Mary was a 1st-century Galilean Jewish woman of Nazareth, according to the Early Christian Writings and the Quran.
The gospels of Matthew and Luke and the Quran describe Mary as being a virgin. The lady is the mother of God (literally!)
Her claim to fame is that she gives birth to Jesus and keeps her virginity, to boot! Talk about multi-tasking!
The “miraculous conception” took place when she was already betrothed to a man named Joseph.
Compared to Joseph, Mary doesn’t really get much attention in Matthew’s gospel. She’s just “the one” who births the “living God” into the world. Almost, as if, that’s no big deal!
Mary is totally passive in Matthew. She doesn’t get to say anything… and, she doesn’t even get to do anything…instead, she has things done to her. It is almost like Matthew is just giving her “honorable mention.”
According to Matthew we never know what Mary thinks about any of this…About being pregnant, getting married, having a son, and fleeing from danger. She just sits back and quietly takes whatever comes her way. She’s good at rolling with the punches. In fact, the things Matthew doesn’t say about her – could fill a book.
It’s called the gospel of Luke actually!
We have to thank the good doctor for making her into the “rock star” that she is today. Mary is famous. Aside from her son, she is probably one of the most well-known and popular Biblical figures.
Being Jesus’ mom does wonders for a woman’s image.
Luke changes things. He likes Mary. He reveres Mary. According to Luke, Joseph is quiet and in the background and Mary is all important. Their roles are reversed!
Mary doubts Gabriel’s news for her. She is distraught about a missing preteen age son. She is almost a prophet in her own right. Mary is everywhere.
As a matter of fact she is so prolific that she even made an appearance on a grilled cheese sandwich once. The best part of that was – that someone actually managed to sell it on eBay for $28,000.
The Gospel writer John further adds to our understanding of Mary.
In the year 431 at the Council of Ephesus, Mary was officially declared to be the THEOTOKOS or the “bearer of God.”
This claim (about Mary) emphasized the “union” of the “two natures” of Christ…both as human and as divine, in the one person…Mary.
It is funny that Protestants have distanced themselves from Mary, while Martin Luther said, “She is the model of prayer and praise, not dependent on merit, but in response to God’s grace.”
At the time of the Reformation, Luther said that, “Christians should “venerate” Mary because of her faith, her humility and her willingness to say “YES” to God.”
And, for the record…Mary is highlighted numerous times throughout our liturgical year!
We encounter Mary often in the Magnificat, even as we did this evening – thank you, Kathy.
Our present hymnal the ELW contains six different versions of the Magnificat.
In any given liturgical year we encounter Mary weekly in any one of the three great creeds of the church.
As we might expect, Mary has always played a prominent role in the gospel readings for Christmas and the Epiphany of Our Lord.
And she is always featured on the fourth Sunday in Advent for all three lectionary cycles.
“The Magnificat” is periodically used as a Psalm replacement…and Mary appears every year in the Passion Account of John’s gospel on Good Friday.
Tradition of the church has always held that Mary was present with the apostle’s at Pentecost…and was a member of the early church in Jerusalem.
So, her presence is made known throughout the entire church year.
Mary it seems has always been connected with God’s mercy, the humble, the downtrodden and the poor.
The Gospel of Luke begins its account of Mary’s life with the Annunciation, when the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and announced her divine selection to be the mother of Jesus.
According to canonical gospel accounts, Mary was present at the crucifixion and is depicted as a member of the early Christian community in Jerusalem.
Many Protestants congregations try to minimize Mary’s role within Christianity, based on the argued brevity of the Biblical references to her.
Mary also has a revered position in Islam, where one of the longer chapters of the Quran is devoted entirely to her.
In his Little Prayer Book which was a prototype to the Small Catechism, Martine Luther included the “Hail Mary.”
His commentary said, “Let not our hearts cling to her in faith, but “through her”- penetrate to Christ and to God himself.”
Mary, very simply put cannot be overlooked or ignored. On this day, the church celebrates her as “the bearer of Christ” to the world. May the church continue to honor her in all ages. Amen.