Calendar

MARY THE SINNER NEEDS JESUS THE SAVIOUR
MONDAY, APRIL 7
Luke 1:39-56

Psalm 146:1-5

 

“And my spirit hath rejoiced

in God my Saviour.”

 

MARY THE SINNER NEEDS JESUS THE SAVIOUR
 
On receiving word from the angel that Elisabeth was also pregnant (cf. Luke 1:36), Mary went to see her, to tell her what God had done for her as well. Not only Elisabeth, but also baby John, though still in his mother’s womb, leaped for joy upon hearing the good news. Filled with the Spirit, Elisabeth blessed Mary, addressing her as “the mother of my Lord.” Note that this is not the same as calling Mary the “Mother of God.” Elisabeth in no way deified Mary, only Christ!
 
Mary did not think of herself as God’s Mother either. She made clear that she was but a “handmaiden” of God. She readily admitted her sinfulness when she confessed that God was her Saviour. “Holy is his name,” she said, not “holy is my name.”
 
Calvin, against the deification of Mary by the Roman Church, commented, “Now observe, that Mary makes her happiness to consist in nothing else, but in what she acknowledges to have been bestowed upon her by God, and mentions as the gift of his grace. ‘I shall be reckoned blessed,’ she says, ‘through all ages.’ Was it because she sought this praise by her own power or exertion? On the contrary, she makes mention of nothing but of the work of God. Hence, we see how widely the Papists differ from her, who idly adorn her with their empty devices, and reckon almost as nothing the benefits which she received from God. They heap up an abundance of magnificent and very presumptuous titles, such as, ‘Queen of Heaven, Star of Salvation, Gate of Life, Sweetness, Hope, and Salvation.’ Nay more, to such a pitch of insolence and fury have they been hurried by Satan, that they give her authority over Christ; for this is their pretty song, ‘Beseech the Father, Order the Son.’ None of these modes of expression, it is evident, proceeded from the Lord. All are disclaimed by the holy virgin in a single word, when she makes her whole glory to consist in acts of the divine kindness. If it was her duty to praise the name of God alone, who had done to her wonderful things, no room is left for the pretended titles, which come from another quarter. Besides, nothing could be more disrespectful to her, than to rob the Son of God of what is his own, to clothe her with the sacrilegious plunder.”
 
THOUGHT: Mariolatry is idolatry.

PRAYER: Father, keep me from idols.

Search