Jesus Christ's Earthly Family -

 Before beginning a study of the Word of God regarding the Lord's brethren, let us first look at the historical background which made an issue of who was the Lord's family.

This question is far from new; in fact, it had become a flaming issue by 300 A.D. when Christianity west of the Euphrates River divided into two camps over the issue. The one camp was in Antioch in the country now called Turkey where Aramaic was the language spoken. The other school had its home base in Alexandria, Egypt, where Greek was the scholar's language.

The leader in the Greek school was Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria. Born into a non-Christian family, he became a Christian later in his life. In his early non-Christian days, he believed in Isis, Osiris, Horus and other such Egyptian gods. Undoubtedly this early learning influenced his thinking when he became a Christian. As Bishop of Alexandria, he proposed a new doctrine, namely, that Mary was the mother of God. This idea appealed to the newly-converted Christians because their former gods had mothers, fathers, sisters and some of them had wives and even concubines. Thus the doctrine of Mary's being the mother of God fit in comfortably with their previously-held beliefs.

Heading the Antioch camp was Nestorius, a graduate of the school at Antioch and chaplain to the emperor in Constantinople. Nestorius, along with Christendom east of the River Euphrates, believed that Mary was the mother of Jesus our Lord but definitely not the mother of God. Nestorius considered Cyril's doctrine of Mary's being the mother of God a dangerous heresy.

Thus the divergent doctrines on Mary not only stirred religious controversy in the Roman Empire, but also caused a struggle over power to determine which city - Constantinople or Alexandria - was the most prominent and influential in matters of church doctrine. The Alexandrian Bishop pointed out that none of the original twelve apostles had ever gone to Constantinople or to Alexandria. But since Philip had come to Alexandria, Alexandria should be considered the more enlightened in matters dealing with doctrinal interpretation.

Because of this controversy a general council of all bishops was called to meet in Ephesus in 431 A.D. The Western bishops came by ships from Greece, Rome, Spain and Alexandria. The Eastern bishops, however, had to come by time-consuming land routes and so they arrived late for the meeting. Thus, before the Nestorian group of bishops arrived, the other bishops of the West had met and condemned the position of Nestorius.

Important to note in studying the history of Christianity is that this controversy affected only Western Christianity - the Roman Empire. Eastern Christianity - the Persian Empire - was unaffected by this doctrinal schism. The Christians in Persia and in Asia Minor, including Antioch and Jerusalem, continued to believe with Nestorius that Mary was the mother of the Lord Jesus but not the mother of God. The eastern part of the Roman Empire held to the same belief as Nestorius. Then Justinian the emperor issued an ultimatum stating that any Christian who did not accept Mary as the mother of God should be killed. The result of this decree was that thousands of Christians were killed. Other thousands escaped to Iran where the Persian government gave them sanctuary.

Even to this day, this Nestorian-Cyrian controversy has not been settled. The position of Cyril, the Alexandrian bishop, has been carried into the Western world by the Roman Catholic Church. Among the pagan gods and the non-Christian experience that infused Rome, the doctrinal teaching of Mary's being the mother of God found fertile ground.

Who were the Lord's brethren would never have been questioned in the Occident had it not been for the corruption which crept into Christian churches when Mary was elevated from the Biblical position of "handmaid of the Lord" as spoken of in Luke 1:38, to the exalted, non-biblical station of 'theotokos', "mother of God."

Many of the traditions of the Roman Church have their roots in Egyptian and Babylonian mythology. The Egyptian pagan deity Isis had a divine son known as Horus. The carry-over in the Roman Church from this story is that since Isis was still a virgin after Horus was born, so Mary was also a virgin after Jesus was born. Furthermore, the Roman Catholic Church teaches that Mary had no children other than Jesus our Lord and that His brothers and sisters were the children of Joseph by a former wife or that they were the Lord's cousins - children of Mary the wife of Cleophas.

The idea that Joseph was an old man or married previously before he was married to Mary has no proof in the Scriptures. Had Joseph had older sons by a former marriage, then the Lord Jesus' legal rights to the throne of David would have been invalidated.

A study of the word "brother" as found in the Bible shows it is used in the following ways only:...

1. As children of the same parent or parents.

2. As descendants of the same common stock. (Abraham as forefather: Acts 7:23,25.)

3. As fellow men. (Matthew 7:3-5; 18:15.)

4. As spiritual children. (Acts 9:17; Romans 8:29; Hebrews 2:11.)

In the Biblical passages where "the Lord's brethren" is found, only the usage as children of the same parent or parents can be applied.

Matthew 12:46 & 47 - "While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him. Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee."

Matthew 13:55 - "Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?"

Mark 3:31 - "There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him."

Luke 8:19 - "Then came to him his mother and his brethren, and could not come at him for the press."

John 7:3, 5 &10 -  "His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judaea, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest. For neither did his brethren believe in him. But when his brethren were gone up, then went he also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret."

Acts 1:14 - "These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren."

I Corinthians 9:5 - "Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?"

Galatians 1:19 - "But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother."

Had the brothers and sisters in these verses been cousins only, as the Roman Catholic Prelate Jerome theorized, the Greek word used would have been sungenes, which is translated "kinsman" or "kinsfolk" or "kin" with the exception of Luke 1:36 and 58. In these two verses sungenes is translated "cousin," which cases relate not to Jesus but to Elisabeth.

Mark 6:4 - "But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house."

Luke 1:36 - "And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren."

Luke 1:58 - "And her neighbours and her cousins heard how the Lord had showed great mercy upon her; and they rejoiced with her."

Luke 2:44 - "But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's journey; and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance."

Luke 14:12 - "Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makes a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompense be made thee."

Luke 21:16 - "And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolk's, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death."

John 18:26 - "One of the servants of *the high priest, being his kinsman whose ear Peter cut off, saith, Did not I see thee in the garden with him?"

Acts 10:24 - "And the morrow after they entered into Caesarea. And Cornelius waited for them, and had called together his kinsmen and near friends."

Romans 9:3 - "For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh."

Romans 16:7, 11 & 21 - "Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.  Salute Herodion my kinsman. Greet them that be of the household of Narcissus, which are in the Lord.  Timotheus my workfellow, and Lucius, and Jason, and Sosipater, my kinsmen, salute you."

According to Matthew 13:55 our Lord Jesus Christ had four brothers or half-brothers as we would call them. James, Joses, Simon and Judas had the same mother but a different father. (Jesus Christ was the Son of God, by way of Mary, but conceived by the Holy Spirit.) Furthermore, Jesus had at least three sisters, according to Matthew 13:56: "His sisters, are they not all with us?" Had there been just two sisters the word both would have been used instead of all.

The Lord Jesus was Mary's firstborn, (The meaning of the word "firstborn," which in the Greek is 'prototokos', can be easily ascertained from looking at its only usages in Matthew 1:25; Luke 2:7; Romans 8:29; Colossians 1:15,18; Hebrews 1:6; 11:28; 12:23 and Revelation 1:5) . Jesus was not her only born.' The word "firstborn" automatically implies "second born" or "later born" children. Jesus was, as the Scriptures clearly state, the "firstborn" of Mary but the "only begotten of the Father."

When all the Biblical data is in hand, we are left with a plain answer regarding the Lord's brethren. We know that He had four brothers - James, Joses, Simon and Judas - and that He had at least three sisters, whose names are not given. Beyond this, nothing is known except for idle speculation or theorizing - which is not good enough when dealing with Biblical matters.