Senior English
Mr. Morris
April 16, 1994
JESUS AND HIS FAMILY
Jesus of Nazareth - Son of Man, Son of God, Christ, the Redeemer, the Messiah....... We all know the story, but with the help of numerous sources, including, of course, the Bible, I will attempt to help clarify this story. The portion of this wondrous tale with which I am concerned is Jesus' family. Jesus was not alone on this earth, and as Christians believe, he is not alone in heaven. Families are a part of everyone's life, so why should there have been a difference in Jesus' case? I would like use existing texts to highlight little known facts about Jesus' family and to infer possible answers to questions one may have about the life of Jesus of Nazareth.
The Earthly Family
I hesitate to call this family Jesus' true or real family as a result of varying opinions. The Gospels, in both Matthew and Luke, name Mary as Jesus' mother and Joseph as his guardian. Joseph could not really be the father since Mary was made pregnant by the Holy Spirit; "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 of the Holy Spirit;" Jesus was born, most likely an autumn baby, in the year 4 B.C.(agreed upon by most scholars) Jesus was the first born, but not the last. A Catholic friend, though not a religious expert, confirmed that he was led to believe that Mary remained a virgin, though we can find contradiction to that belief in the same chapter of Matthew; "When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took his wife, but knew her not until she had borne a son ;"We will assume that when Joseph took Mary, he actually married her. We will also assume that when he knew her, he consecrated the marriage, thus destroying Mary's chance to remain a virgin. This act along with subsequent endeavors led to the next fact about Jesus' family on earth.
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