Between the Magazine and the Readers

21 December 19740 Comments

Between the Magazine and the Readers
(From the questions answered during the Friday meeting at the Cathedral and sent to the magazine)

Question:
Who is James, the brother of the Lord? And did the Lord Jesus have brothers from the Virgin Mary? If not, then who are these “brothers”?

Answer:
James, the brother of the Lord, is James the son of Alphaeus. He is at the same time the cousin of Christ according to the flesh, being the son of Mary, the wife of Clopas (Clopas being another pronunciation of Alphaeus).
The cousins were considered “brothers” due to the closeness of kinship, according to Jewish customs when speaking about close relatives.

An example of this is what was said about the relationship between Jacob and his uncle Laban. The Scripture says:
“When Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, Jacob went near and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother. Then Jacob kissed Rachel and lifted up his voice and wept. And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s brother and that he was Rebekah’s son.” (Genesis 29:10–12)
Here we see that although Laban was Jacob’s uncle, Jacob called himself his “brother.” The same expression was used by Laban when he said to Jacob, “Because you are my brother, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?” (Genesis 29:15)
The same applies to the relationship between Abraham and Lot.
Abraham was Lot’s uncle, as the Scripture says about Terah, the father of Abraham and Haran (Lot’s father): “And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran.” (Genesis 11:31)
Yet when Lot was taken captive from Sodom in the war of Chedorlaomer, the Scripture says, “They also took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed… When Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants.” (Genesis 14:12, 14)
According to these ancient customs, the children of Christ’s cousin, Mary the wife of Clopas, were called His “brothers.”

This Mary is the one mentioned in the Gospel of John:
“Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.” (John 19:25)
And this same Mary is mentioned in the Gospel of Mark:
“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.” (Mark 15:40)

These — James, Joses, and Salome — the children of Mary the wife of Clopas, are the ones referred to by the Jews when they said about Christ:
“Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas?” (Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3)

As for the Virgin Mary, she gave birth only to Christ and remained a virgin all her life. The “brothers of Christ” were not her children but the children of her sister. James the Less (the son of Alphaeus) was called “the Less” to distinguish him from James the Greater (the son of Zebedee), the brother of John the Beloved.