The Mother of Christ was not a surrogate mother!

I am writing this short article on August 15, 2026. It is the day on which the Mother of Christ, Mary, is honored in both the East and the West. And yet, for many people I’ve met—supposed students of the Scriptures—the Mother of Christ is practically nonexistent. They’re too ashamed even to mention her, let alone honor her. It’s as if the Mother of Christ were a surrogate mother—you know, one of those women people hire to carry their child, then pay her a fee, take the baby, and the birth mother isn’t mentioned anywhere. That’s pretty much how they treat Christ’s mother. Essentially non-existent and mentioned only when they want to belittle her and list all the things she, in their opinion, is not. How unfair to the mother of our Lord. For the one who didn’t just give birth to Him—accepting the possibility of social ostracism, even stoning—but raised Him with tenderness and love and stood by His side until the very end. Because, my friend, Christ doesn’t just have a Father. He also has a mother, Mary. The one who, in Luke 4:48, said that all generations would call her blessed. When was the last time you blessed the mother of Christ, my dear? But you’ll tell me, “I follow the Scriptures.” And what do the Scriptures tell you? Don’t they tell you to honor your father and your mother? And yet you accept not honoring the Mother of Christ? Do you treat her, in a sense—you may not admit it in words, but in practice that is how it is—as if she were a surrogate mother? Would you like it if someone did that to your own mother? To consider her, in essence, a surrogate mother? Do you think Christ likes that? To have His mother practically insulted? But since you’re talking about the Scriptures, the interpretation of the Scriptures doesn’t happen in a vacuum. The Holy Spirit didn’t just appear today. He’s been at work for 2,000 years now. Do you know what the early Christians believed about Christ’s mother? Are you interested? You should be. Because if you think that, after 2,000 years of the Holy Spirit’s presence, you’re going to start from scratch, be careful not to insult the Holy Spirit in this way, because the Holy Spirit does not start from scratch. It has been at work for two millennia now. So what did the early Christians consider the Mother of Christ to be? This is what Irenaeus—second generation after the apostles, bishop of Lugdunum (modern-day Lyon), a martyr for Christ, a disciple of Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna (to whom the Book of Revelation refers with words of honor), who in turn was a disciple of the Apostle John – writes:

“Thus, the Lord clearly came ‘to His own’ and sustained the creation that He Himself sustains. He also brought about the redemption of the disobedience on the tree through obedience on the tree. And that the transgression—into which the virgin Eve, whom God had already given to a man, was wrongly led—was resolved, was truly announced by the angel to the virgin Mary, who was already betrothed to a man. Just as Eve was led astray by the words of the angel (the devil), causing her to turn away from God when she disobeyed His word, so too was this truth proclaimed to Mary by an angel through his words: that she would bear God by obeying His word. And while Eve did not obey God, Mary was persuaded and obeyed God. Thus, the Virgin Mary became the advocate of the Virgin Eve. And just as the human race was bound to death through a virgin, so it was set free through a virgin. And a balance was thus established, so that the disobedience of the Virgin Eve might be undone by the obedience of the Virgin Mary. Furthermore, the sin of the first-created was atoned for with the help of the Firstborn, and the cunning of the serpent was overcome by the simplicity of the dove. Thus were those bonds broken by which we were bound to death. (Irenaeus of Lyons, Refutation of False Knowledge, Book V).

And again, in another of his books, this same martyr for Christ writes: “Just as, because of a disobedient virgin (Eve), man was afflicted and, after his fall, was subjected to death, so too, because of the Virgin (Mary) who was obedient to the word of God, man is reborn into new life. Man was the lost sheep, whom the Lord came to seek on earth. For this reason, He took on flesh and human likeness from her, who was descended from David. Indeed, it was just and necessary that Adam be restored in Christ, so that mortality might be absorbed and swallowed up by immortality, and for Eve to be restored in Mary, so that one virgin might become the advocate of another virgin and wipe out the disobedience of the first through her own virginal obedience. ” (Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching, Chapter 33)”

So the Mother of Christ is the Second Eve! Just as Eve is our mother, so too is the Mother of Christ our mother. This is what the early Christians believed, not in the 4th century but 2 generations after the apostles. See how nicely Irenaeus demonstrated this. See the wonderful analogies that are there. That’s what the first Christians had in mind. Have you ever heard this said? Have you heard anyone speak of a “Second Eve”? No, she isn’t mentioned anywhere. But how could she be mentioned, since most of the people try to understand the Scriptures, in a vacuum! It’s as if the Church of Christ—which, as He said, the gates of Hades will not prevail against—hasn’t existed for already 2,000 years. But now you know. As she herself said:

Luke 4:46–48
“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; for He has looked with favor on the lowliness of His servant; for behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed.”

Are you part of the generation that blesses her, or are you sitting on the sidelines, waiting to see whether somebody will bless her so that you can belittle her? “From now on all generations will call me blessed,” which means she will be known and highly honored by all generations. So here I bless the Mother of Christ, the second Eve! Because the Mother of Christ is my mother too! And I tell you, my friend, do the same!