Demystifying Mary – Part 1

The Book of Acts tells us that after the Ascension of our Lord, His disciples and faithful followers returned to the City of Jerusalem in obedience to His instruction that they remain and wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father, the Holy Spirit. Act.1:14 says, “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.”

After this wonderful daughter of Abraham was identified in Mat.1:16 & 18 as the secondary personality in the prophecy of Isaiah in Isa.7:14; this appears to be the last time that Mary was ever mentioned in the Holy Scriptures.

Two major points embedded in the preceding statements point us in the direction of debunking three major myths of the person of this particular Mary, who was the mother of Jesus. These myths are:

1. That Mary is someone to be worshipped, honoured, revered, and/or prayed to.
2. That Mary remained a virgin till death after giving birth to our Lord.
3. That Mary is qualified to play the role of a mediator or intercessor for Christians on earth, or humanity in general.

ON MYTH NUMBER ONE
First, we examine the prophecy of Isa.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.”

One can clearly notice that the virgin is the secondary figure in the prophecy as compared to the Son to be born. In other words, she serves as a tool of description in the identification of whenever the Son of promise is born: a SIGN.

Why? Because the focus of the prophecy wasn’t the Virgin but the Son! To affirm this line of reasoning, one can deduce from the preceding verses, 15 and 16; which talk about the Son, and not the virgin.



We also can see the same situation in Gen.3:15 where “the seed of the woman” was first mentioned—emphasis is on what the seed will accomplish, and not on the woman herself. Therefore, one can dare say: the woman (or virgin) cannot be EQUATED TO, or placed ABOVE the Seed (or Son).



MYTH NUMBER ONE: ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE
Now, we shall consider this first myth in another light. Shall we begin?

Some persons make reference to how the Archangel Gabriel saluted Mary in Lk.1:28-30; and then proceed to use it as a way of justifying the first myth.

The part of Scripture in question goes, “And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.”

This salutation isn’t the first of its kind in the Bible. Consider the words of the Prophetess Deborah in Jdg.5:24 concerning a certain Jael: ”Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent.” In her case, the operative word is ‘ABOVE’ with reference to women living in tents.

So when Gabriel said in Verse 30, “And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God;” he actually meant that when an individual finds favour with God in high measure, such a one is said to be blessed of God. So when the roll-call of women who have been blessed of God is done, Mary would be counted among them.

This again proves that Mary isn’t to be a deity or personality to be worshipped. And yet again, the emphasis in the passage of Lk.1:26-35 is on what the Son would accomplish, and not on Mary for any reason whatsoever.

So far, we have examined Mary the mother of our Lord in the light of God’s favour, and the conclusion is that God never arranged for Mary to be worshipped—she isn’t deity at all.

I believe that God’s favour on a person’s life is that ‘extra’ the LORD infuses to that person’s ‘ordinary’ that produces the giant leap needed for the individual to fulfill his destiny.

In Jael’s case, it was killing Sisera the Canaanite captain of King Jabin’s army; that singular moment or episode fixed her name forever in the long list of righteous heroes. And in Mary’s case, it was birthing the Messiah, watching Him grow up, and believing in Him even though she couldn’t understand it all.

A THIRD PERSPECTIVE

Hope you can still remember Myth number ONE? That Mary is someone to be worshipped, honoured, revered, and/or prayed to? Well, lets examine this first myth from a third perspective.

Do you know that never once in the life of Christ, as He taught on earth, did He ever instruct His followers to worship His mother, Mary? Making reference to Mt.12:46-50 when Jesus in the midst of teaching was informed that His mother and brethren sought for Him, He responded in a manner that pointed out that His mission/work was of more importance than His mother.

In fact, He gave His obedient followers precedence to His mother. The passage reads, “Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.”

In addition, we see Jesus giving preference to His apostles. In Jn.19:26-27, Jesus instructed John to be responsible for His mother: not to worship her or pray to her. He called her “woman,” and not “mother.” As far as the Saviour was concerned, Mary’s mission was accomplished, her life’s purpose fulfilled the moment Jesus began His ministry on earth. It became a matter of: Exit the stage Mary, Enter disciples of Jesus!

Recall that after Jesus resurrected from the dead, He instructed Mary Magdalene in Jn.20:17-18 to go to His brethren, not His mother. And that is exactly what she did. Of course, we know who Christ’s brethren are! Never once did He appear to Mary after His resurrection, it was always His brethren.

At this point, I think it is sufficient to say that with the aid of the three perspectives already considered, Myth number ONE has been completely and adequately debunked.

The conclusion is obvious: Mary is not an object of adoration or worship, and she shouldn’t be made one. She followed through her destiny and purpose in life. She joined the apostles to wait and receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. She knew her place, and will never accept any form of reverence from anyone.

By God’s grace, we shall confront Myth number TWO and THREE in the next post (Part-2). Your comments, questions and suggestions are kindly appreciated.

Please, do share this message with your friends via Facebook, Twitter, and Mail. Till then, take charge and remain blessed.

Shalom!