I believe its not taught that Mary was free from temptation, but that the graces she received from God allowed her to resist temptation. That is why perhaps Adam and Eve’s sin is so profound in that being full of grace from creation, they can be tempted and should have the graces to resist it, but still chose to defy God.
I really don’t think Mary resisted as much as she trusted. I think it is important to understand what Adam and Eve were faced with.
Our artwork depects them in the beaucholic garden with a snake wrapped around a tree, maybe with it’s tounge sticking out. But this is misleading. They were face to face with the tempter himself. They were face to face with Satan himself. And Satan is the father of lies.
***But the snake said to the woman: “You certainly will not die!" *
(Genesis 3:4)
Satan lied. Whether they ate or did not eat, they were going to die. If they ate, which they did, they died. But if they didn’t eat, then Satan was going to kill them. And that was where they went wrong. They didn’t trust that if they refused to eat and that if Satan killed them for not eating, that God would have raised them from the dead. They had no faith in God. They didn’t trust God. Sure, they disobeyed God, but at the end of the day, their lack of trust in God, that he was able to raise them from the dead. Their lack of faith, of trust in God was their fatal flaw, and what led to disobedience.
This is what makes Abraham so special. He is the Father of Faith. He was the first one in all of creation to believe, to trust, to have faith in God, that God could raise someone from the dead.
By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was ready to offer his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac descendants shall bear your name.” He reasoned that God was able to raise even from the dead, and he received Isaac back as a symbol. (Hebrews 11:17-19)
We often speak about faith, and grace in the context of freewill, and the strength to resist temptation, and obedience. But there is the issue of trust. God is our Father. He wants us not to obey him, but to trust him.
As you put it, both Mary and our first parents were full of Grace. Then why did Adam and Eve fail while Mary succeeded? I think it was trust. Mary trusted God while out first parents did not.
But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” (Luke 1:34)
Mary is puzzled. She does not understand. This is her moment of doubt, of questioning, of temptation not to obey, not to trust. She is human. It is only natural. So she asks how it can be and the angel explains, and she does what Adam and Eve were not able to do. She trusts. She doesn’t rely on some strength to resist. She trusts God at his word.
Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word. (Luke 1:38)
And her cousin Elizabeth praises her for her trust.
Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled. (Like 1:45)
Elizabeth doesn’t say, “Blessed are you who resisted the tempation to disobey and say no.” Elizabeth praises her belief, her faith, her trust. And Mary sings to God, thanking him for fulfilling his promise made to Abraham a two thousand years beforehand which she believed in.
He has helped Israel his servant,
remembering his mercy,
according to his promise to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.
(Luke 1:54-55)
In Christ, God fulfills the promise he made to Abraham and all mankind. And in Mary is the fulfillment of all trust, a complete reversal of the lack of trust which Adam and Eve exhibited and the fullness of all the trust Moses and Abraham had and which the nation of Israel lacked over and over and over. If Jesus is Truth incarnate, then Mary is Trust incarnate.
I really don’t think Mary resisted as much as she trusted. Blindly. Like holding your Father’s hand while he leads you through a scary, dark place. He says, “Trust me. I know were we are going.” And we ask, “How can this be. It’s dark. I can’t see.” And our Father says, “Trust me. I know.”
Maybe I’m wrong. I’m here on an Eastern forum and maybe I have unknowingly offended some. I apologize. I only speak for myself that every time I try to resist, I fall short. But when I trust God, I do the right thing. And that is what I think Mary did. I’m no theologian. This is just my own experience.
-Tim-
If sin is spiritual and material slavery, then is the will to sin truly free, or is it a license to practice human bondage?