His Mom Is Your Mom, Too

You need to know Jesus personally, both as our majestic King and our intimate Friend. He is God, the Creator and Lover of our souls.

But you are also invited to have a personal relationship with Mary, for not only is she the Queen Mother of King Jesus -- the mother of God -- she is your mother, too. I have learned that not only does Mary always point us to Jesus, but Jesus also points us to Mary.

“Woman, behold your son!” Jesus told His mother Mary while fastened by nails to the Cross; and to John He said, “Behold, your mother!” This was no mere last-minute practical living arrangement for Mary, but a significant moment in salvation history, as He gives us this “Woman” to be our mother in the family of God.

When Jesus calls her “Woman,” we are reminded of when the First Adam, in the Garden of Eden, first called his wife “Woman” (who was Eve, “the mother of all living”). It should come as no surprise that, upon deeper reflection, the early Christians who learned from those who knew the apostles referred to Mary as the “New Eve.” The First Eve encountered a fallen angel (i.e., Lucifer, or Satan) and responded with disobedience, in effect saying “no” to God, thereby tying a tightly tangled knot of sin and death for all of humanity. Adam was to blame, but Eve introduced the sin. Mary, however, the “New Eve,” was obedient and said “yes” to God’s plan when greeted by a good angel (Gabriel). Through her faith, Mary untied the knot of death and introduced Eternal Life -- her Son and Savior -- to all of humanity. In this way, she is the mother of all the spiritually living, whether or not we realize it yet.

Her Son Jesus is the King of the Kingdom of God, which was foreshadowed by the ancient kingdom of Israel. King Solomon, the son of David, was a type of the ultimate son of David: Jesus Christ. And just as Solomon was a prophetic type of someone much greater, so was Israel’s queen mother, Bathsheba. In Scripture, we read of Solomon’s kingly successors, but mention of their queen mothers is also quite conspicuous. Mary is the ultimate Queen Mother, for her Son is Jesus the King.

Following the queen mother’s intercessory role in ancient Israel, Mary makes special intercessions for us to her Son. Our King will not deny any request from His mother. Recall that even though Jesus rebuked her at the wedding feast in Cana because His hour had not yet come, He did not refuse Mary’s intercession, and instead turned water into wine. She got the ball rolling, so to speak, by inviting Jesus to perform His first public miracle, which drew lots of attention, which eventually led to His suffering and death, which redeemed our souls. And her message then, at the wedding feast, is the same for us today: “Do whatever He tells you.”

The same John who obediently took Mary to be his mother wrote the book of Revelation. In the twelfth chapter, we find a “woman” in heaven, wearing a royal crown, who gives birth to a male child. The “dragon” pursues her, and is angry with her, and though he is not able to to destroy the child, he “went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and bear the testimony of Jesus.” So we see again, in apocalyptic language, that this woman who wears a crown, who gave birth to Jesus, is our mother, too.

We should honor the mother Jesus gave us. But honor, of course, does not mean worship. We worship only God, the one who commands us to honor our father and our mother. Mary is also worthy of great honor because she is holy. She is more holy than the Ark of the Covenant in ancient Israel that typified her. The reason the Ark of the Covenant was so holy is that it contained, among other things, the tablets that Moses brought down from the mountain -- that is, the Ten Commandments, the Word of God in stone. But Mary, the “Ark of the New Covenant,” contained in her womb the Word of God enfleshed: Jesus the Christ.

Since the Lord gave us a holy mother, let’s receive her and get to know her. Ask her for prayers, just as you would ask a friend, a neighbor, or a relative. We know from St. James’ epistle that “the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man [or woman] avails much.” Your righteous mother, the mother of Jesus, will be your ultimate prayer partner. A true mother, she will always look after you, never give up on you, and will never leave you unaided. And she will always guide you with her motherly wisdom: “Do whatever He tells you.”