Mother Mary

“Woman, what does that have to do with us?” John 2: 4

 I was blessed by the Lord to attend a Bible study session by Rev. Fr. Mathai Edayanal, and I like to share the thoughts he said at the session. Our tradition is great and our understanding about Bible is amazing…

 The topic was Mother Mary, and her position in the church and controversies.

It is well known that many protestant denominations try to deteriorate the position Mother Mary has been given by the apostolic churches, and to question her virginity, and the position Jesus has given her.

 One of the main arguments we hear against Mother Mary is that Jesus called her women.

 In the Bible we see two occasions when Jesus calls her women. First was at Cana when Jesus says, “^“Dear woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied” (John 2: 4). Second was at the cross, “When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son," (John 19:26).

 In the first occasion, in the common Malayalam translation, it reads as this…

“Sthreeyae… enikkum ninakkum THAMMIL enthu”

This verse is often used to misinterpret the relation between Jesus and Mary. One point they make is the saying, “enikkum ninakkum THAMMIL enthu?” meaning “what does your concern have to do with me”. The true translation is as follows.

 The original text says, “Quid Mihi Et Tibi”. ‘Quid Mihi’ means ‘what to me’ and ‘Et Tibi’ means ‘what to you’ which can be translated to Malayalam as ‘enikkenthu’ and ‘ninakkenthu’, when combined, should be read as ‘enikkum ninakkum enthu’. It is not ‘enikkum ninakum THAMMIL enthu’. The meaning is what that has to do with me and you.

 This does not say that Mary’s concern has to do nothing with Jesus.

 The second argument against Mother is that Jesus called her ‘woman’.

This should not be taken just literally as most do.

Cana was the first sign done by our Lord and is perhaps the start of his ministry. In Genesis 3: 15, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head”. In Galatians 4: 4 we read, ^“But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law”.

 The offspring of women will crush the head of the serpent, and that offspring was Christ. Christ before his first miracle testified the same calling Mother, ‘woman’. Again, at the end of his life, at the cross, he calls her ‘woman’. Twice in the Bible we see Jesus calling Mary, women, once at the first sign, and then at the end of his life. He stated twice that the He is the offspring of the WOMAN who crushed the head of the serpent through His death.

 Can this degrade the position Mother has?

 Another point the protestant churches put forward is that Mary after the birth of Jesus lived as the wife (in all means) of Joseph and she gave birth to children. They say that the Jesus’ brothers spoken in the Bible are born to Mary. It is an assumption and the Bible does not say that Mary gave birth to other children. Two points are provided to say that Mary gave birth to other children.

 One is the statement in the Bible about the brothers of Christ. Does it really have to be the biological brothers of Christ? Jesus and Mary were in the time when Jewish men had more than one wife, and the children born for the same father are called brothers. Tradition says that Joseph was an old man when he married Mary, and therefore he must have other wives and children.

 Can this be proved from the Bible??? No.

 Can we prove that Mary gave birth to other children? No.

 And if Mary had other children, why did Jesus say, “Women, behold you son”… and to the disciple, “Behold your mother” (John 19: 26, 27). Jesus said this to the disciple he loved the most, John.

 Another verse from the Bible to say Mary gave birth to other children is from Mathew 1: 25. “But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son”. Can this be read as Joseph had union after the birth of Christ???

 For example, Gandhi did not eat meat until his death. Does that mean Gandhi ate meat after his death???

 When we think deeply, in Mary, the most Holy has resided. We consider the ‘thronossu’ as Holy; we consider ‘kaasa’ and ‘peelasa’ as holy. Will we ever think about misusing them? They are the places where the Blood and the Body of Christ are kept… It is there where the bread and wine changes to the body and blood of Christ. We consider that as Holy and will never even think about misusing it. If so, think about Mary in whom the most Holy lived for 9 months and was born.

Joseph was called righteous in the Bible. Can we imagine Joseph not understanding the glory of the women who carried the Lord of all creations? Mary was not the physical wife of Joseph.

 Some argue that Mary lost her virginity by the birth of Christ which does not make any sense because it is not birth which makes the women loose her virginity but the union with a man.

 We sing “Mulmarameriyatherithee than naduvil ninnathupool

               Chinmayanammariyaamil vasichu shareeram poondu

   Athinaal bhangavumakanya vrithamudraykkundayilla…”

Moses saw fire on the shrubs but I didn’t burn, similarly the most glorious lived in the womb of Mary and that didn’t affect her virginity.

 Some say Mary is not the Mother of God, but Mother of Jesus. We don’t speak about distinction between the human nature and the divine nature of the Lord. Jesus is both God and man. Therefore, Mary gave birth to God and therefore can be called as the Mother of God. Elizabeth called Mary, mother of Lord… In Luke, 1: 43, “But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”.

 The intercession of Mother is of great value for us. In the Bible we read, “Sakala thalamurakalum enne bhaagyavathi ennu vazthum”. We are in the generation and the church which calls the Mother of God blessed. Praise is to the Lord who has shown us the light to understand true meanings of the word of god.