The godly and devout character of Mary and Joseph is testified to by their careful attention, in every particular, to the Word of God. Both in respect of the circumcision of the holy child Jesus, and in Mary’s own purification, they were found in exact obedience to the prescriptions of the law (see Lev. 13), as likewise in the presentation of Jesus to the Lord, “as it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord.” Forty days were to elapse before Mary could thus appear in the temple at Jerusalem.
During the visit of the wise men from the east, recorded by Matthew, as in the visit of the shepherds, Mary is in the background, and we may surely say that she was there willingly. In communion with God’s mind, at least in her measure, she would delight in the recognition of the coming glory of the One who was “born King of the Jews,” and she would in no wise be astonished when she saw them fall down and worship Him, or when they opened their treasures and presented to Him gifts—gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. It was her joy that she had been the chosen vessel of His birth, but she had thenceforward to learn that to be in relationship and identification with God’s Anointed would bring upon her the persecution of the god of this world. The moment God’s man-child was born, the dragon (Satan), who had been waiting for the event, sought to devour Him. Mary, with Joseph, as well as Jesus, became the object of the enmity of the wicked king, but, sheltered by divine protection and guidance when they fled into Egypt, and again, after they had returned to the land of Israel, into Galilee to their former home, they enjoyed the inestimable honor and privilege of ministering to Him who was no less than the Son of God.