2022/04/04

33. The Vocation of Mary and Joseph

Jesus encouraged mainly his male disciples to become "eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven."¹ It is because men's bodies are designed to be able to control their sexual impulses. The male body has a function whereby old sperm is absorbed into the body to replenish it with new sperm. As male external genitalia is also used as a urethra, some may think that sperm, like urine, must be expelled once it is filled up, but the idea is an illusion. On the other hand, the number of eggs is determined when a woman is a foetus in her mother's womb, and no new eggs are produced after birth. An egg matures in a grown woman's body and comes out into the fallopian tubes. If the egg does not meet any sperm and does not become a fertilised egg, it is expelled from her body together with a part of the uterus which peels off with bleeding. Ovulation, in which a mature egg is released, happens independently of the woman's will. At this time, she undergoes a few days of estrus. So, God specially prepared Mary so that she would carry his only begotten Son. The Holy Spirit came upon her, and the power of the Most High overshadowed her.² It meant that her body became "like an angel." Jesus must have had an image of his mother in mind when he replied to the Sadducees: "They can no longer die, for they are like angels; and they are the children of God because they are the ones who will rise" (Luke 20:36). The Gospel accounts show that Jesus, who was the first to rise from the dead, was seemingly no different from an ordinary person. As Mary was likewise, no one, let alone herself, would have realised what had happened to her. That is why Jesus responded to the woman, "Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it" (Luke 11:28) when she said aloud, "Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed" (Luke 11:27), and also addressed his mother as "Woman."³ Considering all these things, we can imagine that Joseph, who took Mary and her unborn child Jesus into his home following the angel's instruction and became Jesus' earthly father, witnessed extremely rare childbirth in Bethlehem. It must have been like the scene in which Jesus has risen, leaving an empty tomb behind. Joseph saw it all and realised everything; he feared God and lived his whole life as "a eunuch who has made himself a eunuch for the sake of the kingdom of heaven," even though he did not know it. The life choices of Mary and Joseph opened up to Christians the possibility of receiving the life of a new man and a new woman.

References: 1. Matthew 19:12, 2. Luke 1:35, 3. John 2:4, 19:26

Maria K. M.