SIBLINGS OF JESUS CHRIST (Part one)

𝐒𝐈𝐁𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐉𝐄𝐒𝐔𝐒 𝐂𝐇𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐓

Jesus had no biological brothers and sisters, another way of saying Mary had no other children. When Catholics say this, other churches are quick to refer them to Mark 6:3 that says, “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joseph, and Judas and Simon, and are not His sisters here with us?” and Matthew 12:46 “While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him.”

If you can read further, pay keen attention to the following points:

1. A verse cannot mean to us what it could not have meant to the original audience, according to the hermeneutical rule. This is where many preachers fall into error.

2. The Jews employed the terms “brother” or “sister” in place of the words for cousin, nephew, niece, aunt, or uncle that were present in ancient Hebrew or Aramaic. This was captured in Genesis 14:12, where Lot, Abraham’s nephew, is referred to as his brother.

3. How would Jesus had given His mother to the Apostle John at the moment of his death if He had other siblings? (John 19:26-27). It would have been a huge betrayal of his brothers.

4. Mark 6 refers to James and Joseph as “brothers” of Jesus, whereas Matthew 27:55–56 reveals that they were actually the sons of a different Mary. It reads, “There were also many women there, looking on you from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him, among whom were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.”

5. It’s dangerous to pick a verse out of scriptures and draw conclusion from it. Preachers should engage in canonical interpretation and intertextuality.

6. The most well-known Mary in the Bible is Mary, the mother of Jesus. Others are: Mary Magdalene, Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and Mary the mother of Mark. So, it’s possible to confuse the children of the other “Marys” as the children of Mary the Mother of Jesus.

7. Matthew 13:55 using the word “brothers” identified Jesus’ brothers as JAMES, JOSEPH, SIMON, and JUDE.

Let’s stop here for now, in the next post we shall use the Bible to identify their actual parents of these said brothers of Jesus Christ.

Father Daniel