All in the Family

Teaching at the synagogue in Nazareth, Jesus amazes his fellow congregants. “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary?” his astonished listeners ask. “And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us?” (Matthew 13:55–56). The story of Mary and Joseph is, of course, known by everyone. But who are these brothers and sisters of Jesus?

Throughout the New Testament and other early Christian literature, we find references—often mere hints—to Jesus’ siblings and cousins. How reliable are these obscure accounts? How much can they tell us about Jesus’ extended family?

Various traditions, as we shall see, have understood these siblings differently: as half siblings, as step siblings or as more distant relatives. But little has been said about the role these people once played in the early Church. By reading the New Testament and early Christian literature closely, however, we can begin to piece together a portrait of some of Jesus’ closest relatives. Their story, as we shall see, is not just a family history, but an account of the earliest days of the Christian Church, which Jesus’ family helped develop—both within Palestine and perhaps also further afield. Ancient sources allow us to trace the family’s continued leadership among 022Jewish Christians until at least the early second century.