Mary in the Gospel of Mark: Part VI: Mary’s Knowledge of the Divinity of Jesus
Fr. J. Patrick Gaffney, SMM
In this article of Mary in the Gospel of Mark, the author takes up two important Marian questions, namely; First, is Mary among his own who are concerned about His safety amidst the emotions of the crowd (3:19b-21)? Second, is Mark’s Gospel telling us that Mary and his other relatives are not members of the faith-family of Jesus (3:31-35)?
Then he went home; and the crowd came together again so that they could not even eat.
When his own heard it, they set out to seize him for they said; “He has gone out of his mind” . . . Then his mother and brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. A crowd was sitting around him; “Your mother and your brothers are outside, asking for you”. And he replied, “Who are my mother and brothers”? And looking at those who sat around him, he said. “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and my sister and my mother”.
Mary in the Gospel of Mark
T here are two principal Marian questions as narrated by Mark. First, is Mary among his own who are apparently concerned about his safety amidst the emotions of the crowd? (3:19b-21). Second, is Mark’s Gospel telling us that Mary and his other relatives are not members of the faith-family of Jesus? (3:31-35).
The last article (link) we began examining the first question. Our conclusion was that a study of the Marcan text indicates that probably Mary should be included among those who went out in search of Jesus, concerned as they were not only for his safety, but also for his mental balance. For they said; “He has gone out of His mind”.
It must be noted that although “they” apparently refers to his family in general, it does not demand that Mary herself shares their thoughts about her son’s mental health. The text, as noted in the last article, is rather ambiguous as the discording opinions of scholars attest. Nonetheless, it must be admitted that the majority of contemporary exegetes (i.e.; those that study the meaning of scripture) would include Mary among those that state Jesus “is beside himself”.
And that brings up the serious issue which has to be answered before proceeding to the second question. Presuming that this opinion is correct – that Mary also is uneasy about Jesus’ well-being and soundness – would that not imply that she did not know that her son is the eternal and Incarnate Wisdom? Does it not appear almost blasphemous to say that Our Lady is among those who say that Jesus seems to be out of his mind?
Mary’s Knowledge of . . .
The response to this problem is two fold. The first entails investigating the extent of Mary’s knowledge of the divinity of her Son and the second, the reality of the temptations endured by the immaculate Mother of God.
1. Mary’s knowledge of the divinity of Jesus. Although it is generally agreed that Luke’s description of the Annunciation primarily intends to tell us who Jesus is, it is also presumed that it contains the gist of Mary’s knowledge of the child she is about to conceive (cf Pope John Paul II, Mother of the Redeemer, 8- 15). Not that Our Lady fully grasped the divinity of her son or the circumstances of God’s plan of redemption. At the incarnation Mary knows enough, says Pope Paul VI, to give an “active and responsible content” (cf. On Devotion to Mary, 37). That does not demand full and complete knowledge.
The Holy Family: Italian Painter: Giorgione: Approximately 1499 or 1500
This series originally utilized a black and white copy of this painting within the original Queen of All Hearts Magazine. It resides in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington, DC as part of the Samuel H. Kress Collection.
If, therefore, we accept the current opinion. of scholars and include Mary among those who are concerned about his mental balance, the Marcan text can be seen as exemplifying the early stage of Mary’s pilgrimage of faith. The ambiguity of the text also permits us to surmise that it may also be considered as “the temptation narrative” of Mary, As she grows ever more deeply in her faith-knowledge of the mystery of her son, she is tempted to deny its reality, to consider her son “out of his mind”. The incident demonstrates that Mary is not a cold, lifeless marble statue. She is our model in the pilgrimage of faith. She questions, she is tempted to desert Jesus. But she remains truly the Woman of Faith, the archetype of the church.
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Luke himself tells us that even at the Finding in the Temple, Mary does not grasp what Jesus means when he says that he must be “in his Father’s house” (Lk 2:49). At the Annunciation, therefore, Mary only begins to enter by faith into the unfathomable mystery taking place within her: infinite love bending low to rescue fallen humanity, She does not fully understand as she begins her pilgrimage of faith. (Nor do we “fully understand” at the beginning of marriage, or religious life or priesthood.)
. . . the Divinity of Jesus
It is, therefore, only through her pilgrimage of faith that Our Lady deepens and clarifies her understanding of who her child is and the details of his mission. She must in total surrender follow him to the cross and then hear the good news; “He is risen,” before the reality of her son’s divinity fully penetrates her soul. Her faith-insight into the mystery of her son began at Gabriel’s announcement. It deepens throughout the course of her life’s pilgrimage and only at the paschal mystery comes to its earthly fullness.
At the time of the incident narrated by Mark, Mary is still on her faith-pilgrimage. The divinity of her son is far from the clarity it will have at Jesus’ death and resurrection. To declare, therefore, that at the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry Mary grasped the divinity of her 8on and therefore could not have questioned whether or not he is acting strangely, misses the mark.
The Temptations . . .
2. The temptations of Mary. There can be no doubt that Jesus, the eternal and incarnate Wisdom, is truly tempted “in every respect as we are yet without sinning”. (Heb 4:15). From the temptation narratives in Matthew and Luke, from the description of the Agony in the Garden; it would appear that the most frightful temptation Jesus endured was that he flee from the cross and accept the adulation of the crowd yearning to enthrone him as a worldly king.
The immaculate Mary then is also tempted in every way as we are, for if this can be said of her divine son, it surely can be predicted of Mary. Would not Mary be tempted to question the reality of Jesus as the Messiah of God? The virginal conception strengthens her faith that her child embodies the mystery of God’s redeeming love. But as she proceeds on her pilgrimage of faith would not the devil who so tempts her son, also entice her to doubt and even to deny her son?
. . . of Mary
The immaculate conception (to be studied in later articles) does not immunize Mary from temptation. On the contrary, would not she, the first disciple of Jesus, be also tempted as was Jesus? ln spite of these temptations (far more intense than any we have experienced) Mary through the grace of the Holy Spirit remains faithful even to the cross of her son.
If, therefore, we accept the current opinion. of scholars and include Mary among those who are concerned about his mental balance, the Marcan text can be seen as exemplifying the early stage of Mary’s pilgrimage of faith. The ambiguity of the text also permits us to surmise that it may also be considered as “the temptation narrative” of Mary, As she grows ever more deeply in her faith-knowledge of the mystery of her son, she is tempted to deny its reality, to consider her son “out of his mind”. The incident demonstrates that Mary is not a cold, lifeless marble statue. She is our model in the pilgrimage of faith. She questions, she is tempted to desert Jesus. But she remains truly the Woman of Faith, the archetype of the church.
