Does the Bible Really Say That?: Discovering Catholic Teaching in Scripture (17 page)

CHAPTER
43

The “Brothers” of the Lord

The Catholic Church teaches that the Blessed Virgin Mary remained a virgin throughout her life, before and after the birth of Christ. “The Virgin Birth” refers to the fact that Christ was conceived in Mary’s womb without the involvement of a human father (Saint Joseph being his foster father). Another aspect of this teaching is known as “the Perpetual Virginity of Mary,” meaning that she did not bear other children besides her son, Jesus.

How then do we account for certain passages in Scripture that speak of the “brothers of the Lord”? Do they contradict Catholic teaching and indicate that Mary did, in fact, have other children after she gave birth to Jesus?

Not at all.

In any explicit sense, the New Testament is completely silent in regard to whether or not Mary had other children besides Christ. It also does not explicitly state that she remained a virgin after his birth. But the
implicit
evidence that she remained a perpetual virgin is considerable.

First, keep in mind that in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, the term “brother” in the time of Christ denoted any close male relative or friend. Uncles, nephews and cousins were routinely called brother in the Jewish culture of the time of the Lord and for centuries before.

In passages such as Genesis 13:8, we see that Lot was the nephew of Abraham, though he is called Abraham’s “brother.”
¹
Passages such as Deuteronomy 23:8, Nehemiah 5:7, 2 Kings 10:13–14, Jeremiah 34:9, 2 Samuel 1:26, 1 Kings 9:11–13 and
1 Kings 20:32 show this usage to have been very common.

In Matthew 12:46–50, Mark 3:31–35 and Mark 6:3, certain men were called the “brothers” of the Lord. Matthew 13:55 says: “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brethren James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?” (that is, Jude Thaddeus, not Judas Iscariot).

Two of these four men called “brothers,” James and Joseph, must have been close relatives of Jesus, but they definitely were not the sons of Mary his mother. The same is true for Judas (Jude) who was the son of another woman. How do we know this? Because the Bible tells us that the first two men were the sons of Mary the wife of Alphaeus [also Cleophas or Clopas], who was either the sister or cousin or some other close relation to Mary the mother of Jesus.

Matthew 10:2–3
  “The names of the twelve Apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector;
James the son of Alphaeus
, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him” (emphasis added).

Matthew 27:55–56
  “There were also many women there [at the foot of the cross], looking on from afar, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him; among whom were Mary Magdalene,
and Mary the mother of James and Joseph
, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee” (emphasis added).

Mark 15:40
  “There were also women looking on from afar [from the foot of the cross], among whom were Mary Magdalene,
and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses
[i.e., Joseph],
and Salome
, who, when he was in Galilee, followed him, and ministered to him; and also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem” (emphasis added).

Luke 6:13–16
  “And when it was day, he called his disciples, and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles; Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas,
and James the son of Alphaeus
, and Simon who was called the Zealot,
and Judas the son of James
, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor” (emphasis added).

John 19:25
  “[S]tanding by the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.”

The preceding passages are sufficient to dispel the notion that the men mentioned in Matthew 13 were the literal brothers of Jesus, sons of Mary his mother. They were not. These men were the Lord’s first cousins or perhaps some other close kin. Those early Church Fathers who commented on these passages tell us that Cleophas was Saint Joseph’s brother, which would make his sons James and Joses (assuming that Cleophas and Clopas were the same man), the cousins of the Lord.

Additional clues also point us toward the truth of Mary’s perpetual virginity. For example, of the scene of the Crucifixion, we read: “When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son!’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother!’ And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home” (John 19:25–27).

The natural question here arises: If Mary did have other children besides Jesus, why would he entrust his mother into the care of someone not a member of the family? Saint John was the son of Zebedee. It doesn’t make sense that Christ would have done this if he, in fact, had brothers who were sons of Mary.

Throughout all of the New Testament, only Christ is called the “son of Mary”—no one else is called that.

In Luke 2:41–51 we read about the “finding in the temple.” The Holy Family went up to Jerusalem, and while there, Mary and Joseph became separated from Christ. There is no mention of other children, only Jesus. If Mary and Joseph had had other children, one would expect some mention of them here and could conclude from this silence that there were no other children.

 Another important clue in this matter is what happened at the Annunciation, which is recounted in Luke 1:26–38. Mary’s reaction to the Angel Gabriel’s news that “you will conceive in your womb and bear a son” seems very odd. His message made her “greatly troubled,” and she asked, “How can this be, since I do not know man?” (LXX). This is a euphemism for Mary’s not being physically involved with the man to whom she was betrothed, Saint Joseph. Her reaction points to the possibility that she had taken a vow of perpetual virginity and was therefore justifiably troubled when an angel told her that she would soon become pregnant, in spite of her promise to God to remain a virgin even in marriage (something that was not common in those days, though it was not unheard of).

If Mary had
not
taken a vow of perpetual virginity—something some Church Fathers and later theologians believed that she had done
²
—and if she had planned to live with her husband as man and wife, with all that that entails, then her perplexity at the angel’s message that she would soon conceive a child is inexplicable. After all, she was a young woman about to be married, and she knew how babies are made.

Further Reading:
CCC
, 411, 492–494

CHAPTER 44

The Rosary: A Truly Biblical Prayer

Catholics around the world are familiar with the rosary, a series of five Our Fathers, each followed by ten Hail Marys and a Glory Be (each set is known as a “decade”), counted out on a string of beads known as a rosary.

Traditionally, there were three “mysteries” or themes that one would meditate upon while praying the rosary: the Sorrowful Mysteries, the Joyful Mysteries and the Glorious Mysteries. According to this pattern, the total number of Hail Marys prayed in one rosary (i.e., the three mysteries) is 150. This corresponds to the 150 psalms in the Old Testament, which were also recited aloud by pious Jews and, later, by Christians as a prayer of praise to God. In 2002 Pope John Paul II added the Luminous Mysteries.

The purpose of these themes is to help order the mind while praying, by focusing on particular episodes in the lives of Christ, our Lord and Savior, and Mary his mother, who is a model for all Christians. In fact, she was the very
first
Christian, and she was present with Christ in virtually all the major episodes of his life.

This ancient and powerful collection of prayers to Our Blessed Lady and her son Jesus Christ has graced the lives of countless Catholics for centuries. But many are not aware that the prayers of the rosary, as well as the mysteries of the rosary upon which we meditate, are drawn almost entirely from the pages of the Bible.

The
Sorrowful Mysteries
comprise:

1.    
The Agony in the Garden
, which is a meditation on the events described in Matthew 26:36–46, Mark 14:32–42 and Luke 22:39–46;

2.    
The Scourging at the Pillar
, which focuses on Matthew 20:19, 27:26, Mark 15:15, Luke 23:21 and John 19:1;

3.    
The Crowning with Thorns
, which is described in Matthew 27:29–30, Mark 15:16–20 and John 19:2–5;

4.    
The Carrying of the Cross
, which we read about in Matthew 27:31–34, Mark 15:22–23, Luke 23:26–33 and John 19:16–17;

5.    
The Crucifixion and Death of Christ on the Cross
, which is recounted in Matthew 27:45–56, Mark 15:33–41, Luke 23:44–49 and John 19:30–37.

The
Joyful Mysteries
are:

1.    
The Annunciation
of the Angel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin Mary, seen in Luke 1:26–38;

2.    
The Visitation
of Our Lady to her cousin Elizabeth, described in Luke 1:39–45;

3.    
The Nativity
of the Lord Jesus Christ, which we meditate upon in Matthew 1:25 and Luke 2:6–7;

4.    
The Presentation
of Christ in the Temple, which is described in Luke 2:22–38;

5.    
The Finding of Christ in the Temple
, which we read about in Luke 2:41–52.

The
Glorious Mysteries
are:

1.    
The Resurrection of Christ
, which we meditate upon in Matthew 28:1–10, Mark 16:1–11, Luke 24:1–12 and John 20:1–8;

2.    
The Ascension of Christ
into heaven, which is described in Mark 16:19 and Luke 24:50–51;

3.    
The Descent of the Holy Spirit
(i.e., Pentecost), which we read about in Acts 2:1–12;

4.    
The Assumption of Mary
into heaven, which is alluded to in Psalm 132:8 and Revelation 12:1–18;

5.    
The Crowning of Mary
as Queen of Heaven, which is also alluded to in passages such as 1 Corinthians 9:25, 2 Timothy 4:8, James 1:12, 1 Peter 5:4, Revelation 2:10 and Revelation 12:1.

The more recent
Luminous Mysteries
are:

1.    
The Baptism of the Lord
, which is found in Matthew 3:17, Mark 1:4–11, Luke 4:21, and John 1:29-34;

2.    
The Wedding at Cana
, which we read about in John 2:1–11;

3.    
The Proclamation of the Kingdom
, examples of which are contained in Mark 1:15, Mark 2:3–13 and Luke 7:47–48;

4.    
The Transfiguration of Christ
, which is seen in Matthew 17:1–8 and Luke 9:35;

5.    
The Institution of the Eucharist
, which we read about in Matthew 26:26–30, Mark 14:22–26 and Luke 22:14–20.

The prayers of the rosary are also drawn from Scripture. The Our Father is drawn from Matthew 6:9–13:

Our Father who art in heaven,

Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done,

            on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our trespasses,

            as we also forgive those who trespass against us;

And lead us not into temptation,

            But deliver us from evil.

The first part of the Hail Mary is found in the greeting of the angel Gabriel to Mary in Luke 1:28, “
Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you
” (emphasis added). The second part comes from Elizabeth’s exclamation in Luke 1:42,
“Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!”
(emphasis added). The third part of the Hail Mary goes like this:
“Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death, amen.”

While this third part of the Hail Mary is not drawn directly from Scripture, it is surely consistent with the Bible’s teachings. First, there is no doubt that Mary is holy. After all, God chose her to be the mother of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Incarnate Christ. As Mary herself said in Luke 1:46–53, she knew she was “lowly” but that God had “
exalted
those of low degree” (emphasis added). She understood that “all generations” would call her “blessed,” which is a clear indication of her holiness.

Second, Mary was truly the Mother of God, since the person born to her, Jesus Christ, was God himself who had taken flesh for our salvation (John 1:1, 14). She was not the mother of just Christ’s human nature (what mother shows off her newborn baby and says, “Look at the beautiful human
nature
I just gave birth to”?).

No, mothers give birth to
persons
who possess human natures. In Christ’s case, he is a divine Person, who possesses the fullness of both a divine and a human nature. Elizabeth spoke the truth when she saw Mary coming to her: “And why is this granted to me, that
the mother of my Lord
should come to me?” (Luke 1:43, emphasis added).

And third, as a member of the body of Christ, Mary is also called by God to offer “supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings...for all men.... This is good, and it is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:1–4).

If we are called by the Lord to pray for others, especially those who are most in need of our prayers, even more assuredly, the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is in heaven in the presence of the Blessed Trinity, will also be praying for us. She has been perfected in righteousness before God (Hebrews 12:23), and the Bible tells us that “the prayer of a righteous man [or woman!] has great power” (James 5:16).

So, when you pray the rosary, know that you are praying the most scriptural of prayers. Know also that when you pray the rosary with heartfelt love for God and a desire to draw ever closer to him, through the powerful intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, united with her Son Jesus Christ, he is well pleased (1 Timothy 2:3).

Further Reading:
CCC,
2673–2682