Hail, Queen Mary

If you examine Catholic and Orthodox piety, you'll notice a crazy amount of attention given to Mary, the mother of Jesus.  They (we) regard her as the mother of all Christians and as a queen. 

For many this can seem a bit odd.  The Bible presents her as a blessed woman, a holy woman... but a queen?  Is that supported in the text of Scripture?

That's what I wanted to look at today. 

Hail, King Jesus:

The first chapter of Mathew’s Gospel traces a long genealogy of Jesus back through King David.  While this may seem boring to us, this was meant to show a Jewish audience that Jesus was the legal heir to the throne of David and the rightful King of the Jews.

All the Gospels, particularly Matthew, go on with that same theme.  The Magi come from the east to pay homage to Jesus as the newborn king (Matthew 2),  then He marches into Jerusalem as a triumphant king (Luke 19), and when Pontius Pilate asked flat-out if He is a king, Jesus replied:

"You say correctly that I am a king." - John 18:37

Lastly, the book of Revelation presents Jesus as king over the whole universe, who triumphs over his enemies:

"The lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings..." - Revelation 17:14

Who is the Queen?

If one looks through the Old Testament, we see that in the Davidic monarchies the mother of the king was considered the queen of that kingdom.  She was called the “queen mother”, the “great lady”, and the "Gebirah". 

Explicit mentions of this position, by name, can be found in 1 Kings 15:13, 2 Kings 10:13, and Jeremiah 29:2.  Moreover, the Queen Mother is mentioned whenever the reign of a king is identified. (**)

And we can see the nature of the interaction between the King and the Queen Mother in the relationship of King Solomon to his mother, Queen Bethsheba:

“Then Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah, and the king stood up to meet her and bowed down to her.  Then he sat down upon his throne, and a throne was provided for the king’s mother, who sat at his right."  - 1 Kings 2:19-20

Walking Through the Steps:

So follow me, if you will, through a simple logical syllogism:

Premise 1: The mother of a Davidic King was a Queen.

Premise 2: Jesus is the ultimate Davidic King, the king of heaven and earth.

Premise 3: Mary is the mother of Jesus.

Therefore: Mary is the Queen of Heaven and Earth.

And we can see this explicitly mentioned in the book of Revelation:

“A great portent appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. [] And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron.”  – Revelation 12: 1,5

I've had people suggest to me that this woman could not possibly represent Mary... but I don't take such suggestions seriously.  Nor should you.

An Off-Limits Title?

Some people will point to Jeremiah 7:18, which warns against the worship of a certain "queen of heaven", and say it means we should not refer to Mary as the "Queen of Heaven". 

However, this is not a warning given to Christians against honoring Mary’s rightful status as queen.  It was a warning to the Hebrew people against the worship of the Canaanite fertility goddess Asterath, who went by that title. 

Does that mean the title "Queen of Heaven" is forever off limits? Not at all. 

Take a similar instance:  Augustus Caesar was hailed throughout the ancient Roman Empire as the “Son of God”.  He was worshiped as a god under this blasphemous title. 

Does this mean we cannot refer to Jesus as the “Son of God”?  No. 

Jesus is the true "Son of God" – the one for whom that title is legitimate.  Likewise, Mary is the true “Queen of Heaven”.  She's not Asterath, and she isn't worshiped, but she did give birth to the king of the universe.  So honoring Mary as queen is just the logical result of recognizing the kingship of Jesus.

To deny one is to deny the other. 

Thank you for joining me.

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**[1 Kings 14:21, 1 Kings 15:9-10, 1 Kings 15:13, 1 Kings 22:42, 2 Kings 12:2, 2 Kings 14:2, 2 Kings 15:2, 2 Kings 15:33, 2 Kings 18:2, 2 Kings 21:2, 2 Kings 21:19, 2 Kings 22:1, 2 Kings 23:31, 2 Kings 23:36, 2 Kings 24:8, 2 Kings 24:18]