The Mother of God's Son
Posted: 30 August, 2011
By Fikayo Adeyemo
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For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
(John 3: 16)
(John 3: 16)
The issue of the divine sonship of Jesus Christ has been the basis for much arguments and even hostility in history as well as contemporary society. One of the results of the misunderstanding is the error of labelling the biblical Mary as “Mother of God” The gravity of this error cannot be appropriately grasped if one does not first understand the dimensions of the sonship of Jesus Christ. This, we shall now endeavour to present.
Eternal Sonship and the Issue of being Begotten
Some people have said that the very fact that a Person is begotten (technically referred to as generation) automatically “shows” that the existence of such a Person had a beginning at a point in time and therefore, the Person cannot be described as being eternal or without beginning. Many points relate to this serious reservation but two are sufficient:
* The first is that the generation of the Son is of the spiritual sense and not physical or biological reproductive sense at all.
* Secondly, it is not time-based. It is an eternal process which is continuous perpetually. Christ has already been the Son of God and referred to as such BEFORE (or rather, BEYOND) when He came to be born of a woman. (Galatians 4:4; John 1:18; 3:16; 17:5; 1 John 4:9)
Eternal processes do not occur at points in time like natural processes. This is why the Bible always uses the present or present continuous tense in refering to this process and never the past tense. The Son is (not was) begotten. Similarly, the Holy Spirit proceeds (not proceeded) because procession, like generation, is an eternal process.
Messianic Sonship: Virgin Birth and the Resurrection
Being the eternal Son of God (and therefore very God) as just explained, is the basis (i.e. the “qualification”) by which Jesus was “given” to the world to be the Messiah (John 3: 16) because only the eternally-begotten Son can do the work of the Saviour. Now, the office of the Messiah imposes two main states on Christ which are Abasement and Exaltation. Each of these two phases requires a distinct practical convocation to officially recognise the occupier as the Son of God.
Therefore, the first convocation came with respect to the Abasement which is summarised in the statement "the Word became flesh" (John 1:14). By this, Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit and physically born by virgin Mary thus becoming the "the Son of God" in a nativistic sense (Luke 1:34-35). This was not what made Him the Son of God originally. He merely added a new and extra kind of sonship as was demanded by the office of the Messiah. Mary was merely a vessel via which the eternal Word became flesh – not the mother of the Word, who is God. So, we need to stress that the sonship on account of virgin birth was not the primary basis for the doctrine of the divinity of Jesus or of the doctrine of the Trinity.
Similarly, with respect to the Exaltation, Jesus again received recognition as the “Son of God” on the day of His resurrection. (Acts 13: 28-33). As with the sonship by virgin birth, this second convocation also, was not the premise of the doctrine of the Trinity.
Not Just Son of God, but God the Son
Having thus established that it was not the fact of His messianic sonship that made Jesus God, we proceed to note that divinity is evidenced by His eternal sonship. Therefore, while Jesus may be called the Son of God on account of at least three different issues, it is only His eternal sonship that shows Him as not just Son of God, but God the Son. The Word who became flesh had been God the Son from all eternity, partaking of the divine essence, the Godhead. For instance, if for any reason, God the Father decides today to make another woman conceive by the Holy Spirit, the child that would be born might properly be called “son of God” but he would definitely not be called God. Why? Because such a child did not have a previous existence in eternity as Jesus did, as the Word in the beginning (John 1:1), and neither would he have shared the divine essence.
No Mother of God
This simple truth also shows the great error of all the so-called Christians who describe Mary as “Mother of God”. By Biblical revelation, such a title is blasphemous in the extreme and needs to be repented of. It is also a very dangerous expression because it gives a wrong impression of the doctrine of the Trinity to non-Christians who do not know what the Bible actually says but rely on what those who they see as Christians say. It is also a reason why the Qur’an thinks that the Trinity refers to the Father, the Son and Mary (Surah 5:119) and why many Muslims think that the “sonship” of Jesus in the doctrine of the Trinity is premised on a reproductive process (which may even be sexual!) between God and Mary. Such a blasphemous idea is certainly not found in the Bible and must be strongly condemned.
Anybody who understands basic doctrines of Christianity will not confuse the eternal sonship of Jesus (which concerns the nature of God – i.e. theology proper) with His mediatorial sonship (which is about redemption of lost man – i.e. soteriology). Despite this, it is not even right or excusable to call Mary the “Mother of the Messiah” or “Mother of the Saviour”. God never told us to give any title to Mary – much so, giving her a title that is clearly against the Scriptures. Let us limit ourselves to how the Bible describes the motherhood of Mary, which is mother of Jesus the carpenter. (Mark 6:3).You see, Jesus as the carpenter is very different from Jesus as the Messiah. Throughout His over thirty-three years on earth, it was okay to refer to Mary as the mother of Jesus without any clause because His time for messianic convocation had not come, not having been lifted up (hung on a tree) to draw all men to Himself (John 12:32). But by the time He was nailed to the Cross, He Himself clearly and specifically told Mary that her motherhood over Him had finished. He even proceeded to show her her new son – John the beloved disciple (John 19:26-27). Since that time after the resurrection, Jesus Christ has sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high fulfilling His ministry very much without the maternal or any other contribution of Mary.
This is one of the reasons why I have the deepest pity for all those who pray through Mary (or any other past believer ) concerning their fellowship with God. They are not only guilty of disobeying Christ’s instruction to pray through Him to God to be able to receive answers (John 14:13-14; John 16:23), they are also guilty of idolatory and necromancy, for it is a great sin to speak to or through a person that has died.
Therefore, my dear reader, if you are one the people who call Mary “Mother of God”, I urge you to repent now. Do not start to give excuses. Do not try to “explain” what you mean. Let me assure you that such an appellation cannot mean anything righteous – whichever way you conceive it. It is blasphemous through-and-through. I know your intention to honour Mary may be good and sincere, but remember that no level of good intention can ever substitute for actual good deeds, or be an excuse for bad deeds. No level of sincerity of heart is excusable before God if it runs against His holiness. It did not work for Uzzah (2 Samuel 6:6), it will not work for you. You may be sincere but you are sincerely WRONG. So, do yourself an eternal favour – REPENT NOW.
Note: This article is an adaptation of portions of chapter 4 of the book, “What do you really know about the Holy Trinity”
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