QUESTION:

2/4/2010: Isaiah 53 of course is a prophecy of the Messiah. Isaiah 53:5-6 tells us for whom the Messiah died: Isaiah 53:5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities…All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 11:32 For God has shut up all in disobedience that He might show mercy to all. 1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust… Concerning believers the Bible says: 1 John 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. How does the Orthodox Church interpret these verses? Wouldn’t these verses indicate that all people, at one point or another, have committed at least some sins? Wouldn’t that include Mary? Doesn't the teaching of the sinlessness of Mary contradict Scripture? Thank you for your consideration. David Wolfe

ANSWER:

We have recently covered this topic at some length here

http://www.orthodoxanswers.org/details.asp?ID=497

In addition to the above, it should be noted that Isaiah 53 has an undefined "our" which could hardly include a future person; Romans 11:32 talks about the disobedience of all when Mary is shown - unlike Eve - as a model of obedience (Luke 1); 1 Peter 3:18 certainly applies to Mary in the sense that Jesus Christ, her son, is her savior. However, in the previous answer we are discussed degrees / types of sinfulness and relative sinlessness, thus Luke 1:6 "Both of them were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord."

If Mary is indeed the antitype of Eve and of the Ark as well as a manifestation of Wisdom (Revelation 12/13), it is certainly allowable that the "we" and "all" which excludes Jesus could also exclude Mary. However, we have discussed that the absolute sinlessness of the Theotokos (i.e. on par with that of Christ) is a complex and unsettled issue.

Keyword: Sinlessness | Other keywords: Mary, Theotokos, Immaculate