One of my on line blogging friends asked an excellent question of yesterday's post. Why do we crown Mary and call her The Queen of Heaven and Earth? Such a good question that I couldn't resist taking the opportunity to explain my answer it today's blog post.
Why queen?
In the Old Testament there are several references to the mother of the king being referred to as the Queen Mother. Because kings could have many wives but would only have one mother.
2 Kings 24:12, "Then King Jehoiakim, along with his advisers, nobles, officials, and the qeen mother, surrendered to the Babylonians."
JESUS IS KING, and it is understood he only has one mother.
Why crowning? and why over heaven and earth?
Revelation 12:1-2; 5 , "A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth. Then the dragon stood before the woman about to give birth, to devour her child when she gave birth. She gave birth to a son, a male child destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod. Her child was caught up to God and his throne."
Revelation 12: 7-9, "Then war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels battled against the dragon. The dragon and its angels fought back, but they did not prevail and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. The huge dragon, the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world, was thrown down to earth, and its angels were thrown down with it."
God makes it quite clear the woman in the first passage obviously gives birth to the savior, therefore it is understood to be Mary. She wears a crown. She is a key player in the battle against the devil (the dragon), and he now resides on earth. This power doesn't come to her on her own, but by the power given by Jesus, her son.
I am in no way a theologian or an apologetic. This is just my humble understanding from what I've read. Hope it helps anyone who has questions. Thank you for the opportunity to defend my faith, it only makes my understanding of it more clear for myself. God Bless!
Thank you for such a clear explanation. I can see now where that comes from. As a Christian, I personally feel that Mary is given too much credit in the Catholic faith and did not understand why. You have not changed my mind :) but you have given me perspective. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I was thinking last night about your blog and I wanted to tell you this very quickly. You inspire me. You are firstly catholic and secondly everything else. You put a lot of importance on what you believe and I admire that. I live my faith quietly, keeping it a little hidden. Your example has challenged me in that. I should put my faith, my hope and my "religion" higher on my agenda. It shouldn't be (as it is now) "I am this and that, and oh, yeah, a christian too." Thank you for that. Keep up the good work.