Did God Merely Use Mary as an "Oven"?

Mary is often dismissed by some Christian opponents of the Church as an “oven” for Jesus, a necessary womb to grow the fetal Son of Man. After his birth, the holy yet still sinful Mary fell away into relative insignificance. It is said she doesn’t have any subsequent big appearances or speaking lines in the New Testament.

Yet the truth is, for those who read it with the mind of the Church, we see Mary throughout the Bible.

The New Eve

In Genesis, Eve is a prefigurement of Mary. Both are called “Woman.” It’s the seed of the Woman who will crush the serpent’s head.

The New Ark of the New Covenant

The ark of the covenant, which contained the Word of God in the form of stone tablets, also prefigures Mary. Compare 2 Samuel 6 with the account of Mary’s visitation to Elizabeth in the beginning of Luke’s Gospel, where Elizabeth proclaims Mary to be “the mother of my Lord.”

Queen Mother

Among the various other types in the OT, the role of queen mother in Israel (conspicuous in 1 & 2 Kings) offers insight into Mary, especially evident in King Solomon’s mother, who was an intercessor, whose requests the king would not deny, to whom even the king himself showed honor by bowing when she entered the royal court. (With kings from that part of the world in ancient times having multiple wives, the queen of was not a wife, but the king’s mother.)

Untier of Knots

In obedience, Mary untied the knot of sin that the First Eve tied. The Second Eve, Mary, said yes to God’s will when Gabriel visited her, unlike the First Eve who said no after being tempted by a fallen angel in the Garden.

Still More Mary

Mary gave birth to the Word of God that she carried.

Mary was there when Jesus was dedicated at the Temple.

Mary sought Jesus through the agonizing “three days” when he went missing at age 12.

Mary often “pondered these things [concerning Jesus] in her heart.”

Through Mary’s intercession, Jesus performed his first public miracle at the wedding feast in Cana, where Jesus refers to her as “Woman” (significant because it was the seventh day according to the account of St. John the Evangelist, echoing the Creation Narrative of the book of Genesis).

Mary was present in the midst of Jesus’ ministry, along with his brethren.

Mary was among the few who did not flee during Jesus’ Passion. She never left him.

At the most critical time—while on the Cross—Jesus gave Mary to the beloved disciple. “Woman, behold your son. Son, behold your mother.” Each of us are Jesus’ beloved disciples, with whom Jesus shares his mother. She is our mother.

Before Pentecost (Acts 1), the disciples were all joined in prayer. Noted among them was “Mary the mother of Jesus.”

In Revelation 12, when in place of the ark of the covenant we find Jesus’ mother in heaven, Satan is portrayed as going after the “Woman,” just as the serpent went after the first woman Eve. But this time he failed and went after the male child and the rest of her offspring, “those who keep the commandments and hold the testimony of Jesus”—Christians who can rightly call her “mother.”

To Be Honored, Yet Still a Creature

While Mary gave birth to a divine Person, and in that sense is the “Mother of God,” she is still a mere creature, as glorious as she is. She is not to be worshiped as if she were a goddess. She says, as in Cana, “Do whatever he tells you.”

But to think that God eenie-meenie-miney-moed her because he needed a carnal vessel to give birth to Jesus, and then dismissed her—using her like an oven for nine months—that is a tragic view of God’s plan of salvation. Gabriel called her "Full of Grace" for a reason.

If Jesus gave Mary to us as our mother, if we are those who keep the commandments, then we should honor that mother according to the Commandment. We are invited to have a “personal relationship” with our mother, the mother of Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death!