Bible Question:

How many brothers and sisters did Jesus have? I know that James was His brother.

Bible Answer:

The New Testament tells us that Jesus had four brothers, but it does not tell us how many sisters He had.

Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us? (NASB) Matthew 13:55-56

James

Jesus’ first brother was James. He was one of the apostles according to the apostle Paul.

But I did not see any other of the apostles except James, the Lord’s brother.

He was the leader of the church in Jerusalem (Acts 12:17; 15:13). We also believe this brother wrote the New Testament book of James.

Joseph

This brother was named after Jesus’ father. We would have expected Jesus to be named after his father, but Joseph was directed by the angel to name Him Jesus.

. . . an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for that which has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins.” (NASB) Matthew 1:20-21

This brother had two names. His other name, Joses, can be found in Mark 6:3). That is all that we know about him.

Simon

We know nothing about this brother of Jesus.

Judas

This brother is also known as Jude. he was not Judas Iscariot. We believe this brother wrote the book of Jude since he describes himself as the brother of James.

Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James . . . (NASB) Jude 1

The book of Jude reveals this man’s heart. He was striving for the faith. He was a committed Christian.

Conclusion:

Scripture reveals that His brothers did not believe in Him at the beginning.

. . . not even His brothers were believing in Him. (NASB) John 7:5

Did they all eventually believe in Jesus? We do not know. But scripture does reveal that at least two of Jesus’ brothers were Christians: James, an apostle, and Jude. Scripture does not give us any additonal insight about His other brothers or sisters.

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