Protestants too often have neglected Mary in reaction to what they have seen as excessive devotion of the mother of Jesus by Catholics. In a book called The Real Mary (Paraclete Press), New Testament scholar Scot McKnight urges evangelicals to give serious attention to Mary as an example of courage and commitment.
In his book—which will be a wonderful resource for Christmas preaching—McKnight observes, “Mary was the only one who knew some facts about Jesus. She and God and Joseph (because the angel told him) were the only ones who knew about the virginal conception. She was either the only one present or one of the few present when Gabriel spoke, when Elizabeth exclaimed her joy about Mary’s child, when Mary sang the Magnificat, and when Simeon and Anna prophesied. She was one of two present when the shepherds announced their good news and when the Magi offered gifts to Jesus, the newborn king. She was one of the few who knew about the wine at Cana, and she was one of the few who heard Jesus speak from the cross.
“So, when it is argued that the Gospels are in part Mary’s memoirs, we must agree with the general drift: For from whom else would the early Christians—and the Evangelists—have learned about these things if not from Mary?..She was in the middle of the earliest Christian community as a source of information about Jesus.” (Click here to learn more about the book The Real Mary.)