The Assumption of Mary

WOMAN OF THE APOCOLYPSE

SERMON PREACHED BY FR. TONY NOBLE ON August 15^th, 2010

                                                  

Revelation 12:1 “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”

 

The book of Revelation contains wonderful and fantastic images, which both dazzle us and frighten us. It is what is known as apocalyptic writing, and Revelation is often referred to as the book of the Apocalypse. In the Old Testament a similar book is Daniel. Both of these books, Daniel and Revelation, contain images of the end of all things, the triumph of good, and the reign of God.  Both were written at times of persecution to give the faithful some hope for the future.  As they were suffering, reading these books gave them confidence that all was not in vain.

 

Unfortunately, in recent century’s fringe Christian groups have used these books like fortune telling to predict the future. They tell us that they portray current events.  For instance, the establishment of the state of Israel is supposed to be prophesied in Revelation, and the communist empire.  I remember when credit cards came out we were told this was the number 666, and by using credit cards, we would all be numbered by the Mark of the Beast. 

 

Those sorts of groups believe in what we might call a book-keeper God: one who keeps invoices and debits, and weighs them up in the balance.  In contrast, Catholic Christians believe not in a book-keeper God, but in an incarnational God, who is a God who shows his love for us in the childbearing of Mary.  He reveals that love to us in her child, Jesus Christ. 

 

Revelation does not always reveal this God of love.  Sometimes it does seem to be the book-keeper God that Revelation is giving to us. 

 

The book does seem a bit of a mystery.  Perhaps, the most mysterious image of all is this woman clothed with the sun, standing on the moon, and with a crown of twelve stars.  The woman of the Apocalypse.  Through the centuries, much Christian art has been used to portray this woman standing on the moon and clothed with the sun. 

 

The Church has always understood this woman to be Mary, for obvious reasons. She is about to give birth to “a male child, one who is to rule all the nations”.  But in this prophesy of the birth of her son, we do not see Mary of Bethlehem. There is no serene setting here, no humble stable, no adoring shepherds at the manger.  Here, in Revelation 12, there is danger – A great red dragon (could it be communist China!) is waiting to devour her child.  The baby Jesus is under threat, and Mary labors under great travail as the dragon waits to stoop. But all is not lost – for the child, on being born, is taken up to God and his throne. He is, as the book says, the one who is to rule the nations. 

 

Of course, at Bethlehem the baby Jesus was not taken up to God’s throne.  He was, in fact, taken to Egypt by Mary and Joseph. So it’s not the Bethlehem scene that Revelation portrays in the childbearing of this woman of the apocolypse. 

 

What does it all mean? 

 

To start with, we must understand the Revelation is the unveiling of things as God sees them, not as we see them.  In these images, it is fatal to interpret times and events that we are familiar with.  Rather we see in them messages and revelations – which is why the book is called Revelation. 

 

Colorful images like the woman, the dragon, the seven heads, the whore of Babylon, and even the number 666, are images of what was happening when the book was written way back in the first century.  That was the time of the Great Persecution, particularly in Rome. The whore of Babylon, in the book of Revelation, is nothing else than that corrupt Roman Empire. Or it may be that she is the goddess Roma, who was the center of Roman religion. The seven headed beast is the Roman emperors who persecuted the Christians. The number 666, the number of the Beast, was understood to represent the most evil of all those Roman emperors, Nero himself.  He burned Christians in his gardens to light up his parties. The dragon, of course, may symbolize Satan – but in this context, he is more likely to represent the political, economic, and religious systems of the day, which were so pagan in the eyes of the first Christians.   

 

So when the woman and the dragon do battle in Revelation 12, it is symbolic of the battle between the Church and the powers of this world.  Although this relates to the first century, this battle has been repeated century after century.  It is a pattern we see, even today. 

 

Aggressive atheism and new age religions confront the church more than ever before – and they accuse us of being deluded by myths and fantasies. 

 

More pertinent, in recent years the Roman Catholic Church has been under great attack particularly by the media. Although the Episcopal Church may not be under such an attack, within our church there also seems to be a battle going on between traditionalists and those who would revise the Christian faith. The woman and the dragon still do battle.

 

Thousands of years ago Joshua gathered the Israelites at Shechem, and challenged them to choose whom they would serve.  He said, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”  Revelation chapter 12 offers a similar choice.  Since Christians could never choose the dragon, we must choose Mary and all that she represents:  goodness, purity, holiness, following Christ, and, of course, the incarnation itself. 

 

The birth pangs of this woman clothed with the sun are not the birth pangs of Bethlehem.  They are the birth pangs of Jesus’ death and resurrection. 

 

That is why the child is taken up to God and his throne.  It is Jesus’ exultation to God’s throne at his resurrection and ascension. And the birth is the birth of the Church itself. 

 

This is emphasized at the beginning of the book of Revelation, where it declares that Jesus is the first born of the dead and the ruler of the kings on earth (Rev 1:5). Here in chapter 12, we see the first born of the dead being born into resurrection through the woman clothed with the sun.

 

The image of the woman of the Apocolypse is not just about Mary.  It is an image of the resurrection of Christ – and of our resurrection too.  As we celebrate Mary’s Assumption, we celebrate our own resurrection, which is promised to us through Christ. Mary is not only an image of every Christian, but also a sign of the Church in its’ heavenly glory.  That is the significance of the 12 stars on her head.  They represent the 12 apostles, the foundation of the Church.  So this woman clothed with the sun is the Church in glory. 

 

The first Christians needed this image of Mary as hope for themselves.  Do we, 21^st Century Christians, need Mary’s image any less? 

 

Heavenly glory is only possible for Mary and for us because Jesus now reigns in glory through his resurrection.  Mary is queen, in a vesture of gold because Jesus is king on his throne in heaven.  Like her, we shall one day reign with him.  So we have this chorus in Revelation: “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ have come” (Rev 12:10). The woman of the Apocalypse is the woman of the Resurrection, and the woman of Mary’s Assumption. 

 

The noted theologian, Karl Rahner, says, “What we say of Mary is what we hope for ourselves.”  Not so much a place in heaven, nor a throne, but a condition – heavenly glory, and salvation.  Thus, these images, of the woman clothed in the sun, the queen in a vesture of gold, are images not only of Mary, but also of us and what we shall be one day. 

 

Today we honor Mary and celebrate that central act of God’s love, the Resurrection.  We also remember that the battle between the woman and the dragon is an ongoing battle, in which her children, you and I, are still involved. 

 

Mary is the image of the Church militant here on earth and triumphant in heaven.  So today, we are glad; today, we rejoice; because today is our hope.