Jesus' family tree
Are
there any descendants of Christ living
TODAY?
What
is Jesus' family tree?
Several New Testament scriptures
confirm the fact that Jesus was NOT the only child born into the family tree that
begins with Joseph and Mary (contrary
to what Catholics and other denominations may teach).
In
fact, Mary gave birth to
a total of at least FIVE boys
and at least two girls
(Matthew
13:54 - 56, see also 12:47)!
Accounts
are sketchy as to what happened to Jesus' brothers and sisters in his family
tree after His resurrection.
The
Bible does give us, however, clues regarding what may have happened to his
mother Mary.
We
find when he was on the cross that he commended the care of his mother into the
hands of the apostle John (John 19:26 - 27).
Jesus and
John were highly likely relatives. John's mother (named Mary) who was married
to a man named Cleopas, was the sister of Jesus' mother Mary.
This
would make him and John first cousins. This, of course, begs another question
as to where Mary spent the remainder of her life in the care of John.
In
Raymond Capt's book, Traditions of Glastonbury: The Biblical Missing Years of Christ - Answered,
the tradition is that John put Mary in the care of an uncle,
Joseph of Arimathea, a rich tin merchant who sailed to Britain shortly after the resurrection of Jesus,
settling in Southwest England in a village called Glastonbury.
This
tradition holds that Mary lived there with a few other disciples for 15 years
then died. Tradition also states her death occurred in 48 A.D.
I
could only find some information about two of Jesus' physical brothers, James
and Jude.
The
Bible's New Testament mentions
four men named James.
The
first James is the son of Zebedee and Salome (cf. Matthew 27:56 with Mark
15:40). He is the Apostle John's older
brother (making him a cousin of Jesus).
This
identifies Zebedee and Cleopas as being the same individual.
The
second James was a son of Alpheus, who was one of the disciples of Christ. It
is not at all clear whether this is the same James as the one related to
Zebedee.
The
third James found in the Bible is the father of the Apostle Judas, (not Iscariot who betrayed the Lord)
who is referred to in Luke 6:16 and Acts 1:13. Nothing else is known of him.
The
fourth and final person named James is Christ's physical brother.
The Apostle Paul wrote
in 1 Corinthians 15:7 that the first post-resurrection appearance of the risen
Christ was to James who from that time forward gave the rest of his life to
Christ.
James
was an early leader of the Jerusalem Church.
The last Biblical mention of James is in Acts 21:18 where the Jerusalem elders
exhorted Paul to take a Nazarite vow.
Jude,
another brother of Jesus' family tree, also did not believe in him until after
His resurrection.
Jude
is the author of the Epistle that bears his name. No more information exists
about the two remaining brothers named Joseph and Simon.
The
book of Matthew states that Jesus had at least two sisters in the family named
Mary and Salome.
Parallel
accounts in Matthew 27 and Mark 15 link Mary and Salome (Matthew
27:55 - 56).
Mary,
mother of James and Joses, is considered to have been Cleopas' wife (see John
19:25).
Was
she the sister of Jesus? This is a possibility. Salome was the wife of Zebedee
and mother of James and John.
Are
there people living today who are in the family tree of Joseph and Mary, who
would be blood relatives of Jesus?
Given
that Mary had at least SIX children
other than our Savior that (likely) lived to adulthood, there is a high degree
of probability at least a few people living today have a genetic link to him.
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