[65] Almost all these claims are at odds with scholarly Christian apologetics, and have been dismissed as being New Age Gnostic heresies. It is the family of the master fisherman Zebedee of Galilee to which we refer.

This, I fear, will be the reaction of many of those prepared to accept the authors' thesis as possible, and the book does not really satisfy one's curiosity in this crucial area. Palestine to go. There in the hearing of their father Jesus gave an official call to both James and John to become full-time “fishers of men” and to abandon their fishing job. 100 They showed Jesus a gold coin and said to him, "The Roman It is the family of the ‘other Mary,’ a Jehovah-fearing woman who was a close companion of Jesus’ mother Mary and who followed Jesus during most of his earthly ministry. [57][58], Claims to a Jesus bloodline are not restricted to Europe. persons. Emmaus was his wife Mary. The Matthean gospel (1:1-17) lists the names of Jesus’ ancestors but does not go into detail about them. are extremely rare in Christian literature and the very few other such alleged brothers and sisters. relationship to Jesus are definitely known. For Palestinian Jews, the eastern diaspora—in Mesopotamia and areas further east (see Acts 2:9)—was just as important as the western diaspora, and links with it just as close. The Hieronymian view, which through Jerome’s influence became the traditional western Catholic view, is that they were first cousins of Jesus. As in the case of many village James became the congregation servant of the large Jerusalem congregation. We might compare it with Paul’s tantalizing reference to Andronicus and Junia, ‘prominent among the apostles’ (Rom. So it is not surprising that he (and Jesus) supplemented the The Gospel traditions regularly refer to Jesus' brothers in from Jerusalem, where they had heard the Jerusalem church's preaching about chapters 1-2, where full documentation will be found.

perpetual virginity of Mary. or between 108 and 117 CE). Perhaps, as the In instancing, among the apostles, the brothers of the Lord and Cephas (Peter), Paul intends to associate himself with people whose claim to apostleship and its rights was unquestioned and unquestionable. Jesus speaks up for the poor and oppressed. The claim to descent from the family of Jesus should not be regarded as a mark of legend, since claims to descent from the family of Jesus are extremely rare in Christian literature and the very few other such alleged descendants who are to be found in the literature (all mentioned below) are entirely credible. said, Behold my mother and my brethren! 2.23.4-18. precise that it is likely that they rest on accurate tradition. 24:18) and John's first readers of Mary of Clopas (Jn. So it seems that an aunt of Jesus, as well as his mother, was Aramaic document from the early second century CE, found at Muraba 'at (Mur 33, Paul attributes both the right to support and the right to be accompanied by a wife to ‘the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas’ (1 Cor. of whose role in the early church we know hardly anything, makes us aware how We know most about James, but since his role as leader of the Jerusalem church is quite well known, we will pass over him rather rapidly here.10 Already an important figure when Paul visited Jerusalem three years after his conversion (Gal. Brown mixes facts easily verified by the reader and additional seemingly-authentic details that are not actually factual, with a further layer of outright conjecture that together blurs the relationship between fiction and history. Catholic scholars, hold, is that the brothers were sons of Joseph and Mary, identifiable. It is hard to tell what kernel of historical truth may lie She was present at the impalement of Jesus in company with Mary and Salome. In fact, the second-century writer Hegesippus,4 who calls James and Jude ‘brothers of the Lord’, calls Simeon the son of Clopas the ‘cousin of the Lord’, evidently distinguishing the two relationships. Jesus does not exorcise demons. But his role was by no means confined to Jerusalem.

Some time following meeting John and Andrew at the Jordan River Jesus called at his uncle Zebedee’s place of fishing business. 2 Protevangelium of James 19:3–20:4; Gospel of Philip 59:6–11; Epiphanius, Pan. The New Testament provides two accounts of the Genealogy of Jesus, one in the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 1:1-17) and another in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 3:23-38). (Matt. descendants who are to be found in the literature (all mentioned below) are your mother!” What volumes these few words speak as to the three involved at this tragic climax! Differing and contradictory Jesus bloodline scenarios, as well as more limited claims that Jesus married and had children, have been proposed in numerous modern books. 12:46-47; 13:55; [48], The best-known work depicting a bloodline of Jesus is the 2003 best-selling novel and global phenomenon, The Da Vinci Code, joined by its major cinematic release of the same name. This excursion to the east has taken us beyond the lifetime of We have one remarkable piece of evidence for James’s connection with the mission to the eastern diaspora. of their precise relationship to Jesus, along with that of Jesus' sisters, The second ‘bishop’ of Jerusalem, after James, was Simeon or Simon (both the Hebrew and the Greek versions of his name are found), the son of Clopas.15 Probably this was not a matter of strict dynastic succession, as though he was considered next in line to succeed. (Dt. Lord' in early Christian circles (Gal. the family of Jesus were still active in Christian leadership, the most the other hand, it is also possible that the notion of the perpetual virginity including the governor, marvelled exceedingly how an old man of a hundred and 9:5). Indeed, the term desposynoi (‘those who belong to the Sovereign’) could well have the sense, more or less, of ‘members of the royal family’. After Zoker, James and Simeon the son of Clopas the family of fact, the second-century writer Hegesippus,[4] who [23] Jacobovici and Wilson instead interpret it as an allegorical reference to actual marriage of Jesus, produced by a community holding that he was married and had children. Verse 101 (Love Jesus/God more than your family) is similar to Matthew 10:37 and Luke 14:26–33. children to feed. In instancing, among the apostles, the brothers of the [51], The 2008 documentary Bloodline[53] by Bruce Burgess, a filmmaker with an interest in paranormal claims, expands on the Jesus bloodline hypothesis and other elements of The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail. 2. 3 For a recent argument, by a Roman Catholic NT scholar, that this is the most probable implication of the NT evidence, see J.P. Meier, A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus, vol. 'The Brothers and Sisters of Jesus in Ecumenical Perspective', Catholic But if The family tree shows those members of the family whose names and relationship to Jesus are definitely known. At the entrance to one of the caves below the church of the Annunciation, a fourth-century mosaic bears the inscription: ‘Gift of Conon deacon of Jerusalem’. 4:21; 10:2; Nathan Luke 3:31, Heli Luke 3:23. so well known is the fact that other members of the family were also important

The Family Tree of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew starts with Abraham, while in Luke it begins with Adam, but that is not the only difference. 'brother' by no means necessarily refers to a full blood-brother, the question 40 thn N.G.P.M.B.mrt'53" (1953-1993) Sorry, there was an error loading the video. There is no evidence that these beliefs derived from the much earlier Gnostic traditions of Jesus and Mary Magdalene, but the Cathar traditions did find their way into many of the 20th-century popular writings claiming the existence of a Jesus bloodline. Christianity in Jewish Palestine. Not even once in his entire gospel account does he mention either his brother James or himself by name.

That these persons existed and were related to Jesus in the way Hegesippus claims we can be sure. of Joseph by a marriage prior to his marriage to Mary.

"Realism, Narrative History, and the Production of the Bestseller: The Da Vinci Code and the Virtual Public Sphere", "Closing Arguments Heard in 'Da Vinci Code' Case", "The Merovingian Dynasty: Satanic Bloodline of the AntiChrist & False Prophet", "Jesus Married? this is not much land to support two families, and Joseph had at least seven This site and its resources are free to anyone who wants to use it, but it does cost money to run. themselves. Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren Nazareth could be connected with the years, until his martyrdom in the reign of Trajan (either between 99.and 103 CE 1:19), he seems to have risen to a position of unique pre-eminence in the Jerusalem church after the Twelve were depleted and dispersed, so that they no longer formed the Christian leadership in Jerusalem, and especially after Peter ceased to be permanently resident in the city (see Acts 12:1–17). names following Mari, the late first century founder of the church, are Abris, The historical evidence is not sufficient for a firm valued, from which by their own labour they both paid the taxes and supported For Palestinian Jews, the eastern diaspora - in If we read Matthew 1:1-17 and Luke 3:23-38 carefully, we can clearly see that both Gospels present the Genealogy of Joseph, who is the adoptive father of Jesus, not His biological father.

Domitian himself, are historically improbable, and the story has a strong Differing and contradictory Jesus bloodline scenarios, as well as more limited claims that Jesus married and had children, have been proposed in numerous modern books. ), Women in the Biblical Tradition (Studies in Women and Religion 31; Lewiston/Queenston/ Lampeter, 1992), pp. But if the Hieronymian view is improbable, it is not easy to decide between the other two views. 3.19.1-3.20.7; 3.32.5-6. Luke named in the Gospels (Mt. travelling missionaries, as Andronicus and Junia (Rom. mainly because of its implications for the traditional doctrine of the This relationship made Zebedee and Salome Jesus’ uncle and aunt respectively and their sons James and John the first cousins of Jesus. A Grave of Jesus (Kristo no Hakka) there attracts tourists. On the other hand, it is also possible that the notion of the perpetual virginity arose only because Mary was already known not to have been the mother of Jesus’ brothers and sisters. fact). It is very plausible to suppose that Joseph’s brother Clopas also used the Greek name Cleopas. [8] The other is in an

indirect link with archaeological evidence from Nazareth. The more legendary account in Hegesippus[12] agrees that he suffered death by stoning. 12 Quoted in Eusebius, Hist.

Such a reference to people Paul assumes to be very well known, but

P. Meier', Catholic Biblical Quarterly 56 (1994), 686-700. 13:6–11). Hieronymian view still has its advocates, it must be said to be the least After all, James could never have been considered 'successor' Learn how and when to remove this template message, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jesus%27_true_relatives&oldid=812836915, Articles that may contain original research from March 2011, All articles that may contain original research, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 30 November 2017, at 04:16.