Is Mary the Mother of God?

The Mother of God

The Bible says that Mary was the mother of Jesus, it never states, that she is the “Mother of God Almighty.” The son of God became flesh (John 1:1, 14); therefore, Mary is the mother of Christ according to the flesh. “Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God” (Romans 9:5; Hebrews 1:8).

Jesus Is Divine – Mary Is Human

Beside the human nature, Jesus has another nature that is not flesh. He is divine. This is taught in many New Testament passages. Jesus did not have a beginning; He is the Beginning. “He was in the beginning with God” (John 1:1-2). Paul says, “He is before all things, and in Him all things consist” (Colossians 1:17). Jesus’ existence did not begin with His conception in Mary’s womb. He was alive in eternity (Micah 5:2). Jesus did not have a physical father, since He Himself was before all (John 8:58).

But Mary came into existence after the creation of Earth. She, like all human beings, was not eternal (Job 4:17). She was not divine, and not “from everlasting to everlasting” like the Son of God (Micah 5:2). She could not have provided an eternal nature to her Son. Jesus alone is Deity. God alone is immortal (1 Timothy 6L:16). How can Mary, who is a finite mortal human being, become the mother of the infinite immortal Creator?  

Mary understood her stand in relation to Jesus and she called Him “Lord” in Luke 1:38, 46-47. The Bible makes it clear who is the One that became flesh. It was the Son of God who took on the form of a man (John 1:14) and was born of a woman (Galatians 4:4).

In fact, Mary the mother of Jesus considered herself as a “maidservant of the Lord” (Luke 1:38). When speaking about the blessing of being chosen by God to be the mother of the Messiah, Mary declared: “For He [God] has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant” (Luke 1:48). The words “lowly state” would be inappropriate to refer to Mary if she is the “Mother of God.”

Jesus made it clear that Mary had no special preeminence before God. While Jesus was teaching the multitudes, “a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, ‘Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!’” (Luke 11:27). Jesus responded, “More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it” (verse 28).

And when the mother of Jesus asked for his help at the wedding in Cana, He said, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me?” (John 2:4). He used the word “woman” not in a derogatory way but as an expression of respect (Matthew 15:28; John 19:26; 20:15). He just wanted his mother to realize that His mission was directed by His divine Father alone and not by any mortal human.

In another occasion when the mother of Jesus and His brothers came to see Him, “He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, ‘Here are My mother and My brothers!’” (Matthew 12:49). Jesus showed that anyone who believed in Him and obeyed the will of God would be blessed as part of His family.

Unbiblical Doctrine

The Catholic Church venerates the mother of Jesus claiming that she has “divine maternity” (“Dogmatic Constitution on the Church” 1964, 8.3, Second Vatican Council). But if the mother of Jesus is to be venerated as the “Mother of God,” we should expect to have a biblical basis for that. However, such a command is not found in the Bible. There is not a single verse in the Bible that describes her as the “Mother of God.”

The truth is that Mary herself declared that God is her Savior. She declared: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior” (Luke 1:46,47). Like every other human, she was in need of redemption from sin and its consequences. She never thought that she had been born without sin, as some have unscripturally claimed. Therefore, we can conclude that the phrase “Mary the mother of God” is unbiblical and is simply based on human tradition.

In His service,
BibleAsk Team