Hail Mary? Not Quite...(Luke 11)

Again, in Luke 11, we find some things that appear only in Luke's Gospel. One of those things is a brief incident in verses 27-28. In verse 27, a woman cries out to Jesus: "Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you." As far as I can tell, this is the earliest Hail Mary (and I'm not talking about football). I'm not trying to be disrespectful. But it seems to me that there is a clear parallel between this woman's words and the veneration of Mary in the Catholic Church. In fact the veneration of Mary in the Catholic Church is even stronger. In some circles of the Catholic Church, Mary is considered to have been born without sin like Jesus. She is also considered to be a participant in the work of redemption that Jesus did. Pope John Paul II called Mary a co-redemptrix with Jesus. You don't have to be in a Catholic Church long to find out that Catholics think very highly of Mary. The question is, is this veneration of Mary warranted?

From the response of Jesus in verse 28, I would say no. How does Jesus respond to the woman who yells: "Hail Mary?" He says: "Blessed rather are those who hear the Word of God and obey it." This response is not exactly a ringing endorsement of Hail Mary. Jesus is not going to allow a cult of veneration to be set up for His mother. Instead, He reminds us that all have the right to be saints if in faith we receive the message of the Gospel and act upon it. Mary is not in a special category.

That is not to say that Mary is not worthy of our admiration. After some possible times of doubt, it seems pretty clear that Mary had faith in her Son. Before Jesus is born, Mary is described as a devout, pious woman. The little that we really know about Mary suggests that she was a model of godly womanhood. She is blessed precisely because she heard the Gospel and received it in faith. The blessing is not for the birth in verse 27. Mary is blessed, like any believer, because as verse 28 says she heard the Word and believed it.

Luke 11:27-28 is a small passage. But I think it carries a powerful critique of those who seek to venerate Mary in the wrong way and for the wrong reason.