Mary for Lutherans

A rough draft of an outline intended for discussion in an upcoming Christian Education Forum:

Mary for Lutherans

Mother of God, Mother of All

What’s in a Name?

The proliferation of Marys in the New Testament stems from political resistance. Herod the Great, the half-Idumean, half-Nabatean puppet-king propped up by Rome, cemented his claim to the throne by marrying the last princess of the Hasmonean dynasty—then killing her mother, her brother, and eventually her as well, though by all accounts he was very broken up about it. She had been named for Moses’ sister Miriam, a name which can mean “Rebellion.”

Mary in Mark’s Gospel

Scholars broadly accept Mark’s Gospel as the oldest of the Synoptics, meant to be rapidly preached, almost breathless in its account. Mark mentions Mary only twice. In Mark 3:31-35 she arrives as “his mother” with his brothers, who cannot reach Him through the crowd. He replies that His kindred are those who do the will of God. In Mark 6:3 He is simply “Son of Mary.”

Mary in Matthew’s Gospel

Mary plays a far larger role in Matthew’s account. She appears in His genealogy (Matthew 1:1-17), the Nativity narrative (1:18-25), the Adoration of the Magi (2:1-12), the Flight into Egypt (2:13-18), and the Holy Family’s return to Nazareth (2:19-23). Matthew also includes his own version of the Markan mentions in Matthew 12:46-50 and 13:54-58.

Mary in Luke’s Gospel

Tradition held that St Luke knew Mary personally and drew much of his uniquely Lukan material from her own words. He effectively makes her the main character in his early chapters. After a different genealogy from Matthew’s, Luke recounts the Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38), the Visitation (1:39-45), her thunderous Magnificat (1:46-56), a Lukan Nativity story (2:1-7), the witness of the shepherds (2:8-20), the Circumcision and Presentation of Jesus (2:21-40), and the Child Jesus in the Temple (2:41-52). Again Luke echoes Mark’s passage about Jesus’ kindred (8:19-21) and adds a brief account of those blessing “the womb that bore you” (11:27-28).

“The Woman” in the John’s Gospel

Mary plays an important role in the Wedding at Cana (John 2:1-12) and is explicitly present at the Crucifixion with St John (19:25-28). In John 6:42, Jesus is “son of Joseph.” In this Gospel, Jesus refers to His mother Mary, the Samaritan woman at the well, and Mary Magdalene as “Woman,” a title of respect. The Woman as a symbol calls to mind Eve, mother of the living, and stands an icon of Jesus’ community, the Church, with her children.

Nota Bene: Paul, Mark, and John give no indication that they know any narrative of a Virgin Birth, yet all three believe in the Incarnation and present very high Christologies.

The Virgin Bride in Paul

“I feel a divine jealousy for you, for I have espoused you [the Church in Corinth] to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:2). The Church, then, is both Mother of the faithful, in John, and Virgin Bride, in Paul.

The Wedding Feast of the Lamb

Revelation 19 presents the culmination of history and conquest of evil as the Wedding Feast of the Lamb. The Paschal Lamb of course is Christ; who then is His Bride? We have a parallel and preview of her in Revelation 12, with “the woman clothed with the sun,” a sort of Johannine Nativity story. Who is she who births the Christchild? Mary seems the obvious candidate, but so does the Church. And is not all Creation groaning in pains of childbirth (Romans 8:22)?

The Shepherd of Hermas

Hermas is one of three Christian works that almost, but not quite, made it into the New Testament. It remained popular from the second through fourth centuries. A former slave sees visions of an aged woman, weak and helpless as a result of her children’s sins, who regains her youth and strength as her children repent, until at last she is restored as a young and lustrous bride. The Church in Hermas is both Mother of Christians and Virgin Bride of Christ.

Assumption and Dormition

The tradition of Mary’s bodily Assumption into heaven, either before or after her death, may be traced to Christian apocryphal works of the second and third century. In some legends, only Thomas witnesses her Assumption, and the other Apostles do not believe him at first. If Mary stands as an icon of the Church, this affirms the promise that we share in Jesus’ Resurrection.

The Cult of Saints and Queen of Heaven

We see the Cult of Saints begin in the Acts of the Apostles, with Stephen the Protomartyr (Acts 7:54-60). Here the unjust killing of a Christian for his faith is explicitly connected to the Crucifixion of Christ. Martyrs who participate in Jesus’ death also participate in His Resurrection; their bodies are revealed as part of His Body, and so are reverenced as primary relics. We also see the beginnings of secondary relics in Acts 19:11-12. What saint could be greater than Jesus’ Mother? By the third century, we find liturgical hymns invoking Mary’s protection as Mother of God; by the fourth, prayers address Mary as Queen of Heaven.

Virginity in the Church Fathers

St John Chrysostom (d. AD 407) on Christian virginity: “The title of virginity is not usually applied to married persons: yet in them there is a virginity of faith … Every soul … by which abstinence from things unlawful is practiced, and by which good works are done, is not unsuitably called a virgin; the whole Church, which consists of virgins, and boys, and married men and married women, is by one name called a virgin.”

Theotokos in Church Councils

The Third Ecumenical Council, or Council of Ephesus, in AD 431 addressed the concerns of Bishop Nestorius that ought to be called Christotokos, “Christ-Bearer,” but not Theotokos, “God-Bearer,” on account of her being Jesus’ mother according to the flesh, not of His divinity. But she is Jesus’ Mother, and Jesus is God, so the Council affirmed her title of Theotokos.

Ever-Virgin

If Christ is God; and God by definition is eternal, beyond all passability or change; then the Incarnation must be an eternal reality as well. God didn’t become Jesus; Jesus has always been God. Take this one step further: If Christ is eternally Incarnate, it would then follow that Mary is in some sense eternally His Mother. So if she was the Mother of God from eternity, beyond all time and space, then she truly would be the Virgin Mother theologically, regardless of one’s historical interpretation.

Mary in Lutheran Devotion

Many of the Reformers, including Luther and Calvin, held deep respect and devotion for Mary. Luther affirmed Christ’s Virgin Birth and Mary’s perpetual virginity. He appears to believe that she was born without the taint of original sin and preserved from sin throughout life. The Assumption he considered a worthy but not necessary understanding of how she rose to heaven.

Luther staunchly condemned any who would deny her as Theotokos, but he also reminded us that the best way to honor Mary is to love, worship, and pray to her Son. He approved of the older form of the Hail Mary, which consists of two biblical verses. Lutherans pray the Rosary.

“Mary is the Mother of Jesus and the Mother of all of us even though it was Christ alone who reposed on her knees … If he is ours, we ought to be in his situation; there where he is, we ought also to be and all that he has ought to be ours, and his mother is also our mother.” (Christmas sermon, 1529)

“[She is the] highest woman and the noblest gem in Christianity after Christ … She is nobility, wisdom, and holiness personified. We can never honor her enough. Still honor and praise must be given to her in such a way as to injure neither Christ nor the Scriptures.” (Christmas sermon, 1531)

Four Marian Dogmas—Five?

Roman Catholics dogmatically affirm: (1) that Mary is Theotokos; (2) her Immaculate Conception, that Mary’s parents conceived her without sin; (3) her Perpetual Virginity; and (4) her Assumption into heaven. Will she be affirmed as Mediatrix and Coredemptrix? Critics fear placing her on a level with Christ. Proponents see Mariology as an extension of Christology, and as a necessary bridge between Christology and ecclesiology.

Bulgakov

The greatest theologians of the 21st century largely consider Sergei Bulgakov to be the greatest theologian of the 20th. Bulgakov speaks of Mary as the “Icon of the Holy Spirit,” through whom the Holy Spirit shines most clearly. Christ is the Word of God Incarnate; Mary is the window of the Spirit of God. She also represents Sophia, Holy Wisdom, who is the Oneness of God.

Thus we have three iconic/mystical women in Christian devotion: Maria, Ekklesia (the Church), and Sophia (all-encompassing oneness). And these three are one. What God promises to Mary individually, He promises to the Church communally, and ultimately to the whole of Creation in Apokatastasis.