Last class, we discussed the question of whether Jesus had siblings or not, and since then I can’t stop thinking about that question. Prior to taking this class, I had never thought that Jesus had a sibling, human or Godly. I had only ever been taught that he was the one and only son of God. So if Mary did have more children, or Joseph had children from a prior marriage, why don’t we hear about it more in the Bible? I mentioned in class that I thought that brothers was figurative, in that Jesus had brothers in Christ, in that they shared their belief in God (much like how we use that term today). However, it got me thinking about if Jesus did have a brother, would he have had the same relationship with God that Jesus had? How would miracles work? Could they both perform different types of miracles or would they only be able to perform specific types? Would they both need to be present for the miracle to work completely? The questions keep flowing, but I think it is safe to say that there is much clarification needed if Jesus did have a brother.
Discussing whether James was Jesus’ brother or not during class was very interesting. I decided to look at my Bible to see exactly what it says and any references it has in the introduction to each of the books, and sure enough, it referred me to Galatians 1:19. In Galatians 1:19, there is reference to Jesus’ brother, but there are no other specifications. While reading the Letter of James, I found it very interesting in the first verse that there is mention of the Lord Jesus Christ, however it refers to James as the servant (otherwise translated as slave). So this still leaves me with the lingering question of, “Is James really Jesus’ brother, or does brother have another meaning here?” Despite not having any answers, I really enjoyed reading the Letter of James. I haven’t read it in a while so it was a very refreshing review.