by
John Benko
There are some that say that the Bible really says very little
about Mary. However, that is quite contrary to the truth. There are
actually a lot of references to Our Lady. For some of these
references, you have to do a little bit of digging. Let’s start at the
beginning of the Bible. She is first mentioned in Genesis 3:15, as the
Woman whose offspring (Jesus) will crush the head of the serpent
(Satan).
Genesis 3:15:
"I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed
and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his
heel."
We see her, again, in a prophecy in the book of Isaiah.
Isaiah 7:14:
"Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin
shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."
However, we find most of our references to Mary in the Gospels,
probably mostly because she lived during the time that the New
Testament depicts to us. We see many glimpses into the mystery of this
masterpiece of God's creation. Catholics hold that Mary was born free
of sin thus making her fit enough to bear God’s only son. First, she
is greeted by the Angel Gabriel. How did the Angel greet her?
Luke 1:27:
"Hail Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is with thee! Blessed art thou
among women!"
This translation is very familiar to Catholics and the Bible, but
let’s take a look at how other translations read Luke 1:27.
KJV:
"...Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee:
blessed art thou among women."
RSV:
"Hail, O favored one, the Lord is with you!"
NIV:
"Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."
It seems a great deal of effort is being put in place to minimize
Gabriel's greeting to her. However, we can know that the greeting was
unusual and astounding because of Mary's reaction to it no matter what
translation one uses.
Luke 1:29:
"But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her
mind what sort of greeting this might be."
What those other translations take great pains to hide is that
Gabriel said she was "full of grace". It was, indeed, an unusual
greeting. What does this passage mean? It means she was 100% filled
with sanctifying grace, with no blemish on her soul. It means that we
have proof of her immaculate conception (which is when she was
conceived by her mother and not when she conceived Jesus). To
understand this more fully one would want to research exactly what
grace is. You can find that in the Salvation section of About
Catholics.
What else does the Bible say about Mary?
It tells us that she is the mother of God in no uncertain terms.
Matthew 1:20:
"But as he considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to
him in a dream, saying, 'Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take
Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy
Spirit.'"
Matthew 2:11
"...and going into the house they saw the child with Mary his
mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their
treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh."
Obviously if you are already a Christian then you know that this
worship is not in vain since we are all taught that Mary was the
mother of Jesus.
And here is another Catholic favorite:
Luke 1:41-43:
"And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in
her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she
exclaimed with a loud cry, "BLESSED ARE YOU AMONG WOMEN, AND BLESSED
IS THE FRUIT OF YOUR WOMB!! [emphasis added] And why is
this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?"
Now, if Mary is “just another woman,” why would Elizabeth be in awe
that she was granted a visit from “the mother of my lord?” It just
doesn’t make sense that if Mary is any old person and not to be
revered in some way that she is treated with such respect and has many
honors bestowed upon her such as being “full of grace” and the other
examples given.
The Bible shows us that Mary was the perfect example of obedience
and humility.
Luke 1:38:
"And Mary said, 'Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to
me according to your word.' And the angel departed from her."
It tells us how Mary meditated on all of God's words and actions.
Luke 2:19:
"But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart."
It tells us that Jesus was obedient to her.
Luke 2:51:
"And he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient
to them."
It tells us that Jesus first Public miracle, even before His time,
was performed because she asked it of Him.
John 2:3-10:
"When the wine failed, the mother of Jesus said to him, 'They have
no wine.' And Jesus said to her, 'O woman, what have you to do with
me? My hour has not yet come.' His mother said to the servants, 'Do
whatever he tells you.' Now six stone jars were standing there, for
the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty
gallons. Jesus said to them, 'Fill the jars with water.' And they
filled them up to the brim. He said to them, 'Now draw some out, and
take it to the steward of the feast.' So they took it. When the
steward of the feast tasted the water it now become wine, and did
not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the
water knew), the steward of the feast called the bridegroom and said
to him, 'Every man serves the good wine first; and when men have
drunk freely, then the poor wine; but you have kept the good wine
until now.'"
Some say that Jesus was rebuking Mary by calling her “woman,” but
that is another issue that will be covered in another article.
It tells us how Mary was anguished when she could not find her son
for 3 days.
Luke 2:46-49:
"After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the
teachers, listening to them and asking them questions; and all who
heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. And when
they saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, "Son,
why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been
looking for you anxiously." And he said to them, 'How is it that you
sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?'"
It tells us that she came to see Him while He ministered.
Matthew 12:46:
"While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and
his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him."
*Note: "brothers" here means relatives...i.e. cousins
[related:
Brothers of Jesus?]
It tells us that a “sword would pierce her soul” (her pain of
Christ's passion), in order that the heart's of many would be
revealed!
Luke 2:34-35:
"...and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, 'Behold,
this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel and for
a sign that is spoken against (and a sword will pierce through your
own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed.'"
It tells us that "all generations would call her "blessed" yet this
is not carried out today by some “Christians” as they tend to
disregard Mary as ever being important.
Luke 1:48:
"...for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For
behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed."
It tells us that Mary stood at the very foot of the cross as her
Holy Son died. And He gave her to us as a spiritual mother.
John 19:25-27:
"So the soldiers did this. But standing by the cross of Jesus were
his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and
Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he
loved standing near, he said to his mother, 'Woman, behold, your
son!' Then he said to the disciple, 'Behold, your mother!' And from
that hour the disciple took her to his own home."
It tells us that when the apostles prayed in the upper room that,
again, she was with them.
Acts 1:13-14:
"...and when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where
they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and
Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon
the Zealot and Judas the son of James. All these with one accord
devoted themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the
mother of Jesus, and with his brothers."
She is mentioned, yet again, by Paul.
Galatians 4:4:
"But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of
woman, born under the law..."
Finally, we reach the book of Revelation where she is shown most
compellingly in chapters 11 & 12. It is here, that we are given an
eye-opening view of just who she is. Mary is the Ark of the New
Covenant.
Everything in the OLD Covenant is a foreshadowing of the new. The
Ark of the Covenant held the 'Word of God', both in the OLD Covenant
(the Torah) and the new (Jesus). Read the first few lines of the
Gospel of John. Jesus is the Word, the Word made flesh, so wouldn’t he
deserve an ark as well? The Ark was so holy it wasn't even to be
touched. Those who had the Ark with them were never defeated. Make no
mistake, The Ark of the Covenant, and the queen of the apostles (the
12 stars in Revelation) is Mary.
Revelation 11:19-12:2:
"Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant
was seen within his temple; and there were flashes of lightning,
voices, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail. And a great
portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the
moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; she
was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish
for delivery."
We know that the woman is Mary because we can see who her son is.
Revelation 12:5:
"She brought forth a male child, one who is to rule all the nations
with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his
throne..."
Then, we are told that the dragon wages war with HER and HER
children, who are the true believers of God.
Revelation 12:17:
"Then the dragon was angry with the woman, and went off to make war
on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of
God and bear testimony to Jesus."
This last passage not only shows proof of Mary in the Bible and her
importance, but it shows that all followers of Christ, all Christians,
are children of Mary as well as we already know that we are children
of God. The grammar and syntax of that passage do not say otherwise.
“Her offspring” refers to the statement that immediately comes after
the comma of that statement. “Her offspring” are the followers of
Jesus Christ. We are new people reborn in Christ through baptism, thus
his Father becoming our Father and only logically his mother becoming
our mother.
It is all there in the Bible. You see, for reasons I can not
explain, some people are so convinced that Catholics worship Mary,
that they overreact and commit what I feel is a grave sin. Mary is
reduced to the role of an insignificant player in God’s plan that God
used and then threw away! People like to say that none of this is on
the Bible, but it was clearly demonstrated above that many and all
Marian ideas are straight from Scripture! Now, I ask you? Can you
think of a single other example, in Scripture, where God uses someone
once then casts them aside like yesterday’s newspaper?
While you ponder that, here are a few other things to may make one
stop and think about for a moment:
- The Bible says Jesus "... grew and became strong, filled with
wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him. " (Luke 2:40) Who taught
him, and helped Him grow strong? While realizing that He had a
Divine nature, we sometimes lose sight of the fact that He was fully
human as well! He was a human who had to learn to talk, to walk and,
yes, even to pray. This paradox seems inconceivable to us, but
Scripture tells us that Jesus was like us IN ALL THINGS except sin.
So Mary bore Him, fed Him, clothed Him, bathed Him and taught Him;
all the things a mother would do. And some would like to go on like
none of this is important.
- Jesus was the perfect man. As the perfect man, He would have
perfectly obeyed the law, yes? Well, the law (Torah) says "honor
your father and mother". Jesus would not only honor her, but He
would do it perfectly. If Jesus, the perfect man (and God) honors
Mary, how can we do wrong by doing so? Now, some will say Catholics
cross the line and worship Mary but that's absurd and results from
an incorrect view of worship. Praying to the saints and asking for
their intercession is an entirely different topic discussed in the
Saints section of About Catholics.
- Jesus is the only person, in all of history, with the ability to
choose His mother. That He chose Mary is reason enough for me!
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