Using Jaroslav Pelikan’s commentary on Actsin the Brazos Theological Commentary set, this series of short posts will explore some of the 84 significant theological issues raised by Luke in Acts and identified by Pelikan.
A 2nd issue is found in Acts 1:14: 14They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
The language “joined together” “serves to emphasize association rather than mere accompaniment, and therefore the solidarity of the disciples then, and of the church ever since, with Mary the mother ofJesus…” Whereas Paul does not mention the virginal conception of Jesus and refers to Mary only indirectly (Gal. 4:4) and never by name, Luke mentions her name more often and gives more space to her story than any other evangelist–even more than John who was entrusted by Jesus to care for Mary (Jn. 19:26-27). For that matter, Luke deals more with Mary than all other New Testament writers combined.
Pelikan argues that on the basis of the above, that “above all Mary, the mother of Jesus, may be regarded as the principal source, more or less indirect, for the account of the infancy of the Savior” in Luke 1-2. Luke mentions that his account is drawn from those who were eyewitnesses (Lk. 1:2) and Mary would have been the ultimate eye witness. “Specifically, she was the single eyewitness ‘from the [very] beginning’ and the preeminent human actor for his narratives of the annunciation, nativity, and infancy…” It is little wonder that in early church history Mary was given the honorific title “theotokos”–Mother of God and was featured prominently in church writings and iconography.
It seems that Mary is either overemphasized in some Christian groups or underemphasized. Why? What’s your take on Mary?
I think the position is based on your theological grouping. Obviously she was a woman of deep faith and abiding love in God. She had a deep devotion, and God used her in an amazing way to change the world.
But… if you are a Catholic there is a theological bias towards Mary. For someone who gets less than 40 verses about her in the Bible she receives an awful lot of attention. Indeed, Pope Benedict XVI has a new book called Maria, over 200 pages of Marian dogma. Intriguing for someone who wasn’t a perpetual virgin, had other children, and only gets a few verses. I think I’d rather focus on Christ or the Holy Spirit, who gets more of a focus…
You bring out one of those thorny issues of hermeneutics–the lenses we use to read Scripture. That certainly comes into play when we reach a character like Mary. If Pelikan is right, Mary was quite important to Luke both as a source of information about Jesus and as a model for the right response to Jesus. In that sense, the focus remains on Jesus–but Mary becomes a model for us to consider (one of many) in terms of how we respond to Jesus.
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