Brothers of
Jesus?
Some people claim that
Jesus had brothers, which means his mother, Mary, did not remain a virgin after
Jesus’ birth. To support this, they quote Mk 6:17 “Is he not the carpenter, the
son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not his
sisters here with us? And they took offense at him.”
Let’s look at what the rest
of the Bible can tell us about these “brothers” of Jesus.
|
Scripture |
Luke2 Mt
1 |
John
19:25 Mt
27:56 MK 15:40 &
47 Acts
1:13 |
Lk
5:10 Mark 1:19, Mk 4:17,
10:35 Mt
4:21 |
Mt
16:17 |
Luke 6:
13-16 Acts
1:13 |
John
6:71 |
|
Husband |
Joseph |
Clophas
(Alphaeus) |
Zebedee |
Jonah |
James |
Simon
Iscariot |
|
Wife |
Mary |
Mary |
? |
? |
? |
? |
|
Child(ren) |
Jesus |
James (the younger)
and Joseph (Joses) |
James &
John |
Simon
(Peter) |
Judas
|
Judas, the
betrayer |
John 19:25 “Standing by the
cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary, the wife of
Clophas, and Mary Magdela.
Mt
27:56 “Among them were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph,
and the mother of the sons of Zebedee”.
MK
15:40 “There were also women looking on from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the
mother of the younger James and of Joses, and Salome.”
MK
15:47 “Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses watched where he was
laid.”
Lk
5:9-10 “For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him and all
those with him, and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were
partners of Simon. Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on you will
be catching men’.
Mark 1:19, “He walked a
little farther and saw James, the sons of Zebedee, and his brother John. They
too were in a boat mending their nets.”
Mark 3: 15 – 19 And he appointed twelve, to be with him, and to be sent out to preach…James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, …, and James the son of Alphaeus, …”
MK
10:35 “Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him and said to him,
‘Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of
you.’
Mt
4:21 “He walked along from there and saw two other brothers, James, the son of
Zebedee, and his brother John.
Mt
16:17 “Jesus said to him in reply, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For
flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly
Father.”
Luke 6: 13-16 “And when it was day, he called his disciples,
and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles; Simon, whom he named Peter,
and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas,
and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, and Judas
the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a
traitor.”
John 6:71 “He spoke
of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was to betray
him.” John 13:26 Jesus answered, "It is he to whom I shall give this
morsel when I have dipped it." So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to
Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.
Acts 1:13 “:and when
they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter
and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James
the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of
James.”
Lk 5:9-10 says the other James (killed in Acts 12) and John are the sons of Zebedee; therefore not the sons of Joseph and Mary. Mark 1:19, Mk 4:17, 10:35, Mt 4:21 also say that.
Luke 6:13-16 says Judas is the son of James; therefore also not the son of Joseph and Mary.
John 6:71 says Judas the betrayer is the son of Simon Iscariot; therefore also not the son of Joseph and Mary.
Mt 16:17 says Simon is the son of Jonah; therefore also not the son of Joseph and Mary. Another Simon is mentioned in Mt 10:4 who is from Cana (Cananean), which means he was not from Nazareth as he would have been if he were a brother of Jesus.
The rest of the Gospels
show that the word “brother” means a male relative not necessarily a
sibling. Also, “sister” means
a female relative. Eusebius of Caesarea’s church history, Book 3, Chapter 11 (http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/250103.htm)
says that Joseph, foster father of Jesus, was a brother of Clophas. This would
make James and Joseph (Joses) first cousins to Jesus and Mary’s sister, Mary the
wife of Clophas, was a sister-in-law, not a sibling (John 19:25).
Eusebius
of Caesarea’s church history, Book 3, Chapter 11 says, “Symeon rules the Church
of Jerusalem after the martyrdom of James and the conquest of Jerusalem which
immediately followed, it is said that those of the apostles and disciples of the
Lord that were still living came together from all directions with those that
were related to the Lord according to the flesh to take counsel as to who was
worthy to succeed James. They all with one consent pronounced Symeon, the son of
Clopas, of whom the Gospel also makes mention; to be worthy of the episcopal
throne of that parish. He was a cousin, as they say, of the Saviour. For
Hegesippus records that Clopas was a brother of Joseph.”
The Protoevangelium of James, written around A.D. 120, http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0847.htm says Joseph was a widower with children. The History of Joseph the Carpenter, http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0805.htm, says he had four sons and two daughters. Their names were Judas, Justus, James, and Simon. The names of the two daughters were Assia and Lydia.
