Mary the Theotokos
Theotokos is a term not often heard in evangelical circles...but we’ll get back to that.
“Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” Lk. 1:38
If only that should be our life verse and daily testimony!!!
Mary is mentioned in all
four gospels, and in one verse Acts 1:14.
She is, without debate, the earthly mother of Jesus.
Some sources claim she was born in Jerusalem, while others say she was born in Galilee.
We gather from Luke and Matthew’s accounts that she was
betrothed to a carpenter named Joseph, in the region of Galilee, perhaps at the
young age of fourteen. This was not an unusual arrangement. In the Jewish tradition, betrothal was legally
equivalent to marriage, without the ceremony and consummation. That could
happen as much as a year later. It is universally believed that Joseph was much
older than Mary, which also would not have been unusual.
Somewhere in the betrothal period Mary comes to be with
child by the Holy Spirit. Read portions of Deut. 22:13-30
“Then Joseph her
husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was
minded to put her away secretly” Matt. 1:19
Virgin birth narratives
are not uncommon in ancient folklore.
Mary is a Biblical
character shroud in great mystery!!
Let’s try to unpack some
of it.
The Protoevangelium
gospel of James (second cen.) gives a supposed birth narrative of Mary claiming
that she was born to a pious couple named Joachim and Anne. The account is
similar to the birth of Samuel in I Sam. ch. 1. At six months, Mary is brought
and dedicated at the temple, and remained there.
Evangelical commentators
claim that Luke’s genealogy traces Jesus line through Mary, thus giving Him an
actual blood line to David. This argues that Joseph and Mary were cousins, and
shared a maternal ancestor. Lk. 3:23.
This interpretation
accounts for the problem in Jer. 36:30, who prophesied that not descendant of
Jehoiakim or hes son Jechoniah (Jer. 22:24-30) would sit on the throne of
David.
Mary is declared a
“perpetual virgin” by Roman Catholic doctrine as well as Orthodox. They answer
the problem of Mat. 13:55 and Mk. 3:31 by claiming that in Hebrew the word for
brothers could be translated cousin and is sometimes translated “brethren.”
Someone pointed out that
during birth, the baby Jesus would have broken Mary’s hymen, making her no
longer a virgin. Catholic response to that is that Jesus exited her body in a
miraculous fashion.
At the council of Ephesus
(431 AD) Mary is declared the Theotokos, “God-bearer”. The argument in Catholic
theology is that God could not dwell in an unclean vessel, therefore Mary gets
tracked onto this pre-passion, status of Holiness.
Another Catholic
argument that Mary had no other children is the reason why Jesus asks John to
care for her, from the cross. (Jn. 19:27)
The true beauty of Mary
A woman, in Scripture,
is often a type of the church.
Is the church not the
God-bearer in the post-ascension dispensation, sometimes called, “the church
age”.
Does not Christ dwell in
us? Col. 1:27, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
And Rom. 8:9-11.
Do we not see how Joseph
loved Mary and had compassion on her in Mat. 1:19, “minded to put her away
secretly” not defecting to the law of Deut. 22.
Eph. 5:25, “Christ also
loved he church and gave Himself for her.”
This is a much more
powerful narrative than the perpetual virginity of Mary.
Mary’s assumption into
heaven, or Dormition (falling asleep) is believed, by church tradition, to have occurred between 50 and 63
AD, in Jerusalem.
As a reminder, I have attempted to label the posts on the blog by subject matter, to locate topics of interest.
We appreciate your search for encouragement and truth on the path of Christian Discipleship and thank you for your interest in our blog and podcast!
M.T. Clark
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