What does the Bible teach about Mary as intercessor? Let me give me you a one word answer: nothing. The Bible teaches nothing about Mary as intercessor. So why do Catholics believe that people can pray to Mary and Mary will intercede for them?
Have you ever heard the phrase “Hail Mary?” In our culture that refers to a last-ditch effort of any kind, an attempt that has very little chance of working. Most commonly we think of the Hail Mary play in football, which is when there is only a couple seconds left on the clock, and a team needs a touchdown to tie or win, but they are really far away from the end zone. So they send a bunch of receivers on a sprint, 50, 60 yards to the end zone, and the quarterback launches a long bomb pass, desperately hoping one of his receivers will jump up and grab it for a touchdown. It almost never works. Except yesterday. Check out this clip:
That football play is called a Hail Mary because of the Catholic prayer that goes like this, “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.” That prayer can, like the football play, be thought of as a last-ditch effort. If we’re desperate and God doesn’t seem to be answering our prayers, maybe Mary can talk to God for us. Can she? Let’s talk about that.
Let me start by saying that we Protestant evangelicals have loads of common ground with Catholics. Have you ever heard that there are Christians and there are Catholics, as if they are two unrelated groups? That separation is false. I am a Protestant, an evangelical Protestants to be precise. Catholics are Roman Catholics. Protestants and Catholics can all be Christians. A Christian is a follower of Jesus, choosing to give their life, habits, and hearts to his ways. You can do that as a Catholic or as a Protestant. I’m bringing this up to say that Protestants and Catholics are both historically Christian, and we agree on far more than we disagree.
That goes for Mary too. Protestants agree with Catholics about Mary in many ways. But let me back up. Who is Mary? There are a number of people named Mary in the Bible, but the Mary this question is referring to is Mary, the Mother of Jesus, as we heard in the Hail Mary prayer above. So of course, a person who is the mother of Jesus is someone who was unique and special in history. No other woman was chosen by God to be the mother of God the Son, the Messiah.
We read about Mary the mother of Jesus in numerous places in the Gospels. Of course, Mary is perhaps the central figure in the story of Jesus’ birth. There is only one story about Jesus’ childhood, when he was twelve years old, and Mary is there too. During a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, when it was time to go home, he seems to have lost track of time because he was having some theological conversations with religious leaders at the temple. His parents realize Jesus is not in the group traveling back to their home, and they get scared, as any parent would, retracing their steps. When they finally discover him, Mary is not happy.
The next time we encounter Mary is eighteen years later, when Jesus has just returned from being baptized by John. We read about it John chapter 2, verses one through eleven. Jesus, his disciples and Mary are at a wedding together in the town of Cana, which was just down the road from his and Mary’s hometown of Nazareth. During the wedding reception, when she finds out that the wine has run out, Mary looks at Jesus and simply says, “They have no more wine.”
I would love to have seen the look on her face, the twinkle in her eye, the playful tone in her voice, because that simple remark from his mom produces in Jesus the most interesting response. I also wish I could see the look on his face, the tone of his voice when Jesus says to Mary, “Dear woman why do you involve me? My time has not yet come.”
It really seems they have a wonderfully close relationship, almost as if Jesus and Mary are teasing each other. Mary knows what Jesus is capable of, and Jesus is perhaps slightly embarrassed, or maybe he is teasing her right back. Just like mothers and sons can do. I see it with my wife and our sons frequently, particularly because Michelle has such a good sense of humor.
In this case, Mary makes a shocking response to Jesus’ comment. Mary totally ignores Jesus. He has just said, “Why are you bringing this up to me, Mom? It is not my time yet.” She doesn’t answer him. Instead, she turns away from him, and she speaks to nearby servants saying, “Do what he tells you.”
There is only one person in the Gospels who ignores Jesus’ words and gets away with it. His mom. Mary has just overruled Jesus. A human has just overruled God, and God acquiesces! It is an astounding encounter. It is only Mary who ever does this. Jesus ends up doing what Mary said, famously changing the water to wine, in what is his first, or one of his earliest, miraculous signs.
We will see Mary only rarely in the rest of Gospels, with her most notable remaining appearance at the foot of the cross. So think about her relationship with Jesus at the wedding at Cana. Mary’s character and stature is obvious. She is quite an amazing person.
Catholics see that in her in a helpful way that many Protestants and evangelicals do not, and that is to our detriment. Mary is a wonderful example of a heart for God. But should we pray to her, and does she pray for us? How do Catholics come to that conclusion?
We find out in the next post.
Engaging Scripture 