As I write this article, it is only a few days ago that the outrageously beautiful cathedral in Paris, which took 200 years of construction beginning in 1163 A.D., suffered severe fire damage. Accounts said some of the residents of Paris sobbed as they witnessed the engulfing flames. News reports showed Parisian citizens crowding in streets and somberly singing together to soothe their pain at the sight of it. I had heard the name “Notre Dame” from so early in my life that I had never once used my high school French to translate the words in my mind. Why had I never realized it meant “Our Lady”? It was named after the most honored “lady” of all time—Mary, the mother of Jesus. In Luke 1:42 we find that Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist, proclaimed loudly: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!” The word “blessed” in Luke 1:42 comes from the Greek word “eulogeo”. The definition of “eulogeo” in Strong’s Concordance is “to speak well of, i.e., (religiously) to bless (thank or invoke a benediction upon, prosper):–bless, praise. Luke 1:48 records that Mary herself declared: “From now on all generations will call me blessed.” But the word “blessed” in Luke 1:48 comes from a different Greek word—“makarizo.” According to the studylight.org website, the essence of the Greek word “makarizo” is “satisfaction from experiencing the fullness of something.” It makes a comment specifically about Luke 1:48: “Mary is saying that all generations will look back on her and consider her filled with all the fullness of who God is. The child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. She carried and gave birth to the God-man who dwelt within.”

God Chose Mary

What was it that made God choose Mary for the great honor of giving birth to the Son of God? I believe one big reason was her faith. Elizabeth’s words in Luke 1:45 are: “ ‘Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill His promises to her!’ ” Unlike Eve in the Garden of Eden, Mary trusted God and took Him at His word. When Satan suggested to Eve that God was not being completely truthful about disobedience bringing death, Eve doubted God’s words. But Mary believed that what God said would happen to her would truly happen.

Another probable reason for God’s favor upon Mary was her humility. She stated in Luke 1:48 that God was “mindful of the humble state of his servant [herself].” Apparently Mary was not wealthy in this world’s riches, but she believed God would honor her humility. She must have believed the Old Testament teaching about God’s attitude toward pride and humility. Perhaps she was familiar with Proverbs 18:12: “Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.” Maybe she knew about Daniel’s account of King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 5:20: “But when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his glory.” Mary stated in Luke 1:52: “He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.”

One other important quality that God was no doubt looking for was willingness to be God’s servant and do whatever God asked of her. When the angel announced to her that the Holy Spirit would come upon her and she would conceive the Son of God, she could have come up with some excuses for why she didn’t want to be involved in this. The third and fourth chapters of Exodus record that when God asked Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, Moses gave several excuses for why he couldn’t do it.

1. I’ve become nothing but a common shepherd
2. The people might not believe You called me
3. I’m not good at speaking
4. Surely you could find someone else

(Do any of these sound familiar?)

Moses finally agreed after God said He would appoint his brother Aaron to speak for him. He then served faithfully as leader. But we see in Luke 1:38 what Mary’s immediate response was: “ ‘I am the Lord’s servant,’ Mary answered. ‘May your word to me be fulfilled.’ ”

The Mother of the Messiah?

Mary didn’t even really know what she was getting into. Who could know what it would be like to be the mother of the Messiah? Just being an ordinary mother is difficult enough, as all mothers know. There’s cooking, cleaning, laundry, changing diapers, taking care of sick children . . .  And in Mary’s culture she probably made her family’s clothing, too. There is very little in the Bible to help us understand what Mary’s job of raising God’s Son was like. In some ways it may have been easier to raise the Son of God. I always say that the proof that we have a sinful nature is that you never have to train children to be selfish or do bad things. It seems to come naturally. You only have to train them to be good. Since Jesus’ nature was not tainted by the original sin of Adam, maybe he never threw temper tantrums in the “terrible 2’s” range. Maybe he ate all his squash the first time Mary asked him to and cleaned his room without complaining.

Did Mary Teach Jesus?

What did Mary teach Jesus, and what did He already know? When and how did He know He was God in the flesh and that He came to die for the sins of the world? One thing we learn from the end of the second chapter of Luke is that Mary and Joseph took Him with them to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast when he was 12. When it was over, they traveled toward home for a whole day before having the frightening experience of realizing He wasn’t with the group. (Sources say they traveled in groups. Kids probably found companions their own ages to talk with along the way.) Mary and Joseph hurriedly retraced their steps back to Jerusalem and found Jesus in Jerusalem talking with teachers in the temple and amazing them with His answers. Being like any other mother of a pre-teen, Mary said, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” (Luke 2:48) Jesus’ reaction is recorded in the next verse: “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” Then Luke 2:52 adds this little piece of information:  “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” It seems apparent that by the time He was preparing for His ministry at age 30, He knew exactly who He was and exactly what His mission on earth was.

According to an interesting article entitled “Jesus and the Role of Women” on the jewsforjesus.org website, the social conditions for Jewish women had deteriorated from being able to hold positions of leadership in Old Testament times to being expected to mostly stay at home in the realm of their families in New Testament times. Women could not testify in court. Women could not engage in business. A woman in dire financial conditions could have a small business. Women had to be heavily veiled in the streets and could not converse with men. They rarely even went to the marketplace. Literacy was considered unnecessary for women. At the temple they had to stay inside the Women’s Court. They were allowed to attend weddings, so they must have looked forward to them. Jesus went against the norms of His time by speaking to anyone who would listen—including women.  No wonder John 4:27 says the disciples were surprised to find Jesus talking with the woman at the well. Not only was she a Samaritan, but she was a woman. And no wonder Jesus had some very loyal followers who were women.

Jesus’ First Miracle was for His Mother

Mary’s presence at Jesus’ first recorded miracle is found in John 2:1-12. Only two days after Jesus was baptized, He attended a wedding in Cana. Mary told Jesus that the host was in the embarrassing situation of having run out of wine. She had faith that Jesus could do something about it. Though He wasn’t planning to reveal His miraculous powers to large crowds yet, He had sympathy for His mother’s concerns and turned six 20 to 30-gallon pots of water into the best wine of the banquet.

Mary had to suffer watching her Son die a horrible death on the cross. Jesus loved His mother and assigned his closest disciple, John, to take care of her after His death. (See John 19:25-27.) It is assumed that by that time Mary was a widow. There is no mention of Joseph, and if he had been alive there would have been no need to appoint John to take care of Mary. Joseph must have died sometime during the silent years between when Jesus went to the Passover Feast with his parents at age 12 and when He was baptized by John the Baptist just prior to His ministry. Although Jesus apparently had brothers, John 7:5 lets us know that they didn’t believe in Him at first. That would be reason for Jesus to have one of His disciples take her in instead.

Doctrines About Mary

Over the centuries some doctrines about Mary have been constructed. These beliefs have been supported by certain sects of the Christian church, while not supported by others. I would like to discuss six of the major beliefs and reasons I have doubts about their certainty. I think many of us in the Christian faith will find things that we were once taught but that, on closer examination of the Bible, we realize they may not have been correct. Perhaps you would like to do a little more research on your own. You can come to your own conclusions.

(1) Some refer to Mary as “The Mother of God.” Although some people may consider it just a language issue, I feel much more comfortable calling her “The Mother of Jesus.” Yes, Jesus is God. However, Mary was only the mother of the human Jesus, not the eternal Being who has always been a part of the Trinity.  John 1:14 says, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” If I called Mary “The Mother of God,” it would make me feel as if I were implying that she was the mother of the entire eternal Trinity.

(2) Some teach that Mary possessed “Perpetual Virginity.” In other words, she was a virgin, not only when Jesus was born, but for the rest of her life. There are some Scriptures that seem to refute that idea. Luke 8:19-20 records that Mary and Jesus’ brothers came to see Jesus while He was preaching to a crowd. John 2:12 mentions that Jesus’ mother, brothers, and disciples went with Him to Capernaum. In John 7:1-5 it is recorded that Jesus’ brothers advised Him that He should go to Judea and achieve some fame by His miracles. The catholic.com website brings up the fact that sometimes the word “brother” is used to refer to a relative or someone with a spiritual bond. The website also refers to a document called the Protoevangelium of James, circa 150 A.D., which indicates that Mary was consecrated as a virgin in her youth and Joseph was an elderly widower with children, chosen to protect her vow of virginity. The website makes this statement about the document: “Though this document is not on the same level of Sacred Scripture, it was written very early, and it may contain accurate historical traditions.” Perhaps confidence in this document allows some to believe that the “brothers” mentioned in Scripture could also have been step-brothers, sons from Joseph’s “first marriage.” The coldcasechristianity.com website states that in that document, sometimes called The Infancy Gospel, “scholars have observed that the author of the text knows little or nothing about Jewish customs of the 1st century. James would certainly have been familiar with these customs.” There is one final piece of evidence that convinces me that Mary did not possess “Perpetual Virginity.” Matthew 1:24-25 says: “When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.”

(3) Another doctrine some teach is that Mary had an “Immaculate Conception.” This is the belief that, when Mary was conceived, God withheld from her the sinful nature that was inherited by all humanity due to Adam and Eve’s original sin. They believe that when Mary referred to God as her Savior in Luke 1:47, she was referring to being saved from having a sinful nature, rather than being saved from the results of her sin. The discussion of this point could be very long, but I will try to make it short. It seems one item thought to be evidence for this belief is Luke 1:28. The catholic.com website quotes the angel’s words to Mary: “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!” The text following the angel’s words says that Mary was then troubled by this greeting and wondered what it would mean. The website explains that it is believed that “Full of Grace” was a title given to Mary and is evidence of Mary’s “immaculate conception.” The NIV translation says, “Greetings, you who are highly favored.” This seems to be a different slant. Proponents of the Immaculate Conception doctrine also believe that if Jesus was to be born without sin, then He would have to be born of a woman who was sinless. I myself wonder why that would be necessary. If God could withhold the sinful nature from Mary at her conception, why couldn’t He just withhold it from Jesus at His conception, especially since Jesus was God in the flesh? Paul describes our sinful nature this way in Romans 7:18: “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.” I don’t feel there is a strong enough case for me to believe that Mary was an exception to this rule.

(4) Some also teach that Mary experienced “Assumption;” that is, she was taken up into Heaven rather than experiencing death. It isn’t that it would be against God’s ways to allow someone to bypass death and be taken up into Heaven. Genesis 5:24 and II Kings 2:11 tell us that both Enoch and Elijah were taken up into Heaven. But there is really no direct Scriptural evidence that this happened to Mary. This emphasizes the difference in the level of importance various sects place on the Scriptural basis of their beliefs. The catholic.com website says that “you must first address the authority of the Church and the role of Sacred Tradition in God’s plan of revelation.” I like to stand on the concreteness and reliability of the written books of the Bible that were canonized on the basis of their authenticity and indications of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

(5) Another doctrine taught about Mary is that she had such a close connection with Jesus and His ministry that she is a “Co-redemptrix, Mediatrix, and Advocate.” This doctrine seems to be supported only by the Catholic Church. I believe that assigning the title of “Co-redemptrix” to Mary is one of the most significant issues in the debates over the doctrines about Mary. Hebrews 9 & 10 make it clear that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Old Testament animal sacrifices. They were a foreshadowing of “Christ’s Sacrifice Once for All.” There is no mention of Mary in the Scriptures in regard to redemption, and Christ alone was shown to be sufficient as the Perfect Lamb sacrificed to redeem us.

According to I Timothy 2:5, Jesus Christ is the one and only mediator between us and the Father. He mediates on the basis of the New Covenant, under which His own blood pays for our sins. The newadvent.org website says that the “mediation” of angels and Mary and other saints might better be termed “intercession.” I find no Scriptures mentioning angels or anyone who is dead interceding on our behalf. There are plenty of references to “saints” (defined in the Bible as all believers) who were alive and well at the time praying for each other. Although Revelation 5:8 & 8:3-4 talk of the prayers of saints in bowls in Heaven, I believe those are the prayers of the saints on earth that came up to Heaven. Philippians 4:6 says to “present your requests to God.” Deuteronomy 18:10-12 says, “Let no one be found among you who . . . consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord . . .”  Billy Graham stated on his website that trying to consult the dead can get you involved with demons who impersonate the dead. The gotquestions.org website brings up an important point. In order to hear our prayers, saints and angels would have to be omnipresent (present everywhere), an attribute belonging only to God.

Should we Pray to Angels?

I would like to mention that in Luke 1:26-38 Mary asked a question of the angel and made a statement to the angel, but she made no requests of the angel. I find no instances in my Bible where we are told to pray to angels. I believe we are to pray to God, since the angels are in His command. In Matthew 26:53 Jesus said, “Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angel?” And contrary to the script of It’s a Wonderful Life, angels are not humans who have died. They are a separate kind of created being. They are sometimes seen, sometimes unseen(II Kings 6:17), sometimes frightening in appearance(Matthew 28:3-4), sometimes human in appearance (Hebrews 3:12). According to the crosswalk.com website, angels have 5 different purposes: (1) To deliver messages from God—e.g.,  Luke 2:8-14, Matthew 28:5-7;   (2) To protect people who serve God—e.g., Daniel 6:22, Matthew 26:53, Psalm 91:11-12, Luke 18:10; (3) To minister to people who serve God—e.g., I Kings 19:1-8, Luke 22:43; (4) To execute the judgment of God—e.g., II Kings 19:35, Revelation 12:7-9; (5) To worship God—e.g., Revelation 4:8 & 5:11-12. In some cases in the Old Testament, there are indications that the “angel (messenger) of God” in the story recounted is not an ordinary “angel.” It is believed by many to be an appearance of Christ before coming to earth as God in the flesh. One such instance is found in Genesis 16:7-13.

Mary as an Advocate

In regard to Mary being an advocate for us, we come back to the same problem that she would have to be omnipresent to hear our requests. In I John 2:1, the apostle John wrote: “My little children [his affectionate term for the believers under his care], I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous.” One of my favorite passages is found in Hebrews 4:15-16. Verse 15 tells us that Jesus, our High Priest, can “sympathize with our weaknesses” because He suffered every kind of temptation. Verse 16 says: “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

(6) The final teaching that I’d like to take time to discuss is the teaching that Mary is the “Queen of Heaven.” Since the Catholic Church believes that Mary contributed to Jesus’ provision of redemption and they believe she was assumed up into Heaven, they believe it follows that she would be crowned Queen of Heaven. A Scripture they have used as supporting evidence is Revelation 12:1. It says, “A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.”  I remember that when I participated in a group study of the book of Revelation I came to the conclusion that this woman represented Mary. Catholics also believe that this woman is Mary and that this passage indicates that she was crowned “Queen of Heaven.” (The preceding verse in Revelation 11:19 refers to the ark of the covenant. Catholic doctrine ties the two verses together and teaches that the ark of the covenant was a symbol of Mary.) The gotquestions.org website makes a compelling case that the woman with the crown having 12 stars is actually Israel, the stars representing the 12 tribes. The website states that verse 6 is the key to interpreting the identity of the woman. Verse 6 speaks of the woman fleeing to the desert to be attended to for 1,260 days (3 ½ years). The 1,260 days is a reference to the Great Tribulation when the “Beast” breaks the pact with Israel and the people of Israel must flee for their safety.  Although Mary did flee to Egypt with Baby Jesus and Joseph for a period of time, the goodquestionsblog.com website states that they were gone for no more than two years, and possibly only a few weeks or months. Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The Bible teaches that believers will share in His glory, but, in my mind, having the title “Queen of Heaven” would be competing with His glory. In Isaiah 42:8 God declares: “I am the LORD, that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols.”

Jesus Talks About Mary

The New Testament records two different occasions wherein Jesus made some interesting comments in regard to Mary. In Matthew 12:46-47 someone informed Jesus that His mothers and brothers were outside, waiting to talk with Him. Verses 48-50 say: “He [Jesus] replied to him, ‘Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?’ Pointing to his disciples, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.’ “  Luke 11:27-28 records: “As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, ‘Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.’ He replied, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.’ ” It seems that what Jesus was saying is that Mary’s physical relationship to Him is not what is most important. For every human being, what is most important is your spiritual relationship to Jesus, acquired by believing His words and obeying them. That makes us into a “spiritual family,” which is even more significant than a physical family.

Disagreements aside, we all can agree that being selected to be the mother of the Son of God was a great honor. She was honored because of her faith, her humility, and her willingness to do whatever God asked of her. I think we can also agree that it must have been a challenging experience to be the mother of the never-before and never-again Being who was a mysterious union of God and man.

Below is a music video of one of my favorite songs—one that we usually hear only at Christmastime. (You may be stunned, as I was, by the clear blue eyes of the pre-teen boy depicting Jesus in the video. In an article called “Blue Eyes and Bible Characters” on the sundaysoftware.com website, I discovered it is possible that Jesus did have blue eyes. Genes for eye color, skin color, and hair color have been mixed throughout the world.) After giving more thought to what it may have been like being Mary, this song is even more meaningful to me. The lyrics were written by Mark Lowry in 1984 and the music by Buddy Greene in 1991. I hope you will enjoy listening to it.

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version ®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.TM  Used by permission of Zondervan.  All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

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