08/19/2019
https://www.facebook.com/229857173792473/posts/2114241285354043/
Jesus' Response to the Exaltation of His Mother
Written by Jason Hauser.
Roman Catholicism has made a name for itself as a religion that highly exalts Mary the mother of Jesus. In fact, when most Christians are asked what false teachings they are aware of in Roman Catholicism, the idolatry of Mary is often mentioned first. A great number of popes throughout history have made a point to demonstrate that Mary is to be central to their legacy. When John Paul II, was shot in an attempted assasination, he cried out repeatedly, "Mary save me." On Francis' first day as pope, he visited the Roman basilica dedicated to the Virgin Mary and prayed before an icon of the Madonna.
Christians have long shown through the Scriptures that the Catholic exaltation of Mary is not only unbiblical but most of it is heretical as it is an assault on both the trinity and the gospel. Christians who are confident of God's Word and Catholics who are confident in their own traditions regarding this matter are both fully convinced they are right. How incredible would it be if we could hear from Jesus today His very words on whether or not we should exalt His mother Mary?
God's Word is not silent here and we actually do have Jesus' words on this matter in Luke 11:27-28. In this passage a woman in the crowd raised her voice to Jesus and His disciples and said, "Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed." It is in light of this woman's high view of Jesus that she likewise recognizes how blessed His mother was for having the privilege of birthing and nursing Him. This would have been the opportunity of opportunities for Jesus to confirm, as Catholics do, that His mother should be exalted. That is, assuming it is true that Mary was conceived and lived without sin, that she was a perpetual virgin, that she was assumed into Heaven, that she intercedes on behalf of us to Christ, that she dispenses grace, that she is a mediatrix between us and Christ, etc. Jesus would have simply needed to respond, "Indeed woman, praise my mother and exalt her highly." Jesus however does just the opposite. Verse 28 begins with the conjunction "but", showing the contrast of Jesus' response, "But He said, 'Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it.'" Jesus doesn't affirm His mother at all but rather draws attention to the importance of His Words and following them. We could take this principle and say that while Mary was indeed blessed for being chosen to birth Christ (Lk. 1:28, 48) RATHER she is even more blessed by hearing and following the gospel of her Son Jesus Christ who is her Savior from sin (Lk. 1:47) and to whom she is a slave ("δούλης" Lk. 1:48). Another similar account of this can be found in Matthew 12:46-50 where Jesus' mother and brothers (Mary wasn't a perpetual virgin) ask to speak with Him. Jesus makes the same point here, by stretching His hand out to His disciples and instructing that his mother and brothers are already before Him and further stating, "For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother" (Matt. 12:50). These two accounts are as if Jesus anticipated the coming idolatry of His mother and declared her equal standing in relationship to all believers.
The exaltation of Mary, the mother of Jesus, whom Scripture says very little about is completely unwarranted. Nowhere in the book of Acts do we see any mention of Mary like we do all throughout the Roman Catholic church today. Mary would be grieved and plead with Roman Catholics to repent if she ever knew the extent of the idolatry partaken of in her name. May we lovingly redirect Catholics to Jesus our Lord and Savior as clearly articulated in God's Word. May we show them that salvation is in no other name than Jesus (Acts 4:12) and that Jesus alone is the single mediator between God and man (1 Tim. 2:5).
