In the Old Testament, the
kings had many concubines but only one mother and a king’s mother was given
honor.
In 2 Kings 24:12 (NLT) “Then King Jehoiachin, along with the queen mother, his
advisers, his commanders, and his officials, surrendered to the Babylonians…,”
we could see that the mother of the king was called “queen mother.”
In 1 Kings 2:19-21 (NASB) “So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah. And the
king arose to meet her, bowed before her, and sat on his throne; then he had
a throne set for the king’s mother, and she sat on his right,” King
Solomon himself gave his mother a royal treatment. He stood to meet her as she
approached him, he bowed before her and even had a throne put at his right side
for his mother to sit on. Bathsheba came to him to ask a favor for his brother
Adonijah. The king listened but had a choice whether to grant the favor or not.
Notice also that King Solomon sat on his throne first before the queen mother
was given a throne to sit on. These meant that the queen mother was not higher
than the king son because if she did, then the king would have obeyed her
request and would have not sat before his mother had settled on her throne.
Jesus came from the lineage of King David.
He was the One being prophesied in Jeremiah 23:5-6 (NASB) who will restore the
kingdom of David: “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “When I will raise up for David a
righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely.
And do justice and righteousness in the land. “In His days
Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell securely; And this is His name
by which He will be called, ‘The Lord our
righteousness.’
In the following passages,
John, the Evangelist, saw a vision of heaven with Jesus, the Lamb, as King of
all kings:
Revelation 19:16 (GNT) On His robe and on His thigh was written
the name: “King of kings and Lord of lords.”
Revelation 17:14 (GNT) They will fight against the Lamb; but the
Lamb, together with his called, chosen, and faithful followers, will defeat
them, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings.”
John also saw a woman in
heaven with a crown of twelve stars on her head:
Revelation 12:1-9 (GNT) Then a great and
mysterious sight appeared in the sky. There was a woman, whose dress was
the sun and who had the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her
head. She was soon to give birth, and the pains
and suffering of childbirth made her cry out.
Another mysterious sight appeared in the sky. There
was a huge red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and a crown on
each of his heads. With his tail he dragged a
third of the stars out of the sky and threw them down to the earth. He
stood in front of the woman, in order to eat her child as soon as it was born.
Then she
gave birth to a son, who will rule over all nations with an iron rod.
But the
child was snatched away and taken to God and His throne. The woman fled to the desert, to a place God had
prepared for her, where she will be taken care of for 1,260 days.
Then war broke out in heaven. Michael
and his angels fought against the dragon, who fought back with his
angels; but the dragon was defeated, and he and
his angels were not allowed to stay in heaven any longer. The huge dragon was thrown out—that
ancient serpent, named the Devil, or Satan, that deceived the whole world. He
was thrown down to earth, and all his angels with him.
We believe that the woman was Mary. Why? Because it was indicated in the above passage that she gave birth
to a Son who will rule over all nations and was taken to God and His throne. If
He had a throne, that meant He was a King. The red dragon, which was fought by St.
Michael and the angels, was Satan and he wanted to destroy the child as soon as
He was born.
As we had mentioned, Jesus
is the King of kings. He was the child Satan wanted to destroy but was taken to
His throne to rule over all nations. He was born of His mother, who is Mary.
As a King from the lineage
of King David, Jesus who perfectly obeys the Law, would definitely honor His
mother much more than the kings to their queen mothers in the Old Testament. He
would also follow the protocol of having a throne set on His right side for His
Queen Mother to sit on. But as in King Solomon, this doesn't mean that Mary is higher than Jesus. He also has a choice to carry on or not the favors that His Mother will ask of Him.
Sources:
- CatholicBridge.com http://www.davidmacd.com/catholic/mary_queen_of_heaven_and_earth.htm
- Catholic Apologetics http://www.sandersongs.com/apologetics/Mary.php
- defenders of the Catholic Faith by Stephen Ray http://www.catholic-convert.com/2012/08/21/mary-queen-of-heaven/
- Catholic Bible Study and Apologetics http://catholicbiblicalstudies.blogspot.com/2011/08/why-do-catholics-call-mary-queen-of.html
You may also want to read:
-Mary the "Mother of God," we call her this...Does this mean she is greater than God?
http://iamacatholicbyheart.blogspot.com/2012/08/does-calling-mary-mother-of-god-make.html
