Mary, the mother of Jesus was 3 years old when her parents presented her to the temple to be raised and educated for her future role, which was probably to be a wife to an essene, as Joseph was.
According to tradition, she lived in the care of the temple, studying scripture until at the age of 12 Joseph was chosen to be her husband. They got betrothed, and according to christian tradition she may have been around 14-16 when she conceived Jesus.
The essenes were a monastic sect, though some lived in the community as Joseph did. They were known for their strict purity and devotion to scripture. Some were scribes, and most scholars believe that the dead sea scrolls were written by essenes.
Joseph was a widower with children when he took Mary to his house.
Essenes were expected to be betrothed for atleast 3 years in order to get to know the woman well and ensure she was of the right character. Mary became pregnant before they got married, and according to the gospel of James, officers led them to the court to be questioned. Joseph said he had been pure towards Mary, Mary said she had known no man and the priests let them go, but they were probably judged by the community. According to christianity, the holy spirit impregnated Mary, but in Matthew chapter 1 and Luke chapter 3 the genealogy of Jesus has Joseph as his father.
Mary is revered in the catholic, eastern orthodox and oriental orthodox churches and highly respected in the anglican church. A feminist idea is that the focus on Mary as a perpetual virgin mother has been used to limit women’s roles within the church by presenting an impossible standard of womanhood, though priests may uphold Mary as a virgin in order to encourage women and girls to be pure.
Whether or not there was an immaculate conception may be a controversial topic but what matters is what Jesus came to do. In Luke 4 18:19 Jesus said, “The spirit of the Lord is upon me and has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor…..”