NT Characters: Jesus' Siblings

<p>For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ <a href="https://www.douglasjacoby.com/jesussibmp3/">website</a>.</p><p><strong>Background</strong></p><ul><li>Family of 10 or more:<ul><li>Parents: Yosef, Maria[m]</li><li>Sons: Yeshua, Ya'akov, Yosef, Yehudah, Shim'on</li><li>Daughters: 3 or more, all unnamed (see Genesis 5)</li></ul></li><li>Not a wealthy family (Luke 2:24; see Leviticus 5:7).</li><li>Imagine what this family must have been like!<ul><li>The older sibling who always did what was right (!).</li><li>The loss of the father early on, making the same sibling the de facto family head.</li><li>Family "secret" -- rumors surrounding the birth of Mary's firstborn (Luke 2:7; Matthew 1:25)?</li><li>By far, the sibling about whom we know most is James (Ya'akov). Apart from these facts, nearly everything else is speculation.</li></ul></li><li><i>Please listen to the podcast on </i>Jesus <i>if you haven't yet heard it.</i></li></ul><p><strong>Scriptural study</strong><br /> </p><ul><li>Matthew 12:46, 13:53-58<ul><li>v.55 -- four brothers named</li><li>v.56 -- sisters mentioned</li><li>Unbelief<br /> </li></ul></li><li>Mark 3:20-21,30-31 (also Luke 8:19-21) -- Jesus' family does not understand his mission. See also Luke 2:41-50.  </li><li>Mark 6:1-5 -- His hometown were offended by him, and his own family does not seem to have made things any better.</li><li>John 2:12 -- Jesus spends time with his family. </li><li>John 7:3-10 -- There is tension and misunderstanding between his brothers and him.</li><li>Matthew 28:10: "Tell my brothers." See also John 20:17.</li><li>1 Corinthians 15:7 -- James was an eyewitness of the resurrected Jesus. A skeptic is won over.</li><li>Acts 1:14 -- Jesus' family is united in prayer.</li><li>Galatians 1:19 -- James is referred to as apostle ("missionary"?). See also 1 Corinthians 9:5.</li><li>Galatians 2:9,12 -- James is a major leader in the Jerusalem church. See also James 1:1 and Jude 1:1; both these letters are traditionally attributed to Ya'akov and Yehudah (James and