There’s something about Mary. Forgive the reference to the 1998 film of the same name. I couldn’t help myself.
What’s the big deal about Mary? The Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions make a very big deal about her, but is it justified? As we continue to explore the mystery of Christ’s incarnation, it is worth at least briefly considering the woman who gave birth to him. A good starting point is the angelic appearance to Mary in which she was advised of her imminent and unexpected pregnancy. The encounter is recorded only by Luke, and it is worth quoting in full:
“In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee,27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.” 29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favour with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” 34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[b] the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.” 38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.” (Luke 1:26-38)
The fact that it is Gabriel who appears to Mary is significant because he appears to be an angel of particular importance and one of only two who are named in the Bible (the other being the archangel Michael – Jude 9, Revelation 12 and Daniel 10). Thus, it is Gabriel, an apparently senior angel, who appears to both Zecharia and Mary to announce the imminent births of John the Baptist and Jesus. The announcement of the Saviour’s imminent arrival is of such importance that an angel of the highest order is dispatched to deliver it.
In Mary’s case, Gabriel’s opening remarks of “Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you” causes instant consternation. We are told that Mary is “greatly troubled” by his greeting. The Greek word used here is “diatarasso” which means to be distressed, confused and perplexed. Mary’s perplexity must have arisen partly from the fact that she appears to have been a young woman of no notable social standing. Her previously outlined lineage (Luke 3:23f) shows that she was not of noble birth, and her forthcoming marriage to a similarly ignoble commoner from the obscure village of Nazareth in the backblocks of Galilee adds to her unremarkable status. She was a nobody and would not anticipate coming to the attention of anyone important, let alone the God of the universe.
Mary seems to understand implicitly that she is dealing with an angel, because Gabriel’s next words address her obvious fear of him: “Do not be afraid” (v.30). As I explained in my previous post, fear was a common reaction when coming face to face with an angel, particularly one as powerful as Gabriel. For example, when Gabriel appeared to Daniel in the Old Testament, Gabriel’s presence and appearance was so overpowering that Daniel was terrified and fainted and had to be revived (Daniel 8). Although Mary does not swoon in this instance, she is certainly in need of assurance from Gabriel, before whose powerful presence she is clearly afraid.
Gabriel then informs Mary of the most extraordinary events that are about to unfold in her life. She is to give birth to God’s Son (Luke 1:31-32) and he will become a King who will reign forever (v.33). In response to this grand pronouncement, Mary asks the most mundane and practical of questions: “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” (v.34).
There are two things to point out regarding Mary’s question. Firstly, it doesn’t make much sense to us in our English translations. Our English rendering of the Gabriel’s prediction could easily be interpreted as referring to Mary eventually falling pregnant sometime in the future, after her marriage to Joseph. Why does Mary immediately assume that the angel is talking about her falling pregnant immediately? Because he is. In the original Greek text of this passage, the verb tense of Gabriel’s words indicates that these events are about to happen almost immediately, rather than sometime in the vague future. Thus, Mary’s question is entirely appropriate.
The second thing to point out Is that Mary’s question focuses on the practical rather than the theological. She does not seem to even blink at Gabriel’s prediction that she, a lowly commoner of no consequence, is about to give birth to God’s own Son who will reign forever as a King. Perhaps that is all so inconceivable that her mind simply refuses to initially come to terms with it. Instead, she focuses on what she considers to be the glaring weak point in Gabriel’s pronouncement. In simple terms, she is asking, “And how is all that supposed to happen, since haven’t even had sex yet?”
Good question, Mary.
The simple (yet mind-bogglingly profound) answer is that the conception will take place miraculously. Gabriel says to Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you” (v.35). I will reflect more on the mystery and wonder of this miraculous conception in the next chapter, but for now there is more to be explored regarding Mary, herself.
Mary’s response to Gabriel’s declaration that she is about to become pregnant despite still being a virgin reflects her unquestioning faith: at this point
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.” (Luke 1:38)
What an incredible statement of faith. In fact, it involves exceptional faith on two counts. Firstly, a virgin who becomes pregnant defies all laws of common sense and biology. Never before in the history of humanity had a virgin given birth to a baby. Mary has no precedent to go by here, yet she simply accepts that it will be so. Secondly, Mary’s great faith is reflected in her implicit trust in God despite the dire situation she now faces. Falling pregnant out of wedlock was a dangerous and potentially deadly predicament for women in first century Israel. Such a woman could be stoned to death for immorality. Mary’s life is potentially in terrible danger at this point, yet she accepts Gabriel’s words with an apparent calmness that infers her great trust in the sovereignty of God.
One question that arises from this whole incident is why Mary was chosen for this privilege. The Bible never tells us the precise reason, except for the repeated comments by Gabriel to Mary that she is “highly favoured”by God (v.28) and that “you have found favour with God” (v.30). Why has she found favour? We simply aren’t told, but it is reasonable to assume that God chose her because of her godliness and purity of character. Her statement of trust in God, expressed at the conclusion of her conversation with Gabriel, also points to her faith and godly character. Her great faith is further exemplified by her song of praise to God, recorded in Luke’s Gospel, after she becomes pregnant and subsequently visits her relative, Elizabeth (Luke 1:46-56).
In all of this, we are right to regard Mary highly. She is a wonderful example to us of faith and trust in the Lord. But should she be venerated beyond this? The Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches teach three things about Mary that biblically literate Christians ought to be deeply concerned about:
- That Mary remained sinless all her life, and because of this, was taken up bodily into Heaven without dying.
- That Mary remained virginal all her life.
- That it is appropriate to offer prayers of worship and petition to Mary.
It is not my intention in this book to engage in a polemic against the Catholic church. However, our exploration of the incarnation of Christ inevitably involves considering the nature and specific details of his birth, including reaching a proper understanding of the woman whom God chose to be his mother.
Regarding the supposed sinlessness of Mary and bodily assumption into Heaven, the scriptures nowhere promote this view. There is no biblical statement that Mary was sinless at the time of Gabriel’s pronouncement nor that she remained sinless thereafter. Neither is there any biblical or historical evidence for her heavenly assumption. The view that Mary was sinless gradually developed during the fourth century, promoted by Justin Martyr, Irenaeus and Ambrose, and was later defended by Augustine in the fifth century and Martin Luther in the 16th century. The doctrine was formally codified into canon law by Pope Pius IX in his papal bull, Ineffabilis Deus, in 1854.
Yet not only is there no explicit support for this doctrine in scripture, it also clearly contradicts a foundational doctrine of the gospel, that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). The Bible seems very clear at this point. “All” have sinned – with no exceptions. Indeed, this is spelled out for us just a few verses earlier when we are told, “There is no one who is righteous, not even one” (Romans 3:10). Did you catch that? Not even one. Not even Mary.
Furthermore, if it were possible for a human being to live a perfect life and be acceptable to God on their own merits, then Christ died in vain. He did not need to go to the cross to pay for our sins if we are able to save ourselves by achieving sinless perfection. We must conclude, therefore, that Mary, as noble and godly in character as she appears to have been, was still a member of fallen, sinful humanity for whom Christ died. The Catholic and Eastern Orthodox view
Regarding the claim that Mary remained virginal for the remainder of her life, we must once again defer to scripture. The New Testament mentions Jesus’ siblings – his brothers and sisters – on seven occasions: Matthew 12:46-50, Matthew 13:55-56, Mark 6:3, Luke 8:19-21, John 7:3-5, Acts 1:14 and Galatians 1:19. The Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches explain these as referring to Joseph’s children from a previous marriage. This view, however, has no historical or biblical basis, but is pure speculation arising from a desire to support a virginal view of Mary. This view of Mary’s perpetual virginity arose at the same time and among the same early church fathers as the belief in her sinlessness. A simple reading of scripture, however, does not lead to any conclusion other than that the brothers and sisters of Jesus, mentioned so clearly and often in scriptures, were indeed Mary’s own children.
Finally, the most concerning view regarding Mary that is promoted by Catholic and Eastern orthodox traditions is that she is a valid recipient of worship and prayer. The earliest recorded prayer to Mary, known as the “Sub Tuum Praesidium”, expresses worship to her as “the Mother of God” and asks for her protection and blessing. It is found in a Greek manuscript that dates back to the third century. Throughout the fourth and fifth centuries, the view developed that prayers to Mary were particularly efficacious because, as the mother of Jesus, she could plead your case and exercise strong influence over her Son. The ‘Hail Mary’ or ‘Ave Maria’ prayer was in common use by the 15th century. It forms the major part of the Catholic rosary today, with four out of every five prayers in the rosary being the ‘Hail Mary’ and only one in five being the ‘Our Father’ or Lord’s Prayer.
Bible believing Christians, however, ought to oppose the practice of praying to Mary on several counts:
- It has no scriptural precedent
- Jesus is our only mediator and intercessor (1 Timothy 2:5 and Hebrews 4:14-16)
- We are explicitly warned not to communicate with the dead (Deuteronomy 18:10-12)
- Worship must be addressed solely to God (Matthew 4:10)
A fascinating brief incident recorded for us in the synoptic Gospels provides further evidence that Mary is not the perfect, sinless saint who is worthy of our worship and prayers. While Jesus was teaching in a crowded house in Capernaum, Mary and Jesus’ brothers arrive outside and try to draw him away. Mark records:
“Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.” “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked. Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:31-35)
While their motivation is not specifically stated, this episode occurs in the context of mounting opposition to Jesus by the Pharisees. Indeed, the Pharisees were criticising and grilling Jesus during this very teaching session, even while Jesus’ family were outside asking that he come out. It appears that Mary, along with her other sons, had turned up to try to constrain Jesus’ ministry in some way or at least bring this particular teaching session to an end. Perhaps they were afraid of what the Pharisees might do to Jesus if he didn’t reign in his teaching. Perhaps they thought that he had gone too far. Or perhaps they were concerned that Jesus was bringing their family into disrepute and they would be tainted as heretics as well. Whatever the reasons, Mary’s request that Jesus conclude his teaching and come out to her is met with a stern rebuttal from Jesus. His words indicate that he has greater and more important concerns than bowing to his mother’s wishes and he will not allow her to curtail or constrain his ministry in any way.
So, if you are looking for someone to pray to who can bend Jesus’ ear and influence him, it doesn’t appear that Mary has a particularly good track record.