Chapter 4.19
Mary of Nazareth
The Blessed Virgin Mary
Jesus’ half -brothers & half-sisters
The Gnostics
First
Word
There
were certainly more than three Mary’s in scripture, but not a lot is
written about them.
Women in general
were considered second class in Biblical times because of the Gnostic mind
set. This tempered how women’s
contribution to the work place and their thoughts were received. For that reason, I feel writers of the Holy
Scriptures left out the contributions of women.
Because of the lack of scriptural references, there is
a lot left to the imagination.
Gnostic thinking
The Gnostics are the “People
in the know”; they taught Secret Revelations
combined with a mixing of myths
and rites drawn from a variety of religious
traditions. They believe we are all in a
Time Continuum and
that Jesus had taught secret teachings to the Apostles that moved them along this continuum.
The
Gnostics maintained that this material world and all that’s in it is the result
of a cosmic
catastrophe; this world was created by an
evil lesser god and our soul needs to escape this material world and return to the world of the spirit.
Salvation cannot be
obtained till
If you can just comprehend the Gnostic thinking, that women were part of
a progressive time continuum; starting with plants, then bugs, then animals, then women, then MEN and finally a god.
So, ultimately as you progress along the continuum YOU WOULD BE JUST LIKE A GOD
A “female”
in the time continuum, was actually a “male” that had just “not yet arrived”. So a female was
considered a “SECOND
CLASS”
person; an inferior human being, inferior to men. This thought process had to do with
domination. The top denominates downward
like a master over his slave. The more
powerful Male is SUPPOSED to dominate the
less powerful female. Perhaps now you
can see why they wanted the Women to remain SILENT in
Church and why they did not believe Mary Magdalene when
she told them about the resurrection of Christ[1]. FAR OUT STUFF
The Virgin Mary
Wikipedia: Madonna;
Italian title for “My Lady”
“The
Immaculate Conception should not
be confused with the Virginity of Mary or the Virgin birth of Jesus; it refers
to the conception of Mary by her (virgin) mother, Saint Anne. Although the belief was widely held since at
least Late Antiquity, the doctrine was not formally proclaimed until December 8,
1854, by Pope Pius IX in his paper bull “Ineffablis Deus”.
(The virgin birth of Saint Anne with Mary is not recorded in the New Testament
scriptures)
“The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by
a singular grace and privilege of Almighty God and by virtue of the merits of
Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin”.
(She was sinless) Wikipedia. Thus Mary was preserved from sin and is the “CO-REDEEMER” of man along with Jesus.
This contradicts
scripture; all have sinned, No one
comes to the father except through Jesus Christ; there is NO co-redeemer;[2] don’t
get all upset with me now; it’s in the Book.
The name Mary comes from the name “Miriam”
which means “rebellious”
or “bitter”;
this refers back to the days of Moses’ sister Miriam who became jealous of
Moses.[3] Never the less; very little thought was given
to that issue. One out of every four
Jewish women in the first century was named Mary; six are named in the New
Testament. All the Mary’s documented in
the NT were virtuous and selfless women.
This study is about Mary and not denominational doctrine.
Our Salvation
is Jesus plus nothing.
Mary
of Nazareth
I
have given very little space in my BS, my BELIEF SYSTEM to the Virgin Mary mainly
because the scriptures say so little about her.
But now knowing the Gnostic mind set, I have set out to find
out more about Mary, the mother of The Savior of the World.
Mary Writes: Some students of the Word and commentaries
speculate that Mary may have written part of her own story that is reported in
the first two chapters of Luke. They are
written in “the first person” with such details that only Mary would know. Perhaps “the
reporter” Luke
interviewed her.
Mary the mother of Jesus stands apart
from all the other women in literature and history even among unbelievers. She embodies all that is noble and fine in
womanhood and is timeless, honored and revered regardless of race or class. Even the Angel Gabriel called
her “Highly
Favored”. She is
characterized by Faith, Humility and OBEDIENCE. She is the ONLY woman to EVER conceive a child supernaturally.
The Gospel of Luke indicates Mary was a descendant of King David and the Gospel
of Matthew indicates Joseph was too.[4] Mary was an unknown peasant girl that lived in Nazareth located on the southern
plains of Lower Galilee who caught the eye of a Carpenter. She obtained neither wealth nor fame and
reared all of her children in obscurity becoming a widow at a relatively young
age.
The reason Catholics say “Hail Mary”
is because the
Angel Gabriel said ”Hail”
when addressing Mary for the first time.
The salutation “Hail” means to REJOICE. Ave Maria is
Latin for Hail Mary. The phrase “Blessed
art thou amongst women, and blessed is the
fruit of thy womb” comes from her cousin Elizabeth when she
greeted Mary[5].
DEBATE in Ephesus saying that Mary
was the mother of Christ, but NOT the mother of God? The people rioted it the street chanting;
Mary, “Mother Of God, Mother Of God”
Mary Sings: Mary took a 90
mile trip to visit her cousin Elizabeth and composed a song referred to as “The Magnificat”
which was praise and exaltation to God and it smacks of prophecy of the coming
Messiah to help Israel. She stayed with
Elizabeth about three months until John the Baptist was about to be born; Jesus
and John would be cousins
Luke 1:46-55 – Mary SINGS a song of PRAISE to
God.
46 And Mary said: "My soul magnifies the
Lord,
47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
48 For He has regarded the lowly state of His
maidservant; for behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. For
He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name.
54 He has helped His servant Israel, in
remembrance of His mercy,
55 As He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and
to his seed forever."
I must
admit I was always puzzled, as to why Mary was not more prominent in “The Way”,
“the Jesus Movement”,[6]
but now I can understand that she was providing Food, Clothing, Shelter and
Home Schooling for a good size family without the presence of a dad. She was a SINGLE
MOM.
Most of the “women” in the entourage
of Christ either had a supporting husband or were already wealthy.
It had bothered
me that Mary could lose her kid on a trip to the temple, but now I better
understand the culture and that with so many kids in the extended families, she
just thought he was probably with some of the relatives. Just like a mother hen; she sure let Jesus
know about her anxious concern when she found him. We’ve all been there with
our kids or a lost puppy; I can just feel the emotions that she had when she
finally found Him that included a mixture of Anxiousness plus the Blessed Relief.
Luke 2:43-48 – Mary FUSSES at Jesus for staying
behind
44 Thinking He (Jesus) was in their company, they traveled on
for a day. Then began looking for him among their relatives and friends.
48 His mother
said to him, "Son, why have you treated us like this? Your
father and I have been anxiously searching for
you." NIV
Mary’s Marriage
Scripture
teaches that Mary was a virgin when she was betrothed to Joseph when he
went to Bethlehem for the Roman census; they were both descendants of King
David. Mary was obligated as his wife to
go with him although they had not been formally married; engagements were that
binding.
Babies: The primary
purpose of marriage in the ancient world was to reproduce rather than have a
special cherished one for companionship. A lot was to be considered; particularly, was
the wife healthy and could she bare children; also the type of political alliance
she would make.
Selection: Usually the
parents chose the mate for their son; one who would fit in with their clan and
work “harmoniously” with her
mother in law who would pick up the young girls training where her own mother
left off; this often developed into a deep and lasting bond.
Courtship: Sometimes the
son would suggest personal preferences, but never allowed to date or even do
lunch. Chances were good that he would
not even see her face until the wedding day. The bride might see him, but she always had a
veil covering her face.
Love: In Old Testament times you did not marry the one you loved;
you loved
the one you married; love began at marriage.
Age: Most people
lived to a really old age; Isaac did not marry till he was forty years old and
Jacob was about Eighty. The minimum age
for boys to marry was thirteen and the daughters were Twelve. Based on the maturity
and seriousness of Mary. My Belief System embraces that she was a teenager of high
school age and Joseph was a much older man.
Engagement: (Kiddushin) was for a year which was
considered normal and constituted a part of their marriage. Mary and Joseph being engaged were considered
married although not living together; sexual intercourse could not take place
till after the marriage vows.
Mary Ponders
We
do not hear very much from Mary in scripture and although she is very
young, she is God fearing, God seeking, serious and mature. She quietly PONDERS[7] all the things
that are happening around her including; the visit of Gabriel,
the Angel of God; the social
implications about her being pregnant before she was married, the 70 mile trip on
a donkey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, the birth of Jesus,
the arrival of shepherds. The “Wise men” bringing gifts and money to
finance their traveling, warnings in dreams to
There were probably JOKES,
GOSSIP and
PUBLIC
REACTION about
Jesus who was “questionably”
the
son of Joseph. Jesus had left
his widowed mother and didn’t stay in the FAMILY Carpentry
business and was acting like He was some sort of BIG
WIG PROPHET;
who did He think He was anyway; He was just the son of a carpenter.
Still not fully understanding, Mary was
still willing to place her womanhood at the full disposal of God. What a whirlwind of emotions;
Mary
as well as the Disciples would not FULLY
UNDERSTAND
the implications of what was playing out till after the resurrection.[10]
The Book says Mary pondered all these
things in her heart.[11]
Her Life
Nazareth
was a beautiful place to live, but it was still considered a WICKED PLACE and nothing good could come out of Nazareth; [12]God
uses the simple things to confound the wise.[13]
Home Schooling: Understand that Mary and Joseph taught Jesus
the concepts of God straight from the Torah and I feel sure in my heart that
they modeled the “God fearing FAMILY life”. After the time of purification they
consecrating Jesus with sacrifices to the Lord[14]
and made sure He accompanied them each time they made the journey to the
Temple.
Twelve years
later we find that Joseph is still alive,[15]
and is with Mary searching for Jesus finally finding Him in the Temple. The sayings of Jesus were amazing everyone, but
again Mary did not understand and just pondered all He had to say in her heart. I like that word
“Ponder”;
a farmer would say his cow was chewing the cud. I like to pause for a while and Chew the Cud;
to chew on stuff; to think; to ponder; as the psalmist would say; SELAH;
pause and
ponder.
Mary’s Family
Some students of the Word Belief System embraces that Mary remained a virgin after
the birth of Jesus. Some commentaries even “FORCE” the issue by saying that Joseph had been
married before, and had a gaggle of children, but this just isn’t found in the
Protestant Bible. Scripture “implies”
that Mary did not remain a virgin, but later did have sexual relations with
Joseph. (“Before they came together” she was found with child) implying that
they did come together.[16]
There is no reason NOT to believe that Mary bore other children to
Joseph.
Because God was the father of Jesus and
not Joseph, Jesus’ siblings would then be considered half-brothers and half-sisters,
not step brothers and sisters.
Mary and Joseph’s sons were James, Joseph,
Judas and Simon and of course, with the
Gnostic mind set, the daughter’s names are not mentioned.[17] Scripture
always list the oldest or most prominent first; that would be James. Jesus appeared to James after His resurrection
and before He appeared to the other disciples.
This is probably when James was fully persuaded that Jesus was the
Messiah and converted to Christianity. Just saying
Plum Crazy
Joseph
is dead:
When we see Mary mentioned later in
scripture, Joseph is not present and must already have died.[18] Jesus has gone plum CRAZY; Scripture
usually depicts the family minus Joseph, standing far off in the distance,
mainly because of the crowds. Then at
some point just after Jesus was casting out demons, the whole family went down
to take charge and reason with him because they thought He was losing
His mind.
Jesus did not acknowledge them, but said,
“His mother and brothers and sisters are those that do the will of the Father”.[19] Knowing Mary, I’m sure she silently PONDERED all of what He said in her heart. Her son Jesus had come to “live the life of the spirit” and His love
for God transcended that of family.
Mark 3:21 – The family thought Jesus was out of
his mind
21 When his
family heard about this,
THEY WENT TO TAKE CHARGE OF HIM, for they said,
"HE IS OUT OF HIS
MIND."
NIV
Mary Believed
As
Jesus was in anguish, being tortured on the cross, we see Mary silently
watching her son’s life ebb away. If you
have ever lost a loved one, you have some idea of the grief, sorrow and agony
that had fallen upon her spirit. I know the sorrow and pain of seeing my 21 year old
grandson in his casket; I know the sorrow as I watched my puppy’s life slip
away in my arms. How much more sorrow when it’s your own flesh
and blood
Believed: Mary did not fully understand the Person, Purpose and Mission of Jesus until after His
resurrection. My BS causes me to believe Mary and
Joseph both believed that Jesus was the Messiah at His birth, but because of
the pressure of the times, the family just
simply didn’t understand and were confused
and intimated by
the villagers to be seen around Jesus. Just saying
I think Mary wanted to believe; and
eventually the timidity of the
family would be replaced with boldness
because of the testimony of James His half-brother who Jesus appeared to
just after the resurrection. Just saying.
Tradition has James as an important leader
in early church history; he was appointed as the first bishop of Jerusalem by
the apostles and the Lord Himself.
James was not one of the Twelve. Mary and Jesus’ half-brothers are numbered
among the 120 believers gathered in
the upper room waiting for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I think his half-sisters were there also, but
as the “custom”
of the NOSTIC
thinking, their presence would go un-mentioned.
Jesus had committed Mary to the care of
His beloved friend John before He
died. After the birth of the Church on
the day of Pentecost, Mary sort of disappears out of the scriptures. Other writings indicate that John moved back
to his home in Ephesus and took Mary with him.
There is house in Ephesus called the “House of the Virgin” that dates
back to her time. There is no record of
her death, but she lives on in the hearts of the believer for all time;
regardless of denomination, race or class.
Acts
13 When they
arrived, they went upstairs to the room
where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip
and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the
Zealot, and Judas son of James.
14 They all
joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women
and Mary
the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
NIV
John 19:26-27 – John takes Mary to his home
26 When Jesus
saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said
to his mother,
"Dear woman,
here is your son,"
27 and to the
disciple, "Here
is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into
his home.
NIV
[1] 1 Corenthians 14:34 -
Women should remain SILENT
in the churches. -- Luke 24:10-11 – The Women’s words seemed like NONSENSE to them
[2] Romans 3:23 -
[3] Numbers 12:1-2 – Miriam
is JEALOUS of her brother Moses
[4] Luke 3:23-31 – Mary descendant of the line of King David -- Matthew
1:1-16 – Joseph descendant of the line of
King David
[5] Luke 1:28 – HAIL
[6] Acts 24:14 – The Way; the Jesus Movement
[7] Luke 2:19 – Mary pondered
all the things she saw in her heart
[8] Matthew 2:13 – Mary and
Joseph warned in a dream
[9] Luke 2:25-32 – Simon prophases to Mary about Jesus -- Luke
2:36-38 – Anna prophases to Mary about Jesus
[10] Luke 2:46-50 – Mary does
not comprehend what Jesus is telling her
[11] Luke 2:51-52 – Mary kept
all these things in her heart
[12] John 1:46 - Can anything good come out of Nazareth
[13] 1 Corenthians 1:27 – God
chooses the simple to confound the wise
[14] Luke 2:22-24 – Mary and
Joseph consecrate Jesus to the Lord
[15] Luke 2:48 – When Jesus is
Twelve, Joseph is still alive.
[16] Matthew 1:18 – Implies
that Mary had relations with Joseph later
[17] Mark 6:3 – James, Joseph,
Judas and Simon Half-Brother of Jesus -- Matthew 13:55 – Jesus had Half Sisters
too
[18] Luke 8:19-20 – Came to
see Jesus without Joseph – DEAD
[19] Matthew 12:47-49 – Jesus
said; who is my Mother and Brothers? -- Matthew 12:50 – My mother and brothers
are those that do the will of the Father
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