Did Mary Have Sexual Relations With Joseph After Jesus Was Born?

Matthew Chapter 1:25: Joseph had no relations and did not know Mary until Jesus was born. 

Protestant Christian Understanding:  This is proof that Mary had sexual relations with Joseph after Jesus was born and had more children after Jesus.

Catholic Christian Understanding: With all respect, this is a complete misunderstanding of how the Bible uses words.  Words mean everything, as well as their usages, so one has to equally understand the language usages of the bible just as much as they understand how to read the concepts of the Bible. The Bible's use of the word "until" does not mean what is suggested in the contention or non-Catholic belief.  Saying that this passage means that Mary had sexual relations is infusing meaning into this passage that is not intended by scripture.

(As a side note, when it comes to understanding what the bible truly means, the bible itself warns us against this very thing.  2nd Peter 3:15 warns us against our own interpretations and taking it upon ourselves to understand what the bible says. 2nd Peter 3:15 says, "There are some things in this book that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and the unstable twist to their own destruction as they do the other scriptures... etc."  We have to agree that the Bible sometimes has very mysterious passages in it and it is very difficult to understand them.)

So back to the issue of the word "until".  The non-Catholic belief takes this word to mean that Mary did not have sexual relations UNTIL Jesus was born, in the English language sense.  The bible numerous times uses the word "until" completely differently than the way it is being described in the Protestant Christian Understanding and how we use it in the English language.  For example, it said John the Baptist was raised in the desert, and lived there until he began to preach.  John The Baptist lived in the desert his entire life, even when he was preaching.  So when it says in the bible that he lived in the desert "until" he began to preach, what it is saying is that He preached in the desert as well.  The word usage of "until" does not mean once he started preaching he moved into the city away from the desert into a condo or something.  People came to the desert to hear him and he always lived in the desert and he continued to be a desert dweller even after he started to preach until his death.  So this is one of many examples where the Bible uses the word "until" in a completely different context than what we use it today in the English language.

Another Biblical example, Salm 110, "Jesus is at the right hand of God the Father until all of his enemies are defeated."  Again, once heaven prevails and Satan is conquered, at that point God is not going to say, "OK, now it is time for you to move on Jesus and find another place in Heaven."  No that would be absurd.  Jesus will always be at the right hand of God the Almighty until the enemy is defeated and beyond, for all eternity. So the word usage of "until" in this case does not have any affect on what happens after Satan is defeated as if Jesus will not be a the right hand of God Almighty anymore, that is simply false.  Jesus will always be at the right hand of God Almighty.

Thirdly, 2nd Samual 6, where David was dancing with all his might before the Ark Of The Covenant and his wife despised David for doing it and asked him what all the fuss was about. And the bible says this about her, "Mihail, the daughter of Saul ( David's wife), had no children until the day of her death."  What does that mean?  She had no children until the day of her death?!?!?  Is the bible suggesting that she started having kids from the grave? No, that would be silly.  

The bible's true meaning of the word "until"  and its usage focuses on a particular phase or snapshot in time.  Therefore, when it comes to Mary and it saying she did not know Joseph UNTIL Jesus was born, means that Mary and Joseph never had sexual relations before Jesus was born as proof that Jesus was not an offspring of Joseph.  This passage is not addressing anything that happened after Jesus was born, it is only addressing what happened before Christ was born. Putting meaning into the passage and understanding "until" refers to what happened after Jesus was born would give a non-biblical understanding and infuse meaning that is not there. 

Thus with all the above examples showing how the bible uses the word "until", the same point is true with Matthew 1:25 about Mary and Joseph.  It is a simple focus on a specific timeframe or snap shot in time, referring to nothing before and nothing after.  Matthew's whole point in mentioning that Mary did not know Joseph until Jesus was born was to point out that Jesus was not an offspring of Joseph as his biological Father.  Matthew is speaking about a specific phase in Mary and Joseph's life, not about the entire marital life.  Never does the passage say, "But afterwards when Jesus was born, they had relations."  Saying that is infusing meaning into the passage that is not there.  The fact is, Matthew never commented on it either way so to assume and infuse an understanding into something that Matthew never said would be unbiblical.  The only thing Matthew did specifically write or say was that Joseph was not the biological father of Jesus.  That is the only point he was making in this scripture. 

And we also biblically can understand, with the examples of the previous verses, that the word "until" did not mean something changed after Jesus was born or how we use it today in the English language.  We have to compare scripture with scripture because other scripture in the bible helps us understand what the word "until" means in this context.


The Perpetual Virginity Of Mary

Like the Ark of the Covenant, Mary's body was designed for God as a holy temple with no sin.  Her having human relations with Joseph and giving birth to non-divine children would have been a step down and violating her holy body as a temple for God.

As an example, in Luke 1:34 when the Angel appears to Mary to give her the news that she is to birth the Son of God, Mary's natural reply to the angel was that of a perpetual virgin.  She said, "How can it be since I do not know a man, as I am a virgin."  The reader has to recognize the tense usage that Mary uses when saying this.  She did not say I have not known a man, she is saying in the present tense, she does not know a man.  Present tense in the bible implies a permanent enduring quality.  Thus, she was saying this is impossible for me to have a child because I have been a virgin and plan on always being a virgin.  Her question would be nonsensical if she intended to stop being a virgin.  Had she used the past tense and said, "I have not known a man.,"  Then that language would suggest she was planning on having relations with a future husband.  Therefore Mary was saying I am a virgin and am destined to stay that way, so how could it be possible to have a child?  She was immaculately conceived and then went on to give birth to Christ, etc.

Another example is when Mary was given to the Apostle John, and all humanity, at the foot of the cross.  Have you ever stopped and actually thought to yourself, why did Jesus even do this act of giving Mary as a mother to John the Apostle?  Jesus did this because Mary His mother had no one else to care for her, she had no other children.  It was Jewish law to take care of your parents, no exceptions, and it was not be legal to transfer the duty of taking care of your parents to someone else.  Therefore Jesus knew this and made John and all humanity Mary's new children.  As we know in the bible, John the Apostle then went on to care for Mary during her time on earth after the crucifixion as a good son would do in doing his duty to his parents.