Mary, for Protestants

Many Christians (most Protestants, as well as a surprisingly large number of Catholics) are miss­ing out on a great deal because Mary has little or no place in their spirituality. Unfortunately, over­reacting to a Christless, spiritless Christianity, many denominations emphasize the necessity of personal faith in Jesus Christ, making this alone the entire faith, whereas actually it is only the foun­dation or keystone, as Scripture itself says (1 Cor. 3:11).

What is Mary all about? Answer: Jesus. She was conceived for the purpose of mothering the Redeemer. She saw Jesus as her purpose in life. On­ly in Jesus does she make any sense. We must see her through Him.

Unfortunately, however, the modern trend to make personal faith in Christ the whole of Chris­tianity has obscured Mary’s place. In making Christ, who is the foundation, the whole of the building, there is no room for Mary. The fear is that attention given to Mary will detract from Jesus. The root of this concern is a deep love for Jesus and not a contempt for Mary. It is believed that Mary would not have wanted it any other way. As at the wedding at Cana, when people come to her she in turn points to her divine Son, saying, “Do whatever He tells you.” As I said, Jesus is what Mary is all about.

Then why is Mary so important? Because his­torically, in the Gospels, she holds this important place. The Good News begins with her. For her to be selected by God to mother Christ, she obviously had to be special. That “specialness” is evident from the fact that an archangel greeted her with a deeply reverent salutation unlike any other angelic greeting in Scripture.