Mother Mary Ever Virgin

 


Introduction:

The Archangel Gabriel was sent by God to Mary a virgin and he came to her and greets her in Luke 1:28, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you”. He delivered her the God’s message in Luke 1:31-35, “”Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will over shadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called the Son of God.”” She accepted the call of her Lord. Mary became Mother Mary who bore the only begotten Son of God in her womb and thereby she became Mother of Jesus i.e., Mother of God.

Call her blessed:

See, this Mother Mary is even greeted by God Almighty through her messenger Archangel Gabriel. She is the Mother of the Son of the Most High and the Lord God will give to her Son the throne of his ancestor David and of his kingdom there will be no end. After Holy Spirit had overshadowed her, her spirit rejoicing in God she says about herself in Luke 1:48, “surely, from now on all generation will call me blessed,” When she expressed about this blessing, Holy Spirit also witnessed her as he dwells inside her. Thus we see from this holy verse that we should call her blessed. So if anybody gave her insult sure it is the influence of evil spirit.

Pentecostal’s view:

In these situations my Pentecostal friend atrociously insults her without reason. He says that Mother Mary had many children for Joseph after Jesus was born. He added that even after she gave birth to Jesus the Son of God through the overshadowing of Holy Spirit, she gave birth to many children for Joseph in the human way and so Jesus treated her without respect. Instead of calling her Mother, Jesus often called her, “woman” a contemptuous term of calling a lady in that period.

He quotes many verses to prove his reason but all of them were interpreted wrongly. Thus they are misguiding the people to insult her. Let us read one of his quotations: Matthew 1:24-25 says, “He took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.” Quoting these verses, he says that Mother Mary did not have any marital relation until she had borne Jesus, her Son. After that she had the marital relationship and bored other children for Joseph.

St.Joseph the righteous man:

A thing he should not forget that St. Joseph the husband of Mother Mary is the righteous man. Since he was a righteous man, when he comes to know that Mother Mary is conceived with child, without knowing that the child is conceived miraculously by over shadowing of Holy Spirit, he planned to remove her quietly. Let us read Matthew 1:19: “Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly.” But, Since he is God-fearing righteous man, after he comes to know that Mother Mary is conceived with child by over shadowing of Holy Sprit, he would not venture to touch the Spouse of Holy Spirit his Lord and God; he would not venture to touch the holy temple of God, the Mother of God that bore the Almighty God as a person in her womb. So we rightly say that St. Joseph might have served her with reverence, pious, as she is the Mother of God.

No adding!

Now let us come to the verses Matthew 1:24-25 that he is quoting. Is there anything said that she had marital relationship after she gave birth to Jesus? No, until she gave birth to Jesus it is very clear that she had no marital relationship with Joseph; but regarding after she gave birth to Jesus, nothing was mentioned about her marital relationship. But my friend willfully adds a new data of his own that she had marital relationship after she gave birth to Jesus. Adding anything to the Holy verses is very dangerous offence before God that He severely condemns in the holy verse of Revelation 22:18 that says, “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will adds to that person the plagues described in this book”. So my pentecostal friend should be very cautious of this holy verse before he tries to add anything new of his own to the existing holy verses and thereby twisting the real sense of the bible messages. My pentecostal friend is in such a great dangerous position that he usually adds his whims and fancies freely. He may try to know the truth!

Called her, ‘Women’ irrespectively?

My Pentecostal friend raised the argument that Jesus called her, “woman” that is a contemptuous term in those days. He said that since she had other children by human relationship with Joseph, Lord Jesus treated her irrespectively by calling her, “woman”. He quotes John 2:4 that says, “And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” “ And also he quotes John 19:26 that says, “When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your Son!” “

If we argue that Lord Jesus treated his mother irrespectively by calling her a contemptuous term, “woman,” sure we are attributing sin on Jesus against the fourth commandment that is said in Exodus 20:12 that reads, “Honor your father and your mother.” We know Jesus is sinless and so he might not treat his mother irrespectively. But the point is that the word, “woman” does not have a bad meaning. Jesus uses this word in the normal sense. He called Mary Mag’da.lene, “Woman” in John 20:15. Let us read the verses: “Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” “ Even the angels inside the tomb of Jesus called her, “Woman” in John 20:13 that reads, “They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” “ Then how can we say that Jesus treated his mother irrespectively by calling her a contemptuous term, “woman”?

Jesus adds her merits:

But we can infer an inner meaning from this that by calling her, “Woman” Jesus specifies that this is the “woman” said in Genesis 3:15 that reads, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers.” We know all that the woman said in Genesis 3:15 is the Mother of Jesus who is the enemy of Satan. Her offspring is Jesus. So we can understand that Lord Jesus did not treat his mother irrespectively but adds her merits by made known to the world that this is the woman of Genesis 3:15.

Jesus shows great respect to her:

Then he asks me why Jesus said, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” At that time, Jesus is living as an ordinary human being as his hour has not yet come. He and his mother is only a guest in the marriage. Normally, the host is concerning with the sufficiency of wine and food in the feast. So acting as a normal man he says to his mother that he and his mother have no concern with these matters, as they were only guests. So Jesus said, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” According to the plan of God the time was not yet come to Jesus to do wonders. But only to fulfill the desire of Mother Mary the most righteous person, Jesus made a change even in the plan of God’s time and does the first miracle in his life. Such a great respect he shows to his mother.

Ever virgin:

In Luke 1:31, When the Archangel says to Mary, “Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus”. Mary asked the angels in Luke 1:34, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” When Mary asked the Arc angel, Mary is already engaged to a man whose name was Joseph (Luke 1:26-27) and she can give birth to a child in the ordinary course of life. But she asks the question, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” In the ordinary course of life, even though she is a virgin at that time, there is every possibility of loosing her virginity and bearing a child to her husband in the near future. So this question of Mary is abnormal in this context. But the real sense is hidden in this word, “am”. In Exodus 3:14, “God said to Moses, “I am who I am” “ that means, He is the Lord who was, is, and will be forever. Like that Mother asks in the sense, “I am a virgin forever and always” and so how can this be to give birth to a child? This shows that even though she is going to conduct married life with Joseph, she and Joseph decided to keep virginity forever. Remember, Joseph is a righteous man and Mother Mary is eligible to be Mother of God. We the sinners cannot estimate and understand the depth of their inner thoughts. In this time the angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will over shadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called the Son of God.” So she accepted the God’s will and gives birth to her child Jesus without loosing virginity. Nothing is said throughout the Bible that she lost her virginity any way. She is virgin forever and always as she said in Luke 1:34, “I am a virgin.”

Now, my friend asked me what the truth is behind the word, “until” in Matthew 1:24-25 that reads, “He took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.” This is only to stress the point that she had conceived Jesus without human relationship; until Jesus was born she had no marital relations with Joseph her husband. Matthew wants to say this massage especially to the Jews that the holy prophesy in Matthew 1:23, “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Em-man-u-el” is fulfilled in the birth of Jesus. But he says nothing about the relationship of Joseph with her after the birth of Jesus. But Mother Mary explicitly says through Luke 1:34 that she is ever Virgin by telling the verse, “I am a virgin”.

Brothers and sisters of Jesus:

Now he puts forth some holy verses and asks what reality is behind these verses. These verses speak of brothers and sisters of Jesus. He puts forth the following verses:

John 7:3: “So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea so that your disciples also may see the works you are doing.” “

Matthew 12:46-47: “While he was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers were standing outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, “Look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.”

Mark 3:31-32: “Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.” “

Luke 8:19-20: “Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. And he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.” “

Matthew 13:55-56: “Is not this the carpenters 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?”

Her Children! A guess!!

Here in these five quotations we clearly come to know that Jesus had brothers and sisters. So my Pentecostal friend guesses that Mother Mary had other children. But in these verses nothing is said that they are sons and daughters of Mother Mary. They are only brothers and sisters of Jesus that relation can be established in many ways. Since Satan’s target is to attack and insult Mother Mary, he induces my Pentecostal friend to close his eyes to see other possible ways of this relationship. He hurry up to guess that Mother Mary had other children and begins to attack and insults her saying that the Spouse of the Holy Spirit went down to human relation. Lucifer the enemy of Mother Mary the “Woman” of Genesis 3:15, is giving strength to his efforts to give her disgrace. Yes, Lucifer uses him his instruments to insult her. Oh! My Pentecostal friend! If you are insulting Mother Mary, you are working for the cause of Lucifer. Alas! My Pentecostal friend is in the magical influence of Satan and he should get out of this binding. My friend! Be alert of Satan’s cunning!

Names of Jesus’ brothers:

Pointing out Jesus, people of his hometown say in Matthew 13:55-56, “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?”

Mark 6:3 says, “Is not this the carpenter, “the son of Mary and brother of James and Jo’ses and Judas and Simon and are not his sisters here with us?””

In Good News Bible Mark 6:3 says, “Isn’t he the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon?” Instead of Jo’ses here it is said “Joseph”. However, we find that Joseph is mentioned as Jo’ses in the Mark 6:3 of the Standard version of Catholic Edison.

From these above verses we come to know that the brother’s names of Jesus are James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon.

Whose sons are they?

Some women along with twelve disciples of Jesus followed him wherever he goes through the cities and villages. Let us read Luke 8:1-3: “Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, as well as some women who had been cured of evil sprits and infirmities: Mary, called Mag’da.lene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Jo.an’na, the wife of Herod’s steward Chu’za and Susanna and many others, who provided for them out of their resources.” Here we see along with Mary Mag’da.lene, Jo.n’na and Susanna, many other women also followed Jesus.

Some of these women followed him unto Calvary where they are looking at a distance from the Calvary Cross of Jesus. Let us read the Matthew 27:55-56: “Many women were also there, looking on from a distance; they had followed Jesus from Galilee and had provided for him. Among them were Mary Mag’da.lene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph and the mother of the sons of Zebe-dee.” Here, near the Calvary Cross of Jesus along with Mary Mag’da.lene, another Mary who is the mother of James and Joseph also is there.

When the very same scene of Calvary Cross is displayed in John 19:25, there also we come across Mary Mag’da.lene and this another Mary. But here this another Mary’s description is given through her sister and husband instead of through her sons James and Joseph. This another Mary is the sister of Mother Mary. Let us read John 19:25: “Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mothers sister, Mary the wife of Clo’pas and Mary Mag’da.lene.” Thus we come to know that Mother Mary had a sister whose name was also Mary and she was the wife of Clo’pas and the Mother of James and Joseph and thus these James and Joseph were the brothers of Jesus. We know the names of four brothers of Jesus are James, Judas, Simon, and Joseph. Among four brothers this Mary is given description through her two sons only as, ‘Mary the Mother of James and Joseph’ in Matthew 27:56. When she is referred at the time of visiting Jesus’ tomb and the resurrection of Jesus in Luke 23: 55-56 & 24:1-10, she is referred through her son James only. Let us read Luke 24:10: “Now it was Mary Mag’da.lene, Jo.an’na, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles.”

Thus Mary the mother of James, Joseph, Simon and Judas and their sisters, who was also sister of Mother Mary was living with Jesus and followed him from Galilee up to his tomb and his resurrection. But no clue is available in the bible whether Mary the sister of Mother Mary is the own sister of mother Mary or the wife of brother of St. Joseph. Clo’pas the husband of this Mary may be the bother of St.Joseph and thus this Mary became the sister of mother Mary. However we see these sons of this Mary came with Mother Mary their aunt to see their cousin Jesus in Matthew 12:46-47, Mark 3:31-32, and Luke 8:19-20. These cousins of Jesus are spoken as brothers of Jesus as they are the sons of his Mother’s sister. However, once, these brothers of Jesus did not believe him and mocked at him in John 7:3-5 saying, “Leave here and go to Judea so that your disciples also may see the works you are doing.” However they turned to Jesus in his last days.

Jesus her only son:

At the time of his death in the Calvary cross Jesus handed over his Mother in the hands of his disciple John and he received her in his house. Let us read John 19:25-27, “Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clo’pas and Mary Mag’da.lene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your Son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother”. And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.” If there were any other children of Mother Mary, he needed not to hand over her to his disciple. She could live with her other children. Her other children would have taken care of her. And also it is their right to have their Mother in their home and Jesus might not infringe their right. But as he is the only son of Mother Mary, he did not want to leave her alone after his death without any person to undertake her. So he took the responsibility at the last moment to hand over her under his disciple’s protection and she went with him to live there. Thus the Mother of God adopted a human being as her son that made her the Mother of us the human beings.

Conclusion:

In this situation Oh! My pentecostal friend! You should be careful and get rid of the group that 2 Peter 2:10-12 says about. Let us read the verses: “Bold and willful, they are not afraid to slander the glorious ones,…..These people, however, are like irrational animals, mere creatures of instinct, born to be caught and killed. They slander what they do not understand, and when those creatures are destroyed they also will be destroyed.” Let us repent for our wrong words and avoid insulting the Mother of God and pay due respect to her as the holy verse Luke 1:4 says, “surely, from now on all generation will call her blessed.” Amen!

Introduction
Call her blessed
Pentacostal's views
St.Joseph the righteous man
No adding!
Called her, 'Women' irrespectively?
Jesus adds her merits
Jesus shows great respect to her
Ever Virgin
Brothers and Sisters of Jesus
Her Children! A guess!!
Names of Jesus' brothers
Whose sons are they?
Jesus her only son
Conclusion