Mary's Bodily Assumption by Levering Matthew;

Author:Levering, Matthew; [Levering, Matthew]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: REL070000 Religion / Christianity / General
ISBN: 3441180
Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press
Published: 2014-10-31T00:00:00+00:00

The Incarnation of the Word

As Ratzinger notes, Eve’s life-giving power gives birth to humans who are doomed to die, whereas Mary’s life-giving power gives birth to a Son who takes the sting out of death. As the one who gives life to the lifegiver, it is fitting that Mary receive the fullness of life at her death.

The doctrine of the Incarnation teaches that Mary’s Son was in the beginning; he “was with God” and he “was God” (Jn 1:1). No less than the Father, the Son is the Creator: “[A]ll things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made” (Jn 1:3).40 The Incarnation of the Son repairs fallen humanity by giving us the ability, through faith, to become adoptive children of God. Paul states: “We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the first-born among many brethren” (Rom 8:28–29).41

Furthermore, Mary is mother not merely of Jesus in his humanity, but of the Person Jesus Christ. Jesus’ human actions are the actions of the divine Son, incarnate in Israel. This means that Mary is mother of the divine Son; she has a unique relation—the relation of motherhood—to the Son.42 The eternal Son does not of course have an eternal mother, which would be absurd. Instead, the eternal Son, by becoming incarnate, relates himself to his human mother. Her privilege can hardly be overemphasized.43 Only Mary gives him his human constitution, experiences his growth in the womb and his infancy, and knows him intimately throughout his hidden life in Nazareth and over the course of his public ministry. What could be a greater privilege for a mere human being than to be the mother of the incarnate Son (and through him, the mother of all sons and daughters in the incarnate Son)?44

Yet, Jesus worked few miracles in Nazareth because the townspeople imagined that they already knew everything about him. They told each other: “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brethren James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all this?” (Mt 13:54–56). In fact, as we read, “they took offense at him” (Mt 13:57). Could it be, then, that Mary’s closeness to Jesus as his mother would have led her to overlook what sets him apart?

This seems unlikely if we accept what the Gospels of Matthew and Luke tell us. Miraculously, Mary’s conception of Jesus is virginal, and indeed an angel tells Joseph in a dream, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Mt 1:20–21).

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