If you've ever wondered how many children Mary and Joseph had then you're in for a treat in this article. Specifically, I'll be discussing biblical, historical and references in Christian tradition Joseph and Mary's offspring. After you've finished with this article you should have an increased understanding of the important area of Jesus' family life.
Use Of The 'Brethren' Jewish Idiom-
'Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us?' (Mt 13:55-56).
In the Hebrew and Aramaic language which Jesus and his family used, the word 'brother' and 'sister' were used broadly in the family setting. This was mainly because Hebrew and Aramaic do not have a word for 'cousin.' In fact, the term 'brethren' was commonly understood to include cousins, relatives, in laws, nephews, even close family friends namely all members of an extended clan or family network.
An example of this word usage can be found as far back as the Book of Genesis, the first in the Bible; 'Which when Abram had heard, to wit, that his brother Lot was taken..'(Gen 14:14) Lot was referred to in this verse as 'brother' but he was in fact and it is obvious from the text that he was Abraham's' nephew. The term 'brother' was therefore a 'catch all' phrase in the Hebrew language.
When the New Testament was written down the translators using the Greek language, though they had a word for 'cousin' chose to keep the broader Hebrew usage (idioms) for the words 'brother' and 'sister' to ensure continuity of the context in the Scripture passages as 'cousin' might have been too narrow, 'brethren' either male or female was less exact.
Confusion has arisen however in that the Greek for brother and sister, namely adelphos and adelphe respectively have a much narrower interpretation in normal usage than the Hebrew idioms had. These Greek terms are more like the English words for brother or sister i.e. referring to blood brothers and sisters or half brothers and sisters only, relatives strictly of the same parents and not extended family members.
Arguments That Jesus Was Not The Only Child-
Aside from the confusion over terms discussed above, there are a several prominent arguments for the theory that Jesus was NOT the only child of Joseph and Mary.
The first argument centres around the wording concerning Joseph and Mary's marriage and betrothal arrangements; 'And he knew her not till she brought forth her firstborn son..' (Mt 1:25). This verse has led many to believe that AFTER Jesus' birth Mary and Joseph went on to have several children, the strict number of which is not identifiable or even mentioned in Scripture.
However, to refute this argument it must be remembered that when the Bible was written the word 'till' or the modern alternative 'until' actually meant that some action hadn't happened up until that point, it didn't imply an event happening later on (as it does in our language).
An example of the Biblical use of the word 'till' is found in the Book of Samuel, 'Michal the daughter of Saul had no children till the day of her death.' (2 Sam 6:23). The meaning of the word 'till' in the Biblical context here is obvious, it does not logically imply that Michal had children after her death.
A second argument is that Jesus was called the 'first born' hence there must have been children after him. Once again in those times the Jews used the term 'first born' differently than we do in our language which presupposes a second born.
For the Jews their 'first born' was the first male child that had 'opened the womb', who was to be presented and offered to God the father in the Temple as an offering (Jesus' presentation is a Feast celebrated on February 2nd each year). Therefore in Jewish idiom usage the first male child of a marriage was called the 'first-born' EVEN if he was only ever the only child of the marriage.
As Didymus commented in the year 386, '"It helps us to understand the terms 'first-born' and 'only-begotten' when the Evangelist tells us that Mary remained a virgin 'until she brought forth her first-born son' (Mt1:25); for neither did Mary, who is to be honoured and praised above all others, marry anyone else, nor did she ever become the Mother of anyone else, but even after childbirth she remained always and forever an immaculate virgin" (The Trinity 3:4 [A.D. 386]).
The third argument is very tenuous. Some say that a celibate marriage of Joseph and Mary (tradition attests that they had both made God inspired vows of virginity before their meeting and subsequent God inspired marriage) would have been impossible, even unnatural. However the great Scripture scholar Saint Jerome attests that the Holy Family was no ordinary family and that Jesus was, 'a virgin Son, born of a virginal wedlock'. The Messiah's immaculate purity necessitated his parents were immaculately pure also.
St Jerome supported the idea that both Joseph and Mary had taken vows of virginity prior to their marriage and known to God alone. Saint Joseph's purity would have been a fitting complement for the man who was to be the protector of God's new Ark of the Covenant, Mary, and his own Immaculate Son.
Arguments That Jesus WAS The Only Child
First of all, if Mary had not taken a vow of virginity BEFORE her marriage to Saint Joseph the question she asked the angel at the Annunciation would have been pointless. 'How can this be since I have no relations with a man?' (Luke 1:34), from the Church's earliest days the fathers of the Church have interpreted this Bible passage as meaning that Mary had made a vow of lifelong virginity which was unusual at that time but not unheard of.
Without the existence of this prior vow Mary's question to the angel would have been pointless as she wouldn't have asked 'how' she was to have a child, since she would have been expecting to conceive in the normal way as any newlywed would.
No, Mary's question makes sense only if there was a vow of virginity already made and offered to God (Church Tradition and the early fathers attest to this).
Further, a careful and studied look at the New Testament shows that Mary kept this vow of virginity and never had any children other than Jesus, no other child is mentioned in Scripture as being a son or daughter of Mary aside from Jesus. As Jesus grew up in Nazareth he was called, 'the son of Mary' (Mk 6:3) not 'a son of Mary' as there were no siblings to make this reference plural.
Secondly in the Gospel of Luke, when we are told of the finding of Jesus in the Temple at age twelve and his growth in age and wisdom at Nazareth, there is no hint or mention of ANY other children in the family. It is assumed throughout on careful reading of this passage that Jesus was Joseph and Mary's only child (Lk 2 41-52).
Thirdly at the Crucifixion Jesus entrusted his mother to the apostle John (John 19:26-27) if he had other blood brothers and sisters to look after Mary after his death why would Jesus have done this, entrusted his mother to someone outside the family circle?
Some have argued concerning this objection, that Jesus, who is love personified, may have 'fallen' out with his supposed brothers and sister because they didn't believe in him so he wanted to 'hurt' them by entrusting his mother to John instead.
It is hard to imagine why Jesus would have callously ignored his 'brothers' in favour of someone outside the family.
It was in 380 that Helvidius first brought forward the idea that the 'brothers of the Lord' or the 'brethren of the Lord' mentioned in the Gospels could be actual children born to Mary and Joseph after Jesus' birth.
Saint Jerome, the great Scripture scholar remarked about this idea that it was, ' novel, wicked, and a daring affront to the faith of the whole world'.
St Jerome three years later wrote ananswer to this assumption, ' I assert what has already been proven from the gospel-that Victorinus spoke of the brethren of the Lord not as being sons of Mary but brethren in the sense I have explained, that is to say, brethren in point of kinship, not by nature.'
( It is interesting to note that in the 1920's Jesus appeared to Sr Lucia, the seer of Fatima. In this vision Jesus warned of the sins of blasphemy against his Mother, one of which was the denial of Mary's perpetual virginity)
Saint Jerome in his treatise also went onto say that contrary to unsubstantiated and unreliable apocryphal writings such as the Proto-Evangelium of James-A.D. 125 (which claimed that Joseph was a widower with six children at the time of marrying Mary) St Joseph was a virgin who had never married and had consecrated himself totally to God's service in prayer. Such apocryphal writings never made it into Scripture or even Church tradition as they could not be substantiated sufficiently.
Summary
When on the Cross as he was dying, Jesus spoke to St John, 'Behold thy mother' he was also speaking to us and to Mary he said 'Behold thy son'. At that moment Jesus was spiritually entrusting all of his children redeemed at the price of his blood to Mary, his mother. He could not give us a better gift.
At that moment, Mary became the spiritual mother of millions of souls in all times and in all ages. The mystical mother of all God's children in Christ and as Mary is spiritual mother, by their marital union, St Joseph shares a spiritual fatherhood of all God's children as he was the father on earth of God's only begotten son.
So mystically speaking Mary and Joseph are mystical parents to billions of children worldwide, to the body of Christ on earth.
Surely, as Jesus chose to come to the earth through Mary the path back to God is through Jesus 'the way, the truth and the life'. On this path we are helped by the prayers and guidance of Mary and of Saint Joseph in Heaven. For more information on God's perfect love and about the sin of blasphemy against Mary go to: http://www.knowledgeofgodsperfectlove.com
Rose is an author, teacher and has been a catechist for the past ten years. She enjoys sharing the riches of the knowledge of the faith with others.
'The above article may be freely reprinted or distributed in its entirety in Ezines, newsletters, blogs or websites. However the author's own name, bio and links must remain intact and be included with every reproduction, thankyou.'
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rose_M.
No comments:
Post a Comment