Her Firstborn Son
While
they were there, the time came for the baby to be born,
and she gave birth to
her firstborn, a son.
She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger,
because there was no guest room available for them.
Luke 2, 6-7
Primogeniture is the right,
by Jewish law or custom, of the legitimate, firstborn son (bekhor) to inherit his
parents' entire or principal estate in preference to daughters, younger sons,
stepsons, and illegitimate sons. Even the son of a deceased elder brother
inherits before a surviving younger brother of his father by right of
substitution of the deceased heir. The legal, social, and religious features of
this institution were reflected in the norms and practices of ancient Hebrew
society. Mosaic law granted the firstborn male a privileged status with respect
to the rights of inheritance and cultic regulations.
A son might also refer to
his own status as a firstborn son when addressing his father (Gen. 27:19, 32).
The composition of Biblical genealogies illustrates that the status of the
bekhor was a pervasive feature of Israelite social life. In many of them, there
is a formula that specifies the status of the first-named son. Even in
genealogies that do not specifically indicate the status of the first son
listed, it was understood that he was the firstborn son. There are indications
in the Bible that primogeniture carried certain duties and privileges in
addition to the estate rights (Gen. 27; 48:13; Judg. 8:20; 1 Chron. 26:10).*
St. Luke has primogeniture
in mind with respect to Jesus when he writes "she gave birth to her
firstborn son." Yet many Protestants who aim to prove from sacred
Scripture that Mary never remained a virgin after the birth of Jesus often cite
this passage. They argue, in a numerical sense, that if Jesus were her first
child, then naturally she must have had a second, third, or even fourth child
together with her husband Joseph. But even though the firstborn son would
logically have to be the first son that was born, the one who "opens the
womb" as the "first issue", it doesn't necessarily mean that his
parents subsequently had other children, sons or daughters. Recall that the
firstborn son was entitled to a double portion of his father's entire estate
without any fraction provided he had no younger brothers.
John the Baptist was the
firstborn son (bekhor) of Zachariah
and Elizabeth, but he was their only offspring. Elizabeth was aged and barren,
but God intervened only so that she would conceive and bear Christ's
forerunner. It wasn't for her becoming fertile, though her womb was made
fertile by God on this occasion. The same can be said for Sarah who conceived
Isaac, her only son. Isaac prefigures Jesus, as Sarah prefigures Mary. Both
Sarah and Mary had only one child, a firstborn son who was rightfully entitled
to the inheritance of his father's estate as principal heir without any
competition (Gen. 21:9-10; Lk. 1:31-33). Jesus is the offspring or seed of the
free promised Woman who did not conceive and bear children (Ishmaels) in
slavery to sin (Gen 3:15). Mary and Joseph could not have had their own
children together without disfiguring God's perfect plan, seeing the Lord’s
handmaid is Sarah's anti-type.
Hence, Luke refers to Jesus
as Mary's firstborn son (bekhor) in the sense that our Lord is the principal
heir and successor of his heavenly Father's family. As YHWH is head of His
chosen people, the Israelites, in the Old Dispensation so, in the New
Dispensation, Christ is the Head of his Church and the first fruit of the
children of the resurrection in his heavenly kingdom (1 Cor. 15:20-28). As his
brothers and sisters by our baptism, we have been granted a share in his
inheritance (Rom. 8:17). The only other children Mary has begotten are we who
bear testimony to Christ and keep God's commandments (Rom. 8:29; Rev. 12:17).
We are the offspring of the Woman of promise along with Jesus (Gen. 3:15; Rev.
12:1-5), though spiritually. In labor, Mary bore us as she sorrowfully stood
beneath the Cross with no other uterine offspring of hers alongside, but with
the Disciple who represents all faithful Christians (Jn. 19:26-27).
In any event, by the
prescriptions of the Mosaic law, a father was obligated to acknowledge his
firstborn son as principal heir. Christ's heavenly Father did this when a voice
came out of the heavens at the time of our Lord's baptism: "This is my beloved
son, in whom I am well pleased." (Mt. 3:17; cf. Lk. 2:49). God did so
again at the time of Jesus' transfiguration on Mount Tabor (Mt. 17:5). In turn,
Jesus acknowledged his own status as the firstborn Son of his Father after
Caiaphas asked him, "Are you the Messiah, the son of the Blessed
One?" Our Lord responded, for which reason he was sentenced to death and
finally received his eternal inheritance, "I am. And you shall see the Son
of man sitting on the right hand of the power of God and coming with the clouds
of heaven" (Mk. 14:61-62; cf. Dan. 7:13.
“It helps us to
understand the terms ‘first-born’ and ‘only-begotten’ when the Evangelist tells
that
Mary remained a virgin ‘until she brought forth her first-born son’ [Matt.
1:25]; for neither did
Mary, who is to be honored and praised above all others,
marry anyone else, nor did she ever
become the Mother of anyone else, but even
after childbirth she remained always and forever an
immaculate virgin.”
Didymus the Blind, The Trinity 3:4
(A.D. 386)
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Salve Regina!