Jesus’ Half Brothers and Sisters

Discussion in 'Sacred Scripture' started by Fidei Defensor, Mar 22, 2019.

  1. Fidei Defensor

    Fidei Defensor Active Member

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    Our Lord Jesus Christ is God Incarnate and Son of God (Colossians 2:9, 2 Peter 1:1, Colossians 1:16-18, 1 John 4:15, John 17:20-23, John 10:30). The Apostle Paul makes it very clear, “concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the fleshand was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord (God of Israel).” (Romans 1:1-5). Jesus always existed with the Father and Holy Spirit (Genesis 1:26-27, Genesis 18:1-11, Ezekiel 28:11, John 1:1-3, John 8:58, Colossians 1:16-18, Colossians 2:9), and was born of the Virgin Mary miraculously (Luke 1 and 2, and Matthew 1). Jesus was not the Son of Joseph (except by adoption) but was and is the Son of God; and Mary was the Handmaiden God chose to be the vessel through whom God would become flesh and incarnate.

    After Jesus Christ our Lord was born miraculously in Bethlehem. Mary and Joseph did had other children:

    “When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.” (Matthew 1:24-25)

    “When Jesus had finished these parables, he moved on from there. Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. "Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?" they asked. "Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother's name Mary, and aren't his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? All his sisters live right here among us. Where did he learn all these things?“ (Matthew 13:53-56)

    These half brothers and sisters were unbelievers at first:

    “When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind. Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”“Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked.Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother: which is “For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.” (Mark 3:21, 31-34, John 6:40)

    We are told most of Jesus’ half brothers Came to believe in Him as the Christ and Son of God after The Resurrection as proven by them being at Pentacost:

    “Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk c from the city. When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.” (Acts 1:12-14)

    James and Jude, Half Brothers wrote epistles that are canon and can be found in the New Testament:

    THE BOOK OF JAMES

    Five Chapters

    Preceded By: Philemon

    Before: 1 Peter


    THE BOOK OF JUDE

    One Chapter

    The Penultimate Book of the Bible

    Before: Revelation

    James, Half Brother of Christ, was head of the Church of Jerusalem and presided over the First Council of thd Church:

    The Council at Jerusalem

    1 Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.”

    2 This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question.

    3 The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the believers very glad.

    4 When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them.

    5 Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.”

    6 The apostles and elders met to consider this question.

    7 After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe.

    8 God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us.

    9 He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith.

    10 Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear?

    11No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”

    12 The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them.

    13 When they finished, James spoke up. “Brothers,” he said, “listen to me.

    14 Simon has described to us how God first intervened to choose a people for his name from the Gentiles.

    15 The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written:

    16 “ ‘After this I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it,

    17 that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does these things’ —

    18things known from long ago.

    19 “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God.

    20 Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood.

    21 For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.” (Acts 15:1-21)

    The Apostle Paul met James the Borther of the Lord

    “Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas (Peter) and stayed with him fifteen days. I saw none of the other apostles--only James, the Lord's brother.” (Galatians 1:18-19)


    Tradition tells us that Jude or Judas, Half Brother of Christ, took James’ place as head of the Church of Jerusalem. (J.W.C Wand, A History of the Early Church to A.D. 500, Citation Needed). There is an indication that you had to be a relative of Jesus to be Head of the Church of Jerusalem.

    After the sacking of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple by Titus in 70 A.D. where do you think the remaining children of Mary and Joseph went? Do you think there are descendants of James, Judas (Thaddeus, Jude), Joseph, Simeon, and the daughters of Mary and Joseph among us today?