Mary is the Mother of God. All Christians agree on that truth or they are not really Christians. This fundamental truth of Christmas, that a human being contributed her full humanity to Jesus, is perilous. Some are tempted to worship the womb while others try to reduce her to a womb.
We must honor Mary, Scripture commends this, but never worship Mary. I have never met anyone who did not understand this distinction, but know plenty of people eager to minimize Mary. The standard story from such folk is that “Mary was just a young Jewish girl who said ‘yes'” to God. On this telling, Mary is fairly ignorant of what this “yes” would mean and was as gobsmacked as any of the disciples to discover who Jesus was. In fact, the longer I have been around such people the younger Mary gets in their image making.
We don’t know Mary’s age, but a good many people seem eager to make her a bewildered and frightened girl, unsure of what she is getting when she says “yes” to God and becomes the mother of the Lord. Of course, the less Mary understands and consents to what God is offering in the Annunciation, the more troubling the event becomes for an ethical person. Mary says “yes” to God.
Jesus rebukes a woman who says that His mother must be blessed for being “the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed.” She was doing what so many do: reducing Mary to just a womb and a feeder. Jesus said: ““Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” In other accounts the words of Jesus are expanded (showing again not every account contains every word spoken) to include an invitation to all of us who obey God, who give our “yes” to God’s invitation to join God.
We must never reduce the knowledge Mary had to the point where being the Mother of God was merely agreeing to be a womb and breasts for God. She is commended, blessed or happy, because she consented to an intimacy more holy and intimate than any a human will ever experience. God chose her to the mother of His son and we must not reduce God’s justice by minimizing her wisdom, insight or knowledge.
Consent is necessary for a good relationship and informed consent is part of the package. Mary had to know the implications of what God was saying to a certain point. There is no reason to think Mary did not know the Prophets, and given her words in Scripture overwhelming reason to think she was saturated in them. Gospel stories never contain every detail and we do not know all of what God must surely have said and done for Mary over the ten months she would have been with child. We do know that Mary was a soul given to pondering issues in her heart and that much of Luke’s account must have come from her testimony.
We know of one incident before Jesus was born, that of meeting her relative Elizabeth, and Mary’s profound, Scripture saturated response tells us the state of her mind. What did she know? She almost certainly did not know a play-by-play of Jesus life, but she knew that Jesus was the Son of God. She knew the Scriptures and she came to know (through the words of aged Symeon) that His life would cause a sword to pierce her heart. Mary fits the long tradition of Jewish wise women and prophets, those who speak for God. When she speaks the Word of the Lord: My soul does magnify the Lord . . . Mary begins one of the longest first-person speeches in Scripture. We know more of Mary’s message than the preachings of most of the Twelve.
Mary treasured all she saw and experienced from the moment the Angel came. She was one of the few who followed Jesus to the Cross and her Son used one of his last words to see to her care.
Beyond this, Mary was a homeschool mother and she did a great job. How do I know? First, I am married to a very good homeschool mom and know hundreds more and see the great jobs they do. Even those with “just a . . . ” high school diploma, or “just a . . . ” simple set of materials, have produced some of my best students.
Second, I see what Jesus was like when (in the Temple), He met the wise men and teachers. Recall: that as God, Jesus ” . . . emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” Jesus was fully God, but as a lad grew in grace and stature. He learned as a little baby about the world and Mary with Joseph would have been His primary teachers. She did a great job. In fact, like some of my own children, by the time He was a boy, Jesus outstripped His parents in insight. When they heard him in the Temple, they did not understand His sayings.
This is a reminder that we must never reduce knowing to “getting a teaching.” Mary and Joseph pondered the message, but that does not mean they could have preached it! Mary had a heart after God, wisdom to speak God’s words, but that does not mean she was a theologian. Thank God.
Mary raised Jesus, but He was greater than Mary. They did not know the details of what their Son would do, but they accepted His exceptional nature. She pondered her experiences and His Words: her Son who came with angels, shepherds, wise men, murderous kings, a flight to Egypt, and wisdom that soon surpassed her own. Mary, after all, sat with Jesus for more years than any of His disciples, followed Him to the Cross, and was present at Pentecost.
Mary endured, learned, and then (almost surely) passed on what she saw to her doctor friend, Luke.
If nothing else, recollect that God loves wisely and well. He is good, kind, and merciful. He was no absentee Father to Jesus or missing Husband to Mary. He was there in Bethlehem, Egypt, and Nazareth and was not silent. It is true that sometimes the worldly wise will call us “just a . . . ” youngling, or high school grad, or simple minded peasant girl. They will label us or reduce us to our sex bits.
God never does. He creates a miracle and makes “just a . . .” greater than we could ever be: a brother, mother, father, child of God.
Peace on Earth. Good news indeed!
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