On the Virginity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Gospel Reflection for December 18, 2024
Today’s Gospel is taken from the Infancy Narratives in St. Matthew’s Gospel. Within these even verses we are given multiple affirmations of a key Dogma within Catholic Tradition, that of the Perpetual Virginity of Mary. Traditionally, the Church makes a distinction in the phases of Our Lady’s Virginity, that of Ante Partum, In Partu, and Post Partum.1 That is to say, Our Lady retained her virginal integrity before, during, and after the birth of Our Lord. I want to dedicate today's reflection to this Dogma, taken up in the early part of St. Matthew’s Gospel. As we approach the great feast of the Nativity, contemplation of Our Lady’s virginity brings devotion to the miraculous events surrounding the Incarnation and Birth of the Son of God. Because of that, this is going to be longer than a normal Gospel Reflection. But I believe that the beauty of this Gospel lends itself to a longer analysis.
To begin, it is important to note that St. Matthew is writing to a primarily Jewish audience.2 This fact is what motivates the content of the Infancy Narratives in particular, but also the whole of the Gospel in general. St. Matthew is writing to the early Jewish-Christian community with the mind that he is going to give witness to the fact that Jesus of Nazareth is the Jewish Messiah and Son of God. To this end, the purpose of today’s Gospel is to show the miraculous events surrounding the conception and birth of Jesus Christ of a Virgin. Specifically, to show that St. Joseph is not the biological father of Our Lord.
In the seven verses that comprise this short narrative, St. Matthew gives five proofs that Our Lord was conceived and born from a virgin. I want to go through each of the verses and connect them to the Dogma of the Perpetual Virginity.
I.
“This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together…” Matthew 1:18
St. Matthew begins by referencing the birth of Jesus Christ. He is letting His readers know that Jesus Christ was truly born of a woman. Remember, this comes immediately after his genealogy.3 This human genealogy and affirmation of the human generation of Christ is recorded to confound the early heretics that would deny to Christ a true human body. Our Lord was truly human, possessing a true human nature with a body and soul. St. Matthew confirms that He was born from the lineage of Abraham through King David and from Mary.
From there, we receive the first citation of Mary’s virginity citing her marital status. Many modern readers see the term betrothed and assume that it carries the modern idea of engagement, thus believing that Our Lady was an unwed mother. This could not be further from the truth. We have to understand that the Gospel of Matthew was written from a Jewish perspective about primarily Jewish people, in this case, Joseph and Mary were living under the Law of Moses and Jewish marital traditions. Historically, the marriage ritual had two parts. The first, called the betrothal, is when the man and woman would be legally married, but they would remain living apart while the man prepares to welcome his new wife into his home. During this time, the woman would remain living in her father’s house and the spouses, though legally married, would not engage in marital relations. The only way for this union to end was through a bill of divorce. This is confirmed a few lines later when Matthew says that upon discovering Mary’s condition, Joseph contemplates divorcing her. You cannot divorce one who is not your wife under the Law of Moses.4
The purpose of this verse is to show that although Joseph and Mary were legally married, they did not yet live together, and thus marital relations would not be within the norm.
II.
“… she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 1:18.
St. Matthew then gives the actual cause of the pregnancy: it is not St. Joseph but the Holy Spirit who has affected the conception of the Lord.5 Both St. Matthew and St. Luke profess that Our Lord was conceived of the Virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit creates the human nature of Jesus Christ out of the humanity of Mary. Her genetic material is used to fashion a human body for the Incarnate Lord and a unique human soul is created and placed within the body. At the very moment of conception, the Divine Person of the Son assumed that human nature and became man.
III.
“…behold, the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, Son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her.” Matthew 1:20
As St. Jospeh contemplates divorcing his wife, an angel appears to him in a dream and affirms to him that the child conceived is not of human origin but of Divine. Here we have a confirmation of the previous proof, this time, to St. Joseph to put his mind at ease. There is not a consensus among the theologians on why Joseph was going to divorce Mary. I will not go into each of the theories here, but I will put forward the one I find most compelling that we find in St. Thomas:
“But according to Jerome and Origen, he had no suspicion of adultery. For Joseph knew Mary’s chastity; he had read in the Scriptures that a virgin will conceive (Isa 7:14), and, and there will come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower will rise up out of his root (Isa 11:1); he also knew that Mary was descended from David. Hence, he more easily believed that this had been fulfilled in her than that she had fornicated. And therefore, considering himself unworthy to live with such great sanctity, he wished to hide her away, just as Peter said, depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord (Luke 5:8). Hence, he did not wish to hand her over, i.e., to take her to himself, and receive her in marriage, considering himself unworthy.”6
St. Thomas cites Origen and St. Jerome as saying that Joseph did not suspect infidelity because of Mary’s great sanctity, but instead, did not feel worthy to be the head of the Holy Family. This is attributed to his great righteousness and humility.
IV.
“All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the Prophet: Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means God is with us.” Matthew 1:22-23
Here we see a common theme in the Gospel of Matthew, the evangelist quotes the Old Testament to show how Christ fulfills the prophecies. In this case, it is Isaiah 7:14. While the historical prophecy may or may not have been given about King Hezekiah, the fact remains that the prophecy foretells that a virgin (Gk: Parthenos) will both conceive and bring forth a son. Here, the act of conception and the act of giving birth are in a way divided. A virgin with conceive a son; we can see this in the virginal conception of Christ. In addition, a virgin will give birth to a son as well; we can see this in the virginal delivery of the Child as well.
Further, the prophet foretells that the child will be called Emmanuel, which the evangelist translates as God with us. In the person of Jesus Christ, the name Emmanuel is far more than a metaphorical title, it is a literal prophecy. In the person of Christ, we truly have God Incarnate with us.
The citation of the Prophecy of Isaiah is perhaps the most important part of this Gospel passage. For Jesus of Nazareth to be the Messiah, He must fulfill every Old Testament prophecy. St. Matthew cites this prophecy as one of many that Christ fulfills so that the Jewish listeners can come to faith in Jesus Christ. He is the long-awaited Messiah who was born of a Virgin.
V.
“He had no relations with her until she bore a son…” Matthew 1:25
This final verse is very much misinterpreted, especially by modern-day protestants. They claim that the word until expresses a certitude of what happened after the birth of Christ. They indicate that Joseph did have relations with Mary after she gave birth to Christ and even had other children with her. This would of course mean that she was not a perpetual virgin, but only a virgin before the birth of Christ.
The Greek, however, does not lend itself to this interpretation. Heōs is a preposition that translates to up until the point. This preposition is only indicating a space of time prior to an event without expressing anything about what happens afterward.7 Matthew’s intention is not to speak about anything that happens after the birth of Christ. His sole intention is to speak about the time up until the birth, i.e., that at no time did Joseph engage in marital relations with Mary. This affirms that Joseph cannot be the biological father of Jesus. He was not involved in the conception at all.
While this is longer than a usual Gospel Reflection, I believe the reading today warrants this in-depth look. The perpetual virginity of Mary is an immensely important Dogma, and it stands as one of the proofs of who Jesus Christ is. The conception of a child from a virgin stands as a miraculous event, not seen before Christ and not seen since. It is a divine intervention within humanity to begin the work of redemption that would ultimately be accomplished on Good Friday. God, in His great love for mankind, sent His Son, born of a Virgin. In this, the child to be born is truly: God with us.
"If anyone does not in accord with the Holy Fathers acknowledge the holy and ever-virgin and immaculate Mary as really and truly the Mother of God, inasmuch as she, in the fullness of time, and without seed, conceived by the Holy Spirit, God the Word Himself, who before all time was born of God the Father, and without loss of integrity brought Him forth, and after His birth preserved her virginity inviolate, let him be anathema.” Lateran Council, 649.
As to authorship of this text, I side with the unanimous consensus of the Fathers and the Scholastics who cite the Apostle Matthew as the author of this Gospel. This is not the place to hash this out but the overwhelming patristic and medieval witness across the commentarial tradition is that the Apostle wrote this Gospel to a Jewish audience, first in Aramaic and then, later, having it translated into Greek. With that being said, I also plant my flag in the Patristic belief that Matthew was written first, probably sometime in the 50s AD, as it is cited by St. Augustine, St. Irenaeus, Origen, and St. Eusebius. (Ecclesiastical History, 6, 25, 3-6).
Cf. Matthew 1:1-17.
Cf. Deuteronomy 24:1-4.
See the Gospel of Luke 1:26-38 for the Annunciation Narrative. St. Matthew does not record the Annunciation. Traditionally, Luke’s relaying of this narrative comes from his receiving the account from the Blessed Virgin herself. Matthew merely states that it is of the Holy Spirit that Christ is conceived.
St. Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, C. 1, L. 4, 117.
A good example of this can be found in 2 Samuel 6:23. “Καὶ τῇ Μελχὸλ θυγατρὶ Σαοὺλ οὐκ ἐγένετο παιδίον ἕως τῆς ἡμέρας τοῦ ἀποθανεῖν αὐτήν.” Here we find the same term, ἕως. The English translation is “And Michal the daughter of Saul had no child until the day of her death.” ἕως translates to until here as well. Clearly, Michal is not having children after the fact. The term ἕως does not denote any time period after the event in question, it is merely speaking about the time before the event, in this case, the death of Michal.