|
.Apart from what we have said above there are plenty of passages that refer to Christ's brothers and sisters. The general public speak of them (Matthew 13:55) so there is no question of those referred to being his brethren in a spiritual sense. The male ones are named persons and James is also specifically referred to as the brother of the Lord by Paul (Galatians 1:19). Christ himself distinguishes his natural brethren from those that are so spiritually (Mark 3:31-35), so it is certain that James, Joses, Judas and Simon were his natural brethren (Mark 6:1-3) |
|
At least once the term brother is used in Scripture of one who was actually a nephew. I refer to Lot (Genesis 14:12; 14:16). This however will not help those who want to deny that Mary had other children after Christ, for in order for anyone to have a nephew He must have a brother or a sister first ! To get round the problem one would have to assume that Joseph had children by another wife; the existence of which there is not the slightest scriptural evidence. As to why the term brother is used for a nephew in Genesis can only be a matter of conjecture. Perhaps it is because there was no Hebrew word for nephew and continually referring to Lot as Abraham's brother's son would have been a bit of a mouthful. (Nephew appears in a number of places in the AV, but the correct translation is descendent.) Today when we refer to someone as a cousin we usually mean a first cousin, but we might mean a second cousin or cousin once removed. However, Scripture is perfectly plain that Jesus had natural brothers and sisters and if there were no extra biblical reason for wanting to say he had not it is remote that anyone would have thought otherwise. The most likely reason for wanting to say that Christ did not have natural brothers and sisters is the desire to elevate Mary to a place not given her in Scripture. She is called blessed in Scripture (Luke 1:42), but not holy. Christ is holy (Acts 4:27) and the one mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5). Elevating Mary so that she is effectively given the place of mediator only takes away the glory due to Christ. The danger of doing so is always present, not only as regards Mary, but when angels or religious leaders are given a place beyond what is their due. This is particularly the lesson of the mount of transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-13). The word to us is: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I have found my delight: hear him". |
|
March 1998 |
|
|
|
|
|
|