-------Mary Mother of Jesus Was She Divine?------

Many people pray to the Virgin Mary as if she was a goddess. Praying to a goddess is nothing new to mankind...we have been doing it for thousands of years.

Why should man pray to the mother of Jesus Christ? Was she divine in some way? What does scripture say about her human condition?

Scripture states all of mankind are sinners and are born that way. There are no exceptions (except Jesus Christ). for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God Romans 3:23 That means Mary, the mother of Jesus and wife of Joseph, was a sinner. That means the Pope, whom the Catholic Church claims to be without sin, is a sinner. That means you and I are sinners.

What does scripture say about Mary's sinful state and her relationship to Jesus besides being chosen by God to bear His child in the womb? In the book of Luke Chapter 1 we hear this: 46 And Mary said: "My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.

Why would Mary need a savior if she was divine? Mary, like the rest of us, needs a savior. A savior is someone who rescues. The question then becomes; rescued from what? The answer is rescued from the penalty of sin which is spiritual death or separation from God.

A virgin is someone who has not had sexual intercourse with a man. After Jesus was born, did Mary have sexual intercourse with Joseph? When Jesus was 12 years old, he taught the rabbis in the synagogue and they asked, 55 Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? 56 And His sisters, are they not all with us? Matthew 13. Jesus had brothers and sisters but they were the offspring of Joseph and Mary. Jesus was the offspring of Mary and God.

So we know that Mary was not a virgin after the birth of Jesus. Yet, the Catholic Church teaches that Mary is a perpetual virgin. Yes, Mary was highly favored by God as He chose her to bring in the Savior of mankind. The Catholic Church teaches that she is just one rung under Jesus as being the most favored person in history but that is not what the scripture says.

Luke 11 verse 27 says And it happened, as He spoke these things, that 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!"

How did Jesus respond? But He said, "More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!" Verse 28

Jesus said that those who heard the word of God and kept it were more blessed than His earthly mother.

The Catholic Church teaches that Mary was taken into heaven without dying but this is simply not true and this teaching didn't come into the Catholic Church until the 5th Century. It is not certain of the time or place of Mary's death (she died in either Jerusalem or Ephesus) but the fact is, just like everybody else, she died.

Where is the mother of Jesus now? Like everybody else who has had their sins washed away by the blood of Christ, her spirit and soul is with Jesus in heaven while her body lies decaying in the ground awaiting the Resurrection Day.

Thousands upon thousands of people report seeing visions of the Blessed Virgin (again she couldn't be a virgin if Jesus had brothers and sisters) who gives messages that cannot be found in the Holy Scripture. Now who would want to contradict the clear teachings of God's word? Would the mother of Jesus really do that?

Deception is at work here and we know the great deceiver is Satan. For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. 2 Cor. 11:14 I believe it is Satan appearing as the Virgin Mary to the masses deluding them to believing things that simply cannot be supported by scripture.

The Catholic Church refers to the Mary as the queen of heaven who is co ruler with Jesus Christ. Worshiping the queen of heaven goes back to ancient pagan Babylon so this is nothing new. There are many today who worship Mother Nature which is just a variation of Mary worship. Who should we be worshipping and praying to?

1 Tim 2: 5- 6 states 5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time Jesus, and Jesus only, should be the focus of our prayers and our worship. To pray to the Virgin Mary is a form of idolatry and we all know what happened to the Jews when they fell into idolatry. God punished them.

Copyright 2006 by Gary Goodworth