The Blessed Mother
At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby (within Elizabeth) leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Then Elizabeth in a loud voice said to Mary: “How blessed are you above all other women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb!” – Luke 1:39-42
Thus, the Scriptures record how Elizabeth greeted her cousin, Mary, who at the time was pregnant with a baby whom she was to name Jesus. This being Jesus the Christ, the future carpenter from Nazareth, the Son of Man, the Son of David, the Son of God. Elizabeth then continued with her greeting:
“But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!” – Luke 1:43-45
For those who may be unfamiliar with the events being described here from the Gospel of Luke, Mary had been visited by the Messenger Angel of God, the angel Gabriel. Gabriel announced to Mary that she had found favor with God, that she would be with child and would give birth to a son and she was to give him the name Jesus. Mary asked Gabriel how this could be as she was a virgin. Gabriel explained that the Holy Spirit would come upon her and the power of the Most High would overshadow her. In this way, the child to be born would be called the Son of God. Then Gabriel went on to explain that Mary’s cousin, Elizabeth, although she was barren her whole life and was in her old age, was pregnant and in her sixth month. “For nothing is impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37)
Mary’s response to Gabriel’s proclamation of the most supernatural event in the history of humanity is a very testament to her finding favor with God:
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” – Luke 1:38
But that was just the opening statement for Mary’s declaration of faith in and obedience to God. In response to her cousin Elizabeth’s greeting, Mary prayed a prayer that exemplified her servitude and devotion to God:
And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me- holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; He has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers.” - Luke 1:46-55
In this essay, in honor of Mother’s Day, we will examine the person of Mary, Mother of Jesus, the Son of God, known throughout history and the world, as the Blessed Mother – yes, just as she proclaimed in her exultation of God’s favor upon her – “from now on all generations will call me blessed.”
What are we to make of this young peasant Jewish girl from Nazareth? What is her role and place in the Greatest Story ever told? What of her part in arguably, the most important event in human history – the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior?
Let us begin with what Mary is not. The Roman Catholic Church elevated her status to that Queen of Heaven, an intercessor for our sins, a co-redeemer with Christ, and other such positions and titles that have no basis in Scripture and therefore no bearing in heaven. As part of the Reformation, the Protestant Church went to great lengths to completely negate the veneration of Mary to the point of nearly renouncing the honor that God through the angel Gabriel specifically bestowed upon her: namely, that Mary had found favor with God.
First let us address the Roman Catholic Church’s position: there is no Queen of Heaven. The Kingdom of Heaven is ruled by a King only and the heavenly throne is occupied by God. Nor is Mary an intercessor for our sins. In her beautiful prayer from the Gospel of Luke, Mary proclaims “…my spirit rejoices in God my Savior…” Mary is a sinner like the rest of us, like anyone ever born into this world, and Mary required a Savior. In her first public statement regarding the child within her womb, Mary immediately recognizes that Jesus as God Incarnate, is not only the Savior for everyone else, He is her Savior as well. As is the case with any true saint of God, the first point any such designated saint or martyr - whether it be Peter, John, Paul, Francis, Agnes, Martha, Theresa, or any one of the countless saints throughout history – the first point they would make is to look to Jesus, not them.
The whole point of Jesus’ death and resurrection was to reconcile us to God: to give us direct access to God our Heavenly Father. Why would we want to put any person or rite or ritual between us and the God who can fill us with endless love and joy, especially after such a tremendous price was paid for that privilege? It would be akin to needing heart surgery and having the person who lives next door to the world’s greatest heart surgeon perform the actual surgery instead of the heart surgeon, just because he lives next door. It’s foolishness to consider praying to any other person to get to God, when God Himself is available to listen to you directly.
Does that mean Mary is to be disregarded, discarded and deemed unworthy of any reverence? Of course not. Mary’s role as the mother of Jesus is to complete the whole person that Jesus Christ is: fully divine, and fully human. Jesus as the Son of God is 100% God and as the son of Mary is 100% human. In order for Jesus to be God Incarnate, He must be born through a woman. Mary is Jesus’s connection to His humanity. The Presence of God, through the power of His Holy Spirit that creates the baby in Mary’s womb, is Jesus’s connection to His Divinity. This connection of the Divine with the humanity through a woman, makes Mary essential to the birth of Jesus, not just serving as His earthly mother but establishing His humanness: Jesus has the same human nature as each of us, except He is without sin and also possesses His Divine nature. Yet Mary serves much more than just the mother of Jesus – Mary is a role model of the kind of relationship that God requires with each of us. The Blessed Mother is an example to each of us of what it means in fulfilling God’s purpose for our lives.
As is the case with all such saints of God, their true contribution and value is the example they set for us, and the lessons they teach us by their demonstration of humility, faith, obedience, service and love.
Humility. Faith. Obedience. Service. Love. Sounds like the perfect description of a godly mother.
Humility. Mary humbled herself to become the instrument of God. God chose Mary to be the woman unto whom His Son, Jesus, was to be brought into this world. Mary was a virgin. She was betrothed to Joseph, a carpenter and a descendent of the line of King David. Imagine the scenario: she’s going to tell her parents, her fiancé, her family and friends, her community – that she’s going to have a baby. Oh, and by the way, she is still a virgin, it’s just that God through the power of His Holy Spirit, made the conception possible. Don’t worry, an angel named Gabriel told her. And by the way, every generation is going to know who I am and call me blessed.
What?
But that was the truth and therefore Mary chose to believe it and to trust in God.
Faith. Mary had to trust in a God that she had never seen. She had to trust in a God that had chosen her to be the mother of the Savior of the world. She had to trust that God was going to take care of her and see her through the shock, doubt, dismay, judgment and condemnation that was likely to be the response to her announcement that she was going to give birth to a child without ever having been with a man. She had to also have faith that a supernatural event was going to take place within her body and that she was going to be safe and protected and not dishonored by anyone, at anyplace, at any time. She had to believe that God truly loved her in order to agree to God’s plan.
Obedience. As mentioned above, Mary, like all people who are born into his world of two human parents, was born with a sinful nature. But she was also born with free will. Mary did not have to accept this role. Mary did not have to agree to this plan. Mary could have told Gabriel: “that sounds really interesting, very intriguing but I am going to get married to Joseph, my fiancé, his carpentry business is just about to take off, and we have plans to settle down, buy a house and raise a family, so thanks anyway and I’m really glad to have been considered but – no. Not today.”
But that’s not what Mary said. Mary replied, “May it be to me as you said.”
Huh?
Jeopardize your reputation, subject yourself to ridicule and scorn, put your dreams on hold, possibly lose everything, and in fact, potentially be totally ostracized, because God wants you to do something – actually not just any something – but to become the mother of God, and give birth to Jesus, the Lord and Savior of the World? Really, you don’t even get to name the baby? Why would Mary even consider this? Why? Because she chose to obey God, to obey His Will for her life, to embrace the purpose that God created her for – in fact, He created us all for – to glorify Him and through that glorification, offer fellowship with God Himself, as well as the deal of a lifetime – no, of an eternity: in return for her obedience (and ours) He would provide Mary – all of us – unconditional and unending love and joy and relationship.
Service. Mary began her acceptance of God’s will for her life with a culmination of what humility, faith and obedience is: service. Her exact words: “I am the Lord’s servant.”
Servitude?
Yes, servitude. Mary humbled herself to serve God. She chose to have faith in God that He would stand by her in thick and thin and that all of this would work to the good, because Mary was choosing to love the Lord and be called according to His purpose. Mary chose to obey God, and by her faith and her willingness to humble herself, she could serve God’s purpose for her life. That purpose was to serve God by giving birth to the Savior of the world – of all of us. In a way, Mary’s act of unselfish servitude not only served God – but served all sinners. By agreeing to be the mother of God, to carry Jesus through her pregnancy, and give birth to Jesus, Mary enabled God to become God Incarnate, and to fulfill His purpose to be the Suffering Servant – and die for our sins and be resurrected for our redemption. How was Mary able to do this? Mary believed that God would take care of her – because she believed God truly loved her.
Love. Mary knew that God loved her and would not only protect her and provide for her, but He would bestow great honor upon her. Her prayer acknowledges God’s mercy, His recognition of the humble, and the many blessings He bestows upon those who love and serve Him. Mary recognized the great honor that God gave her: to carry within her womb the very being that was God Incarnate. Mary gave birth in the humblest of places – a stable – to He who is Love. Her Lord and Savior. Our Lord and Savior. Jesus. God.
The Mother of God. The Blessed Mother. All generations will call me blessed. Why? Because Mary was the humble servant of God, who trusted God, who obeyed God, who fully embraced God’s purpose for her life by serving that purpose. Mary is an example of a humble and graceful servant that a faithful and loving God rewards with mercy, honor, and everlasting life.
How do we know this to be true? Because an obscure, simple Jewish peasant girl from a town of no repute called Nazareth, gave birth to the Son of God over 2000 years ago in a cave in a small town called Bethlehem – and we still read today, in her own words, her self-proclaimed prophecy of being called the Blessed Mother by generations to come.
For surely, God is good all the time and His humble servant, Mary, the Blessed Mother, is an irrefutable testament of God’s faithfulness: From now on all generations will call me blessed.
Happy Mother’s Day!
