“And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!'” Luke 1:28
December 2, 2024
With the Christmas season upon us, the birth story of Jesus will be told and heard by millions. Out of nowhere we meet a teenage girl named Mary. Who was she and what is her legacy? Sadly, she has met with theological abuse, misrepresentations, man-made traditions, and other indignities. God communicates wonderful truth through the mother of the humanity of Jesus Christ. But don’t be drawn away from the Holy Spirit’s presentation of the one who was chosen to give birth to Israel’s Messiah. She was “graced” (favored) and yet she was in need of grace herself. Let it be known that Mary needed a Savior like all sinners do (Lk. 1:47). On one occasion a well-meaning woman gave a shout-out to Jesus, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that at which you nursed” (Lk. 11:27). But admiration of Mary is not enough. Jesus countered, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it” (Lk. 1:28). Mary was indeed blessed, but what is more important is not a biological relationship to Him. It is the new birth that brings the sinner into a relationship to Jesus Christ. Mary is not to be worshipped, deified, seen as a mediator (prayed to), and is not the mother of the church. Be careful in how you see Mary portrayed in movies spoken in untrue elevated language (“Queen of Heaven,” “Mother of God”). Let Mary be our guide in what it means to worship the Lord Jesus Christ.
H
“…Mary stands in the Gospels as a sign of the true humanity of Jesus Christ and as a model of the Christian.”
Kenneth S. Kantzer