Many believe that Jesus just called His disciples randomly, without having known them before. This assumption is false. Christ knew them quite well. This includes His brothers and sisters.
As we explain in detail in part 3 of our free booklet, “Jesus Christ—a Great Mystery,” Jesus had half-brothers and half-sisters through His mother Mary. We read in Matthew 13:53-56 that the Jews said: “Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables, that He departed from there. When He had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, ‘Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is this not the carpenter’s Son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?’”
Christ’s audience knew that He had brothers and sisters. Four brothers are mentioned by name—James; Joses or Joseph; Simon; and Judas or Jude. Notice also that the Jews asked whether ALL His sisters were with them. This seems to strongly indicate that Christ had at least three sisters. If He had only two, the Jews would have said, “Are not His sisters with us?” or, “Are not both of His sisters with us?”
After Christ’s death and resurrection, His half-brothers who had initially not believed in Him, became converted. James became the apostle in Jerusalem. He wrote the letter of James. After his violent death, tradition has it that he was replaced by Christ’s half-brother Simon. [Others claim that James was replaced by Simon, a son of Clopas, see below]. Neither the Bible nor tradition tells us anything about Jesus’ half-brother Joses or Joseph, but the assumption is that he, too, became converted (Acts 1:14; 1 Corinthians 9:5). Jesus’ half-brother Jude or Judas wrote the epistle of Jude, in which he says in verse 1 that he is the brother of James. According to tradition, his grandchildren became leaders in the early Church.
It appears that Christ’s disciples John, who wrote the gospel according to John, the three epistles of John and the Book of Revelation, and his brother James who was later killed by Herod (compare Acts 12:1-2) were in fact Christ’s cousins. To show this, let’s note the following passages describing the women present when Jesus was crucified, and thereafter.
Mark 15:39-41:
“(39) So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, ‘Truly this Man was the Son of God!’ (40) There were also women looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joses, and Salome, (41) who also followed Him and ministered to Him when He was in Galilee…”
Mark 16:1:
“Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him.”
Matthew 27:54-56:
“(54) So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, ‘Truly this was the Son of God!’ (55) And many women who followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him, were there looking on from afar, (56) among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.”
John 19:25:
“Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.”
There are quite a few women mentioned by name or referred to in those passages. Let us review these passages in detail.
To begin with, Mary Magdalene was no relative of Jesus. There is no indication that there was anything going on between Jesus and Mary Magdalene beyond a strong friendship (some claim incorrectly that they were engaged or married). Undoubtedly, Mary Magdalene had great love and respect for Jesus, which Jesus honored. He appeared to her first after His resurrection (Mark 16:9).
[In passing, another Mary is mentioned in the Bible—the sister of Martha and Lazarus (Luke 10:39). She anointed Christ with oil. She is NOT identical to Mary Magdalene. She is not specifically mentioned at the time of Christ’s crucifixion. Also, another Mary, not present at the crucifixion, was the mother of John Mark (Acts 12:12). John Mark was a nephew or cousin to Barnabas; Mary was the sister of Barnabas (Colossians 4:10). Some feel that this Mark, an Evangelist, wrote the gospel according to Mark, with the help of the Apostle Peter (1 Peter 5:13). Finally, a Christian woman with the name of Mary is mentioned in Rome (Romans 16:6).]In John 19:25, Mary the wife of Clopas is mentioned. In the Greek, it says, Mary of Clopas; the word “wife” has been added by the translator. According to Josephus, Mary was the daughter of Clopas, not his wife. Others maintain that she was indeed the wife of Clopas. Some identify this Mary, wife of Clopas, as the sister of Mary, mother of Jesus. They interpret the passage in John 19:25 to mean that “Mary, the wife of Clopas,” defines the phrase, “His mother’s sister.” However, this does not seem to be correct. Rather, John 19:25 lists four women, not just three (Jesus His mother; His mother’s sister; Mary the wife of Clopas; and Mary Magdalene).
Note how other translations render this verse.
The New International Version writes: “Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.”
See also the New American Standard Bible.
The Berean Standard Bible writes: “Near the cross of Jesus stood His mother and her sister, as well as Mary the wife of Clopas and Mary Magdalene.” Similar the German interpretation of “Hoffnung Für Alle” and the Menge Bible: “By the cross of Jesus stood His mother and the sister of His mother, also Mary, the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala.” The annotation reads that the sister was Salome [see below].
The Amplified Bible states: “But standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother, His mother’s sister [Salome], Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.”
The New Bible Commentary Revised states: “It seems most reasonable to suppose that there were two pairs, in which case Salome was Mary’s sister and Mary the wife of Clopas was mother of James of Alphaeus.” The Commentary of the Holy Bible, edited by Dummelow, agrees, stating: “Translate, therefore, ‘His mother and His mother’s sister (i.e. Salome, the mother of the evangelists) and Mary, the daughter of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala.”
Clopas is perhaps mentioned by name in Luke 24:18, where we read: “Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, ‘Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?’” He was one of the two disciples who travelled to the village of Emmaus. On their way, the resurrected Christ appeared to them, but they did not recognize Him at first, as their eyes were “restrained.”
According to Josephus, Clopas was a brother of Joseph, the stepfather of Jesus, and therefore the brother-in-law of Mary, the mother of Jesus.
Note that “Mary of Clopas,” the mother of James (the Less or the Younger; Mark 15:40) and Joses or Joseph, was a different Mary than Mary, the mother of James and John. As mentioned, she was either the wife or the daughter of Clopas. If she was Clopas’ wife, then she was also the sister-in-law of Mary, mother of Jesus. If she was the daughter of Clopas, then Mary, the mother of Jesus, would have been her aunt. In any event, Jesus would have been related to them as well. James the Younger, also known as James the Less, was one of the twelve apostles. In Mark 3:18, he is identified as James, the son of Alphaeus. He is called less or little to distinguish him from the Apostle James, the brother of John, and because he might have been little in stature, or he might have been younger than the Apostle James, the brother of John.
What about Salome? Was she indeed the mother of the sons of Zebedee (James and John)? Was she also called Mary? Was she the sister of Jesus’ mother? As we already saw from some quotations above, Salome (Mark 16:1) is in fact viewed as being identical with the sister of Mary in John 19:25 AND with the wife of Zebedee and the mother of the sons of Zebedee, James and John, the “Sons of Thunder” (Matthew 27:56; Matthew 10:2; compare Mark 3:17).
We stated this in Part 1 of our Q&A about the history of Christ:
“In December of 27 AD, Christ chose some of His disciples (Matthew 4:18-22). It is quite possible that James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were cousins of Christ [as Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, was probably a cousin of Mary; Luke 1:36 [so the Authorized Version. Many renditions say: “your relative”]. This means that Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Mary, the mother of James and John, also called Salome, would have been sisters. Also, it has been suggested that Mary and Joseph were cousins.”
Since Salome or Mary, the wife of Zebedee, and Mary, the mother of Jesus, would have been sisters, James and John would have been Christ’s cousins. This close family connection would shed light on Salome’s [inappropriate] request to have her two sons sit at Jesus’ right and left hand in His Kingdom (Mark 10:35-37). It would also shed light on the fact that Jesus asked John, His cousin, to take care of His mother Mary (John 19:26-27). Because of humility, John does not name himself in this passage but identifies himself by saying, “the disciple whom He [Christ] loved”. Compare John 13:23. James and Jude act similarly when they speak about themselves as “a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ” (James 1:1) or as “a servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James” (Jude 1), rather than saying “brother of Jesus Christ.”
In 2 John, the Apostle John might in fact reveal His relationship with Mary, the mother of Jesus. In 2 John 1, he addresses his letter to the “elect lady and her children.” In verse 13, he states: “The children of your elect sister greet you.” Some claim that John wrote in verse 1 to Mary, the mother of Jesus, calling her “the elect lady.” And that he addressed in verse 13 Salome or Mary, the mother of James and John, calling her “the elect sister” of the “elect lady.” The reference in verse 1 to Mary’s children could refer to Christ’s half-brothers and half-sisters; and the reference to the children of Salome in verse 13 could be to John himself (James was already dead by that time), and perhaps other unnamed children Salome might have had, including perhaps daughters.
James, the brother of John, was killed in 43 AD, as described in Acts 12:1-3: “Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church. Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword. And because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also. Now it was during the Days of Unleavened Bread.”
James, the half-brother of Jesus, was killed later, in 62 AD. He was thrown from a high pinnacle of the Temple, but did not die from the fall, and was then stoned and beaten to death with a club.
Finally, another interesting family relationship can be seen, when considering Joseph of Arimathea. We said in our above-mentioned Q&A:
“We don’t read much about the time of Christ’s youth (except for Jesus being in the temple at the age of 12), until He was baptized by John. But He was called a Nazarene (Matthew 2:23), suggesting that He grew up and lived in Nazareth for most of His life. He is also referred to constantly as Jesus of Nazareth. However, there are credible reports that He might have accompanied His [or His mother Mary’s] uncle, Joseph of Arimathea, on his travels. His uncle [or great-uncle] was allegedly in the tin trading business, and might have reached England during his travels.”
So we see that in the New Testament, many leading disciples and apostles were, in one way or another, related to Christ. Christ did not randomly choose them, without having known them before. As their relative, He was intimately familiar with many of them. Of course, God knew all of them before the foundation of the world, and decided to call them at the time when Jesus was here on earth as a Man. But the fact still remains that Jesus knew many of them, having had contact with them as their relative, before He selected them.
When you are chosen by God today, He is—and has been—intimately familiar with you. Your calling is not the result of an accident or a product of time and chance. God knew you long before you were born. He called you in this day and age for a reason. You need to figure out what that specific reason is.
Lead Writer: Norbert Link