JESUS CHRIST’S MISSION REVEALED The Word Became Flesh

ARTICLE 13: GOD PREPARES THE WAY: THE ROLES OF MARY AND JOSEPH God intends that families reflect the love and communion between the Sacred Persons of the Holy Trinity: the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We have a model for this Mary, Joseph, and Jesus… The Holy Family. We have limited information about Mary and Joseph’s life together and the Gospels only give us glimpses of their love and devotion for each other and their faith and trust in God, but it was through their family that God set in motion the events that would bring his plan of salvation to completion. And for this reason alone is one of the many reasons the Church holds the family to be of central importance for our faith.

OLD TESTAMENT COVENANTS REVEAL IT ALL The angel’s announcement to Mary that she will bear the Son of God is the beginning of what Saint Paul calls “the fullness of time” (Galatians 4:4). Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Mary will conceive a son and name him Jesus, meaning “God Saves.” Mary becomes the Mother of God and is supported by Joseph, her husband and Jesus’ human foster father. This great mystery, that the Eternal Son of God assumed a human nature in order to save us, had been foreshadowed through God’s relationship with his chosen people. The Sacred Writers of the New Testament made clear that in obedience to the Father, Christ redeemed us from the tyranny of sin and death. Old Testament prophecies that apply to Jesus are made known by the writers of the New Testament. {P. 63 in the text}

MARY’S FAITH & TRUST Over Two thousand years ago the angel Gabriel visited a poor, young Jewish woman. He told her that “you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus” (Luke 1:31). Faced with what must have been a confusing and overwhelming announcement, Mary shows her complete trust and faith in God with her simple but profound answer: “I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). In her unhesitating “yes” to God’s invitation at the Annunciation, Mary committed to he role in God’s plan of Salvation and became Theotokos, meaning “God-bearer.” Because of God’s Grace, Mary’s faith was possible. By saying yes, pronouncing her faith at the annunciation and giving her consent to the Incarnation, she was in collaboration with her son and that he would bring about in the world.

MARY- CONTINUED From the moment of her conception, Mary was free of Original Sin and she remained blameless and without personal sin for the whole of her life which has been deemed Catholic Dogma in the Doctrine of Immaculate Conception. “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb” (Luke 1:42). God equipped Mary to be able to give herself completely to his plan of Salvation. The virgin birth also symbolizes that Jesus is the New Adam (whom also did not have an earthly father) who will usher in the new Heaven and earth that is our ultimate destiny. Mary remained a virgin her entire life, a sign of her total commitment, body and soul, to God.

JOSEPH’S FAITH & TRUST The Gospel of Luke emphasizes Mary’s role, the Gospel of Matthew emphasizes Joseph’s role. Joseph is a compassionate man. Upon learning that Mary is pregnant, Matthew’s Gospel tells us “Joseph her husband, since he was righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. As a betrothed woman, Mary would have been subject to harsh penalties, even death by stoning, had Joseph chosen to accuse her of adultery. Then an angel appears to Joseph in a dream and tells him the same thing the angel tells Mary. The Gospel recounts that after both dreams Joseph rose and took the child and his mother, emphasizing his unhesitating obedience and trust in God’s call. Because there is no mention of Joseph after the account of Jesus lost in the temple, it is believed that Joseph died prior to Jesus’ public ministry.

DID JESUS HAVE BROTHERS & SISTERS? How is it possible that Mary remained a virgin her whole life, when the Gospels speak about Jesus’ brothers and sisters? [Example: Mark 3:31-35 & 6:3] This is possible because of the close kinship relationships in biblical times. Extended families lived next to one another and were with one another on a daily basis. {Shared meals, prayed together, shared chores together, farmed together, etc.} So a child’s aunt and uncle were considered an extra set of parents, and cousins were commonly called brother’s and sisters. So Jesus’ brothers and sisters in the gospels were his extended family, not Mary’s children. There is a theory/tradition that believes Joseph was a widower and had children from his first marriage. If that were the case then Jesus could have step-brothers and step-sisters.

WHY THE WORD BECAME FLESH? THE INCARNATION The Incarnation is the mystery of the union Jesus’ divine and human natures in one Divine person. The Incarnation is a mystery that we will never understand, it is something that we can never truly comprehend. But we do know that at the time appointed by God, Jesus Christ, the Word of God, became incarnate, that is, without losing his divine nature, he became fully man. This is expressed in the Nicene Creed we say at every Sunday Liturgy: “For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man.” The common phrase to describe Jesus Christ is “True God and True Man.” This phrase “true man” isn’t meant to make us focus on Jesus’ masculinity as much as it is his humanity that is most important. {We use this phrase to emphasize that the word of God assumed human nature, and to be be human always means being male or female.} [Go to the Parable of Juan and the Fishbowl handout.]

REASONS FOR THE INCARNATION 1) To Reconcile us with God through the forgiveness of sins. After the Fall human beings were separated from full communion with God because of our sins. “For just as through the disobedience of one person the many were made sinners, so through the obedience of one the many will be made righteous.” [Romans 5:9] “In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.” [1John 4:10] 2) That we must know the depth of God’s Love. After the Fall and the resulting shame that accompanies sin, humanity did not experience or understand the true nature of God’s unconditional love for us. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” [John 3:16] The first Christians were astounded at the realization that God loved us so much he would take on human nature and even suffer torturous death to redeem us.

REASONS FOR THE INCARNATION 3) To be our Model for Holiness. As God, Jesus Christ is Perfect holiness As a Man, he shows us how to be holy in our everyday lives. We are given frequent commands in the Gospel to imitate Christ’s holiness. At the Transfiguration, God the Father commands: “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” [Mark 9:7] Jesus tells his disciples, “This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.” [John 15:12] 4) To make us partakers of the Divine Nature. Saint Athanasius says: He [the son of God] became man so that we might be made God; and he manifested himself in the flesh, so that we might grasp the idea of the unseen Father; and he endured the insolence of men, so that we might receive the inheritance of immortality. [Treatise on the Incarnation of the Word] God wants us to share in his Divine Life and to become the image of God we were created to be. 5) To Destroy the Power of the Devil Remember the spiritual war between God & Satan, between the forces of evil & the forces of good? Jesus resists the temptations of Satan in the desert, anticipating his complete victory over evil with his Passion, death & Resurrection. “Indeed, the Son of God was revealed to destroy the works of the devil.” [1 John 3:8] We share in Jesus’ victory over Satan. Strengthened by our faith and the gifts of the spirit, Satan has lost his power over us. We’ve already won!!!