People questioned Jesus, according to Matthew’s gospel: “Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is Mary not the name of His mother? And are not Judas, Simon, Joseph, and James His brothers? And all His sisters are here with us? So where did this man get all of these items? Matthew 13:55–56. And: “Is this not the carpenter, Mary’s son, and the brother of Judas, Simon, James, and Joses (Joseph)? And are His sisters not present among us? (Mark 6:3). Was Jesus’ family actually made up of siblings?
Yes, Jesus had brothers and sisters
In a nutshell, the Bible does indeed prove that Jesus had siblings. Since Jesus was born into the family of Joseph and Mary, these siblings were actually his half-siblings; nonetheless, Joseph was not his biological father. According to Matthew 1:20, Jesus was created by the Holy Spirit and did not have a biological father who was a human.
References in the Bible
Acts 1:14; John 2:12; and John 7:1–10 all mention Jesus’ (half-)siblings. In 1 Corinthians 9:5, Paul speaks of the Lord’s brethren, most likely referring to His real brothers. In Galatians 1:19, Paul refers to James as the brother of the Lord. His sisters are not given any names, but His four brothers are acknowledged by name. Jesus therefore had real blood siblings. Scripture gives us no cause to doubt that these siblings are Joseph and Mary’s biological children.
The brothers of Jesus wrote Bible books
The letters written by James and Jude in the New Testament are credited to Jesus’ brothers. In the letter’s salutation (James 1:1), James gives his name, but he does not claim to be Jesus’ brother. Jude states in Jude 1:1 that he is James’ brother. The two other brothers of Jesus, Joseph (Greek: “Joses”) and Simon, are only mentioned directly in Matthew 13:53–55 and Mark 6:3. The first mention of Jesus’ siblings and sisters is when He travels to Capernaum with His mother and Himself, which occurs after the Lord started His ministry (John 2:12).
