Mary Ain't Working Miracles

Mary Ain’t Working Miracles (John 2:1-11)

Intro

“No Mary, No Jesus. Know Mary, Know Jesus.” (bumper sticker) If we are merely giving our assent of faith, then we risk missing out on getting to know Mary—and to know Christ through her. Our knowledge of Our Lady is informed by what we know of our Lord. And knowledge and love of her is a sure way to increase our knowledge and love of him. Authentic devotion to Mary will only bring us closer to Jesus. As faithful Catholics, we must believe the dogma, but we shouldn’t stop there. Instead, let us take to heart the words of St. Louis de Montfort: “The more we honor the Blessed Virgin, the more we honor Jesus Christ, because we honor Mary only that we may the more perfect honor Jesus.”

Notice in our text, Mary is never called by name. The Holy Ghost uses the phrase “his mother.” This probably is because the Catholic church makes such a big deal out of Mary.

Mary as Intercessor (John 2:3)

Think of it in this way: If you got sick and asked a friend to pray for you, they probably would. Our relationship with Mary operates under this same principle. We believe that Mary (and the saints) are dead to this world, but we also believe they live on with God for eternity in the next world. And we believe that their prayers are just as powerful now that they are in heaven—even more powerful—than they were when they were here on earth. We are essentially saying to them, “We have problems down here. You know what it’s like, because you’ve been here. Please, pray for us!”

Catholics use this text to say that Mary is always pleading for us to Christ.

Do you know who saved people have been crying out to for years?

1 Kings 18:26–29 “And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made. And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked. And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them. And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded.”

1 Kings 18:36–38 “And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again. Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.”

1 Timothy 2:5 “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;”

Romans 8:34 “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.”

Mary as Immaculate (John 2:4)

What have I to do with thee?

Christ isn’t seeking the will of Mary. Mary is a sinner. Notice how Christ came to do the will of His Father.

John 5:30 “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.”

John 6:38 “For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.”

Mary was different from the moment she was conceived in her mother’s womb. While we inherited the sin and brokenness of Adam and Eve, Mary was saved from that original sin. God saved Mary from ever having sin and brokenness in the first place. How appropriate that the woman who carried God in her womb would be pure and sinless! (In the Catholics profession of faith they recite before Sunday mass, they use the phrase “true God, from true God” equating Mary to be God”)

Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”

Romans 5:12 “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:”

You know how Mary was a sinner? She died.

Pope Pius IX on the Immaculate Conception, he iterates this teaching:

“Above all creatures did God so loved her that truly in her was the Father well pleased with singular delight. Therefore, far above all the angels and all the saints so wondrously did God endow her with the abundance of all heavenly gifts poured from the treasury of his divinity that this mother, ever absolutely free of all stain of sin, all fair and perfect, would possess that fullness of holy innocence and sanctity than which, under God, one cannot even imagine anything greater, and which, outside of God, no mind can succeed in comprehending fully.”

Now, that doesn’t mean she did not need redemption. Mary did need redemption. Jesus redeemed all of us by his suffering and death on the cross. Those saving graces simply redeemed Mary in a special way. God used the graces from the cross to save Mary from the stain of all sin at the moment of her conception. How is this possible? God exists outside of time, so he can apply the graces of redemption at different times of history, as he did with Mary.

Romans 3:24–25 “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;”

You have to have faith in what Jesus done on Calvary to be redeemed.

Hebrews 9:12–15 “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.”

Christ had to die on Calvary to pay for the sins of the whole world. Those under the first testament (OT) weren’t redeemed until Christ placed His blood on the mercy seat in heaven. Those who were in paradise (those saved in the OT) were then brought into heaven with the Lord Jesus Christ. That means Mary wasn’t redeemed before Christ died on Calvary.

Mary as Intervener (John 2:4)

Jesus says “MINE HOUR”

John 7:30 “Then they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come.”

John 8:20 “These words spake Jesus in the treasury, as he taught in the temple: and no man laid hands on him; for his hour was not yet come.”

John 12:23 “And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.”

John 12:27 “Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.”

John 13:1 “Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.”

John 17:1 “These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:”

Mine hour speaks of Calvary! It’s not Jesus and Mary’s hour, but Christ alone!

Co-Redemptrix (also spelled Coredemptrix; Co-Redemptress is an equivalent term) is a title used by some Catholics for the Virgin Mary, emphasizing her unique, subordinate cooperation with Jesus Christ in the redemption of humanity. According to those who use the term, Co-Redemptrix refers to a subordinate but essential participation by the Blessed Virgin Mary in redemption, notably that she gave free consent to give life to the Redeemer, which meant sharing his life, suffering, and death, which were redemptive for the world. Her “Yes” to God in being submissive to carrying Jesus in her womb was a secondary cause of our salvation.

MARY HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH OUR REDEMPTION, OUR SALVATION, OUR PAYMENT FOR SIN.

Hebrews 1:1–3 “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;”

Galatians 1:4 “Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:”

Hebrews 10:12–14 “But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.”

Galatians 4:4–5 “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.”

Conclusion (John 2:11)

Mary has been given an extraordinary role in the history of salvation. In response to her special status, Catholics give Mary unequaled admiration and respect, greater than any other saint. This is a tradition often misunderstood by non-Catholics. The honor we give to Mary is not to be compared to the worship and praise we give only to Almighty God. However, Mary must not be disregarded, as she offers many graces, and mercy to all who call upon her intercession.