This, the second week of Advent, is quite the Marian celebration. Monday was the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. Tuesday was the Optional Memorial of St. Juan Diego. This Friday is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
The heart of the week is the Solemnity. After all, Our Lady of Guadalupe revealed herself to St. Juan Diego as the Immaculate Conception, the woman who crushes the head of the serpent. It is fitting then that we should turn our attention this week to the sinlessness of Mary.
Most people are surprised to find that there is Scriptural evidence that points to Mary as a sinless human being. I would like to provide this evidence. There is really no more fitting tribute to the Immaculate Conception then what the inspired Word itself provides.
Since the evidence is rich and nuanced, a somewhat lengthy presentation of it is in order. As such, I will need to break this up into several parts. This, Part 1, will start in the very beginning with what we see about Mary in the Book of Genesis.
Introduction
First, I must acknowledge that there is no explicit verse that directly settles this issue. At the same time, I don’t think that an explicit verse is necessary to prove that something is scriptural. I think that if a doctrine is implied in Scripture or logically follows from what we find in Scripture, and if there is nothing in Scripture that directly refutes it, then that belief can be considered scriptural.
I think most people agree with me on that point, but it bears repeating, especially when considering the Marian dogmas. When it comes to Catholic beliefs about Mary, people tend to place demands on the evidence they will accept that are more stringent and unyielding than the demands that they place on their own beliefs.
The Devil and the Woman
That said, on to the evidence. The best place to start is at the very beginning, with the words of God to the serpent after it has been exiled from the Garden of Eden:
“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15)
This passage is called the Protoevangelium (or “first gospel”) because it is the first time in Scripture where we see the promise of a Savior for mankind. While, literally, the woman in question is Eve, many scholars admit that Mary fulfills this prophecy. After all, it is her seed, Jesus Christ, who will crush the head of the serpent, defeating Satan with His own Passion, Death, and Resurrection.
But, this passage also says something about the woman. It says that God will place “enmity” between her and the serpent. Enmity is a state of animosity and direct opposition. The woman and the serpent are utterly at odds with each other. They are mutual enemies. What’s more, the serpent cannot conquer her, no matter how hard he tries. We see this enmity played out in the Book of Revelation where, again, the woman and the serpent (this time, a full-fledged dragon) are at odds with each other:
“And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had borne the male child. But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with the flood. But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river which the dragon had poured from his mouth. Then the dragon was angry with the woman, and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus.” (Revelation 12:13-17)
As much as the devil wants her, he cannot have her. Why? Because the woman has been spared by God. When I see all this play out, I am left to wonder: If the “woman” is in fact Mary, how has enmity been placed between her and Satan? How has Mary been spared by God? Could it be that God preserved her from the stain of original sin? Could it be that she is “the woman” who the devil could not have?
Beyond the plain fact that she is the mother of the offspring that will crush the head of the serpent, further support for identifying Mary with this “woman” is seen in Elizabeth’s words to Mary in Luke 1:42 and Jesus’ own way of addressing Mary in John’s Gospel. I would like to take each one in turn.
In Luke 1:42, Elizabeth addresses Mary with words once spoken to Jael and Judith in the Old Testament. Compare this verse with Judges 5:24 and Judith 13:18:
“… [A]nd she exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!'” (Luke 1:42)
“Most blessed of women be Ja’el, the wife of Heber the Ken’ite, of tent-dwelling women most blessed.” (Judges 5:24)
“And Uzziah said to her, ‘O daughter, you are blessed by the Most High God above all women on earth; and blessed be the Lord God, who created the heavens and the earth, who has guided you to strike the head of the leader of our enemies.'” (Judith 13:18)
What’s interesting about Jael and Judith is that both women are declared the most blessed above of all women. Why is this? Because in faith and courage they warded off enemy armies hostile to Israel. How did they do this? By literally dealing a mortal blow to the head of the commander of each army. Jael “put her hand to the tent peg and her right hand to the workmen’s mallet; she struck Sis’era a blow, she crushed his head, she shattered and pierced his temple” (Judges 5:26). Judith, as we have just seen, was guided by the Lord to “strike the head of the leader of our enemies” (Judith 13:18).
Now, Elizabeth is declaring Mary to be “blessed among women.” Yet how can Mary stand in line with Jael and Judith, of whom similar statements were made, unless she too dealt a crushing blow to the enemy? If Mary is the “woman” from Genesis 3:15, then we know exactly how she did this: by bringing forth the offspring that would bruise the head of the serpent.
Jesus’ own words of address to His mother are important here, too. In John’s gospel, Jesus only refers to Mary as “woman.” At the beginning of His ministry (cf. John 2:4), He says to her, “O woman, what have you to do with me?” (or, more literally, “Woman, what is that to me and to thee?” [DRB] or “Woman, what does that have to do with us?” [NAS]). On the Cross, upon the culmination of His saving work, He addresses her again: “Woman, behold, your son!” (John 19:26). In this, interesting parallels emerge between the “woman” who is the mother of Jesus and the “woman” of Genesis 3:15 and Revelation 12:
It is easy then, based on this and on Jesus’ clear identity as the “offspring of woman” who will “bruise the head of the serpent” in His destruction of the works of the devil (cf. 1 John 3:8), that Mary is the “woman” from Genesis 3:15 and Revelation 12, of whom the sting of death could not take hold and the poison of the serpent could not infect.
In Part 2, I will present Mary as the “Ark of the New Covenant” and explain how this relates to her sinlessness.
Pax Christi,
Two for one, ping!
Some of the most tortured logic I have ever read.
Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar
Well, our God created the entire universe from things NOT YET SEEN! He created this massive universe including mother earth and your very body out of nothing. There was absolutely nothing, until He commanded it to be created. So of course, he can create a baby, without a sperm!!!!!
God created Adam out of DUST!
When will the Catholics realize they only have their "traditions", not THE truth!
I’ve written about the Ark of the New Covenant before and got zinged by an anti-Catholic. Offered it up.
“10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you.
MATTHEW 5:10-12
Very sweet constructive analysis, and a pleasure to read, thanks.
Note that when Jesus says “woman, behold your son” from the cross, He was talking about John, not Himself.
Interesting, I think, in the context of Mary as the Ark of the Covenant, per this analysis.
there is really no need to defend the dogma...it is and always will be considered an infallible truth by the Catholic Church which is, of course, the true seat of Christianity...
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
Ephesians 3:14-19 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
I am a house of the Lord as well.
He dwells in my heart and I am His temple.
That makes me holy, too.
What would be enough would be it being recorded in Scripture.
It isn't. But that never stopped the Catholic church from claiming it as fact anyway.
Who died from touching Mary?
Why would Mary have to be sinless in order for Jesus to be born as a real human, born in sin, born under the law, tempted in all points as we are, yet HE was without sin? What God required was a VIRGIN, a human virgin, in the line of David. For Mary to have been born sinless, would mean SHE was conceived without a sin nature, so how did that happen when she had a human mother AND father? Sorry, but Scripture is clear, ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. He made no exception for Mary.
Guess they haven't read Romans 3:23...all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Their disconnect with the Scripture is astounding.
So with this disclaimer that this cannot be found in Scripture or supported by Scripture they attempt to.