6th Edition
The Lutheran Church began as a voice of protest against the excesses of the papacy in Christendom. Among the papal teachings that Luther rejected was the critical role for Mary in the divine plan of salvation for mankind. Pursuant to this unwarranted addition to Christian doctrines much has been attributed to the person of Mary that is not biblical but rests upon the authority of the Roman Church through the papal office to propagate this doctrine. While all this Marian piety is ancient in the Church, it has, nevertheless, been constantly challenged. It, in fact, took the genius of Martin Luther to come out and reject it outright. He accomplished this by shifting the basis of authority from the papal office to Scripture. To affirm our Lutheran position, I want to say that there is only one person who was hanged on the Cross through whom God our Father testified his love and his painful longing for reconciliation. And that one person was Jesus Christ to whom we need to turn our hearts. We reject a parallel role for Mary in this salvific plan. In the economy of Church doctrines, it is unwarranted and unnecessary. However, whatever said and done, we can never have a discussion on the subject of Christmas without talking about Mary!
Bishop’s Christmas Message Editorial Message from Diocesan Secretary Report, Diocesan Assembly 2010 Photo Gallery
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The Bible does not tell us much about Mary and what little we have is of much significance for our own faith journey. She figures prominently in the birth narratives of Matthew (1-2) and especially Luke (1-2). She takes Jesus to the Temple when he turned twelve (Luke 2:4152). John tells us that she was at the wedding feast at Cana, and that she knew her son could do extraordinary things, and she requested him to solve the problem of wine shortage (John 2:1-11)). She also gathered her family to look for Jesus, and bring him home when she heard that he was stirring controversies by his teachings (Matthew 12:46-49). It appears that, thereafter, she accompanied Jesus throughout his ministry because she appeared at the foot of the Cross (John 19:25-27), and she was at the upper room at Jerusalem (Acts 1:1214). Mary’s life, by any standard, was far from being ordinary. Mary was an extraordinary person, and there are valuable lessons in the life of Mary that can enlighten our relationship with Jesus. I would even say that without such lessons, we would all be very much poorer spiritually! Doctrines aside, the singular matter that sets Mary aside from all others in the human race, both men and women, is simply that she gave birth to Jesus Christ. God chooses individuals for various tasks in life but it was the lot of Mary to be chosen to bear the Son of God. Now, when Jesus walked the earth, we must remember that though Jesus was fully man and
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