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Author	: Bill Kochman
Publish	: Jun. 1, 1997
Update	: Oct. 21, 2025
Parts	: 02

Synopsis:



The issue of whether or not Jesus Christ had any siblings has been hotly debated between Catholics and Protestants for many years. In fact, it has been debated amongst theologians and Christian laymen alike for literally centuries. Furthermore, in every single Bible-related movie I have ever watched over the years which concerns the life of Jesus Christ, there has never been any mention of other family members. By tradition, most productions center on Joseph, Mary and Jesus. Of course, many Bible-knowledgeable Christians know that most Hollywood movies are not known for their historical accuracy. This is particularly true when it comes to Bible-related movies.

Thus, to base our understanding of God's Word on a Hollywood movie is ludicrous and foolish to say the least. In certain cases, movie producers just don't do enough research. Either that, or they just do not care about Biblical facts, and so they purposely choose to ignore what is actually contained in the Scriptures. As a result, some producers and directors will rely heavily on artistic license, and won't hesitate to really embellish and distort the actual facts by adding unnecessary drama, inventing fictitious characters, changing the order of events, changing characters' names, etc. They will do whatever is necessary if it results in drawing in the audiences, and thus increasing their profit margin and recouping as much of their initial investment as possible.

Let me share one good example before returning to our main topic of discussion. If there is one Hollywood movie which really irked me, it was 2014's "Noah" starring Russell Crowe in the lead role as Noah. Barely had the movie begun, and I knew that I was in for a bad ride. Rock monsters which were Fallen Angels? Where is that found in the Scriptures? As if that was not bad enough, later on, once they are on the Ark, according to this movie, Noah interprets a sign from God to mean that every baby who is born after the Flood should be killed. In this way, Noah intends to prevent humanity from continuing, and thus from corrupting the world any further.

So according to this movie, what happens next? Believe it or not, but upon learning that one of his daughters-in-law is pregnant, what does this version of Noah do? He threatens to kill her if she gives birth to a girl. After all, it requires women to repopulate the Earth, right? If you are shaking your head, I don't blame you one single bit. Such is the accuracy of Hollywood movies. So beware! Read your Bible if you want the real truth and NOT Hollywood fantasy!

But regarding the issue of whether or not Jesus Christ had biological brothers and sisters, on one hand is the Roman Catholic Church which dogmatically claims that following Jesus' miraculous Conception and Birth -- which resulted from intervention by God's Holy Spirit -- Mary retained her virginity for the remainder of her mortal life, and never bore any more children. According to this erroneous Roman Catholic doctrine, we are to believe that for some strange reason, Joseph chose to become a celibate, which resulted in Mary remaining a perpetual virgin. This is why Catholics refer to her as the Virgin Mary. It isn't just because they believe that she was a virgin prior to Jesus' birth. It is because they are fully convinced that she remained a virgin afterwards as well.

The logic behind this position is flawed, and the unspoken intent behind making this claim is wrong as well. In other words, my impression at least, is that the Roman Catholic Church appears to believe that it would have somehow been wrong, or perhaps even sinful, for Joseph and Mary to have engaged in sex following Jesus' Birth. If this is truly the case, then I find it rather ironic, because the Catholics often have some of the largest families around, similar to the Mormons. Now, for the record, engaging in human sexual relations is perfectly normal, and perfectly healthy, when it is performed in accordance with God's mandates, as we find in the following group of Bible verses:

"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."


"And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh."


"And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder."


"But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder."


"So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh."


If you are interested in learning more about the topic of Biblical marriages, please consider reading the two-part article entitled "Biblical Marriage Ceremonies".

To reiterate, sexual relations between a married couple is a very healthy, natural thing to do. It was ordained -- and is blessed -- by our Heavenly Father. It is not a sin, or dirty in any way. There is absolutely no reason why Joseph and Mary should have abstained from sexual intercourse following the Conception and Birth of Jesus. As I explain in articles such as "The Fruit of the Womb", childbearing is a blessing from the Lord. It is the natural order which He has ordained for mankind. Thus, for Joseph to have suddenly become a celibate, and denied himself to Mary, or vice versa, would have been against the very nature and plan which had been ordained and blessed by God.

In contrast, as I also point out in the controversial series entitled "Abortion: The Slaughter of the Innocent", as well as in "Unrepentant Abortionist" and "Murdering Millions by Mail: The Abortion Controversy", abortion amounts to violent, intentional, first-degree murder. It is murder for the sake of personal convenience in most cases, yet it is disguised as so-called "women's health" and "reproductive rights". Oh how God must weep! On the opposite extreme, gay and lesbian relationships are also strongly prohibited by God's Word; as I explain in the series "The Gay and Lesbian Agenda: To the Point!", as well as in the articles "When Sin is no Longer a Sin", "Queen James Bible: Blasphemous Abomination Exposed!" and "Future of Same-Sex Marriage".

At any rate, being as Roman Catholics obviously do not view sexual relations within a marriage as being sinful, there must be some other reason regarding why the Roman Catholic Church so desperately clings to this illogical doctrine. In my view, after giving the issue some thought, I have arrived at the conclusion that it must be because to do otherwise is to tear down the sacred image of one of their most beloved idols: the Virgin Mary. In other words, in the Catholic mind, maintaining Mary as a perpetual virgin for life adds to her level of saintliness. It raises her above every other mortal woman, and dare I say even above every other saint of God?

If you are at all familiar with Roman Catholic theology, then you will already know that the Roman Catholic Church places a huge amount of emphasis and importance on saintliness, piety and piousness. If one invests time in reading Roman Catholic manuscripts going back centuries, he or she will discover in short order that they are filled with personages who were the holiest people to ever walk the earth. At least so says the Roman Catholic Church. As I explain in BBB articles such as "Striving for Perfection: Are You a Sinless Saint?", "Saints, Holiness and Perfectionism", and possibly a few others, this is intentional.

In other words, my friends, the Roman Catholic Church sets the bar very high, because by so doing, it purposely makes its adherents even more dependent on the so-called "Holy Mother Church" for their Salvation. As I have explained on previous occasions, the RCC believes itself to be the only authorized dispenser of Eternal Salvation. Furthermore, it firmly believes that other Christians are inferior, lesser beings and even wayward brethren. We do not quite make the Catholic grade. According to RCC beliefs, we're outside of God's one true fold, because we're outside of the "one true faith", as Roman Catholics like to refer to themselves. If you doubt what I saying here, please go to the URL below, and then scroll down to the section called "Non-BBB Roman Catholic Church Resources":

https://www.bbb-bible.com/Articles-Non-BBB/index.html#RCC-1

Salvation the Roman Catholic Church way is heavily based on good works and deeds, and living the most holy and saintly life possible. The goal is to strive to live like the First Century Apostles who were surely the most saintly people to have ever lived, except for Jesus Christ himself, of course. At least that is what the Roman Catholic Church would have us to believe. Now please stop and consider how maintaining Mary as a perpetual virgin plays right into this picture of exceptional saintliness. Likewise, think of how remaining celibate for one's entire mortal life also plays into this very same picture of saintliness. It is all works-based Salvation based on our own goodness and righteousness.

Can you see it? Do you recognize how the RCC sets the bar so high so that you can never hope to reach it, and thus must always depend on the Roman Catholic Church for your personal Salvation? So I believe that this is why they elevate Mary, why they elevate the Apostles, and why they likewise elevate other Saints of God as well. It appears to be about strict control over their flocks, and keeping them dependent on the "Holy Mother Church" for their Salvation. You must do things the RCC way in order to merit Salvation. That means honoring Mary, observing the Sacraments, going to yearly confession if not more often, attending catechism, being baptized and confirmed in the church, going to mass, honoring the saints, engaging in piety and performing good works, etc. Those are the things which make one a good Catholic. However, it is all works, works and more works. But our Salvation is NOT based on our good works, is it? Consider this set of verses:

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."


"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;"


Now regarding Mary herself, as I mention in articles such as "Mary Worship, Christianity and Roman Catholicism", and the equally controversial article "Catholic Purgatory: Another False Doctrine Exposed!", Mary was indeed chosen and blessed by God to be the vessel for His very own Son. However, that is no reason to set her up on a pedestal as Co-Redemptrix, Mediatrix and Perpetual Virgin, such as the Roman Catholic faith has done. Regardless of what they like to call it, it still amounts to outright idolatry, plain and simple, and God absolutely hates it! That is what the Bible teaches us. It is also very interesting to note that the only people who we see creating statues in the pages of the Bible are the seriously backslidden Israelites, and the heathen nations. Think about that fact for a moment.

Furthermore, as I also clearly explain in other articles, it is known to all Bible-believing Christians that Jesus Christ is the one and only true Mediator between God and man. Why is this? Because Jesus alone shed His precious blood for the sins of the world. Jesus alone met the requirements of Divine Law, and paid the full ransom price, thus purchasing Salvation and Redemption for us all. The name of Jesus alone will ever save us. Consider the following verses which verify these points:

"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."


"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;"


"But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises."


"And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance."


"And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel."


"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."


"Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many."


"For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many."


"Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood."


"What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."


"Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men."


"In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory."


Returning to our main discussion regarding Jesus' siblings, in contrast to the Roman Catholics who strongly insist that Mary remained a perpetual virgin for her entire life, on the opposite end of the spectrum we discover certain Protestant denominations which insist that the Lord blessed Joseph and Mary with additional children following Jesus' birth. Now, it seems obvious that both sides can't possibly be right. So what is the real truth regarding this controversial matter?

As I have taught for many years now, the best way to find an answer regarding any Biblical matter is to go straight to the Scriptures and conduct serious Biblical research. Since some of my readers may not have the time to do this for yourselves, or may not know where or how to find the proper verses which address this issue, I have already done the work for you. So, I will now be presenting the results of my research below for your careful and prayerful consideration. In my opinion, the following verses are very clear in their meaning. I honestly don't believe that there is any other way to understand them than to conclude that Jesus did in fact have other family. He did in fact have a number of siblings. What do you think?:

"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. But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother."


"Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and HIS BRETHREN, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And HIS SISTERS, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?"


"Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the MOTHER OF JAMES AND JOSES, and the mother of Zebedee's children."


"There came then HIS BRETHREN and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him. And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and THY BRETHREN without seek for thee."


"Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, THE BROTHER of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not HIS SISTERS here with us? And they were offended at him."


There were also women looking on afar off: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome;"


"And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles; Simon, (whom he also named Peter,) and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called Zelotes, And JUDAS THE BROTHER OF JAMES, and Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor."


"Then came to him his mother and HIS BRETHREN, and could not come at him for the press. And it was told him by certain which said, Thy mother and THY BRETHREN stand without, desiring to see thee."


"HIS BRETHREN therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judaea, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest. For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, shew thyself to the world. 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."


"And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and JUDAS THE BROTHER OF JAMES. These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren."


But other of the apostles saw I none, save James THE LORD'S BROTHER."


"Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and BROTHER OF JAMES, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:"


Taken as a whole, we can garner quite a bit of information from the previous verses. First of all, in my opinion, it can be easily understood -- without the need for any kind of interpretation or speculation -- that Jesus had a minimum of four biological brothers, as well as two sisters, and maybe even more. More specifically, His brothers' names were James, Joses, Simon and Judas. The latter was also known as Jude. The names of Jesus's sisters do not appear to be mentioned anywhere in the Gospels. At any rate, from the information that we are given, it appears that Joseph and Mary had at least seven children: Jesus, James, Joses, Juda, Simon and two or more unnamed sisters.

Now, if we really want to be technical about it, we can say that James, Joses, Juda and Simon were Jesus' half-brothers in a biological sense, because Joseph was not Jesus' actual biological father. However, for all intents and purposes, they were a family, they grew up together, and they were Jesus' siblings.

Regarding the various women who we find mentioned in these verses, let me point out that being as Mary -- or Miriam -- was a very common name in those days, just as it is popular at our current time as well, it can become a bit difficult to sort out who the various Marys were in the Gospels, as well as in the remainder of the New Testament. As a result, I have written another article entitled "Women in the Lives of Jesus and the Apostles", which you may be interested in reading as well.

In fact, as a result of this possible confusion concerning the various Marys, it can also be challenging to understand exactly who was married to who, and which children were born to which parents. This fact has not gone unnoticed by those parties -- such as the Roman Catholics -- who refuse to see that Jesus Christ was not a lone child. As such, they try to use the argument that the words "brethren" and "brother" are rather ambiguous in the Holy Scriptures.

The fact of the matter is that both of these words originate from the Greek word "adelphos", just as the word "sister" is derived from the feminine form "adelphe". While it is indeed true that "adelphos" has a variety of meanings in the Bible, the fact still remains that even if we were to remove some of the previous verses which seem somewhat ambiguous -- such as those regarding the various Marys -- we are still left with sufficient information to prove, in my view, that Jesus was NOT Joseph and Mary's only child. The Lord did indeed have siblings in the form of both biological brothers and sisters.

In their foolish attempt to repudiate the belief that Jesus had biological brothers and sisters, some of these naysayers even go so far as to claim that the word "brethren" really means cousins. This is another manmade invention and fallacy. The actual word "cousin" is only used one time in the entire New Testament. That is when the Angel Gabriel informs Mary that her cousin Elisabeth is also pregnant with child, as we see by the following verse which is found in the Gospel of Luke:

"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."


In the previous verse, the word "cousin" is derived from the Greek word "suggenes". This word signifies being of the same kin. That is to say, to be related by blood. As you can see, it has a much more liberal definition, as opposed to the more strict definition that we apply to the word "cousin" in our modern day. However, the authors of the New Testament didn't use "suggenes" to describe Jesus' four brothers. They used "adelphos" instead. In my view, it suggests that their intent was to imply a closer relationship between Jesus and James, Joses, Juda, Simon and their sisters. In other words, they wanted us to understand that these men were Jesus' actual biological siblings, and NOT merely cousins, or perhaps even more distant relatives.

From reading these verses closely, it appears that at first, all -- or maybe at least some -- of his biological brothers doubted His divine status, and refused to acknowledge Him as the Son of God and Savior of the world. You will notice in the Gospel of John we are told "For neither did his brethren believe in him". Can anyone really blame them? We shouldn't be too harsh with Jesus siblings. If any of us were in their position, we probably would have reacted in a very similar manner. Perhaps they thought to themselves that their older brother was crazy and delusional, and that he had a "messiah complex". At the very least, He must have been full of pride in order to make such preposterous claims. Perhaps they even found it embarrassing. Imagine what their friends thought.

Please go to part two for the conclusion of this article.

⇒ Go To The Next Part . . .

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