Mother Mary is my Ace card up my sleeve

[Wyatt earp]

I will never get what protestants don't realize that? Jesus gave us the Virgin Mary, she gave us Jesus...


God is good all the time..

 

[mdk]

When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be

 

[ding]

Amen

 

[Wyatt earp]

"Thou shalt be most blessed of all the women in Paradise, after Mary." She is mentioned at least 34 times in the Qu'ran, where Her perpetual virginity and sinlessness are taught as truth. Mary may very well be the one common link to bring peace between the Muslim and Christian worlds.

 

[Wyatt earp]

Again, I make a few emphases. The first statement is Mary's purpose. We don't look to Mary for the sake of looking to Her, but for Her to magnify Jesus, to make Him bigger, more important, to grow our love for Him, to point us in the right direction. Mary is like the moon. The moon only reflects the sunlight. Without the sun, the moon is just another rock. But with the sun, the moon becomes radiant and bright. We see the moon best when we are in the dark, but we also see the moon during the day. The moon takes nothing away from the sun, but just reflects its light. So, too, is Mary the Moon, reflecting the light of Her Son. Without Him, she is but another woman. With Him, she is the Mother of all mothers, the Mother of God. Her prophesy is that all generations may call Her Blessed. So it is written, so it shall be done. Did you know that even Muslims consider Mary to be "most blessed" in Heaven? Her nearest "rival" is Fatima, the daughter of Mohammed, but even upon her death, Mohammed said and it is written, "Thou shalt be most blessed of all the women in Paradise, after Mary." She is mentioned at least 34 times in the Qu'ran, where Her perpetual virginity and sinlessness are taught as truth. Mary may very well be the one common link to bring peace between the Muslim and Christian worlds. Martin Luther, considered the father of the Protestant Reformation, also held Mary to a high regard. In his famous 95 Theses against the Catholic Church, number 75 suggests that violating (or failing to respect) Mary is one of the greatest sins man can make. (75. To consider papal indulgences so great that they could absolve a man even if he had done the impossible and had violated the Mother of God is madness). It can't make Jesus very happy for His brothers and sisters to ignore, or even violate, His own Mother. When we visit a friend's home and family, we do not ignore their mother. Just because we came over to see our friend, it is no reason to ignore their mother! That does not land us in good favor with the mother or the friend. It is more suitable to have conversations with their mother. Even more chivalrous is to do something nice, like bring her flowers! Our friend would not be upset because we are paying attention to their mother instead of them. It would please them more than you showed such respect and love to the person they love so much.


The bond and love between Jesus and Mary was unlike any human and spiritual love that this world has ever known. Jesus the God loved Mary because He loved everyone, and especially She who was full of grace. Jesus the man loved Mary because she was His Mommy! Likewise, Mary's soul purely loved Jesus because He was Her God. Mary the Mom also loved Jesus because He was Her Little Boy! Her only Son of the flesh. We don't stop loving a family member just because they have died, and neither did the love between Jesus and Mary end. For 30 years, ten times longer than His time with His disciples, Jesus was subject to Mary as His Mother. He began His Ministry at the request of His Mother at the wedding at Cana. Jesus cannot refuse the request of His Mother, just like none of us can disregard our mothers' requests. So we turn to Mary to intercede for us and guide us. As She did in Cana, She will tell us, "Do whatever He tells you." She understands the anticipation of receiving Him and seeing His beautiful Face, as She did for nine months before His birth; She can help us to build such anxious anticipation. She understands what it is like to lose Him, when She lost Him at the Temple. She was frantic and felt a darkness without Him; She can help Her children when we, too, lose Jesus in our lives. At Her request, Jesus performed His first miracle and began His Ministry; she can intercede for us. Her requests are powerful and who can refuse their own mother?

 

[OldLady]

Why make Mary to be nothing without her son? I think the leaders of the early Church had a problem when they went to write Christ's story. If he was the Son of God, God had to impregnate Mary. Mary was a married woman. So they made up the whole story of the "virgin" birth.
Mary was a woman with a very special son who went on to change the world. She loved him as a mother loves a son. She stayed with him until the end and she grieved that his light had gone out of the world. We pray to her because she is the one woman in the patriarchal Christian faith that carries any kind of "holiness."
I think you short change her, bear. I know you love her. Why the sudden change?

 

[Wyatt earp]

Why make Mary to be nothing without her son? I think the leaders of the early Church had a problem when they went to write Christ's story. If he was the Son of God, God had to impregnate Mary. Mary was a married woman. So they made up the whole story of the "virgin" birth.
Mary was a woman with a very special son who went on to change the world. She loved him as a mother loves a son. She stayed with him until the end and she grieved that his light had gone out of the world. We pray to her because she is the one woman in the patriarchal Christian faith that carries any kind of "holiness."
I think you short change her, bear. I know you love her. Why the sudden change?

?

what did I say to make you think other wise???

I am complaining about protestants who cant comprehend her.



.

 

[Wyatt earp]

Why make Mary to be nothing without her son? I think the leaders of the early Church had a problem when they went to write Christ's story. If he was the Son of God, God had to impregnate Mary. Mary was a married woman. So they made up the whole story of the "virgin" birth.
Mary was a woman with a very special son who went on to change the world. She loved him as a mother loves a son. She stayed with him until the end and she grieved that his light had gone out of the world. We pray to her because she is the one woman in the patriarchal Christian faith that carries any kind of "holiness."
I think you short change her, bear. I know you love her. Why the sudden change?

?

what did I say to make you think other wise???

I am complaining about protestants who cant comprehend her.



.

"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel." Isaiah 7:13-14.


A Cradle Catholic Re-Discovering the Faith: The Moon reflects the Son

 

[OldLady]

Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen

 

[ding]

Why make Mary to be nothing without her son? I think the leaders of the early Church had a problem when they went to write Christ's story. If he was the Son of God, God had to impregnate Mary. Mary was a married woman. So they made up the whole story of the "virgin" birth.
Mary was a woman with a very special son who went on to change the world. She loved him as a mother loves a son. She stayed with him until the end and she grieved that his light had gone out of the world. We pray to her because she is the one woman in the patriarchal Christian faith that carries any kind of "holiness."
I think you short change her, bear. I know you love her. Why the sudden change?

There is an OT passage that for-tells of Mary. The translation of the Hebrew is debatable but one translation refers to the immaculate conception as something new.

But to add to the general discussion, Mary was always seen by early Christians to have been born without the stain of original sin, to have lived her life without sin and to have been assumed into heaven.

So technically she is the only human to have lived a sin free life as Jesus was believed by early Christians as fully human and fully God. A belief that was not arrived at in a straight line. They struggled mightily with his divinity and then once accepting his divinity struggled even more with coming to terms with his humanity.

 

[HaShev]

Quote:>>"Mother Mary is my Ace card up my sleeve"

THEN YOU ARE CHEATING THE TABLE.
You have an Ace up your sleve called Isis the wife of Baal who your forbidden Asherah & godess of heaven is fashioned from.
You have an ace in your sock called ISHTAR who's son is the Morning Star (son of Baal) who Isis is fashioned from in another culture and where Easter comes from(morning star is birthed a giant fish out of an egg by the river).
You have an ace stashed under the table in the name of Mylitta which became your Madonna.
And you are sitting on an ace
Semiramis who becomes your lady.
YOU CHEAT, YOU THIEF!
WHO IS THIS MORNING STAR SON OF BAAL who's mother is Ishtar/Isis-READ Rev 22:16
Mary statues with son as the one posted on this thread are actually predated Isis and baby Horus statues, just look it up.

 

[zaangalewa]

Why make Mary to be nothing without her son? I think the leaders of the early Church had a problem when they went to write Christ's story. If he was the Son of God, God had to impregnate Mary. Mary was a married woman. So they made up the whole story of the "virgin" birth.

Forget for a moment everything what you had heard about sex in your life. Mother Mary was a "virgin" - what means "she was without any sin". Why is this important? Everyone is free - but not 100% free. Our contending passions are sometimes very nice - but are often also only a vexation - and we make often wrong decisions beause of our sins. But mother Mary was 100% free, when she agreed with god to be the mother of his son. She and god were practically in an identify, when they decided both together it is the best for all life to let god be born from her as a human being. "Make it like god, become human" is perhaps one of the most important messages of the Christian religion. So that's why it is a virgin birth - it is a totally unique event under 100% freedom, because it is the best for all and every life.

This all has practically nothing to do with the sports which the English speaking world calls "sex". Important is she was able to become the mother of god on her own 100% free will. That's what we subsumize in the word "virigin birth" - and not "birth without sex".

Mary was a woman with a very special son who went on to change the world.

The strange thing is Jesus was an unbelievable normal child and man. A carpenter as his father Joseph was - nothing special. And he changed and still changes everything for the people, who believe in him.

She loved him as a mother loves a son.

While she knew the same time during her life what will happen. Every of his joys was her joy too. Every torture Jesus suffered she suffered too.

She stayed with him until the end and she grieved that his light had gone out of the world. We pray to her because she is the one woman in the patriarchal Christian faith that carries any kind of "holiness."
I think you short change her, bear. I know you love her. Why the sudden change?

The picture you posted of mother Mary is wonderful. I like it very much. Remembers me not only to mother Mary - it remembers me also to my own wife and our son and daughter, when I met them the first time in my life. And I still have the impression I made it good to agree to marry her and to make her children in my heart to my own children.

 

[ninja007]

We have been looking at the subject of the idolatry of Mary worship in what is really a study of false religion, Roman Catholicism, and its worship of Mary. Interestingly enough I, this past week, had the opportunity to be on the Larry King Show, some of you probably saw it, with a whole group of Roman Catholics and several priests. And in the green room there were some Catholic apologists, and Catholic media people, and Roman Catholic publicity people, and there were some young men from the Vatican Seminary and the usual Father Manning. I was checking on my facts, as I had the opportunity to do that in talking to them about things, and it was affirmed to me that the very things that we are talking about in this study of Mary are the things to which they are truly and genuinely devoted. We’ve spent three weeks discussing what the Catholic Church essentially says about Mary. We’ve talked about their devotion to Mary. We’ve talked about their doctrine regarding Mary. In the end, when all is said and done, the very obvious dominant perception is that they worship Mary. In fact, on a pragmatic basis they worship Mary far more than they worship even the Lord Jesus Christ, and far more than they worship the true and living God.

It is idolatry in the clearest form. And to deal with this we need only really to do two things, biblically. One is to see what the Bible says about idolatry, and the other is to see what the Bible actually says about Mary. And then, we will clearly understand that they have invented a goddess to worship who has no relationship to the true Mary, the mother of Jesus revealed in Scripture, the historical Mary.

I want to begin, however, with Psalm 115, and I want you to turn to Psalm 115 because I want what the Psalm says to be fixed in your mind. Psalm 115, and I think it will be helpful for us just to listen to this Psalm or to follow it along in the Bible as I read it. Psalm 115: “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Thy name give glory because of Thy loving-kindness, because of Thy truth. Why should the nations say, ‘Where, now, is their God?’ But our God is in the heavens. He does whatever He pleases. The idols are silver and gold, the work of man’s hands. They have mouths, but they cannot speak; they have eyes, but they cannot see; they have ears, but they cannot hear; they have noses, but they cannot smell; they have hands, but they cannot feel; they have feet, but they cannot walk; they cannot make a sound with their throat. Those who make them will become like them, everyone who trusts in them. O Israel, trust in the Lord. He is their help and their shield. O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield. You, who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield. The Lord has been mindful of us. He will bless us. He will bless the house of Israel. He will bless the house of Aaron. He will bless those who fear the Lord, the small together with the great. May the Lord give you increase, you and your children. May you be blessed of the Lord, maker of heaven and earth. The heavens are the heavens of the Lord; but the earth He has given to the sons of men. The dead do not praise the Lord, nor do any who go down into silence. But as for us, we will bless the Lord from this time forth and forever. Praise the Lord.”

Now, I want you to know the singularity of that call to praise. The Lord alone is to be glorified. The Lord is the source of loving-kindness. The Lord is the source of truth. The Lord is to be trusted. He is our help and our shield. The Lord alone is to be feared. He again is our help and our shield. The Lord does not need to be reminded about us, He is mindful of us, He will bless us. He is to receive all our praise. In Psalm 116: “I love the Lord because He hears my voice and my supplications. Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live.” I don’t need another God. I don’t need a mediator. I don’t need an intermediary. I don’t need someone to plead my case before God. Even in the direst circumstance, verse 3, “The cords of death encompassed me, the terrors of Sheol came me. I found distress and sorrow. Then I called upon the name of the Lord: ‘O Lord, I beseech Thee, save my life.’“ You will remember that Pope John Paul II when he was shot kept crying, “Mary, save me. Mary, save me. Mary, save me.”

And why call upon the Lord? Verse 5, “Gracious is the Lord and righteous. Yes, our God is compassionate. The Lord preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me. Return to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. For Thou hast rescued my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. I shall walk before the Lord in the land of the living. I believed when I said, ‘I am greatly afflicted.’ I said in my alarm, ‘All men are liars.’ What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits toward me? I shall lift up the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. I shall pay my vows to the Lord. O may it be in the presence of all His people. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His godly ones. O Lord, surely I am Thy servant, I am Thy servant, the son of Thy handmaid. Thou hast loosed my bonds. To Thee I shall offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and call upon the name of the Lord. I shall pay my vows to the Lord; O may it be in the presence of all His people. In the courts of the Lord’s house, in the midst of you, O Jerusalem. Praise the Lord.”

Psalm 117, “Praise the Lord, all nations; laud Him, all peoples, for His loving-kindness is great toward us, and the truth of the Lord is everlasting. Praise the Lord.” Psalm 118, “Give thanks to the Lord for He is good. For His loving-kindness is everlasting. O let Israel say, ‘His loving-kindness is everlasting.’ O let the house of Aaron say, ‘His loving-kindness is everlasting.’ O let those who fear the Lord say, ‘His loving-kindness is everlasting.’“

The Roman Catholic view of Mary calls into question the compassion, the sympathy, the loving-kindness of God. It places in the people’s minds doubt about God’s care, concern, sympathy, compassion, and interest in their plight. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Bible ends in the 22nd chapter of Revelation with John having heard the amazing revelations, and in this particular case from an angel, when he heard, verse 8 of Revelation 22, it says, “I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these things. And he said to me, ‘Do not do that/ I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren, the prophets, and of those who heed the words of this book. Worship God.’“ In another scene in the book of Revelation there is an angel, an everlasting, flying through heaven with an everlasting message, “Worship God. Worship God,” who is to be worshiped as our Redeemer, our Benefactor, our Comforter, our Sympathizer, our Deliverer.

The Lord is the object of all our worship. The Lord is the object of all our thanksgiving. The Lord, the triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, He alone is to be worshiped, He alone is to be venerated, He alone is to be adored, He alone is to be supplicated, He alone is to be petitioned. There is no need for any other person to intercede. You can go directly to God. The Old Testament makes it abundantly clear, and in the New Testament, we go directly to God the Son, and by God the Son directly to God the Father. We are drawn to God the Son by the Spirit, and we are given access to God the Father by the Son. That’s why 1 Timothy 2:5 says, “There is one God, and one Mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” There is one Mediator and it is the man, Christ Jesus. Not angels, not saints, and not Mary. All our burdens, all our prayers, all our requests go directly to God through our relationship with Jesus Christ.

John 14:13, “‘Whatever you ask,’ Jesus said, ‘in My name that will I do that the Father may be glorified in the Son.’“ If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it. God is not reluctant to hear our prayers; nor is Jesus reluctant to hear our prayers, so that we need to go to the mother of Jesus who supposedly can soften up Jesus who then can soften up God to show some interest in our dilemmas. And John again writing in 1 John 5 and verse 14 says, “This is the confidence which we have before Him that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us and we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, and so we know that we have the request which we have asked from Him.” We go directly to God, directly by the prompting of the Spirit to God the Son, and through God the Son to God the Father.

We ended our discussion of the Catholic view of Mary last time by talking about the fact that they teach that Mary is the Co-Mediatrix. That is, along with Jesus she is the mediator of all graces. She is the channel of all graces. You remember statements made like this, “Mary is the mother of all graces. Mary is the source of all mercies. No grace is conferred on anyone without her mediation, and intercession, and cooperation. All graces come to us through Mary’s hands. Mary is the direct intercessor with Christ who receives from Christ all graces and dispenses them to us, and therefore our prayers should be directed at Mary.” All of that, of course, is lies and deception, and again strikes a blow at the nature of God as one who is loving, kind, compassionate, sympathetic, and caring. It strikes a blow against the mediatorship of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the only one we need to go to to be taken directly to the Father.

Neither is Mary Co-Redemptrix, as the Roman Catholic Church says, and this was one of John Paul II’s big issues. I quote from him, “Mary participates in our redemption.” And, of course, he is borrowing language from Pius XI who said, “Mary participates in the redemption achieved by her Son and all graces are granted only through her intercession. She participated with Jesus Christ in the very painful act of redemption.” They have Mary in her pain giving up her Son, participating in some form in our redemption so that Christ is not the one mediator, nor is He the one and only Redeemer.

We closed our session last time talking about the fact that the Roman Catholic Church teaches that Mary had more righteousness than she needed to get into heaven. She had more merit than was required and so her excess merit was deposited in what is called The Treasury of Merit, and you can take the merit that Mary gained and deposit it there and have it applied to your life as a Roman Catholic so that it can shorten or eliminate earthly discipline. Or more importantly, it can shorten your time in Purgatory. This is the doctrine of The Treasury of Merit, the doctrine of Indulgences, or Absolution. You receive a certain amount of forgiveness by the merit or the righteousness of Mary being imputed to you in life and in Purgatory. Her good works, the good works of the Blessed Virgin, are in the Treasury of Merit. Roman Catholic theology, you’ll remember, says that Treasury of Merit includes the good works of the Virgin, immense and unfathomable, and pristine in their value before God.

Inventing this goddess who has nothing to do with the true Mary of actual history, the mother of Jesus, inventing this goddess and giving her powers of mediation of all graces, giving her powers of redemption, and giving her powers of imputed righteousness to the accounts of those who appeal to her is a fabrication. It is, as I said, the inventing of a goddess by the mingling of paganism and Gnosticism with Christianity. It really all is paganism, and all is Gnosticism; only the name Mary is borrowed from Christianity.

This is pretty consistent with a lot of other Gnostic belief, even the “Da Vinci Code” pulls up one of the old Gnostic heresies regarding Mary Magdalene. The idea in the “Da Vinci Code,” borrowing that old Gnostic heresy, is that Mary Magdalene was supposed to be the queen of the church. She was supposed to be head of the church and the apostles were upset at that, and they got rid of her, and Peter usurped the place of Mary Magdalene in an act of overt male chauvinism, a kind of male coup, and took over the church. Of course, the roots of that kind of teaching and belief are found in ancient feminism, which has its roots in goddess worship which goes way back into Babylon. It was a satanic ploy from the very beginning as Satan endeavors to counterfeit and upset the divine order and male headship. So, what you have with Mary is just another form of paganism that swept into the church, mixed itself with Christianity. It is nothing but goddess worship.

Now, in conclusion, and we have just some time to conclude, I just want to talk about three things to kind of pull it together in three conclusions. One, I want to talk about the blaspheming. This entire concoction is blasphemous. That is to say, it is an assault on God. It is a full-blown assault on God. It is an assault on God the Father, it is an assault on God the Holy Spirit, and it is an assault on God the Son. And we’ve already indicated that in the introductory words, but let me just kind of unfold it for you.

First of all, the worship of Mary is an attack on God Himself. Mary becomes the mother of the Son of God. Mary becomes the mother of God, in their language. She is called the Queen of heaven, and therefore she is the rival of the King of heaven, the sovereign God Himself. As we have learned, she is granted sovereignty. She is worthy of worship, worthy of praise. She demands if you want salvation, that you adore her, that you love her, that you enthrone her because she is loving, gracious, merciful. She is all-knowing, all seeing, and all powerful. De Liguori in “The Glories of Mary,” page 566, quote: “At the command of Mary all obey, even God.” Blasphemy against God.

This goddess worship is also blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Mary is the comforter. Mary is the sympathizer. Mary is the helper. Mary is the empowerer. Mary is the advocate. Mary is the encourager. Mary is even the sanctifier who works to make her children pure.

This goddess worship is also an attack against the Son. She becomes a counterfeit savior: born sinless, without the stain of original sin, living a sinless life. She is called the all-holy child. She becomes redeemer, provider of salvation, dispenser of forgiveness, source of all blessing, from salvation to glorification. She is called the all-holy one, clearly a title belonging only to God. And if you’ve been with us for the last three weeks, you have felt the heat of the blasphemy. So, the blaspheming is the first thing to understand in conclusion. Secondly, let’s call it the comparing. We need to do a little comparing here. What does Scripture say about Mary? What is the real story of Mary?

All right, get your Bible. I’ve been waiting a long time for this. And I just want to give you a real quick rundown, a little bit of a Bible study here. Here just a quick one. Turn to Matthew 1. This is going to go quickly, so you need to move with us. Verse 16, we’re introduced to her in the lineage from David, down to Mary and Joseph. Mary is introduced in Matthew 1:16 simply by these words, “To Jacob was born Joseph, the husband of Mary, by whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.” The Bible discreetly never calls her the mother of God which is a very misleading title, always the mother of Jesus. And so we meet Mary, she is the wife in the genealogy of a man named Joseph. Both of them are in the Messianic line coming down through David; two different families, but all ancestors go back to David so that He is royal in blood from the mother, and royal in right from the father where the right to rule is passed. We see her again in verse 18. She is betrothed. This is a formal engagement to Joseph, and she is found to be with child before they have had any physical relationship at all. Joseph is a righteous man, doesn’t want to disgrace her, and so he decides to divorce her secretly because divorce is a righteous thing to do if your wife has been unfaithful, even in the period prior to the consummation of the wedding. And then, of course, an angel comes and says, “Don’t be afraid,” verse 20, “to take Mary as your wife, for that which has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.” And so, he keeps her, verse 25, as a virgin until she gave birth to a Son and he called His name Jesus.

This is a young girl, 13, 14 years old, in that environment. She is told by an angel she is going to have a child without a man. This child will be God with us, Emmanuel, and God tells her husband and the child is born, and that’s the story. There it is. Chapter 2, they come into the house, they see the child with Mary, His mother. She appears again briefly in chapter 2. She is mentioned in verse 14. “He arose,” being Joseph, “took the child and His mother.” She’s not named, but referred to there. And in verse 21, “After having taken the child into Egypt,” verse 21, “he arose and took the child and his mother, came into the land of Israel.” Already, her name is disappearing from the narrative.

That’s all we have until we get to the first chapter of Luke. Luke, chapter 1. And down in verse 26, “The angel Gabriel is sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph.” Same basic information. The virgin’s name is Mary. And coming in the angel says, “Hail, favored one, the Lord is with you.” It must have been an interesting response if an angel showed up and greeted her in that way. She was consequently greatly troubled, kept wondering what was going on. The angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Mary, you found favor. You’ll conceive in your womb, bear a son, it will be Jesus,” and he goes on to say he’ll be the Son of the Most High, the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. He’ll be the Messiah. He’ll be the Son of God.

How’s it going to happen? Verse 35, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you. The power of the Most High overshadow you. For that reason the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God.” Mary responds to this incredible announcement in verse 38 by saying, “Behold the bondslave of the Lord.” She acknowledges herself as the what of the Lord? The bondslave. I just want to make sure you understand that. She sees herself as the servant of the Lord, not God as her servant, and she accepts this announcement and says, “Be it done unto me according to Your Word.” She’s mentioned in verse 39, she goes to see a relative by the name of Elizabeth who is also miraculously pregnant because she was a very old lady when the Lord came upon her, and allowed her with her husband, Zacharias, to conceive a child would be John the Baptist, born a few months before Jesus, and would be the forerunner of the Lord Jesus Himself.

The first time we hear Mary speak and the only time is in verse 46 and Mary said, “My soul exalts the Lord.” Now, we could stop there and build a whole lot of theology on that. “My soul exalts the Lord.” I mean, let’s get it right. Mary submits to God, God doesn’t submit to Mary, and Mary exalts the Lord; the Lord doesn’t exalt Mary. And furthermore in verse 47, “My spirit has rejoiced in God, my,” what? “My Savior.” That may be the most definitive thing that ever comes out of the lips of Mary. To acknowledge that God is her Savior is to acknowledge that she is a sinner. And not only that, she is a lowly bondslave, in verse 48, “He has regard for the humble state of His bondslave.” Verse 49, “The mighty one has done great things for me and holy is His name.” And then this, “And His mercy is upon generation after generation.” She identifies God not as harsh, not as indifferent, not as distant, but as what? Merciful. “He’s done mighty deeds with His arms,” she’s reciting history, “scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their hearts, brought down rulers from their thrones, exalted those who were humble.” Mary worships God. “He’s filled the hungry with good things, sent away the rich empty-handed, given help to Israel, His servant, in remembrance of His mercy, spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his offspring forever.” As a young girl, a young Jewish girl, 13, 14 years old, very devout, miraculously, she is to be the mother of the Son of God, and all she can do is acknowledge that she is a humble, lowly servant, and she is rejoicing in a God who is her Savior.

Now, the actual event, chapter 2, she is mentioned in verse 5, because Joseph goes to register, along with Mary who was engaged to him and is already pregnant. They get down there in Bethlehem and the days are completed for her to give birth. In verse 7, she gave birth to her firstborn son. Obviously, the use of firstborn indicates that she had others. The indication that he kept her a virgin until Christ was born is also an indication that he did not keep her a virgin after Christ was born, but then was the marriage and then was the consummation. The language of Scripture is so very clear about all of this.

She gives birth there in verse 7, wraps Him in cloth, lying in a manger, and that’s because there’s no room in the inn. Verse 34, she goes to the temple to go through a purification ceremony. Again, she would do this. This is symbolic of her sinfulness. She goes there to engage in a purification ceremony which was required of all those Jewish women who gave birth under that old covenant. And she goes there, she meets this old saintly man, Simeon, who blesses the little family and said to Mary, His mother, “This child is appointed for the fall and the rise of many in Israel, a sign to be opposed and a sword will pierce even your own soul to the end, the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” And there she is mentioned again in that encounter with Simeon.

That’s basically it until a little bit later in chapter 2 but 12 years later in time. She shows up in verse 48. They’re trying to find Jesus. They’ve gone to the Passover, Jesus in His 12th year. They can’t find Him. They leave town in a big entourage heading back to Nazareth in the north when they wake up to the fact that He’s not there. They go back and they look for Him. They find Him, and His mother said to Him, it doesn’t give her name but His mother in verse 48 said to Him, “Son, why have You treated us this way? Behold, Your father and I have been anxiously looking for You.”

Now, you would think in a Catholic context He would say, “O sweet mother, I bow before you.” He doesn’t say that. He says, “Why were you looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?” What is He saying? He’s saying you have no claim on Me. He has come to the point at this age, He’s really a young adult, and He now knows fully who He is. He’s grown in wisdom and stature and favor with God and man. He’s fully developed in His understanding of who He is. Who He is, is the one who does His Father’s business in His Father’s house. And His Father, the Father of whom He speaks, is God.

Of course they didn’t get it, verse 50, didn’t understand the statements He made to them, ‘cause His father was a carpenter, His earthly father. And when He went down with them and came to Nazareth, He continued in subjection to them dutifully, even though they had been put on notice that this was temporary and His mother treasured all these things in her heart. And He kept on increasing and growing. That’s it basically during the childhood of Jesus.

Turn for a moment to John chapter 2. All we know about Mary up to there is what I told you. In John 2 and verse 1, Jesus does His first miracle, and His first miracle is at a wedding in Cana. Cana is suburb of Nazareth, if those kind of places had suburbs. It’s a little town next door; I’ve been there a few times. It’s a little walk from Nazareth. And a wedding was going on there. Weddings were big events, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus was invited and His disciples to the wedding because it was in the town nearby, right next to it and they would have known, it would have been extended family, friends, probably people who had attended the same synagogue. They knew everybody. And they were there along with Mary, Jesus, the disciples. They all were invited to the wedding. And when the wine gave out, Jesus, of course, being known by everyone and brought the disciples along with Him, even though they were from other places. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, and this was typical mother, typical Jewish mother, who might say, “Son, they have no wine. They have no wine.”

Now, to this point He had not done a miracle. He had not done a miracle. And what that tells me about Jesus was that as children go and young men go, He certainly would have been the most attentive, the most sensitive, and the most resourceful human being who ever lived on the planet. And one can imagine that God, perfect God in human flesh, even though He didn’t do anything miraculous, did everything well, and everything right, that never any opportunity for sensitivity, any opportunity for assistance, any opportunity for help, any opportunity to solve a problem, He was there and did it in perfection. This is what she knew Him to be. And so what she is doing is what she probably did her whole life. I mean, I can imagine her saying many times, Son, there’s a leak in the roof. Son, I don’t have enough food. Son, whatever. My neighbor has a problem. And whatever the problem was, He would have been within the framework of His own perfection, the solver of all problems. And not expecting that she thought He would do a miracle, but that He was so resourceful.

And the response is really amazing. “Jesus said to her, ‘Woman.’“ Wow. Not exactly impolite, but really not what you would expect Him to say to His mother if He held her in some awe. And if they were sustaining some kind of relationship where He bowed to her and did everything she asked. “Woman,” this has the effect of distancing her, “what do I have to do with you?”



Exposing the Idolatry of Mary Worship: What the Bible Says



Jesus Himself indicated that Mary holds no special place relative to redemption or mediation. In Matthew 12:47–50, Mary and her other sons were trying to see Jesus while He was teaching. “Someone told him, ‘Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.’ He replied to him, ‘Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?’ Pointing to his disciples, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.’”

Later, at the foot of the cross, Mary is a grief-stricken mother. She did not suffer for mankind as a whole; she clearly suffered her own pain and mourning. She is one of the people receiving salvation from Jesus, not a contributor to His work. She is anguished and must be cared for by the apostle John.

After Jesus’ death and resurrection, Mary was part of the community of believers continuing in prayer and supplication prior to Pentecost (Acts 1:14). Mary is “most blessed among women” (Luke 1:42) because she was the mother of the Messiah. But she is not divine and cannot be seen as part of the Trinity. She did not redeem us from sin and cannot be made part of the redemptive process.

 

[Deplorable Yankee]

I will never get what protestants don't realize that? Jesus gave us the Virgin Mary, she gave us Jesus...


God is good all the time..

 

[zaangalewa]

... After Jesus’ death and resurrection, Mary was part of the community of believers continuing in prayer and supplication prior to Pentecost. ...

Pentecost? One moment ... Are you a member of one of this criminal pseudo-churches called "pentecostal church" whose tricksters 'heal' others with hocus-pocus? ... What are you criminal US-Americans doing in Brazil? Fighting against rationality and reason? Fighting for barbarism and stupidity against education, culture and civilisation? What for heavens sake do you really speak about behind your curtain of empty phrases?

 

[zaangalewa]

... First of all, the worship of Mary is an attack on God Himself. ...

Sure - that's why he made the apostola apostolorum - the teacher of the teachers - to his mother. Do you know what I hear? I hear Jesus say: "What an unbelievable idiot is this "ninja007"? And I hear his mother say: "Jesus! Did I teach you to call other human beings "idiot"?" And I see Jesus smiling and answer: "No, Mom. You never did do so. Sorry."

 

[rstrats]

bear513,
re: "The bond and love between Jesus and Mary was unlike any human and spiritual love that this world has ever known."

As far as scripture is concerned, there are only 3 times mentioned where the Messiah spoke to her. And as touched on by ninja007, He seemed to be a bit perturbed with her 2 of those times. The 3rd time He merely told her to look at her son.

Also, He only spoke 2 times with regard to what someone said about her and again His response couldn't be considered very flattering.

I think it also interesting that Mary is not mentioned by any of the writers in the New Testament Epistles including the one to the church at Rome and the two by Peter.

 

[ding]

We have been looking at the subject of the idolatry of Mary worship in what is really a study of false religion, Roman Catholicism,

If you are spending time studying your perception of other religions’ practices, instead of spending your time worshipping and praising God in the manner your religion sees fit, then you are the one following a false religion.