Category:Mary of Nazareth (subject)

Mary of Nazareth (Home Page)

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This page is edited by Gabriele Boccaccini, University of Michigan

Mary of Nazareth -- Overview

The Gospel of Mark ignores the father of the "son of Mary", Jesus. According to the Gospels of Matthew, Luke, and John, Jesus of Nazareth was "Joseph's son." Matthew and Luke are the only sources to provide two different narratives about the childhood of Jesus, which both give a role to Joseph. Luke and Matthew also claim that Joseph was a descendant of David.

Most of the information about Joseph of Nazareth comes from later sources, such as the Protoevangelium of James (2nd century CE) or the History of Joseph the Carpenter (5th century CE). They not only harmonized the data from the previous tradition but also added a lot of details about the relationship between Joseph and Mary (and Jesus).

Mary of Nazareth (research)

The lack of evidence and the literary character of the narratives and genealogies concerning Joseph, make any historical evaluation virtually impossible. As no reference to Joseph can be found in Paul and in the Gospel of Mark (where Jesus is introduced as the son of Mary), the very existence of Joseph of Nazareth is disputed.

Related categories

Joseph of Nazareth -- Jesus of Nazareth (Baby Jesus, Child Jesus) -- Herod the Great -- Gabriel

External links

Wikipedia.en

Mary of Nazareth (sources)

Gospel of Matthew

Matt 1:16 -- and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.

Matt 1:18 -- Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.

Matt 1:19 -- And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.

Matt 1:20 -- But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

Matt 1:24 -- When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife,

Matt 2:13 -- Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.”

Matt 2:19 -- But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,

Gospel of Luke

Luke 1:27 -- to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.

Luke 2:4 -- And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,

Luke 2:16 -- And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.

Luke 3:23 -- Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years of age, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli,

Luke 3:24 -- the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph,

Luke 3:30 -- the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim,

Luke 4:22 -- And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?”

Gospel of John

John 1:45 -- Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

John 6:42 -- They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

Mary of Nazareth (fiction)

Joseph is a constant yet discreet presence in Christian iconography, which heavily relies on the data coming from later Christian tradition. Often portrayed as an old man, Joseph does not have a life of his own but always play a supporting role, as the devout husband of Mary and the caring father of Jesus. He is no more that a passive presence in the lives of his wife and son; only in the flight to Egypt he has a leading role. In recent decades a more dynamic image of Joseph and Mary has emerged, as a young and loving couple.

Gabriele Boccaccini, University of Michigan

Mary of Nazareth (literature)

Joseph of Nazareth (music)

Mary of Nazareth (cinema)

Mary of Nazareth (art)

Joseph with Infant Christ (1666 Murillo), art

Death of Joseph (1787 Goya), art

BACK TO THE PEOPLE INDEX

According to Christian (and Islamic) traditions, Mary of Nazareth was the wife of Joseph and mother of Jesus.

< Life of Mary of Nazareth : Expulsion of Joachim from the Temple -- Annunciation to Anne and Joachim -- Birth of Mary -- Girlhood of Mary (Education of the Virgin, Presentation of Mary at the Temple) -- Marriage of Mary and Joseph -- Annunciation to Mary -- Visitation of Mary -- Birth of Jesus -- Adoration of the Shepherds -- Adoration of the Magi -- Circumcision of Jesus -- Presentation of Jesus at the Temple -- Massacre of the Innocents -- Flight into Egypt -- Jesus among the Doctors -- Death of Joseph of Nazareth -- Wedding at Cana -- Jesus' True Relatives -- Hometown Rejection -- Crucifixion of Jesus -- Resurrection of Jesus -- Ascension of Jesus -- Gathering of the Twelve at Jerusalem -- Christian Pentecost -- Death and Assumption of Mary -- Relics of Mary of Nazareth >

< Mary of Nazareth (fiction) : Art -- Cinema -- Literature -- Music >

Overview

In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus is identified as the "son of Mary" and the brother of James, Joses, Judas, Simon, and some unnamed sisters; all these people are well known in the village of Nazareth, the hometown of Jesus. Nothing else is added about the Jesus Family. The only event in which Mary is directly involved is when the family of Jesus made an attempt to bring him home, but he refused.

The Gospel of Matthew introduces "Joseph the husband of Mary" and narrates the miraculous virginal conception of Jesus by the Holy Spirit as revealed to Joseph by the angel Gabriel. The narrative includes the birth of Jesus at Bethlehem, the adoration of the Magi, and the flight to Egypt. Mary then disappears from the Gospel of Matthew, if not for the episode taken from Mark between Jesus and his family, which now appears more a meeting than a confrontation.

The Gospel of Luke also refers to Joseph and the virginal conception of Jesus, but presents a different narrative of the events concerning the infancy of Jesus, giving a much more prominent role to Mary. It was Mary who received the annunciation by the angel Gabriel. Mary went then to visit her relative Elisabeth (the mother of John the Baptist) and remained with her "three months." Mary followed Joseph to Bethlehem to register for the census of Quirinius and it was in that occasion that Jesus was born. Shepherds came to adore the baby. Jesus was then circumcised and Mary performed the rituals of purification in the Temple of Jerusalem before going beck to Nazareth. Mary and Joseph then returned to the temple when Jesus was a boy and witnessed his conversation with the wise. As in Matthew, Mary is absent in the narratives concerning the preaching of Jesus, except for the episode of the visit of the family to Jesus. Acts however introduces Mary and the family of Jesus, who are gathered together with the disciples at the dawn of the church.

The Gospel of John does not name Mary and does not know of the virginal birth or the infancy narratives. Mary is always referred to as "the mother of Jesus" and the wife of Joseph. She is however present in two key episodes in the life of Jesus: his first miracle at Cana (not mentioned by the other Gospels), and his crucifixion. In at least one occasion, John shows Jesus and his disciples being together with the family. "The mother" is then present at the foot of the cross, when Jesus asked her to "adopt" the beloved disciple as her own son.

Later traditions

The earliest Gospels say so little about Mary that the Christian tradition felt compelled to provide detailed information to satisfy the curiosity of the believers and to deny embarrassing rumors about Jesus being the fruit of an illicit relationship between his mother and a Roman soldier, Panthera (Celsius; Toledot Jeshua).

From the Protoevangelium of James (c.150 CE) to the Golden Legend (compiled in 1260), the few data from the Gospels were harmonized and developed as to form a consistent narrative. Christian art, liturgy and popular piety as well as theological concerns, contributed to the growth and success of the legends.

Mary was the daughter of Joachim and Anne. Generated miraculously as her mother was barren, at the age of three she was given to service as a consecrated virgin in the Temple of Jerusalem. Joseph of Nazareth was miraculously selected to be her husband when she was fourteen. The story then follows an harmonized version of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, ignores the embarrassing details in Mark, and emphasizes the continuous presence of Many at the side of his son from his infancy to his death on the cross, as well as her role in the early church, assuming that she was always there even when sources are silent. After Jesus' death, Mary went to live with the beloved disciple (identified with John). She died surrounded by the apostles (either in Jerusalem or Ephesus) and her body was miraculously assumed into Heaven.

Numerous legends also developed about Relics of Mary of Nazareth, generally some of her belongings, which are claimed to be preserved by several churches and monasteries all around Europe.

Mary is also mentioned and greatly honored in the Qur'an and in the Islamic tradition, which adapted Christian legends to its distinctive theological perspective.