Jesus’ brother James appears to be the man who led the Jerusalem church after Jesus’ death.
People have long argued about whether Jesus had siblings.
Jesus’ brothers are mentioned four times in the Gospels:
Matthew 12:46; Mark 3:31; Luke 8:19; and Acts 1:14.
(In Mark 10:29, Jesus refers to the difficulties in leaving behind parents and siblings for the sake of the Gospel. He, obviously, knew from personal experience.)
Jesus only had half-siblings, the children of Mary and Joseph.
(Half-siblings because Joseph was their father, not the Holy Spirit).
They would have been younger than Jesus.
(Unless, as in some traditions, Joseph was a widower with children before he married Mary. But Scripture doesn’t indicate that anywhere.)
Besides Jesus’ brother James, who else was in the family?
The only references Jesus makes in the Bible are to his mother and his brothers.
Many assume that for that reason, Jesus’ father, Joseph, was no longer living. The fact that Jesus was the eldest son may be why the family needed to talk to him!
Someone needed to run the family business, and it was usually the oldest son in Hebrew families at the time.
According to Mark 6:3 and Matthew 13:55, Jesus’ brothers were James, Joseph, Jude, and Simon.
The Mark passage also indicates Jesus had sisters, but they are not named.
The family, of course, grew up in Nazareth, where their father Joseph worked as a stone mason.
Wikipedia has a series of complicated family trees for possible relationships, here.
After Jesus’ Resurrection
The Apostle Paul noted in 1 Corinthians 15:7 that Jesus first appeared to James. Most historians believe this was Jesus’ brother James.
Would anyone with a sibling be surprised that James needed to put his hand into his brother’s side as proof?
Jesus’ brother James, his mother Mary, and probably the others waited in the upper room after Jesus’ resurrection.
They went up into the upper room where they were staying: Peter, James, John, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot; and Judas the son of James. 14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.
One assumes James was on hand when Jesus went up into the clouds.
And then Jesus’ brother James became the head of the Jerusalem church.
Jesus’ brother James in Jerusalem
James did not return home to Nazareth and lived the rest of his life in Jerusalem.
The Apostle Peter refers to him as the leader of the Jerusalem Church in Acts 12:17.
(The Lutheran Study Bible, in discussing Jesus’ brothers, recognized several New Testament men named James. Jesus’ brother James should not be confused with John’s brother in Acts 12:2. Alphaeus’ son, James, is mentioned in Matthew 10:3 and Acts 1:13.)
The Apostle Paul presented himself to James in Jerusalem after his conversion.
James took his role in Jerusalem seriously. He led the Jerusalem Council in accepting Peter’s report about the Gentiles coming to faith.
(Wikimedia Commons)
Jesus’ brother James rejoiced as Jesus’ message went out to the Gentiles and into all the world.
James the Just? Or not?
Wikipedia states that James became known as “James the Just.”
Historians later claimed Jesus had “knees like the knees of a camel.” James apparently spent a lot of time in prayer!
Does it matter?
Yes and no.
We’ll just have to find out when we get to heaven and can ask him!
Christian History Magazine published an edition last year about What Happened to the Apostles?”
You can read it, for free, here.
Thoughts? Reactions? Lurker?