"mother" has different meanings.PeterG wrote:Jesus is not the Father, but He is unquestionably God. I do not recall any passage that says that Jesus is not God, or anything of the sort. On the contrary: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." "Before Abraham was, I am."silentreader wrote:Is Jesus God? The best I can do is to say, yes He is, and no He isn't.
(It does not follow that it is proper to refer to Mary as the mother of God.
I believe it would be correct to say that she was the mother of His humanity, not of His divinity.
here my understanding is, Mary was the special chosen one to be the vessel that brought forward Jesus, Son of God, to earth. she wasn't His bio mother, but, from scriptures, she loved+cared for Him throughout His earthly life, both his human form and divine being. she knew He was divine before He was born. she knew she was being used by God, first as a vessel, then in roles as mother and caretaker.
it's hard to be more special, more loved, than Mary, but, she is not God.
she is His adoptive mother, in the highest form we will ever know.
He loved and respected her as His earthly human mother with a divine appointment.
it's interesting how contemporary science supports and gives us improved insights into scriptures.
this is one more example. because of IVF, DNA, and more, we can see how a woman can give life to an infant without sharing DNA, at all. a woman today can be used as a vessel to carry life until birth. that same woman can relinquish the child to others, or keep the child to raise as her own. (i don't intend to minimize, this is all very complex, not all is understood about all the complications for mother and/or child!) but, the basic mechanics of how it happens is now known.
this is not to suggest God resorted to any such things, i don't believe that for one moment.
but, knowing about these things in science gives a glimpse of the power of God to create in ways we cannot fathom. we are limited, He is not.
even more interesting to me, is how, Mary, the Apostles, believers, submitted and accepted without "science," either as a glimpse, or proof. most of all, we are called to faith, which seems to so hard for us. we rebel!
Jesus knows how hard it is to believe without "facts."
that's why He values it so much. it's not the easy path.