Mary, Joseph and Jesus but who was Mary?
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| Virgin Mary and Jesus, old Persian miniature. In Islam, they are called Maryam and Isa. NOTE: See discussion page before using (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Matt. 1:18–25 and Luke 1:26–56; 2:1–38 give differing birth stories, but both include the virginal conception. In Matt. 1:18–25, Jesus’s birth is announced to Joseph in a dream; in Luke 1:26–38, it is announced to Mary herself by the angel Gabriel. In Luke’s account, Mary accepts the angel’s announcement, humbling herself as God’s servant (1:38).
She travels from Nazareth to Judea to visit her pregnant relative Elizabeth, who hails her as “blessed among women” and as the “mother of my Lord” (1:39–45). Mary responds with a hymn of praise (1:46–55, the Magnificat). The latter hymn presents Mary in parallel to the biblical figure of Hannah, the mother of Samuel (cf. 1 Sam. 2:1–10). It has strong political overtones, praising God as the one who brings down the powerful from their thrones and lifts up the lowly, who fills the hungry with good things and sends the rich away empty (1:52–53). Thus, Luke’s Gospel is unique in presenting Jesus’s mother as one who espouses ideals similar to those that will later be typical of her grown son Jesus (cf. 4:16–21; 6:20–26).
Matthew and Luke also tell of the birth of Jesus, which in both accounts occurs in Bethlehem. In Matthew, Mary and the baby Jesus are said to be living in a house in Bethlehem sometime after the latter is born. They are visited by magi from the east, who bring them precious gifts (2:1–11). Joseph then takes Mary and Jesus to Egypt to escape Herod’s slaughter of children; later, after Herod dies, they return and settle in Nazareth (2:12–23). In Luke’s Gospel, Nazareth appears to be Mary’s hometown. Joseph and Mary travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem for a Roman census, and she gives birth while they are there (2:1–7); the baby is laid in a manger, and angels and shepherds pay homage (2:8–20).
Matthew and Luke also tell of the birth of Jesus, which in both accounts occurs in Bethlehem. In Matthew, Mary and the baby Jesus are said to be living in a house in Bethlehem sometime after the latter is born. They are visited by magi from the east, who bring them precious gifts (2:1–11). Joseph then takes Mary and Jesus to Egypt to escape Herod’s slaughter of children; later, after Herod dies, they return and settle in Nazareth (2:12–23). In Luke’s Gospel, Nazareth appears to be Mary’s hometown. Joseph and Mary travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem for a Roman census, and she gives birth while they are there (2:1–7); the baby is laid in a manger, and angels and shepherds pay homage (2:8–20).
Luke then reports that Mary and Joseph went to the temple to consecrate the child and to perform post-birth purification rites (2:21–24). While there, the aged Simeon and Anna prophesy over Jesus, testifying that the Messiah has been born (2:25–38). Simeon has a word of prophecy for Mary as well: “A sword will pierce your soul too” (2:35).
Luke also reports that Jesus’s family went to Jerusalem every year for the Passover celebration (2:41), and he recounts an episode in which Jesus, at age twelve, remains behind in the temple and his parents become distraught when they cannot find him. He explains that they should have known he would be in his “Father’s house” (2:49). Still, Luke concludes with a note that Jesus was obedient to Mary and Joseph (2:51). Overall, Luke’s presentation of Mary in these stories of Jesus’s infancy is as a dedicated servant of the Lord who treasures all that she hears and sees, pondering such things in her heart (2:19, 51).
All four Gospels make reference to Jesus’s mother during the time of Jesus’s adult life. The Synoptic Gospels tell of a time when Jesus’s mother and brothers came to visit him. In Mark, the motivation for this visit is that Jesus’s family apparently accept the verdict of the crowd that he is deranged or that of the Jerusalem scribes that he is possessed by demons (3:21–30). In any case, when they come to seize him (apparently to take him home), Jesus seems to reject them as his family, characterizing instead his followers, who do God’s will, as his true family (3:33–35).
All four Gospels make reference to Jesus’s mother during the time of Jesus’s adult life. The Synoptic Gospels tell of a time when Jesus’s mother and brothers came to visit him. In Mark, the motivation for this visit is that Jesus’s family apparently accept the verdict of the crowd that he is deranged or that of the Jerusalem scribes that he is possessed by demons (3:21–30). In any case, when they come to seize him (apparently to take him home), Jesus seems to reject them as his family, characterizing instead his followers, who do God’s will, as his true family (3:33–35).
In Matt. 12:46–50 and Luke 8:19–21, the visit of Jesus’s family members is not said to be prompted by an attempt to seize him, nor is anything said there about his mother and brothers thinking he is deranged. In Matthew’s Gospel, nevertheless, Jesus still seems to contrast his literal mother and brothers with true family: “Pointing to his disciples, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers!’ ” (12:49). In Luke’s Gospel, however, Jesus simply expands the concept of family rather than implying that his disciples are his true family in a way that Mary and his brothers are not.
The words, “My mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it” (8:21) includes Mary and the brothers, and in fact seems to affirm their faithfulness. Likewise, later in Luke’s Gospel, a woman in the crowd cries out, “Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that gave you suck”; Jesus responds, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it” (11:27–28). In the context of Luke’s Gospel, where Mary has been explicitly presented as one who hears and trusts God’s word (1:38, 45), the meaning of Jesus’s remark is not to contrast those who hear and trust God’s word with his mother Mary; the point, rather, is that Mary is blessed not because she is his mother, but because she is faithful to the word.
Mary is also mentioned in Mark 6:1–6, where the people of Nazareth take offense at Jesus, calling him “the carpenter, the son of Mary” (a possible indication that his father Joseph has died). Jesus’s response, “Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house” again picks up on the Markan theme that Jesus’s family (including, perhaps, his mother Mary) do not honor him or believe in him.
Mary is also mentioned in Mark 6:1–6, where the people of Nazareth take offense at Jesus, calling him “the carpenter, the son of Mary” (a possible indication that his father Joseph has died). Jesus’s response, “Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house” again picks up on the Markan theme that Jesus’s family (including, perhaps, his mother Mary) do not honor him or believe in him.
Matthew’s version is similar (13:54–58), but Luke’s account is quite different, exposing Jesus to rejection only by citizens of Nazareth, not by members of his own family—and the reference to a prophet lacking honor among his own relatives or in his own house is completely lacking. Luke later includes Mary among the women praying in the upper room with the twelve (Acts 1:14) and so also as one who receives the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (2:1–4).
Jesus’s mother is unnamed in John’s Gospel. Her belief in Jesus’s power is demonstrated at the wedding in Cana (2:1–11), though he initially resists her appeal for him to be of assistance (2:4). She and his brothers accompany him to Capernaum (2:13). Later, John mentions that Jesus’s brothers did not believe in him (7:1–10), but nothing like that is said of his mother. Finally, in John’s Gospel, she appears at the cross with the Beloved Disciple, whom Jesus commends to his mother as her son, and this “son” to her as “mother.” She is then taken into his home (19:25–27).
It is possible that Mary is also depicted as being among the women at the empty tomb in the Synoptic Gospels. A woman known as Mary the mother of James the younger and/or Joses (Mark 15:40, 47; 16:2) is said to have witnessed Jesus’s crucifixion from afar, seen the place where Jesus was buried, and then accompanied Mary Magdalene and Salome to the tomb on Sunday morning, where they found it empty and were commissioned to tell Jesus’s disciples that he had risen (cf. Matt. 27:56, 61; 28:1; Luke 24:10).
Jesus’s mother is unnamed in John’s Gospel. Her belief in Jesus’s power is demonstrated at the wedding in Cana (2:1–11), though he initially resists her appeal for him to be of assistance (2:4). She and his brothers accompany him to Capernaum (2:13). Later, John mentions that Jesus’s brothers did not believe in him (7:1–10), but nothing like that is said of his mother. Finally, in John’s Gospel, she appears at the cross with the Beloved Disciple, whom Jesus commends to his mother as her son, and this “son” to her as “mother.” She is then taken into his home (19:25–27).
It is possible that Mary is also depicted as being among the women at the empty tomb in the Synoptic Gospels. A woman known as Mary the mother of James the younger and/or Joses (Mark 15:40, 47; 16:2) is said to have witnessed Jesus’s crucifixion from afar, seen the place where Jesus was buried, and then accompanied Mary Magdalene and Salome to the tomb on Sunday morning, where they found it empty and were commissioned to tell Jesus’s disciples that he had risen (cf. Matt. 27:56, 61; 28:1; Luke 24:10).
Since Jesus had brothers named James and Joses (Mark 6:3), it has often been thought that this woman is to be identified with the Mary who was also the mother of Jesus. There is no clear rationale, however, for her being specified here as the mother of James and/or Joses, when she is identified as Jesus’s mother everywhere else in these writings.
Mary is not mentioned in any other book of the Bible, aside from the Gospels and Acts. Paul does make one oblique reference to Jesus being “born of woman” in Gal. 4:2, but the point there is simply that he was sent by God into the world through the natural process of childbirth; Paul does not seem to regard the specific woman or mother through whom Jesus was born (much less the miraculous character of that birth) as a point of significance or relevance. The woman who gives birth to the Messiah in Rev. 12:2, 5 is not taken to be Mary, but as a symbol of God’s people (Israel and the church) who bring forth the Christ.
Munro, W., & Powell, M. A. (2011). Mary, Virgin. In (M. A. Powell, Ed.)The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary (Revised and Updated). New York: HarperCollins.
Mary is not mentioned in any other book of the Bible, aside from the Gospels and Acts. Paul does make one oblique reference to Jesus being “born of woman” in Gal. 4:2, but the point there is simply that he was sent by God into the world through the natural process of childbirth; Paul does not seem to regard the specific woman or mother through whom Jesus was born (much less the miraculous character of that birth) as a point of significance or relevance. The woman who gives birth to the Messiah in Rev. 12:2, 5 is not taken to be Mary, but as a symbol of God’s people (Israel and the church) who bring forth the Christ.
Munro, W., & Powell, M. A. (2011). Mary, Virgin. In (M. A. Powell, Ed.)The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary (Revised and Updated). New York: HarperCollins.
