Face to Face

By James Lee

Within our life in the Church, we are often brought face to face with Mary, the mother of Jesus. We encounter her in the liturgical year, especially in the seasons of Advent and Christmas, as the angel Gabriel announces that the Messiah will come from her womb. We watch as the infant John jumps within the belly of Elizabeth at the greeting of Mary who carries the One who would redeem us from our sins. We watch with Mary as Simeon takes within his hands the infant Jesus as he gives thanks to God for permitting his eyes to gaze upon the salvation of the world.

In addition to the lectionary, we come upon Mary in the Church’s iconography as she holds the infant Christ in her arms and asks all onlookers to look upon the Word made flesh. Our ears hear about her in the Church’s hymnody as we sing: “The angel Gabriel from heaven came, with wings as drifted snow, with eyes as flame: ‘All hail to thee, O lowly maiden Mary, most highly favored lady.’ Gloria!” (LSB 356).

But what do we do with Mary? What do we think about her? As Lutherans, these questions may seem difficult to answer. We don’t pray to her or call her the “Mediatrix” like our Roman Catholic friends do. But we also don’t cast her aside as many of our Protestant friends have done. Mary is not the feminine side of God, despite what some denominations boldly and wrongly declare. But neither is she merely some woman who happened to be at the right place at the right time.

So, what do we do with Mary? In order to get some help for this tough question, let’s turn to someone who always has words of guidance: Martin Luther. During his lifetime, Marian devotion had become quite exuberant. Luther, like a surgeon with a scalpel, removed much of the excess that characterized the Church’s piety, such as prayers addressed to the Virgin Mother. Yet, as a surgeon only removes the cancerous tumors and not the entire organ, so Luther only cut away the excess; he did not throw out the baby with the bathwater. Although some Marian feasts of the Church were removed, many were kept and restored to a more pristine Christ-centered celebration, where the Church gave thanks to God for using Mary as the means by which the Savior of the world made His appearance in the flesh.

Even more than this, Luther sees Mary as a model for the Christian life. In a sermon on the Visitation, he writes: “It appears that Luke had a special fondness for this story, for he was so diligent with it and he portrayed the dear Virgin so well for us, and especially for the women folk...For he praises three special virtues, in which we should also happily apply ourselves: the first is faith, the second a very great modesty, and the third is fine and chaste conduct toward other people” (p. 47).

In this sermon and other texts, Luther elevates Mary as an example of how the Christian is to live. Nowhere is this more evident then in his preaching on the Annunciation and Visitation. When Gabriel announces to Mary that she will be the mother of God, Luther sees Mary’s response as model of faith: she holds fast to the Word of God spoken to her by His messenger.This is faith! The faith of Mary that attaches itself to the Word of God, despite the ridiculousness of the claim that a virgin will have a baby, is the faith of the Christian. She makes no claim on God’s act; it is not because of her works or merit that God chose her; instead, it is all by His grace! When Mary receives the joyous words from Elizabeth (Luke 1:42–45), she does not become proud or boastful, rather, she gives thanks to God. She praises Him for His mighty work. This is what we do as Christians. In humility, we receive God’s mighty act of salvation, and we thank Him for what He has done. Her response to the work of God (faith, humility, and thanksgiving) is the shape of the life we all live!

So, when you are in church and you see or hear of Mary, give thanks to God that He sent His Son to take flesh and blood from this daughter of Eve. Thank Him that Jesus poured out His life upon the cross and rose from the grave in order to justify all of us. We can learn a great deal from Mary because, as Luther says, “The tender mother of Christ...teaches us, with her words and by the example of her experience, how to know, love, and praise God” (45).

As it was with Mary so it is with us: we attach ourselves to God’s forgiving and life-giving Word, and with humble hearts, we give thanks and praise to our heavenly Father for our salvation that He has accomplished for us in His Son born of the Virgin Mary, Jesus Christ.

James Lee is a fourth year seminarian at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He can be reached at leeja@ctsfw.edu.

All quotes are taken from: Susan C. Karant-Nunn and Merry E.Wiesner, eds. and trans., Luther on Women: A Sourcebook. European history after 1450. (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2003), 32-57.

Andrea Mantegna, Madonna and Child, c.1490. Museo Poldi Pezzoli, MIlan