Mary, The Mother of Jesus Christ

If you are ever fortunate enough to visit Italy, you will find a church dedicated to Mary, the mother of Jesus, in virtually every town. She is revered for many reasons, her travail in Bethlehem being only one. Artists and church leaders throughout the Middle Ages celebrated Mary as mother of the savior, Theotokos (Mother of God)—some even went so far as to crown her “queen of heaven.” 

 When we look at the Bible, we find a Mary somewhere between Queen of Heaven and peasant girl. She is the fourth-most mentioned New Testament character after Jesus, Peter, and Paul. And she, more than any other disciple, consistently points people to her Son. So, who or what was Mary and what can we learn from her?

First, she was faithful.

When Gabriel appeared to her with the disconcerting news that God had chosen her to bear the Messiah, Mary submitted. She asked a clarifying question (How is this going to work?), then answered, “May it be done to me according to your will” (Luke 1:38). Luke contrasts her acceptance of the angel's words with Zechariah the priest's doubt when he was approached by Gabriel about his own miraculous son (1:18). Young, female, and poor versus old, male, and high-ranking—with this contrast Luke begins a pattern of highlighting the lowly as favored by God, a counter-cultural, upside-down perspective. 

Matthew’s Gospel shows Mary as virtuous: against all expectations, Joseph accepted the angel’s declaration of Mary's innocence and went through with the marriage. In their betrothal system, they were considered married, and Jesus would not have been considered illegitimate. Joseph assumed a fatherly responsibility for Jesus, who was known as “Joseph’s son” (Lk 4:22).

Second, she was pious.

 Mary was an excellent Jew, eager to follow the Law in spirit and letter. For instance, she and Joseph take baby Jesus to the temple, “according to the Law,” for his circumcision. They offered the required sacrifice of two pigeons, signifying their poverty. And Luke tells us that they went to the temple every year (2:41) for Passover. That’s intense. Only males were required to attend.

Third, she was theologically astute.

Mary knew her holy Scriptures (our Old Testament): Her words to Elizabeth when they greeted one another (Luke 1), a prophecy known as the Magnificat, parallel the prayer of Hannah in 1 Samuel 2. Much of the art depicting the Annunciation, when Gabriel announced God’s intent toward her, shows Mary as literate, often holding a book.

Mary knew God’s character: She recognized God's faithfulness to his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Her focus was on the faithfulness of God in bringing about the deliverance so long promised.

She spoke words of revolution: Mary proclaimed that God scatters the proud/brings down rulers/sends rich away empty. He also lifts the humble/fills the hungry/helped Israel. Those who heard her words would learn of God’s subversive plan to uproot the proud and show mercy to the humble. In the world of the Magnificat, the Messiah's coming heralded social and cultural change.

Fourth, she was Jesus’s first and longest disciple.

While Mary accepted Gabriel’s announcement, she did not necessarily understand everything immediately. The Gospels show us that she kept an open, learning attitude—pondering the events of his life. Elizabeth testified to her faith when she greeted her: “Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” (Luke 1:45). 

In John 2, at the wedding at Cana, she knew who Jesus was and trusted him to do right. After the wedding, she and his siblings moved to Capernaum with him (John 2:12). She stood near the cross as he suffered and died. She stuck with him through his ministry, arrest, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension.

Mary was in the room at Pentecost (Acts 2). She gathered with the disciples after Jesus’s ascension, obeying Jesus's direction to wait in Jerusalem. She (with the women of Luke 8:1–3) remained a devoted follower, anointed by the Spirit, for the rest of her life. 

As the virgin mother of Jesus, Mary contributed to the humanity of God the Son. As both fully God and fully human (as clarified in the Hypostatic Union), Jesus is divine by the Holy Spirit and human by his mother—his only provider of human DNA. He may be a man, but he was born of a woman, a truth that lends dignity and respect to all women. 

The Bible offers glimpses of Mary that together paint a portrait of discipleship. Few others followed Jesus with the same level of thoughtfulness, reflection, obedience, intelligence, and faith as his mama 

did. 

A Salutation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Hail, O Lady, Holy Queen,

Mary, holy Mother of God,

Who are the Virgin made Church,

chosen by the most Holy Father in heaven

whom he consecrated with His most holy beloved Son and with the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, in whom there was and is all fullness of grace and every good.

Hail His Palace!

Hail His Tabernacle!

Hail His Dwelling!

Hail His Robe!

Hail His Servant!

Hail His Mother!

And hail all Your holy virtues

which are poured into the hearts of the faithful through the grace and enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, that from being unbelievers,

You may make them faithful to God.