Question about "Only son" and "Firstborn" passage

[Prieldedi]

I have been involved in several threads discussing over Jesus “brothers and sisters”. We Catholics know Mary had only one son, and protestants point out that the Gospels say that Jesus is Mary’s “firstborn” as proof that there were other children born to Mary. I have seen all the Bible passages that Catholics use to prove that Jesus was Mary’s firstborn and also an only son. Or so I thought…

I just watched Lee Strobel’s “The Case for Christ” (it kind of let me down because no Catholic apologist appears in his DVD.) However, this thread is not about the video. While I was watching the “bonus section”, a verse came to my attention and it struck me because I have never seen it in regards to the context outlined in my introduction. In that section the DVD is presenting the OT prophesies that are fulfilled in Jesus. One of them is in Zechariah, where he mentions the Messiah being “pierced” which (together with Psalm 22:16 of David), is fulfilled in Mark 15:24 when he describes the crucifixion. But the words that follow “pierced” are the ones that caught my attention:

“And I will pour out upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace, and of prayers: and they shall look upon me, whom they have pierced: and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for an only son, and they shall grieve over him, as the manner is to grieve for the death of the firstborn.” Zechariah 12:10

Why have I never seen this passage in defense of Jesus as an only son before?

This is a prophesy about Jesus that states that He will be “pierced” and that He will be mourned “as one mourneth for an only son”. Who mourned for Him at the cross as for a son? Mary! And how did She mourn for Him? As for AN ONLY SON! And who grieved over Him at the cross? Mary! And in what manner did She grieve for Him? As the manner of the death of THE FIRSTBORN!

Here we have Jesus (the one pierced), Mary (the one who mourns), “only son” and “firstborn” together in one single verse. Does any of you has seen this passage in this context before? To me this prophesy is also about Mary and the pain she suffers at the cross for the death of Her Firstborn and Only Son. What do you think?

 

[DaveBj]

The phrases “mourn for him =the slain Messiah] as one mourns for an only son” and “grieve over him [like one grieves] for the death of the firstborn” constitute a double-barrelled simile in the style of Hebrew poetry. The similes are literary devices, and their purpose is to indicate the depth of the grief of the Jewish nation when they realize that the One that was crucified centuries ago was their own Messiah. Don’t try to make them walk on all fours.

 

[Carolus_Martell]

I’ve been told it’s an effect of the translation and re-translation of scripture.

The church teaches that Jesus was an only child and his mother, the BVM, remained a virgin. The folks that want to draw you into spiritual discussions that question dogma like this are inspired by powers and principalities that want to sow the seeds of doubt. Why?..

…because they have all of eternity on their hands to win your soul.

 

[Prieldedi]

The phrases “mourn for him =the slain Messiah] as one mourns for an only son” and “grieve over him [like one grieves] for the death of the firstborn” constitute a double-barrelled simile in the style of Hebrew poetry. The similes are literary devices, and their purpose is to indicate the depth of the grief of the Jewish nation when they realize that the One that was crucified centuries ago was their own Messiah. Don’t try to make them walk on all fours.

Your comment that this passage has a poetry style is valid. Should we look at it just in reference to the grief of the Jewish nation? What about us Christians, are we not to grieve also for the death of our Savior, the Messiah? Yes, it’s true the prophecy was fulfilled 2000 years ago but God’s actions go beyond that specific time.

Now, having a large number of protestants in this age who demand that everything our Church teaches must be in the Bible, it really struck me to read this passage in that context. My point is that here we have a prophecy that refers to Jesus being nailed at the cross which has a deeper meaning than the one it has always been giving to it.

We know His grieving Mother was at the crucifixion and watched Him die. This eminds us of Simeon in Luke 2:35 who said to Mary “a sword will pierce your own soul”, a prophecy given to Mary when Jesus was 8 days old and which was fulfilled with Mary’s pain at the cross. I for one cannot deny that Zechariah’s prophecy, just as Simeon’s prophecy, refer to the same instance without leaving Mary out of the scene, and both prophecies together give us a much broader picture of that moment. Our separate brethren claims the Bible doesn’t say Mary had only one son. After reading that passage one cannot deny the deeper message it contains, and one cannot deny Her presence in that prophecy: the “pierced one” is mourned as an only son and is grieved as the firstborn. Isn’t that what the Church teaches about the relation between Mary and Jesus, Her Firstborn and Only Son? If the whole Jewish nation is to mourn and grieve for the pierced one, who was the first person to do so at Golgotha? MARY! To me it goes beyond beautiful Hebrew poetry, more so if one reads it in light of the debate of Protestants and Catholics regarding the Blessed Virgin Mary.

I’ve been told it’s an effect of the translation and re-translation of scripture.

The church teaches that Jesus was an only child and his mother, the BVM, remained a virgin. The folks that want to draw you into spiritual discussions that question dogma like this are inspired by powers and principalities that want to sow the seeds of doubt. Why?..

…because they have all of eternity on their hands to win your soul.

Some of those protestants I talk to are family members and we will talk about it again, it’s inevitable. With this passage I think we have a text from the Bible that calls Jesus an only son and a firstborn in the same sentence. This is what protestants want to see. Well, here it is, it’s in the Bible.