One more question for today :)

[brierpatch1974]

Was Jesus only the first born of Marry? Or did Marry have other children after Jesus? Here is what I am trying to understand.

(Mt 1:25). Mark 6:3= "Is not this the carpenter, the son of MARY, the BROTHER of JAMES, and JOSES, and of JUDA (Judah),and SIMON? and are not his sistershere with us?..

Were these people Siblings of Jesus or are they brothers and sisters in other terms as in followers? Thanks again

 

[LilyM]

Was Jesus only the first born of Marry? Or did Marry have other children after Jesus? Here is what I am trying to understand.

(Mt 1:25). Mark 6:3= "Is not this the carpenter, the son of MARY, the BROTHER of JAMES, and JOSES, and of JUDA (Judah),and SIMON? and are not his sistershere with us?..

Were these people Siblings of Jesus or are they brothers and sisters in other terms as in followers? Thanks again

No, Mary had no other children. For one thing, if she had, Jesus would’ve entrusted her to their care at His crucifixion, instead of to John’s. It would’ve been a massive insult to do otherwise.

We know that the Apostle James, for instance, is described as the ‘brother of the Lord’ - if he were literally Jesus’ sibling, he would be the logical choice.

They could be followers - the 120 who were gathered together in the upper room at the beginning of Acts are all called ‘brothers’ by Peter. Clearly they are not ALL Peter’s siblings!.

More likely, being that this was said in Jesus’ home town of Nazareth, they were blood relatives of some other kind. We know from the Old Testament that Abraham and Lot, who was clearly stated to be his nephew, was ALSO called his ‘brother’ in several places.

 

[Eucharisted]

Jesus is the only son of Mary because He is the only Son of God and Mary is the Mother of God.

 

[Hyacinth_II]

Evidently, in the Hebrew or Greek, it is the same word for brother, cousin, and other close relatives…so when we translate it into English, it comes out brother…but since we have other words that distinguish…we get a little confused. But, brother was usually used to mean a member of the extended family. I just heard a priest who speaks Greek and Hebrew explain that on EWTN…just the other day!

www.ewtn.com

stream live TV on your computer…

 

[Prayer_Warrior]

Jesus would have been committing a violation of Jewish law from the cross by giving the Blessed Virgin to John rather than a blood sibling. It simply would have been unthinkable that a Jewish mother go live with a friend rather than her own child. Just this issue should settle the matter completely.

Modern day scripture readers are thrown off by their literal interpretations. They presume that brothers is meant literally, even though scripture again and again uses “brothers” to mean close friends or relatives. For example, Lot is called Abraham’s brother in Gen 13:8, but we know that he is really Abraham’s nephew from Gen 11:26. Or, we see where Jesus tells Mary Magdalene to go tell His brothers He is risen. Where does she go? To the disciples! (John 20:17-18) Plus, two of the brothers that are named as Jesus’ brothers in Mark 6:3 are shown in other passages to be sons of a different woman. James and Joseph are sons of the wife of Cleophas, also known as Alphaeus. (cf Mt 27:56, Mk15:40 and John 19:25) So, if those two brothers are not sons of Mary the mother of Jesus, then we know that scripture is not using the word brothers literally.

Another hang up people have is that the Bible describes Jesus as the first born. But this is the language they used back then regardless of other children. The first born son was extremely important in Jewish culture and there were many responsibilities that came with first born sons. (Like consecrating them to the Lord). So, whether there were other children or not, Jesus would have been referred to as “first born”.

Hope this helps.

 

[Todd_Easton]

There are two popular traditions. One ancient tradition, that dates to at least the second century, mentioned in the Protoevangelium of James, is that Joseph was a old widower with children when he married the Virgin Mary and these children from his first marriage, the Virgin Mary’s step-children, are the brothers and sisters of Jesus mentioned in the Bible. This tradition is popular in Eastern Churches. The other tradition, favored by St. Jerome in the fifth century, is that the brothers and sisters of Jesus mentioned in the Bible are close relatives, cousins. This tradition is popular in the West. In either case, Jesus Christ was the only child born of the Virgin Mary.