But then you’d want me to prove it and that gets complicated.
If I were a Baptist, I’d be a Protestant. 50% of Christians are Protestant. Ever wonder what the Protestants were protesting? (Answer: The Catholics saying Jesus didn’t have brothers and sisters.) Baptist me would say, “Read 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 Jude? And his sisters are they not all with us?
These words were spoken by Jesus’ neighbors in Nazareth and are given again in Mark 6:3. Actually, Mark wrote them first, around AD 65. Matthew wrote his version of Jesus’ biography five years later. Today we call this sort of essay copying plagiarism.
Anyway, the neighbors are in the synagogue listening to Jesus. They had seen Jesus and his brothers and sisters grow up and knew them well. Here they are astonished at Jesus’ teachings.
But let’s say I’m a Catholic (I always wanted to be a Catholic. “Gimme one Our Father and three Hail Marys”) 25% of Christians are Catholic. If I were a Catholic I’d say the Mark 6:3 version of this passage reads, 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?
Notice… Mark 6:3 says THE son of Mary, not A son. Mary had only one son.
Hmmm, says Baptist me. (“Every head bowed; every eye closed”) This argument alone is a little weak, don’t you think?
Catholic me (“Holy Mary. Mother of God”) would augment that since there was only one word for brother, cousin, nephew, all close kinsman, these boys could just have easily been a half-brother or cousin. The Bible does not clearly say that Mary had other children.
OK, let’s say I’m a Pentecostal. (I always wanted to be a Pentecostal—“Praise God! shala shuma walla walla bing bang! Hallelujah!”). 20% of Christians are Pentecostal, another Protestant group.
Pentecostal me would argue using Matthew 1:24-25: Then Joseph being raised from sleep . . . took unto him his wife. And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son; and he called his name Jesus.
And I’d point out that Jesus is called the firstborn, implying that there was a second and perhaps a third and fourth born. Otherwise, why not just write, her only son.
And for a kicker I’d throw in Matthew 12:46. While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood outside, desiring to speak with him.
Here, Jesus is teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum, and his mother and brothers fear the listeners might try to harm him like they did earlier in Nazareth when they sought to throw him off a cliff. His brothers came to stop him from getting into trouble. The Holy Word says his mother and his brethren are outside. His disciples are inside the synagogue with him. So brethren is not referring to the disciples.
Now, I am not Catholic or Baptist or Pentecostal, so let’s use another scenario. There is this little Catholic angel on my shoulder. He (there are no female angels in the Bible) whispers down my auditory canal, “Mark15:47”. And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses beheld where he was laid. “Now wouldn’t you think,” continues the little angel, “that Mark would have written Mary the mother of Jesus? You see. There were two Mary’s; one was the virgin mother of Jesus, and the other was the mother of those four fellas and their sisters”
Hmmm. I lowered my brow and side-glanced the little guy. “Another big leap, don’t you think?”
At that very moment, a little Protestant angel tugged at my ear lobe on the other shoulder. “Galatians 1:19”, he whispers. But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother. “Jesus' brother James, a non-believer at first, is seen in many passages after the resurrection,” the little fella asserts. “James was an active member of the early Church. Peter never became the head of the church; it was Jesus’ brother James who led the early church in Jerusalem from the home of John Mark’s mother (Mark was just a teenager at the time). In several places in the Good Book James is called Jesus’ brother.
The Catholic angel flaps his wings to get my attention. “John 19: 26-27. When Jesus was on the cross, he looked down at his mother and said John (the disciple) will take care of you from now on. Wouldn’t you think he would have appointed one of his brothers for this important task IF HE HAD A REAL BROTHER?”
I gotta admit . . . I would think that.
So, there you have it. The plaintiff and the defendant have presented their case. You the jury must now decide. I’m not touching this one.
