GOD THE SON BECAME THE SON OF A WOMAN TO MAKE US THE SONS OF GOD.
In the name + of Jesus.
From the third century, the early Christian
Church has used a title for the Virgin Mary which has created more confusion
than it deserves. In 431 at the Council
of Ephesus, the bishops formally adopted this title as a faithful Christian confession. That confession? The Blessed Virgin Mary is the Mother of
God.
Does that title make you uncomfortable? If it does, it is based on a misunderstanding. Some hear the title “Mother of God” and elevate
Mary to a divine status. They make her a
co-Redeemer with Jesus, putting her on par with Jesus, or even having influence
over him. Because some have committed idolatry
with prayers to Mary and call her the Queen of Heaven, others reject the title “Mother
of God.” It is as if any recognition of
Mary is idolatry.
The title “Mary, the Mother of God” is not
really a confession about the Virgin Mary; it is a confession about Jesus. By calling Mary “Mother of God,” we confess
that Jesus is God. We confess that God
the Son became the Son of a woman, taking on her human nature, her DNA, and a
place in her family tree. It is exactly
what St. Paul wrote to the Galatians: “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth
his Son, born of woman, born under the law” (Galatians 4:4).
When we say that Jesus was put under the law, this stresses his humanity.
He not only submitted to the Commandments
that all people are judged by, he also submitted to every law that is common to
man—laws of physics, laws of nature, and even civil laws. He submitted to Roman rule and told others
that they owed obedience even to unjust rulers.
He did not levitate from Galilee to Jerusalem, but he walked the dirt
paths which all others trod. Jesus knew
a world of blisters, slivers, and body odor.
Jesus did not enter the world suddenly as a thirty-year-old man. He was under the laws of nature. He was conceived in the Virgin Mary. He experienced nine months of gestation. He was born in a mess of amniotic fluid which
is common to all mankind. He nursed at
Mary’s breast, learned to walk by grabbing her fingers, and studied her face as
she taught him to speak. Jesus is in
every way a human being, knowing both the joys and sorrows of this world. He was even tempted in every way, just as we
are; yet he remained without sin. God the
Son became the son of the woman. He took
his place with all of us as people under God’s care and command.
Even the title “Virgin Mary” is a confession about Jesus. It is not Mary who was immaculately conceived. Jesus was.
By calling her the Virgin Mary, we confess that Jesus had no earthly father—not
fathered by Joseph, not raped by a Roman soldier, not seduced by some lovesick teenager
in Nazareth. Of course, no one believes that
pregnancy just happens. Not even Mary
believed that. The angel told Mary how
this would be: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most
High will overshadow you” (Luke 1:35).
Through that word, Mary retained her virginity, the Holy Spirit came
upon her, and the Word became the Word made flesh.
God the Son became the Son of the woman.
He who is God became a man. He who
was born a man is God. The Athanasian
Creed states it this way: “He is God, begotten from the substance of his Father
before all ages; and He is man, born from the substance of His mother in this
age: perfect God and perfect man, composed of a rational soul and human flesh.”
And the reason God did this? St. Paul answered, “To redeem those who
were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians
4:5).
This is not mere Bible trivia; this is about your salvation. God the Son became the son of a woman to make
you sons of God. You and I are not
natural born children of God. Adam and
Eve were overcome by the devil. They
fell from the image of God and became totally corrupted by sin. We
all come from that same stock—conceived in the sinfulness of Adam and born in the
likeness of the rebellious man. Sin puts
us under a curse and links us to death.
Just as you cannot escape your sinful condition, neither can you elude
the curse or avoid the grave.
But God promised a
solution—the Seed of the woman. When we confess that Mary is the Mother of God, we are confessing
that God’s has fulfilled his promise in the Garden of Eden: The Seed of the Woman
has come to crush the serpent’s head. Just
as the devil had overcome mankind, so also a man would overcome the devil to
set mankind free. The Son of Mary would
reconcile us to God and restore us to his family. Or, as St. Paul wrote it: “God sent forth
his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under
the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4-5). God the Son became the Son of a woman to make
you the sons of God.
You have received adoption as sons, but the cost was covered by
Jesus. The price was Jesus’ own
life. This is why God the Son had to
become the Son of a woman. If Jesus Christ
is not conceived in and born of Mary, then he is not really a man. If he is not a man, then he cannot save you,
because that would mean no man has ever fulfilled the Law of God. If no man has kept God’s Law, then Satan’s kingdom
stands and all people remain condemned for their disobedience.
Likewise, if Jesus is not God, he cannot save you. The Bible reminds us: “Truly no
man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life”
(Psalm 49:7). If Jesus is only a
man, Jesus saved himself by his own holy obedience. If he is only a man, his sufferings and death
do nothing for you. He could not vouch
for you anymore than I could. And he
would not be able to redeem you anymore than you could redeem me. But when it is God who pays the price to redeem
mankind, then the payment is rendered for all.
But for God to shed his blood and lay down his life, he had to become a
man. God neither bleeds nor dies. Therefore, God the Son became the son of a woman
to make you sons of God.
The Virgin Mary was present to watch that payment being made. At the cross, Jesus was pierced for our
transgressions and crushed for our iniquities.
When our iniquities were put upon his head and the spear was thrust into
his heart, a sword pierced Mary’s soul, too.
For, this mother saw the brutal sufferings and death of her own flesh
and blood. But it is not witnessing the
sufferings, death, and resurrection of Jesus which makes us sons of God. St. Paul wrote, “in Christ Jesus you
are all sons of God, through faith” (Galatians 3:26). Mary was not saved because Jesus’ death wounded
her or because Jesus was her little boy.
Mary is saved just like us, by faith.
God the Son became the son of a woman to make us sons of God. Jesus is the true Son of God, begotten of the
Father from eternity. But now you also are
sons of God through faith in Jesus. This
means that you are as dear to the Father as Jesus himself. God the Father does not keep you at a distance,
but sends his own Spirit to dwell within you.
He teaches you to call upon him as your dear Abba, as little Aramaic children
affectionately called their fathers. For
God the Father surely looks upon you with affection.
God the Son became the son of a woman to make you sons of God. The phrase “sons of God” is no accident. Back in the days of St. Paul, a man’s inheritance
was distributed only among his sons. The
daughters would be married off and benefit in the estate of another
family. The sons were the heirs. Now if you are all sons of God, then
you are all heirs of the heavenly kingdom. You are all cherished by the Father
who desires to make you all partakers of glory. No matter what anyone else may think of you,
God the Father holds you dear to himself.
God the Son is your brother. God the
Spirit dwells in you and preserves your adoption through the word and sacraments.
The Virgin Mary got to witness all that God the Son did to make us sons
of God. While Mary did nothing to make
us sons of God, she did set an example for the sons of God to emulate.
It was no small matter to be the virgin in whom the Christ was conceived. Mary would have heard the gossip about her
unwed pregnancy. She would have lived
under that scandal all her life long.
Yet, when the angel told her of the hardship God would lay upon her, she
humbly declared, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your
word” (Luke 1:38). She did not fret about what would be inconvenient
for her. She conformed her will to God’s.
When Jesus was
born, the angels did not sing for Mary.
They appeared to shepherds out in the fields. The shepherds came to see Jesus and reported
all the angel had said and all that the angelic choirs had sang. These words were dear to Mary who “treasured
up all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Luke 2:19).
Years later, at
the wedding in Cana, Mary alerted Jesus to the fact that the wedding had run out
of wine. Jesus rebuffed her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not
yet come” (John 2:4). Rather than scold him for embarrassing her, Mary instructed the
servants: “Do whatever he tells you” (John
2:5). Mary
trusted that, whatever Jesus would do, it was good and right so to do.
The Blessed Virgin Mary was the vessel
through whom God the Son entered the world.
She was also a vessel which was filled with a love for God’s word, a desire
to follow God’s will, and a trust in whatever God does. Is this not what God’s children do—fear, love,
and trust in him above all things?
God the Son became the son of a woman to make you sons of God. He has redeemed you with sacred blood. He has restored you to God by the flesh which has overcome the grave. Now the risen flesh and the sacred blood born of Mary is given to you from the altar. Through his body and blood, Jesus fills you with a love for God’s word, a desire to do his will, and a trust that, whatever he tells us to do, it will be good and right so to do. Is this not what God’s children do—fear, love, and trust in him above all things? For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And if you are sons of God, then you are cherished by the Father and heirs of his glory.
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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