Mary, the mother of Jesus, is called the “favored one” and “blessed among women” in Luke 1. She’s such a wonderful example of someone wholly yielding to the Lord even though His plans for her would drastically affect her life.

As blessed and favored as Mary is, some go beyond what the Bible says to elevate her to a position almost alongside Jesus. What would Mary say about that?

We only have a few of her words recorded in Scripture, but I think they reveal a firm grasp of who she was.

She’s not sinless. A Christmas special we watched posited that because Mary didn’t have original sin, she might not have experienced labor pains. Yet the Bible doesn’t portray her as sinless. Jesus is the only person who was born without a sin nature and who never sinned once. Mary said, “My spirit rejoices in God my Savior” (Luke 2:47), acknowledging her own need for a Savior.

She is not the one we pray to. I suppose some might get the idea of praying to Mary from the incident where Jesus and his family attended a wedding where the wine ran out. Mary went to Jesus and told Him of the problem. He eventually turned water into wine, even though He told her his “hour has not yet come” (John 2:1-12). Some have taken from this scene the idea that we can go to Mary to get her to persuade Jesus to meet our needs.

Yet the Bible doesn’t advocate praying to anyone but God. Even here, Mary was not asked to appeal to Jesus for help.

Even in Mary’s prayer in Luke 1:46-55, her emphasis is on magnifying the Lord.

The Old Testament emphasized that we don’t have access to God except through the sacrificial system He gave to Israel. When Jesus died on the cross, the veil of the temple, which was a barrier only the high priest could enter once a year on the Day of Atonement, was torn from the top to the bottom. Hebrews 10:19-22 says, “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” We have direct access to God! As blessed and wonderful as Mary is, why would we try to go through her (which the Bible never tells us to do) when we can go directly to Him?

In the last scene where we see Mary in the Bible, she is with the other disciples of Jesus, male and female, after His ascension back into heaven. Acts 1:12-14 shows them “with one accord . . . devoting themselves to prayer.” She wasn’t being prayed to: she was praying along with them to God.

Mary’s last recorded words. The last thing that the Bible tells us Mary said was to the servants at the wedding in Cana, where Jesus turned water into wine: “Do whatever he tells you” (John 2:5). Her emphasis is always on Him. Do what He says. She claims no authority for herself. Even with Jesus’ followers in Acts, the disciples are in leadership, not Mary.

There’s much we can admire and emulate about Mary. Her humility. Her faith. Her willingness to do God’s will. Her grasp of God’s truth shown in her prayer. Her tendency to treasure and ponder in her heart things that occurred when Jesus was born. Her faithfully standing by Him during His crucifixion.

But she wouldn’t want us to worship her or elevate her to the same, or nearly the same, status as her Son. She would want us to honor, believe in, and glorify Him.

He is the way, the truth, and the life. He is our mediator. He is the one who changes us as we behold Him. He is our peace. In Him is our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.

Let’s proclaim along with Mary, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior” (Luke 1:46-47).

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)