In refutation of the claimed silence regarding Mary in the New Testament, it must be noted that the Blessed Virgin Mary is mentioned by name
20 times in the New Testament:
Matthew 1:16; Matthew 1:18; Matthew 1:20; Matthew 2:11; Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3; Luke 1:27; Luke 1:30; Luke 1:34; Luke 1:38; Luke 1:39; Luke 1:41; Luke 1:46; Luke 1:56; Luke 2:5; Luke 2:16; Luke 2:19; Luke 2:34; John 19:25; Acts 1:14
Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a
virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us
"And going into the house they [the Magi] saw the child with
Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him.
"...but when the designated time had come, God sent forth his Son
born of a woman, born under the law, to deliver from the law those who were subjected to it, so that we might receive our status as adopted sons..."
"You, my brothers, are children of the promise, as Isaac was. But just as in those days the son born in nature's course persecuted the one whose birth was in the realm of the spirit, so do we find it now."
31 Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him.
32 A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, "Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside asking for you."
33 And he replied, "Who are my mother and brothers?"
34 And looking at those who sat around him, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers!
35 Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother" (Mark 3:31-35
He left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him.
2 On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, "Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands!
3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him.
4 Then Jesus said to them, "Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house."
5 And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them.
6 And he was amazed at their unbelief.
how is mary not mentioned in the bible?
Furthermore, if we look at the places where Mary does receive a mention in Scripture, we note that these are all critical points in the life and ministry of her Son, Jesus: the annunciation (Luke 1:27 ff), the visitation (Luke 39-45) where Mary is Scripturally exalted as the Mother of God :
But why am I so favoured that the mother of my Lord should come to me?"
-the birth of Jesus,(Luke 2:7) the presentation in the Temple (Luke 2:22), the first public miracle of Jesus (John ), the death of Jesus on the Cross (John 19:25). Mary was with Jesus from His virginal conception until His death on the Cross, at all the critical moments in His earthly life. Note also that in some of these places Mary is not referred to by name, but by the title Mother of Jesus for example at the start of Jesus public ministry in John 2, or where she is designated the Queen of Heaven, as in Revelation 12:1:
Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman, robed with the sun, standing on the moon, and on her head a crown of twelve stars
Not forgetting the all-important prophecy from
Genesis 3:15: I shall put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers:; he will bruise your head, and you will strike his heel.
In contrast, Adam gets only 7 mentions in the New Testament:
Luke 3:38; Romans 5:14; 1 Corinthians 15:22; 1 Corinthians 15:45 ; 1 Timothy 2:13; 1 Timothy 2:14; Jude 14 and Eve gets only 2 mentions, in
1 Timothy 2:13 and
1 Timothy 2:14. Yet no one would deny the significance of Adam and Eve in the history of salvation.
We could also go into detail on the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14 regarding the virgin birth, but I would like instead to point out another verse regarding Our Lady and the incarnation of Jesus which is often overlooked. This reference to Mary in the Old Testament is
Jeremiah 31:22:
For the Lord shall create a new thing in the earth; a woman shall compass a man
This verse has been used even by nonCatholic commentators in the past in reference to the Virginal Conception of Christ. As examples, I cite from two celebrated (non-Catholic ) commentators of previous centuries, Matthew Henry and A. Fausset.
The following is from Matthew Henrys Commentary on Jeremiah 31:
"Many good interpreters understand this new thing created in that land to be the incarnation of Christ, which God an eye to in bringing them back to that land, and which had sometimes been given them for a sign, Isa. 7:14; 9:6. A woman, the virgin Mary, enclosed in her womb the Mighty One; for so Geber, the word here used, signifies; and God is called Gibbor, the Mighty God (ch. 32:18), as also is Christ in Isa. 9:6, where his incarnation is spoken of, as it is supposed to be here. He is El-Gibbor, the mighty God. Let this assure them that God would not cast off this people, for that blessing was to be among them, Isa. 65:8."
(From the Matthew Henry (d.1714) Commentary on Jeremiah 31)
"But the Christian fathers (Augustine, &c.) almost unanimously interpreted it of the Virgin Mary compassing Christ in her womb. This view is favored:--
- (1) By the connection; it gives a reason why the exiles should desire a return to their country, namely, because Christ was conceived there.
- (2) The word "created" implies a divine power put forth in the creation of a body in the Virgin's womb by the Holy Ghost for the second Adam, such as was exerted in creating the first Adam ( Luk 1:35 Hbr 10:5 ).
- (3) The phrase, "a new thing," something unprecedented; a man whose like had never existed before, at once God and man; a mother out of the ordinary course of nature, at once mother and virgin. An extraordinary mode of generation; one conceived by the Holy Ghost without man.
- (4) The specification "in the land" (not "earth," as English Version), namely, of Judah, where probably Christ was conceived, in Hebron (compare Luk 1:39, 42, 44 , with Jos 21:11 ) or else in Nazareth, "in the territory" of Israel, to whom Jer 31:5, 6, 15, 18, 21 refer; His birth was at Beth-lehem ( Mic 5:2 Mat 2:5, 6 ). As the place of His nativity, and of His being reared ( Mat 2:23 ), and of His preaching ( Hag 2:7 Mal 3:1 ), are specified, so it is likely the Holy Spirit designated the place of His being conceived.
- (5) The Hebrew for "woman" implies an individual, as the Virgin Mary, rather than a collection of persons.
- (6) The restoration of Israel is grounded on God's covenant in Christ, to whom, therefore, allusion is naturally made as the foundation of Israel's hope (compare Isa 7:14 ). The Virgin Mary's conception of Messiah in the womb answers to the "Virgin of Israel" (therefore so called, Jer 31:21 ), that is, Israel and her sons at their final restoration, receiving Jesus as Messiah ( Zec 12:10 ).
- (7) The reference to the conception of the child Messiah accords with the mention of the massacre of "children" referred to in Jer 31:15 (compare Mat 2:17 ).
- (8) The Hebrew for "man" is properly "mighty man," a term applied to God ( Deu 10:17 ); and to Christ ( Zec 13:7 ; compare Psa 45:3 Isa 9:6 )
? A positive times itself is a positive. A negative times itself is positive as well (and that's not even possible because you can't have negative mass). Am I missing something?
