Mary in the Gospel of Luke: The Nativity

The Nativity

In  some detail, we have examined the first two “Marian” episodes of the Lucan infancy narrative, the Annunciation and the Visitation.

With this article of The Queen, we begin a study of Our Lady as she is depicted in the mystery of the nativity as recounted by Luke (2:1-20). The primary focus of the nativity scene is, as with the entire Gospel, Jesus. The Marian dimension is always to be understood within its essential Christological context.

There are three Marian points in this narrative that are of special interest: 1. Mary gives birth to Jesus. 2. Mary gives birth to her first-born. 3. Mary ponders in her heart the mystery of the nativity.

Mary Gives Birth . . .

Commentaries on the Gospel of Luke go into some detail on the meaning of the worldwide census. Caesar Augustus orders the census when Quirinius was governor of Syria (Lk 2:1-2).   Although there is an evident confusion of dates in Luke’s chronology, he employs the “census of all the world” to indicate the cosmic importance of the birth of the Messiah. Typical of Luke’s theology is that Jesus is for all people; the rather vague recollection of a census around the time of Jesus’ birth becomes for Luke an opportunity to stress the universal role of Christ. As we know from Lk 1:5 and Mt 2:1, the birth of Jesus occurred sometime shortly before the death of Herod (4 BC).

. . . to Jesus

Mary is first mentioned in the Lucan nativity narrative in verse five; “to be enrolled with Mary his betrothed who was with child”.  The evangelist depicts Mary as accompanying Joseph who in order to be enrolled must go to Bethlehem, his Davidic ancestral home, for he is “from the house and family of David.” Luke still calls Mary Joseph’s “espoused” as he does in the annunciation narrative (cf. Lk 1:27). He could have used the term “wife” since Joseph had completed the final phase of the marriage ceremony, taking Mary to his own home (cf. Mt 1:18- 25). Since Luke called Mary the “espoused” of Joseph at the annunciation, he continues that expression in his narrative of the nativity.

More-over, it underlines the virginal conception of Jesus which he teaches in the first chapter of his infancy narrative. To express shock that Luke depicts an engaged, pregnant teenager traveling with her fiancé, demonstrates a misunderstanding of the formation and the purpose of the first to chapters of Luke. His intention is simple: Mary, legally married to Joseph but with child, through the power of the overshadowing Spirit, accompanies her husband on his trip to Bethlehem.

Mother of the Lord

And it is in Bethlehem that Mary of Nazareth gives birth to Jesus. Luke calls the child “Lord” (2:11; cf. 1:43), in a context where the term Lord is repeatedly used to designate God (cf. 1:6, 9, 11, 15, 16, 17, 25, 28, 32, 38, 45, 46, 66, 68, 76; 2:9, 15, 23, 26, 29,
39). Giving Jesus the title “Lord” is to some way put him on the same level as Yahweh without, however, identifying Yahweh and Jesus.

The Church as the pillar and ground of truth (1 Tim 3:15) has elaborated the expression “Christ the Lord” to indicate that the Word of God, one in being with the Father from all eternity, has in a moment in time, taken a full human nature from the Virgin Mary. The term “Lord” as preached by the Christian community refers to the divinity of Jesus and also to the divine maternity. Mary is the Mother of God or as the ancient Greek expression has it, Theotokos, the God-bearer, for Eternal Wisdom is born into the human family as her Child.

Mother of Christ

Through deduction, there is another Marian title from Luke’s nativity narrative.  Her Son is called by the angels “the Christ.” The word means “the anointed one,” or as derived from its Hebrew form, the messiah. Luke makes it clear that it is Yahweh who has anointed Jesus, for Mary’s child is “the Lord’s Messiah” (2:26). As the kings of old were anointed with oil inaugurating them into their office, so Jesus is the anointed of the Father to carry out his office of bearer of salvation, of personifying in himself the kingdom of God. Jesus is the Christ, the anointed of God. Mary is, then, the Mother of the Messiah, the Mother of Christ. Through her, salvation has come into the world.

Mary’s Firstborn

Mary gives birth to her firstborn.  Luke writes that Mary “gave birth to her firstborn son” (2:7). If Jesus is her first-born, does not that indicate that she had other children? Why then does the Church sing of Mary as “ever-virgin?”

“Firstborn” says that Mary had no children before Jesus. And He was, therefore, entitled to all the privileges granted to the firstborn in the Law of Moses (cf. Ex 13:2; Num 3:12-13; 18:15-16; Dt 21:15-17). The term does not indicate that there were any children of Mary after Jesus. Authors cite an ancient inscription – perhaps of 5 BC – at a woman’s burial site to support this point: “In the pangs of giving birth to a firstborn child, fate brought me to the end of my life.” It is evident that the woman’s “first- born” was the only child. That Our Lady’s only child is Jesus, is the constant teaching of the Body of Christ, the Church, based on its prayerful, Spirit-filled understanding of the word of God. She is the Virgin.

Our Lady wrapped her firstborn in “swaddling cloths,” as was the custom of the time. The expression does no more than indicate Mary’s loving, maternal care for her newborn. Mary has to improvise; a feeding trough – a manger – must do as the crib.

By stating at the nativity that Jesus is the firstborn, Luke is preparing the stage for the fourth joyful mystery of Mary’s role in the infancy narrative, the Presentation in the Temple.

To Be Continued