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THE BIBLICAL ASPECTS OF THE ASSUMPTION

+ The Assumption of Mary is the teaching that:
“The Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory” [Pius XII, Munificentissimus Deus 44]
This teaching has been part of Sacred Tradition within the Church and it is also a teaching held by the Oriental Orthodox, Assyrian Church of the East & Eastern Orthodox (known as Dormition of Mary) long before it was infallibly defined by Pope Pius XII on Nov. 1, 1950.
The Assumption of Mary is also a teaching that’s taught implicitly in Sacred Scripture which we will examine in this post.

+ The Assumption of Mary is tied to the scriptural teaching of Mary being the Ark of the New Covenant.

1) The Ark Contained:
- The Word of God in stone
- The Rod of Aaron, the Ancestral Priest
- The bread manna
(See Hebrews 9:4)

The Blessed Mary Contained:
- The Word of God in flesh (John 1:14)
- The High Priest, Jesus (Hebrews 3:1)
- The true manna from heaven (John 6:32)

2) The glory of the Lord and the cloud cover the Tabernacle (containing the Ark) and
“overshadow” them (Exodus 40:34-35).
The Greek word for “overshadow” found in the Septuagint is a form of episkiasei.
The Holy Spirit comes upon Mary and the power of the Most High “overshadows” her (Luke 1:35). The Greek word for “overshadow” is episkiasei.

3) David “arose and went” to the hill country of Judah to bring up “the Ark of God” (2 Samuel 6:2)
Mary “arose and went” into the hill country of Judah to visit Elizabeth (Luke 1:39)

4) David admits his unworthiness to receive the Ark by exclaiming: “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?” (2 Samuel 6:9)
Elizabeth admits her unworthiness to receive Mary by exclaiming: “But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”
(Luke 1:43)

+ In Psalm 132 we see a promise that God would assume his ark into heaven.
“Arise, O Lord, to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your strength.” (‭‭Psalms‬ ‭132:8‬).
This a reference ‬‬to the Temple but we can know that this is also a reference to the Ark of the New Covenant (Mary) because it is also a messianic prophecy of Christ.

We can know this because St. Peter applies Psalm 132:11 to Christ in Acts 2:30 which says, “Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne,”.

+ In the book of Revelation St. John directly connects the Ark in Heaven and the Mother of Christ.
Revelation 11:19-12:1 - “Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail. Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars.”
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The reason why I quoted Revelation 11:19 & 12:1 together is because that is how it was read originally. In the ancient Greek manuscripts there were no chapter divisions like how we have them today. Revelation 12:1 consistently follows from Revelation 11:19.
The woman here is Mary. Revelation 12 points out that the moon is under her feet and she has a crown on her head. The fact that Mary is mentioned with having a head and feet outside of the earth shows that both her body and soul was assumed. Other Christians in heaven currently do not possess a body (Revelation 6:9, Hebrews 12:23) but will after the last trumpet (1 Corinthians 15:52; 15:42). And yes I am aware that Revelation 12:1 is symbolic but I will prove how it is both literal and symbolic and not either or.
Some Protestants would object that say that the woman in Revelation 12 is not Mary, but it’s Israel. However this is a logical fallacy called a false dichotomy. It’s not an either/or. The woman is Mary as well as Israel. And the woman is also the Church. Revelation 12 contains a fusion reference. A fusion reference is when there’s an expression of two or more things together to form a single story or event. There are other examples of fusion references in Scripture.
For example, In Psalm 2:7-9 it says that Jesus is the Son of God who rules the nations with a rod of iron. But this passage also refers to believers (Revelation 2:26-27).

In Isaiah 7:14 it contains a prophecy of Christ that he would be called Immanuel. But in the context (Isaiah 7:14-18) it also applies to another person who would be called Immanuel. A different Immanuel was born as a sign that God was still with Israel (Isaiah 8:5-8).
Isaiah 49:6 contains a prophecy of Christ that he would be a light to the gentiles and bring salvation to the ends of the earth. But this passage also applies to believers (Acts 13:47).

Mary is the woman in Revelation 12 because:
There’s a sign Mary shall conceive a son (Isaiah 7:13-14), There’s a sign in the heaven which is a woman (Revelation 12:1). Mary will be with the child, the woman was with the child (Revelation 12:4). Mary will give birth to a son (Isaiah 7:13-14), the woman gave birth to a son (Revelation 12:1-2,5)
The woman also is Israel because she is associated with the sun, the moon and the twelve stars. These symbols are drawn from Genesis 37:9-11 where Joseph has a dream of the sun and moon (symbolizing his mother and father) and stars (symbolizing his brothers). Together the sun, moon and the stars represents the people of Israel
The woman is the Church because she is the rest of the offspring that bears witness to Jesus (Revelation 12:17)

+ The dogma of the Assumption of Mary is ultimately tied to Christology. It is a sign of everything that has been accomplished through the finished work of Christ on the cross. This teaching reminds us that evil has already lost the war even though time has not run its full course. In Mary’s assumption, it is a witness of the resurrection of the body and the new creation which has been promised to the Body of Christ. The Assumption of the Mother of Christ is the guarantee of the final resurrection of all the faithful.