"MARY, MOTHER OF JESUS"

Luke 1:26-28

INTRODUCTION
  1. An important person in God's scheme of redemption is Mary, mother of Jesus...
    1. Introduced by Luke, with the visit by the angel Gabriel - Lk 1:26-28
    2. Mostly remembered for her role in the birth of Christ - Lk 1:29-56; 2:1-19
  2. Mary is worthy to be called "blessed" (Lk 1:48), but we need to distinguish between...
    1. What the Bible actually teaches about Mary
    2. What has been taught by sources outside the Bible

[To have a proper understanding of Mary, the mother of Jesus, let's first review the...]

  1. BIBLICAL RECORD
    1. HER ANCESTRY...
      1. Luke's genealogy of Jesus is thought to through Mary, not Joseph - Lk 3:23-38
        1. Note that Jesus was supposed to be "the son of Joseph"
        2. But was "of Heli" (i.e., Mary's father)
        3. Which explains the apparent contradiction between Matthew's and Luke's genealogies
        4. Mary descended from David through Nathan - Lk 3:31
        5. While Joseph descended from David through Solomon - Mt 1:6
      2. That she was descended from David is also implied by:
        1. The angel's statement that Jesus would receive the throne of His father David - Lk 1:32
        2. Other similar statements that imply a flesh and blood relationship through Mary - Ac 2:30; Ro 1:3; 2Ti 2:8
    2. HER VIRGINITY...
      1. Is clearly attested to by Luke - Lk 1:26-38
      2. Likewise by Matthew - Mt 1:18-25
    3. HER FAMILIAL RELATIONS...
      1. She likely had normal relations with her husband after Jesus' birth
        1. Joseph "did not know her till" she had Jesus - Mt 1:25
        2. This strongly implies he did afterwards
      2. She likely had other children
        1. Jesus was "firstborn Son" - Mt 1:25; Lk 2:7
        2. Which normally implies she had others
      3. Jesus is said to have four brothers and at least two sisters - Mt 13:55-56
        1. Some claim that these were children of Joseph from a previous marriage
        2. Or that they were actually cousins of Jesus
        3. But taken at face value, it is clear Jesus had siblings
    4. HER CHARACTER...
      1. We learn a lot from Gabriel's visit and her subsequent visit with Elizabeth - Lk 1:26-56
        1. Her faith in God, humility, obedience
        2. Her praise of God, and familiarity with the OT
      2. She demonstrated faithfulness in her service to God
        1. The circumcision of her Son - Lk 2:21
        2. His purification and presentation in the temple - Lk 2:22-28
        3. Her observance of the Passover - Lk 2:41
    5. HER GRADUAL SEPARATION...
      1. Her primary task was to bear the Savior and raise Him up
      2. As He began His work, there was a necessary gradual separation
        1. Intimated early on, when the boy Jesus was at the temple - Lk 2:41-51
        2. Evidenced further at the wedding feast in Cana - Jn 2:1-5
        3. The emphasis upon His true family in His teaching - Mt 12:46-50
        4. The entrusting of her to John's care at the cross - Jn 19:25-27
      3. She is at last seen with the disciples of her Son, following His ascension - Ac 1:12-15
      4. Her role from being mother of Jesus has shifted to being a disciple of Jesus

      [What may surprise some is that once the church began on the day of Pentecost (Ac 2), we never read of Mary again in the Scriptures! But over the past 2000 years there have been quite a few...]

  2. EXTRABIBLICAL DEVELOPMENTS
    1. PERPETUAL VIRGINITY...
      1. From the second century A.D., many have taught that Mary remained a virgin
      2. That Jesus' brothers and sisters were either cousins or step-siblings (children of Joseph from a previous marriage)
      3. This view has appealed to those who view marital sex as less than holy (contra He 13:4)
      4. She could have remained a virgin, but the Biblical evidence suggests otherwise
    2. THEOTOKOS (GOD-BEARER)...
      1. During the fourth to six centuries A.D., theotokos became a catchword of Christological orthodoxy, that stressed the divinity of Christ
      2. Though not a Biblical term, as first used it did teach truth about Mary - cf. Lk 1:35
      3. But it has come to suggest erroneous Mariological connotations (e.g., Mary as the Mother of God)
    3. INTERCESSION OF MARY...
      1. During the middle ages, some believed it required the intercession of saints to find forgiveness for post-baptismal sins
      2. According to this view, who better to intercede for us than Mary, the Mother of God and Lady in the courts of heaven?
      3. Biblically, such need is unnecessary - cf. Ro 8:34; 1Ti 2:5; He 4:14-16; 1Jn 2:1
    4. VENERATION OF MARY...
      1. Together with the intercession of Mary came the veneration of Mary
      2. Distinctions were made:
        1. Latria (true worship) is proper to God alone
        2. Hyperdulia (extreme honor) is proper to Mary, Queen of heaven
        3. Dulia (honor) to the saints
      3. But in practice, such distinctions are of little significance; adulation to Mary in prayers and hymns have sometimes surpassed those given to the Godhead
      4. Yet not even apostles nor angels accepted adulation or obeisance - Ac 10:25-26; Re 22:8-9
    5. IMMACULATE CONCEPTION...
      1. In the nineteenth century, Pius IX decreed the doctrine of Immaculate Conception
      2. Many think this refers to the virgin birth of Jesus, but it declares that Mary was conceived without Original Sin, preparing her to be a suitable mother for Jesus
      3. This also postulates that Mary went on to live a life without sin - contra 1Jn 1:10
    6. ASSUMPTION OF MARY...
      1. In 1950, Pius XII decreed that Mary, at the end of her life, was physically taken into heaven
      2. This idea first came from apocryphal fourth-century writings (e.g., The Passing Of Mary)
      3. It became an established teaching across the Eastern, Western, Coptic and Oriental churches from at least the late 7th Century
      4. Views differ as to whether she died or fell asleep before being taken up into heaven
CONCLUSION
  1. Extrabiblical developments continue in Mariology (or perhaps more properly, Mariolatry)...
    1. Mary as the mother of all Christians
    2. Mary as Mediatrix
    3. Mary as Co-Redemptrix
    4. Mary as Queen of heaven
    5. Reparations to the Virgin Mary
  2. Mary certainly occupies a place of honor and dignity in the Scriptures
    1. For her role as the human mother of the Messiah
    2. For her example of faith, humility, and devotion
  3. Thus we can agree with...
    1. Gabriel: "Blessed are you among women!" - Lk 1:28
    2. Elizabeth: "Blessed are you among women!" - Lk 1:42
    3. Mary herself: "For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed." - Lk 1:48
  4. But Mary was not perfect, at times she possessed bewilderment...
    1. At the statements made when her Son was presented in the temple - Lk 2:33-35
    2. At the conduct of her Son in the temple when He was twelve - Lk 2:48-50

A balanced view of Mary and her role in the plan of redemption will be limited to the Biblical evidence, for it is evident how far afield people will go when left to their own devices, and we have warnings not to add to the Word of God... - cf. Deut 4:2; Pr 30:6; Mk 7:6-13; Re 22:18-19

Note: Much of this material was taken from an article on Mary by G. W. Bromiley, (1988; 2002). The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised (3:271). Wm. B. Eerdmans.