tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7155226280212467063.post6343068584186428737..comments2024-03-05T06:16:30.628-06:00Comments on Mary and Mariology: Our Pure, Noble, and Priestly Mary (Mary in the Apocrypha)Servant of Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13686441055922333147noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7155226280212467063.post-35995464421429830252015-12-03T22:29:32.002-06:002015-12-03T22:29:32.002-06:00MM-T commented that it seemed odd for Matthew to l...MM-T commented that it seemed odd for Matthew to lay out Joseph’s lineage. At first glance, I agree that yes, the value of this recounting seems unclear. Yet, I think considered more closely, Matthew is, in fact, doing something important with Joseph’s lineage. I poked around a bit on Wikipedia to try to investigate further what Jewish understandings of lineage were at the time of Christ’s birth. From what I gathered, two details seem especially relevant to the question at hand. First, though in more modern times the Jewish religion has followed a matrilineal model, such does not seem to have been the case at the time of Christ’s birth. Second, marriage usually happened between members of a tribe. Taken together, Matthew is merely reporting lineage as it often would have been recounted at the time. Because most spouses would come from the same tribe, commenting on Joseph’s lineage is also commenting on Mary’s lineage. It’s also worth pointing out that though Joseph may not be related to Jesus, though he may not be Jesus’ father, he nevertheless is someone who would be highly involved in Jesus' life. Thus, regardless of any biological or blood connection to Jesus, it is still important that Joseph be an appropriate parental figure in Christ’s life.<br /><br />See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrilineality_in_Judaism<br /><br />-J.D.<br />Servant of Maryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13686441055922333147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7155226280212467063.post-78005420412563963902015-10-12T10:48:07.469-05:002015-10-12T10:48:07.469-05:00The previous comments bring up some of the things ...The previous comments bring up some of the things that I thought about, too, while reading your post: I would have liked to hear more about the way in which Mary provides the link between God (Heaven) and Earth, and I think as well that there is something of the same question at stake in why both the evangelists and the authors of the apocrypha pay so much attention her lineage. A lineage is, after all, a series of links! RLFBServant of Maryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13686441055922333147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7155226280212467063.post-56008667296348706142015-10-10T21:29:33.957-05:002015-10-10T21:29:33.957-05:00In response to your comments towards the end of yo...In response to your comments towards the end of your piece, I would offer that Jesus is even more related to Mary’s lineage because she remained a perpetual virgin. We know through the original sin of Eve that child-bearing became a painful process for women, but because Mary was conceived without sin, we can also know that she didn’t experience the associated pains of child-labor when giving birth to Jesus. If she experienced no pain, then it follows that her womb, the throne of the Holy Spirit, was not violated after giving birth unlike the wombs of every mother before her. It is precisely because Mary was a perpetual virgin that we can know Christ to be truly God since the prophecies handed down through Mary’s lineage require that the Savior simultaneous be priest, prophet, and king which is a role only God could play. If Mary did not remain a virgin after the birth of Jesus, we would have to face a contradiction in the will of God, namely that He personally wanted to preserve the purity of the vessel of His Son and that He personally wanted to have it violated. Thus the complementarity of the Mary’s perpetual virginity and historical lineage serve to strongly underscore the divine nature and divine purpose of the birth of her son. <br /><br />J.B.<br />Servant of Maryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13686441055922333147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7155226280212467063.post-13842713005860221122015-10-08T15:55:34.802-05:002015-10-08T15:55:34.802-05:00The point that Mary's history helps to clarify...The point that Mary's history helps to clarify the relationship between God and Earth (I'm assuming "Earth" here encompasses humanity as well) is an interesting one and worthy of exploration. It may have helped to remain focused on that throughout your post, or to bring the virginity and lineage discussions back to this point. Does the emphasis on her virginity signal a break between God and Earth which remains regardless of the Incarnation? What might be at stake in this, or what in our sources speak for or against it?<br /><br /><br /><br />dyingsthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02087241514388178221noreply@blogger.com