My mother and my brothers ~ reflex on Lk 8:19-21

Let’s get something cleared up right away: Jesus certainly had a mother, but did he also have brothers? In other words, did Mary have other children after Jesus? The Church’s clear answer – from the very beginning – is no. Mary did not have other children. So why does Jesus refer to several of the disciples (namely James, Joseph, Simon, and Jude, see Mt 13:55 and Mk 6:3) as “brothers”?

Neither Hebrew nor Aramaic had a special word for “cousin,” so they often used the word “brother.” The Greek word adelphos can be translated as “brother” or “half-brother” or “cousin”. In the Old Testament, it could refer to any male relative from whom you are not descended (those would be referred to as “fathers”) and who are not descended from you (those would be referred to as “sons”). It covers a whole range of relatives, including cousins, members by marriage or law rather than blood, and even friends or political allies! Blood kinship was not as neatly categorized in Jewish culture as it is today; relatives were part of your tribe, which is what mattered.

For certain, Jesus had no full brothers, because Joseph was not his biological father (Matt 1:18; Lk 1:26-35). When Jesus was found in the Temple at the age of 12, the context suggests he was the only son of Mary and Joseph. Later, the James who must be Jesus’ “brother” is identified as “the son of Alphaeus,” which points to his being a cousin; likewise, another Mary is named as the mother of James and Joseph (Matt 27:56). And even when we hear these men referred to as Jesus’ brethren, they are never called “Mary’s sons” as Jesus is.

While there is some discussion about whether these “brothers” could have been related in another way, the Church maintains that Mary, as a perpetual virgin, had no other biological children, before or after Jesus.

Which is the point of today’s Gospel. In response to the presence of his family outside the place Jesus is preaching, Jesus says that his family is all those “who hear the word of God and act on it.” This is what Mary did, this is who Mary is: one who heard the word, said YES, and conformed her whole life to the will of God manifested in it. As “the handmaid of the Lord” (Lk 1:38), she trusted that God could do all things in her and through her; and God made her the mother of the Lord.

In a similar way, the Lord wants to draw each of us into the intimacy of His Heart. We are each called to hear His Word and act on it, so that we can truly be members of His family, who are loved and who love, and who know the way Home.