means, for Jesus to have stood from His throne at the right hand of the Father, someone on earth is living out a reality which is putting His enemy under His footstool. And because the last enemy of Jesus to be destroyed is death and Satan who has the power over death, the killing of Stephen instantly put these enemies (Death and Satan) under the footstool of Jesus. See it this way. There is an eternal declaration that needed a physical man to bring it to pass. Jesus was commanded to sit at the right of God and not to stand until His enemies have been placed under his footstool. And here comes Stephen in the day of His flesh, who by his commitment to the Christ incurred in a sense, the death sentence from the leaders of the day. He was killed by a most gruesome death by stoning. But little did these people know that, the Stephen that was killed and who made the Lord rise from His throne at the right hand of the Father was actually fulfilling what was in the mind of God, which is to give us a picture of what it is to put the enemies of Jesus under His footstool. And to tell you how much of eternal womb Stephen was, just like Christ his Lord, he said “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” just like His Lord said on the cross “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they do”. How amazing this is that the death of a man will be so in similitude with the death of God, by the act of a surrendered womb to God.

What about you and me?

I think it is time for the sons of God to really take accurate positions in their walk with God. Enough of reading the scriptures to narrate the mighty deeds of men of old. It’s time the story be about us and our lives as wombs of God. How easy has it become for us to declare our love for God with our mouths and then when the “cross” and “stones” come we say it might not be God or that it is an attack from the enemy. How easy to say we are living sacrifices unto God and when the fire at the altar of sacrifice gets too hot, we jump off and run away and then how much more easy to claim to be wombs for God and then when it’s time to birth the reality of eternity, we suddenly freeze, just because what we are mandated to birth doesn’t look like a “child” or the birth process is not what we are used to.

Even the Lord Jesus was and is a womb for God. That God killed Him from before the foundation of the world shows that God knew and also planned the fall of man in the garden, so that through sin, man will understand the grace and mercy of God and by that, conquer sin and death. And Jesus knowing that this is the plan in God, allowed Himself who is God in His own right, to become a man, made of sinful blood and flesh, in order to birth on the earth the mind of God. In the physical, while on the cross, what men saw that He “birthed” was nothing but the gushing of blood and water of a condemned man. But that in itself was the birthing of eternal redemption for mankind. For out of the blood and water of the first Adam, came forth Eve and out of the blood and water of the Last Adam, came forth the redeemed man. For there is no redemption without blood and neither is there cleansing without water.

Let us review our lives

Even as I write these words, I remembered an experience I had with God a while back. I was walking one evening and I was having a conversation with the Lord. Having read that the faith of Noah condemned the “old” world and he became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith ( see Hebrews 11:7) and that the faith of Abraham became a covenant of blessing to all the nations of the earth, then I asked God what will my life and my faith birth on the earth? And instantly He answered, “your faith will birth healing, restoration and rebirth of the earth.” I sincerely do not know by what means He will do that but it sure sounded good for me. And knowing that God cannot lie, healing, restoring and rebirthing the earth became my entire life’s goal and meditation even though the full picture is not fully given yet.

How is the reality of the womb for God possible? You may ask. It is possible, for we are co-laborers with Christ in bringing forth the mind of God on the earth just as it is done in heaven. The question is, are we ready to give birth?

For there is the coming reality of the New Jerusalem built upon the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets. And as types of Mary in our day, are we ready to hear, incubate and sound the voice of Mary that bears witness of her as the Apostle to the Apostles?

God bless you. From your brother.