The Protecting Veil
The Normal Orthodox Christian understanding of the grace of God given to humanity and embodied by the Theotokos invites us to contemplate just how glorious salvation is!
“In my darkest hour, she is standing right in front of me, speaking words of wisdom, ‘Let it be.'”
The song was on the radio as my best friend was driving away from the hospital where his twin brother had just died. His pain and grief washed over him, and that Beatles’ song was just what he needed to start finding a way through his pain. Mother Mary always protects!
Some so misunderstand the devotion the Church has shown to the Theotokos.
They think the normal and historical piety around Mary is a rival for our devotion to Christ, and NOTHING could be further from the truth.
In fact, my devotion to Jesus grew when I finally started obeying the scriptures in joining every generation in calling Mary “blessed.”
When my Protestant friends complain about the Normal Orthodox devotion to the Theotokos, I remind them that you can’t separate the Lord from His Body, the Church! And the Theotokos is the first Christian. She said “yes” to the Good News, and Christ was literally formed in her. The Holy Spirit is still forming Christ in us as we follow her obedient example.
Look at our Gospel Lesson today for this Feast of the Theotokos in Luke 1:39-49, 56:
In those days, Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah, and she entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”
And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.” And Mary remained with her about three months, and returned to her home.
Elizabeth declares three blessings and asks one significant question.
First, she declares what is obvious to anyone who realizes Who Mary is carrying in her womb – Blessed are you among women.
Every Jewish mother dreamed of being the mother of the Messiah, and now here she is, and now here He comes! If I can put this in some Southern slang – Ain’t never been a woman like you, ever, and ain’t never gonna be another like you!
Next, she proves her first statement wise and true because she recognizes just Who is being brought into the world – Blessed is the fruit of your womb.
This is no ordinary Baby. This is no ordinary pregnancy. This is not God just renting space inside a lady so He can get Himself a body (that’s more of a pagan attitude than Christian). No, this is a better “fruit” than Eve ate in the Garden. This fruit undoes the damage of that deadly fruit eaten in the Garden!
And the third blessing flows naturally from the first two – blessed is she who believed.
But that’s what believing does: it makes the impossible possible. God, in His desire to make us like Him, offers us the soul-expanding participation in His love by granting us the ability to choose to believe and the freedom to reject faith if we will. Belief is always more than mere mental assent to some idea or philosophy. True believing means living out the consequences of this belief in my actions, choices, and priorities. My life is changed because of my belief. If it isn’t, then do I really believe?
However, the question reveals just why the history of Christianity has consistently held that Mary occupies a unique place as the First Christian. Elizabeth, the Jewish lady shaped by centuries of Israel learning the hard way not to fall into the pagan notion of many gods; the Jewish lady whose husband was a Jewish priest and who knew the scriptures, the theology, and the warnings against idolatry; the Jewish lady who, filled with the Holy Spirit, calls her younger cousin “the mother of my Lord.”
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Faith Encouraged to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.