Mary in the Old Testament – One ExampleDec 13th, 2009 | By Sean Patrick | Category: Blog Posts
Many Christians are thinking about, talking about and writing about Mary this time of year. Spend some time in the blogosphere over the next couple of weeks and you are likely to see more ink spilled about Mary by Protestants and Catholics alike than you have seen all year. I am also reminded that the Christmas season is the one time of year where even Protestants have statues of Our Lady in their homes.
I received the following email from a friend who is Reformed Baptist but attends a PCA Church:
“I read this article today and I’m interested in your specific thoughts on the author’s arguments.”
The article is from John Piper. Here is a link.
John Piper, as you may know, is a fairly prominent Reformed Baptist pastor and author of over 30 books. He wrote the above article in an attempt to give Mary what he believes is her proper place in the Christian story.
Here was my response:
“Thanks for sharing this with me.
I am saddened that Mary is such a perceived ‘stumbling block’ to the unity of Christendom. Few doctrines are more misunderstood than the Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church (and Orthodox Churches). I am in a unique spot because I have been both a non-Catholic and a Catholic. Speaking from experience, I believe the root of the disagreement over Mary is not really the Marian devotion but the doctrine of the communion of the saints.
The Church’s teachings on Mary are Christocentric and they are born of the scriptures. It is true that there is not a whole lot written explicitly about Mary in the Bible but what is written about her is simply amazing.
Let me give you just one example, I’ll be brief.
Read 2nd Samuel Chapter 6 and then read Luke 1 about the visitation of Mary to Elizabeth.
The 2nd Samuel story is a narrative about King David before the Ark of the Covenant. This narrative is about a journey the Ark took in the hills of Judah. Compare the narrative line by line with Luke 1 and the visitation of Mary narrative. Note all the similarities in the passages.
Both the Ark and Mary “arose and made a journey” (2nd Sam 6:2 and Luke 1:39) to the ‘hills” of Judah. Both the Ark and Mary were greeted with ‘shouts of joy.’ The word used for ‘shout’ in Luke 1 is ‘anafametzen‘ and is a very rare word which was only used in connection with Old Testament liturgical ceremonies that were centered around the Ark of the Covenant yet here we have Scripture using that word to describe Elizabeth before Mary.
What did David say before the Ark of the Covenant in vs 9? How does that statement compare to what Elizabeth says to Mary?
2nd Sam 6:9 – David before the Ark says, “How can the ark of the LORD ever come to me?”
Luke 1:43 – Elizabeth says before Mary, “And why is this granted to me that the mother of my LORD should come to me?
Elizabeth greets Mary in exactly the same way that David greeted the Ark.
There is more. The entrance of the Ark and the entrance of Mary are seen as a blessing to the entire household, Obededom’s house was blessed by the Ark’s visit and Elizabeth’s household was blessed by Mary’s visit. Then, finally the Ark of the Covenant and Mary both remain in their respective houses for three months (2nd Sam 6:11-Luke 1:56) Bare in mind that Scripture tells us that both of these events happened in the same geographic area.
So, the Catholic Church, drawing from this Scriptural mystery, has always considered Mary the Ark of the New Covenant. The Ark of the Old Covenant contained the word of God (10 commandments), Aaron’s staff (the priesthood) and manna from heaven. Mary contained in her womb the word of God (logos John 1), the priesthood (Jesus, the high priest) and the eucharist (the everlasting manna from heaven John 6).
Let me apply what the Church knows about Mary as the Ark of the Covenant to the Church’s teaching on Mary. One Marian doctrine is that Mary was assumed into heaven after her death. Is that episode explicit in scripture? No, it isn’t. But, it is foreshadowed about the Ark of the Covenant. Psalm 132:8 says, “Arise oh Lord, and go to your resting place, you and the Ark of your might.” The place the Lord is arising is to what David calls “Zion” which as you know is heaven. Jesus dies and takes his Ark with him. Tradition holds that the Ark that Jesus brought to heaven is Mary. Also, read Rev 11 and 12. John sees the Ark in heaven in the context of a ‘woman’ clothed with the sun who is giving birth to a male son whom the dragon is wanting to devour.
We can go ‘one by one’ on doctrines of Mary but I’ll simply say that the Church’s teaching on Mary is Christ-centered and biblical. I am sorry that Piper’s tradition does not allow this understanding.
I can also say that Piper’s use of the New Testament in some places is misguided. He seems to argue that Jesus had brothers based on Acts 1:14. However, it is a fact that the word translated to ‘brother’ is also used for ‘close kinfolk/cousin’ in the Bible and that if you read the context of Acts 1:14 the ‘brothers’ in Jesus’ company number about 120! Surely, Piper does not think that Mary had 120 sons! Further, Piper wants to deflect attention from Mary by noting that Scripture often does not call her by name but only by “woman.” Piper misses the point. Mary being called ‘woman’ harkens back to Eve whom Adam called ‘woman” and this proclaims along with other biblical data that Mary is the new Eve as Christ is the new Adam.
In the paragraph beginning with, “Calling Jesus’ mother the mother of James and Joseph is striking…“, Piper suggests that Mary had brothers but he is mistaken as John 19:25 and Mark 15:47 prove that James and Joseph are Jesus’ cousins and not his brothers as the Mary described here in Matthew is Mary ‘the wife of Clopas’, the sister of the Virgin Mary.