How did Christ fulfil the commandment: “a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Gen. 2:24; Matt. 19:5)?

The answer

St. Augustine says, “He left His Father, in that here He did not show Himself as equal with the Father; but ‘emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant’ (Phil. 2:7). He left His mother also, the synagogue of which He was born after the flesh. He clave to His Wife, that is, to His Church.”¹⁷²⁶

Fr. Tadros Yacoub Malaty

Notes

¹⁷²⁶ PL 15:1639.

Fr. Tadros Yacoub Malaty, Catechism of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Volume 1, Books 1–3. First English Edition, 2023. Published by St. George Coptic Orthodox Church, Sporting, Alexandria, and Queen St. Mary & Prince Tadros Coptic Orthodox Church, South Brunswick, NJ. Copyright © 2023. Translation and Editing: Youth of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia, Arabian Gulf, and Egypt.