Mary, the Mother of God?
To Catholics, Mary is known as the mother of God, but to many others, this is not a title for Mary. Some might say, “If God is the creator of everything, then how is Mary his mother? When we say Mary is the mother of God, we are referring to her birthing the second person of the Trinity… Jesus. Jesus being of two natures: fully human and fully divine. “For in him the whole fulness of deity dwells bodily, - Colossians 2:9” makes Mary the mother of God. Mary is not the mother of the Trinity, just the second person of the Trinity (Jesus). The Gospels provide that Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, called Mary “the mother of my Lord” when she visited her.
“and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? - Luke 1:42-43”
“Called in the Gospels “the mother of Jesus,” Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as “the mother of my Lord.”* In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father’s eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity. Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly “Mother of God” (Theotokos). - Who Was Conceived by the Holy Spirit, Born of the Virgin Mary, CCC 495”
The Council of Ephesus in 431 AD was over the Nestorian controversy and the title Theotokos (God-bearer), also known as the mother of God. There was heresy going around at the time by a man named Nestorius that Mary was only the mother of Jesus's human nature but not his divine nature. Nestorius separated the natures of Jesus as two persons instead of two natures in one person. The council came to a decision that Mary is the mother of God and will be addressed as such. “If anyone does not confess that God is truly Emmanuel, and that on this account the Holy Virgin is the Mother of God (for according to the flesh she gave birth to the Word of God become flesh by birth), let him be anathema.” To say that Mary is not the mother of God is to deny that Jesus is of two natures united as one. This is known as the hypostatic union, which states that “Jesus Christ is both fully God and fully man. He is simultaneously perfectly divine and perfectly human, having two complete and distinct natures at once.” Not only is she the mother of God, but she is also my mother and yours.
“When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. - John 19:26-27”
In this passage, John represents disciples of Jesus and Mary as their mother. To further this, in the book of Revelation, it speaks of Mary’s offspring.
“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. And he stood on the sand of the sea. - Revelation 12:17”
This makes sense due to John writing both the Gospel of John and the book of Revelation, along with Mary never birthing anyone but Jesus. Her offspring would have to be her spiritual children, making her our mother. If Jesus loved, honored, and had a relationship with Mary, then we should too. I once heard a great quote in a class on Mary:
“No Mary, No Jesus
Know Mary, Know Jesus”
