01 January 2026

01 January 2026 - Feast of Mary the Mother of God

Transcript

Reading:  

Galatians 4:4-5

Write:  

When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son,  
 born of a woman, born under the law,  
 to ransom those under the law,  
 so that we might receive adoption as sons.

Reflect:   

In the fifth century, a controversy arose over how to properly describe the union of Christ’s divine and human natures. A bishop of Constantinople named Nestorius proposed a distinction between the two natures of Christ, suggesting that Mary should not be called the “Mother of God” (Theotokos – or God-bearer, literally) but rather the “Mother of Christ” (Christotokos). According to Nestorius, Mary had given birth to Jesus in his humanity, not in his divinity, which seemed to imply a separation between the divine and human natures in Christ. This had been a raging battle in different forms for centuries in the Church, starting with a heresy that challenged whether Jesus was truly God and truly man. By the fifth century part of the battle was over, but not all of it.

Nestorius’ teaching caused great controversy because it endangered the understanding of the unity of Christ’s person. If Jesus was not fully God from the moment of his conception, the work of salvation might be compromised. This title was not meant to suggest that Mary was the mother of divinity itself, but that, in giving birth to Jesus—who is one person with two inseparable natures, divine and human—Mary was truly the mother of God incarnate.

The council, under the leadership of Cyril of Alexandria, reaffirmed the teaching that Jesus is one person with two natures united inseparably. Consequently, it was decreed that it was legitimate to call Mary “Theotokos” because her motherhood was not limited to Christ’s human nature but encompassed his entire person. Thus, Mary was not only the mother of the human Jesus but of the Son of God made flesh.

By affirming that Mary is the Mother of God, the Council of Ephesus defended the full divinity of Christ from the first moment of his existence. In this way, Mary’s figure becomes a sign of Christ’s unity and a testament to the true incarnation: God truly assumed our humanity in Mary’s womb.

Now let me drill down on one of the statements above. “If Jesus was not fully God from the moment of his conception, the work of salvation might be compromised.” The “injury” – deliberately set in quotes, because we cannot “injure” God – the “injury” to an all-holy God, because it was against God, is of an infinite nature. Therefore it needed an infinite solution from us. But how could that be accomplished when we are all finite? God came up with the answer: he would become one of us. But his humanity needed to still contain his divinity, else he would not be able to atone for our sins. It must be an infinite payment for an infinite transgression. John 3:16-17 – “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.”

You have heard me say this before: what is infinity minus infinity? Infinity! Not zero! The Blood of Jesus paid the eternal price, establishing the ONLY way we can be restored to being children of God – in the Son. So we must hold to the theology of Mary as the Mother of God – our feast day today. Oh, by the way, the Feast of Mary the Mother of God is also on the Lutheran calendar on August fifteenth. I thought you might find that interesting. 

There are groups of pseudo-Christians today who hold to the teaching of Nestorius. But as the Church Fathers have declared as far back as the fifth century, Mary MUST be declared the Mother of God. It is one of her most ancient titles. But most importantly, it keeps safe the nature of Jesus as truly God and truly man.

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AAA:

SJA: 53%

STM: 75%