Part IV Mariology Series: MARY AS THE QUEEN MOTHER

Mary as revealed through the Scriptures from The Old Testament to The New Testament

Welcome to our fourth part of our Mariology Series. Let’s get right to it. As always, we will start with Jesus and understand who He is before we turn our attention to Mary.

Luke 1:31-32 NLT Angel Gabriel’s words to Mary at the Annunciation

‘You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.’

Today we are focusing on the identity Jesus has as the one who is the heir to the throne. This has manifold implications for who Mary is in a 1st Century Jewish context. Any 1st Century Jew would’ve known that Jesus is the king who's going to be seated on the throne. That means that there’s also to be a queen. 

In the Old Testament at the time of David’s Kingdom, the queen was not the King's wife. It was the King’s mother. The 1st reference to the Queen Mother is from the book of Kings.

1 Kings 2:19-20 NLT 

So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak on Adonijah’s behalf. The king rose from his throne (KISSE’) to meet her, and he bowed down before her. When he sat down on his throne again, the king ordered that a throne (KISSE’) be brought for his mother, and she sat at his right hand. “I have one small request to make of you,” she said. “I hope you won’t turn me down.” “What is it, my mother?” he asked. “You know I won’t refuse you.”

1st Point:

To sit on his right hand means a share in their authority. She reigns with him. When Bathsheba (earlier in 1 Kings 1:16) goes to King David, she is the one that BOWS as his wife. There is no shared reign here. Once David died, and Solomon became King, he honors her (4th Commandment). 

In fact, in Exodus 20:12 instead of ‘honor’, the word used is kab-bêḏ which literally means give ‘glory’. That’s what Solomon does with his mother.

2nd Point:

She reigns with the king. Jeremiah 13:18 NIV

Say to the king and to the queen mother,

    “Come down from your thrones, for your glorious crowns will fall from your heads.”

Psalm 45:6-7,9 addressed the King of Israel but also mentions his queen. 

‘Your royal scepter is a scepter of equity… Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows… daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor; at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir.’

The Hebrew name for Queen here is Shegal

The Greek word is Basilissa

3rd Point:

Her role as a Royal intercessor. Think about this… 

If her office in the kingdom is that prominent, she has the king’s ears, she's at his right hand and you would like for the king to do something for you, fulfill some request, wouldn’t it make sense to ask the one with equal reign to intercede for you with the king on your behalf? 

There is a story like this in 1 Kings 2 with one of King Solomon’s brothers, Adonijah. 

1 Kings 2:13-14, 17-18 RSVCE

Then Adoni′jah the son of Haggith came to Bathshe′ba the mother of Solomon. And she said, “Do you come peaceably?” He said, “Peaceably.” Then he said, “I have something to say to you.” She said, “Say on.” ... And he said, “Pray ask King Solomon—he will not refuse you—to give me Ab′ishag the Shu′nammite as my wife.” Bathshe′ba said, “Very well; I will speak for you to the king.”

1. The Queen is the King’s mother; not his wife.

2. She reigns alongside the King.

3. She acts as a kind of Royal Intercessor with the King.

Now onto the New Testament. The Visitation.

Luke 1:41-45 AMP

“When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, her baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and empowered by Him. And she exclaimed loudly, “Blessed [worthy to be praised] are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed [spiritually fortunate and favored by God] is she who believed and confidently trusted that there would be a fulfillment of the things that were spoken to her [by the angel sent] from the Lord.”

Elizabeth is Mary’s elder cousin. Yet see how she greets Mary with deference (humble submission and respect). In ancient Jewish tradition this isn't something of custom. Why else would she praise and speak to her like this?

Kyrios or kurios (Ancient Greek: κύριος, romanized: kýrios) is the word used in this passage. It is the Greek word meaning "lord", "master" or “king”. It is used in the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew scriptures, and it appears in the New Testament (Koine Greek) around 740 times. This was the word used to refer to Jesus.

Ancient Jews knew that if Jesus, the Messiah, was King, then she would be the Queen Mother. 

Gebirah: title attributed to several queen mothers of Israel and Judah.

In Luke 1:46-49, Mary herself uses Royal language in referring to herself.

And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies and exalts the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.

“For He has looked [with loving care] on the humble state of His maidservant; For behold, from now on all generations will count me blessed and favored by God! “For He who is mighty has done great things for me; And holy is His name [to be worshiped in His purity, majesty, and glory].”

Maidservant: The Greek word here used is ‘Tapeinos’ which means handmaiden; servant girl, of low estate and humility.

God put down the mighty (Kings) and exalted the low estate (handmaiden) to the Throne. Only the mother of a King can sit on that Throne. Elizabeth and Mary both recognized her position. 

Revelation 12:1-5 AMP Describes a Queen in Heaven.

THE WOMAN: 

‘And a great sign [warning of an ominous and frightening future event] appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was with child (the Messiah) and she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth.’

THE RED DRAGON

‘Then another sign [of warning] was seen in heaven: behold, a great fiery red dragon (Satan) with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven royal crowns (diadems). And his tail swept [across the sky] and dragged away a third of the stars of heaven and flung them to the earth. And the dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child.’

THE MALE CHILD

‘And she gave birth to a Son, a male Child, who is destined to rule (shepherd) all the nations with a rod of iron; and her Child was caught up to God and to His throne.’

Why not Mary? This is specific to a woman that brought forth a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. The number 12 always symbolized the tribes of Israel. She is the Israelite Queen. The Israelite Queen was never the KIng’s wife, it was the King's mother. 

In ancient times, only royalty wore crowns. So when John sees this woman wearing a crown in Heaven, he would've known as a Jew, that it is the Queen Mother. 

What about History and Tradition? What did the ancient Christians believe about Mary?

John of Damascus, On the Orthodox Faith, 4.14 (8th Century)

‘Assuredly she who played the part of the Creator’s servant and Mother is in all strictness and truth in reality God’s Mother and Lady and Queen over all created things.’

John of Damascus, Homily on the Dormition I, No. 2 (749 A.D.)

‘Neither the human tongue nor the mind of the angels that live beyond this universe can give worthy praise to her, through whom it has been granted us to gaze clearly on the glory of the Lord… Let us in holy reverence, with trembling hands and yearning soul, pay gratefully the humble first-fruits of our minds, as we must, to the Queen Mother, the benefactress of all nature!’

CCC 966 (Quoting Pius XII)

‘Finally the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death." The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son's Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians:

In giving birth you kept your virginity; in your Dormition you did not leave the world, O Mother of God, but were joined to the source of Life. You conceived the living God and, by your prayers, will deliver our souls from death.’

Why venerate Mary? There was an ancient Christian distinction between honoring Mary and worshipping God. Distinction between honoring Mary as our Queen and worshipping God as our creator. Yes, there is a difference.   Worship is a particular thing isn't it?  But what is it?   Going back to the temple in Judaism, back to Abraham, and back to Cain and Abel - worship is the offering of a sacrifice: burning a holocaust, slaughtering a calf. Catholics celebrate worship in the Mass; it has in it a sacrifice.  The Mass is the one perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ offered once and for all, made present again by the Mystery of  Faith. We partake in that one sacrifice of Calvary.  That is worship.  Worship is liturgical offering of the Eucharist.  

Praise can be a lot of things, but it is us expressing out joy and trust in God and Jesus.  Praise is certainly appropriate during worship.  Praise is always good.  But Praising, no matter how intense, never becomes worship without the Liturgy and without the Eucharist. 

Venerate: regard with great respect; revere.

Worship: the feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for a deity. Show reverence and adoration for (a deity); honor with religious rites.

In the 4th Century, there was a Saint named Epiphanius. He was writing in the East and was dealing with heresies. He wrote a long book called ‘The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis’ (meaning the basket of heresies). The last two heresies he deals with is Marian heresies. One was called ‘The Insulters of Mary’ which attacked Mary’s perpetual virginity. The last heresy he deals with was a group called the ‘Collyridians’ who used to offer the Eucharist to Mary as a sacrifice. He flat out condemns that action as it is a form of worship.

Epiphanius, Panarion written in Koine Greek in 374 or 375 A.D. 

‘They say that certain Thracian women in Arabia… [the Collyridians] bake a loaf in the name of the Ever -Virgin [Mary], gather together, both attempt and excess and undertake a forbidden, blasphemous act in the Holy Virgin’s name, and offer sacrifice in her name with women officiants. This is entirely impious, unlawful, and different from the Holy Spirit’s message, and is thus pure devil's work, and the doctrine of an unclean spirit… Mary should be honored but the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit should be worshipped; no one should worship Mary… Such women should be silenced by Jeremiah, and not frighten the world. They must not say, ‘we honor the Queen of Heaven’ (Jeremiah 51:18)” 

***Jeremiah 7:18 talks about a pagan goddess called the queen mother.

However, Mary’s queenship is evident in the New Testament***

Mary is to be held in honor but only the Lord is to be worshipped! What’s the difference between honor and worship? It's simple; it’s sacrifice.

We can sing hymns of praise.

We can ask her to pray for us.

We can honor her just how we honor our parents. 

But…

We never ever offer sacrifice to her. Only God can be offered sacrifice through the Eucharist. Only God can be worshipped. In ancient Judaism and Christianity biblically  all worship included a sacrifice. Every. Single. Time.

Protestant Christians don't have a priesthood. They don’t have sacrificial worship. They have a worship that is centered in praise and not actual worship. Its focus is on music, singing, preaching and praying. The things that they do or consider and believe to be worship to God, we do to Mary. For Catholics and Orthodox Christians the essence of worship, since the beginning of time, is sacrifice. It was this way in the Old Testament and it continues to be so today. This sacrifice, this worship is always and only offered to God alone. 

The Catechism of The Catholic Church says this on the Devotion to the Virgin Mary:

CCC 971

‘All generations will call me blessed": "The Church's devotion to the Blessed Virgin is intrinsic to Christian worship." The Church rightly honors "the Blessed Virgin with special devotion. From the most ancient times the Blessed Virgin has been honored with the title of 'Mother of God,' to whose protection the faithful fly in all their dangers and needs. . . . This very special devotion . . . differs essentially from the adoration which is given to the incarnate Word and equally to the Father and the Holy Spirit, and greatly fosters this adoration." The liturgical feasts dedicated to the Mother of God and Marian prayer, such as the rosary, an "epitome of the whole Gospel," express this devotion to the Virgin Mary.'