My dear friend, thank you for this very important question.  The simple answer is that Mary, the mother of the Lord Jesus was a poor young woman of the tribe of Judah.  She was in all respects just like you and like me as to her humanity. 

God knew before the world was ever formed that mankind would need a Savior, and He purposed there in eternity past to send His Son to be that Savior.  In a prophesy centuries before Jesus was born, which is found in Isaiah 7:14, we read, “Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel”. The name Immanuel means “God with us,” and so this verse at once establishes that the Christ would be God dwelling with men (see John 1), and that He would be born of a virgin.

Now, God, in His sovereignty, chose Mary to be the Lord Jesus’ earthly mother, and as we read below, the reason given was that she had “found favor” with God.  Therefore we read in Luke 1:26-30, “ And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.…And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.”  In these verses, we see that God sent an angel to speak with Mary, who was a normal human being. You should note here that Mary was said to be “highly favoured”, and she is said to be “blessed among women.”  That means, that God chose a perfectly normal young woman, of a like nature with any other woman, with the exception that God favored her. Mary was not deity, nor did she have a special role except to carry the Christ Child.  Please note also that the words “full of Grace” do not occur in this portion of Scripture in the King James Bible. So, again in this we see that Mary was a mere mortal woman.  You will also want to note here that the angel did not worship Mary (actually, you will not find any Scriptures in the New Testament where Mary is worshipped); but he did inform her of God’s plan for her to carry the Christ child, which of course was a very great honor.  Just think—of all the women in Israel, Mary was chosen by God to be the mother of the Messiah!

We read in Luke 1 that Mary was espoused to a man named Joseph, who was of the line of David (Matthew 1:16).  This is important because in Israel, lineage was traced through the male line.  In other Scriptures, we see that Mary too was of the line of David, so there can be no doubt about the Lord Jesus being in that line. Only one who was of this line had the legal right to the throne of Israel, and the Christ was foretold in prophesy to one day sit on the throne of David, and that His kingdom would have no end (see Luke 1:33). And yet, Joseph was not to be the actual father. Now, how was this to be?  Well, Mary was a virgin, and she had known no man.  So, God ordained that the Holy Spirit would come upon Mary, and she would be found with child of the Holy Ghost (Matthew 1:18).  We also read in Luke 1:35, ”And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” 

Thus, while Mary was clearly of this earth, just like you and like me, the Lord Jesus was true God and true man because God was His Father, not Joseph.  Though Mary was the earthly mother of the “Son of God,” deity could never be attributed to Mary because Jesus was the only begotten of God. Jesus’ father was God, and He and He alone was both true God and true man. More than that, like everyone else born of man, including you and me, Mary was a sinner in need of a Savior.  Jesus was that Savior (“For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him”, (2 Corinthians 5:21). 

Now, as to Mary being “special,” she is certainly very special indeed in that she had found favor with God. However, in answer to your question, she does not have a special position beyond any other Christian who is saved by Grace through faith. Mary is not deity, nor is she the mediator between man and Christ. Mary was only known in the Scriptures as being the “MOTHER OF JESUS” and did not have a higher place than the disciples or any other believers. She certainly could not be called the “MOTHER OF GOD.” In John 2:1, we read, “And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there….” You’ll notice that the focus in this Scripture was given to Jesus, and Mary was identified only as Jesus’ mother. One of the commentators points out that the last actual words recorded of Mary in the Bible are found in John 2:5: “His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it”. Mary did no miracles herself, but she did what we all should do as Christians—she pointed others to Jesus and bid them to obey Him.

Now, I have heard that there are those who would suggest that one must come through Mary in prayer to petition the Lord Jesus, but again this could not be said of a mere human like Mary.  We read in 1 Timothy 2:5-6, “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus; Who gave Himself a ransom for all….” It is through the Lord Jesus, and Him alone, that people can come to God, and through faith in His completed work of redemption at Calvary, receive forgiveness of sins and salvation. As I have mentioned, Mary was not without her honor—she found favor with God of all the women in the house of Judah, but beyond that, she, like all the disciples, and like every one of us, must look to the Lord Jesus for salvation. Consider the lovely words of John 3:16-17, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved”.  (405.2)  (SF)