Psalm 34; Isaiah 61:7-11; Galatians 4:4-7
St. Luke 1:39-55
In the name of the Father, and of the T Son,
and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Blessed Virgin Mary has been the
subject of many artistic depictions throughout history. Many are quite
beautiful. Unfortunately, many others contain false teachings associated with
the Marian cult of the Roman Catholic Church. However, there is one that I
would like to describe for you, which is worth your contemplation.
The Blessed Virgin sits upon a marble
chair, holding her Divine Son in her arms. There are bright white lilies at her
feet and the wall behind them is covered in a floral wallpaper. The wall is a
mixture of gold, red, white, green, pink and yellow, though all the tones of
the wall are muted. Both Mary and her Son are adorned with nimbuses, the golden
halo looking ornaments, typical of depictions of any Christian. Of course, the
Christ child’s nimbus has a cross within it, while the Virgin Mother’s is
rather plain.
The Christ child is naked, however his
legs are drawn up so as to cover any indignity that might be displayed. His
feet are slightly overlapping, reminiscent of how they will eventually be
nailed to the cross. His arms are outstretched to the sides, the right hand
formed into the sign of blessing – two fingers curled, the thumb and other two
fingers extended. Both hands have their palms exposed, again, suggesting the
posture in which he will atone for the sin of the world.
Mary is clothed in a dark velvet cloak.
The color is difficult to discern, perhaps a dark shade of purple, perhaps a
faded black. The cloak has gold trim and is clasped with a diamond shaped
broach. She wears a red shirt, barely visible beneath the cloak. A thin white
garment is placed upon her head and the hood of the cloak covers it. The
Blessed Mother appears young, certainly under 20, as she was when she bore the
Savior of the world. She holds the Christ child in both arms, simultaneously
expressing tender care and somehow clutching him to herself.
The most striking features of the
painting are the eyes of Christ and Mary. Christ stares directly at you, the
viewer. He is painted face on, with vivid eyes, a serious but compassionate expression
upon his young face. The Blessed Mother is looking down, her eyes barely
visible. She is looking at her Son. Although the figure of Mary occupies
three-quarters of the image, her gaze directs us to the Christ, particularly
his hand raised in blessing. While Jesus’ lips are shown in a serious but
compassionate expression, Mary shows slight concern in her understated face.
She looks somewhat uncomfortable seated upon the marble seat.
What have we to learn from such an
image? The purpose of celebrating the Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary is to
follow her gaze – to focus on Christ, her Son. Her eyes are focused ever on
Christ, not her own station as the Mother of God. She is uncomfortable on the
seat because she knows it is Christ’s throne, not her own. She is no more the
Queen of Heaven than any other Christian. She deserves nothing. It is precisely
because of her low estate that she was chosen by God to bear the Christ.
She clutches at the Christ child
because only by clinging to her Savior does she have hope of salvation. She
must hold him tightly, fervently, knowing that only in His salvation will she
receive eternal life.
At the same time, she, as a mother,
must not restrict him. A sword will pierce her heart as her own Son is beaten
and nailed to a tree. She must endure a lifetime of sorrow for not only did her
Savior die on her account, but her Son sacrificed Himself for her. She must not
prevent Him from the death for which He was sent into the world. Mary was a
smart woman, she knew that one day the Savior, her Son, must die to atone for
her sin and she could not stop it.
Aside from being the Mother of God, as
though that title were a trifle, Mary is also the fulfillment of the Ark of the
Covenant and the image of the Church. The Ark of the Covenant was given to the Hebrews
as they wandered the desert for forty years. It contained the Word of God and
was the physical manifestation of the location of God. It was God’s throne and place
of judgement. The lid was called the Mercy Seat, or more accurately, the
Atonement Seat. Likewise, Mary was given to carry the Christ child within her
womb for forty weeks. In her was the physical Word of God, come to dwell with
his people. God would soon take his place upon the Atonement Seat, now
fashioned into a cross.
The church is now the bearer of Christ.
Inside these walls, inside the walls of your heart, dwells the Son of God. Here
He comes to be with His people, physically in His Holy Body and Precious Blood.
He dispenses that same atonement, made once and for all on Mount Calvary and
now distributed to you in His Word, His Supper, and His Baptism, every Sunday. “His
mercy is on those who fear him, from generation to generation”[1] of those who receive his Word of absolution
in faith. From whence comes this faith? The very same Word. “He has helped His
servant Israel, [the Church,] in remembrance of His mercy, as He promised to
our fathers, [to your fathers,] Abraham and to his seed forever.”[2]
Because of the terrible abuses of our
Mother in the faith, we are tempted to denigrate Mary. “She was nothing
special, she was a sinner, too. We shouldn’t exalt her any more than any other
Christian. Giving her special attention is too Roman Catholic.” Mary was a
sinner. She is no greater than any other Christian in regard to her salvation.
She was conceived in iniquity and born in sin. She needed the blood of Christ
to wash away her sins every bit as much as you do.
But we should also heed the words the
angel Gabriel, “Rejoice, highly favred one, the Lord is with you; blessed are
you among women!”[3] Then there are the words of Elizabeth,
spoken to Mary, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your
womb!”[4] Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Mary
herself sang, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my
Savior. For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; for behold,
henceforth ALL GENERATIONS WILL CALL ME BLESSED.”[5]
Lest we become the very prideful ones scattered in the imaginations of our hearts, we should humble ourselves before the Blessed Virgin Mary, not out of worship. We never worship a Christian. The temptation to hold the Blessed Virgin down so as to elevate ourselves is blatant hypocrisy, sinful pride, and biblical ignorance. The mighty, in worldly power and in sinful pride, are cast down from their throne. But the lowly, the humble, are exalted. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are filled with good things while the rich are sent away empty. We should humble ourselves to the mercy shown to Mary by God; humble ourselves before the faith shown by a teenager told she would bear God in her womb; humble ourselves to imitate this faith, begging our Father in Heaven to endow us with such humility, grace, and endurance.
She cast her gaze upon the Christ child
in whom is her salvation. In her deepest suffering, as her beloved Son hung
upon a cross, she did not curse God and beg for death. She stood silently weeping
and received the blessing of Christ. In His moment of greatest suffering,
Christ Himself looked down from the cross and regarded his beloved mother. Despite
enduring the pain of ten thousand generations of sin and evil, he took a moment
to entrust his beloved mother to his beloved disciple. In the depth of sorrow,
God looked up upon his blessed saints. Everything God does, everything Christ
does is for the benefit of the Church and His saints. Everything is done for
you.
On this account, we celebrate the
Blessed Virgin Mary. We celebrate her as our mother in the faith as the first
Christian to receive the Body of Christ into herself. We celebrate her as our
sister, praising the manifold gifts of God. We celebrate Mary as the image of
the Church, ‘the glorious princess in her chamber, with robes interwoven with
gold. In these many-colored robes she is led to the king, her own Son seated
upon His eternal throne, with all her virgin companions, the Church, all those
cleansed from their sins and made pure as virgins, following behind.’[6]
In
T Jesus’ name. Amen.
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