|
Index to All Eight Articles on Mary
ON THIS PAGE
Emphasis Mine in All Bible Verses
The Messiah Was Unquestionably Born of a Virgin...
...But Did She Stay a Virgin For The Rest Of Her Natural Life?
The Three Biblical Texts That Support The Doctrine Of Mary's Eternal Virginity
The Greek Word "Heos"
Jesus was The Firstborn
Jesus' Siblings
Psalm 69:8 - "My Mother's Sons"
Jesus' Last Words To Mary
Conclusion
The Messiah Was Unquestionably Born of a Virgin...
The following verse from Isaiah is generally held by Christians to be one of the greatest Messianic prophecies ever.
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14 BSB)
The oft-asked question is whether this verse was intended as a messianic prophecy or was it simply a promise made to Ahaz king of Judah?
Actually It Was Both
Simply because prophecy can have both a near and a far fulfillment.
See The Virgin Shall Conceive
It was Matthew who first indicated that Isaiah's prophecy was fulfilled when Christ was born of the virgin Mary. In his account of the events leading up to Christ's birth Matthew said that when Joseph found out that Mary was pregnant he, being a righteous man but not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. However, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and told him not to be afraid to marry Mary as the Child conceived in her was of the Holy Spirit. The angel went on to say
"She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: "behold, the virgin (Gk. parthenos) shall be with Child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call his name Immanuel," which translated means, "God with us." (Matthew 1:21-23 NASB)
Which brings us to the question ...
... Whether She Stayed a Virgin For The Rest Of Her Natural Life?
Even although Christians of all denominations generally agree that Mary was a virgin when Christ was born, Catholics claim that she stayed a virgin the rest of her life. The Catholic Catechism says
499 The deepening of faith in the virginal motherhood led the Church to confess Mary's real and perpetual virginity even in the act of giving birth to the Son of God made man. In fact, Christ's birth "did not diminish his mother's virginal integrity but sanctified it." and so the liturgy of the Church celebrates Mary as Aeiparthenos, the "Ever-virgin".
510 Mary "remained a virgin in conceiving her Son, a virgin in giving birth to him, a virgin in carrying him, a virgin in nursing him at her breast, always a virgin" (St. Augustine, Serm. 186, 1: PL 38, 999): with her whole being she is "the handmaid of the Lord" (? Lk 1:38) [01]
Note: Augustine was the source of much of what is called Calvinism today. In spite of the fact that he was Catholic to the core in his beliefs and held that due to apostolic succession the Catholic Church was the supreme teaching authority, he is revered, quoted, and looked up to by much of the Protestant World.
What exactly is wrong with us?
See Calvinism Part VIII ... The Sins of Augustine
The Three Biblical Texts That Support The Doctrine Of Mary's Eternal Virginity Are
1.)
2.)
3.)
That's right - There isn't a single verse that supports this doctrine, but very many that refute it.
The Greek Word "Heos"
Perhaps the verse to begin with is
And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until (Gk. heos) she gave birth to a Son; and he named Him Jesus. (Matthew 1:24-25 NASB)
Heos very definitely means 'until" as shown in the following examples,
So all the generations from Abraham to (Gk. heos) David are fourteen generations; and from David until (Gk. heos) the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto (Gk. heos) Christ are fourteen generations. (Matthew 1:17 KJV)
And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until (Gk. heos)I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. (Matthew 2:13 KJV)
And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until (Gk. heos) now. (John 2:10 KJV)
Thus it is inescapable that Matthew 1:24-25 clearly states that Joseph and Mary had sexual union after Jesus was born.
Note the KJV reads slightly differently using as it does the Greek ginosko
Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: And knew (Gk. ginosko) her not till (Gk. heos)she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name Jesus. (Matthew 1:24-25 KJV)
Ginosko is used in a wide variety of ways however, as made clear in Luke 1:34, in this case it means a sexual union.
Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know (Gk. ginosko) not a man? (Luke 1:34 KJV)
Mary couldn't understand how she could possibly give birth without first coming to "know" her husband.
Jesus was The Firstborn
In his Gospel Luke wrote,
And she gave birth to her firstborn (Gk. prototokos), a Son. She wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. (Luke 2:7 BSB)
The word "firstborn" is the offspring who came first in the order of birth. it seems obvious that Luke would have said 'she gave birth to her son' if Mary had no other offspring after Jesus.
Prototokos used figuratively in Romans 8:29, simply means that although several people were brought back to life by Jesus (ex. Lazarus and Jairus' daughter), they died again. Jesus was the first to be permanently raised from the dead receiving a new, indestructible body - a prototype of the bodies that we will receive.
For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn (Gk. prototokos), among many brothers and sisters;
Jesus being called Mary's "firstborn" suggests that Mary had other children.
And so she did
Jesus' Siblings
Brothers
When Jesus, as a grown man, came to his hometown (Nazareth) and began to teach. People who apparently knew his family asked in disbelief:
And He came to His hometown and began teaching them in their synagogue, with the result that they were astonished, and said, "Where did this man acquire this wisdom and these miraculous powers? Is this not the carpenter's son? Is His mother not called Mary, and His brothers (Gk. adelphos), James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man acquire all these things?" (Matthew 13:54-56 NASB)
James and Jude
According to Matthew Mary had at least four other sons and more than one daughter - two of her sons were James - head of the New Testament church and Jude who wrote one book of the NT.
Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ and brother (Gk. adelphos) of James , to those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ: (Jude 1:1 NASB)
James was mentioned by Paul in Galatians 1:19
But I did not see another one of the apostles except James, the Lord's brother (Gk. adelphon). (Galatians 1:19 NASB)
It has however been argued that the word adelphos means cousins or was used figuratively. Not exactly, Adelphos comes from delphus - the womb ie. literal brothers.
Among the twelve disciples there were two confirmed sets of brothers - James and John - Peter and Andrew
And going on a little farther, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and his brother (Gk. adelphos) John, who were also in the boat mending the nets. (Mark 1:19 NASB)
Simon, whom He also named Peter, and his brother (Gk. adelphos) Andrew; and James and John; and Philip and Bartholomew; (Luke 6:14 NASB)
When speaking about Mark who was Barnabas’ cousin Paul used the Greek anepsios which does means "cousin.
Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, sends you his greetings; and also Barnabas’ cousin (Gk. anepsios ) Mark (about whom you received instructions; if he comes to you, welcome him); (Colossians 4:10 NASB)
See https://biblehub.com/interlinear/colossians/4-10.htm
Sisters
As a reminder Matthew 13:54-56 also says Jesus had more than one sister.
And He came to His hometown and began teaching them in their synagogue, with the result that they were astonished, and said, "Where did this man acquire this wisdom and these miraculous powers? Is this not the carpenter's son? Is His mother not called Mary, and His brothers (Gk. adelphos), James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? And His sisters (Gk. adelphai), are they not all with us? Where then did this Man acquire all these things?" (Matthew 13:54-56 NASB)
Adelphai was used in John 11:1-3 and in Acts 23:16
Now a certain man was sick: Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister (Gk. adelphes) Martha. And it was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. So the sisters (Gk. adelphai) sent word to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.” (NASB)
But the son of Paul's sister (Gk. adelphes) heard about their ambush, and he came and entered the barracks and told Paul. (NASB)
The plural form (adelphas) also occurred in 1 Timothy 5:1-2
Do not sharply rebuke an older man, but rather appeal to him as a father, and to the younger men as brothers, to the older women as mothers, and to the younger women as sisters (Gk. adelphas), in all purity. (NASB)
Psalm 69:8 also has to be taken into consideration.
Psalm 69:8 - "My Mother's Sons"
Psalm 69 known as a Messianic Psalm was entirely written as being spoken by Jesus (in the first person singular),
I have become estranged from my brothers, And a stranger to my mother's sons. For zeal for Your house has consumed me, And the taunts of those who taunt You have fallen on me. (Psalms 69:8-9 NASB)
The verse was quoted in the New Testament when Jesus made a whip of cords, overturned the tables of the money changers, and drove out all who were doing business in the outer courts of the temple.
And He made a whip of cords, and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; and to those who were selling the doves He said, "Take these things away from here; stop making My Father's house a place of business!” His disciples remembered that it was written: "Zeal For Your House Will Consume Me.” (John 2:15-17 NASB)
John correlated Jesus' actions with verse 9 - "zeal for Your house has consumed me". Thus the preceding line - "I have become estranged from my brothers, and a stranger to my mother's sons" would also apply to the Messiah - "For not even His brothers (Gk. adelphos) believed in Him. (John 7:5 NASB)
They did however becomes believers after the resurrection and were in the upper room on the day of Pentecost with the other 120
All these were continually devoting themselves with one mind to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers (Gk. adelphos) . (Acts 1:14 NASB)
In summary - Mary had 7 or more children: Jesus who was the firstborn (the eldest) had at least four brothers and two sisters.
Finally - Jesus' Last Words To Mary
One argument made in favor of Mary not having other children is if she had why would Jesus have entrusted Mary to the care of St. John instead of one of His half brothers when he was dying on the Cross?
The verse in John reads....
When Jesus then saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He *said to His mother, "Woman, behold, your son!" Then He *said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" From that hour the disciple took her into his own household. (John 19:26-27 NASB)
Was Jesus simply ensuring that she would be taken care of in her old age?
Unlikely because if we take into consideration how Christ phrased his words we should in all honesty look at one other option. Jesus said nothing to the effect of giving Mary into John's hands, which would have been an expression of safekeeping. Instead He said to Mary- "Woman, behold, your son!". And to John... "Behold, your mother!".
The word translated 'behold' is used in the imperative for the purpose of calling attention to something.
The way it is phrased it is more than likely that Jesus was telling her to look... at her son. It almost seemed that Jesus was appointing John to take His place as Mary's son, now that He Himself was leaving to take His rightful place at His Father's right hand.
Conclusion
The fact of the matter is that the doctrine of Mary's perpetual virginity is nothing but part of an unnecessary and unwarranted effort to elevate Mary to some kind of lofty, godlike, and sublime status.
Unfortunately, grandiloquent, pompous, and pretentious claptrap has replaced very impressive Scriptural truths.
See The Real Mary of The Bible
Certainly, we can be sure that Mary was definitely an exceptional woman of unshakable faith who had the strength and courage to trust God all the way to Calvary.
She was willing to risk her own life, imperil her marriage to Joseph, and become the topic of slanderous gossip when those around her found out she was pregnant and suspected her of consorting with another man
The exalted status bestowed upon her is bereft of any Biblical support whatsoever - thrust upon a people who have been taught never to question a very fallible church.
Also See Papal Infallibility?
End Notes
[01] https://www.catechismonline.com/profession-of-faith-2/art-3-para-2
|
