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Summary
- Hebrews says Jesus “is not ashamed to call them brothers” (Hebrews 2:11), and Paul calls him “the firstborn among many brothers” (Romans 8:29).
- Jesus said that whoever does his Father’s will “is my brother and sister and mother” (Matthew 12:50), and after the resurrection he called the disciples “my brothers” (Matthew 28:10; John 20:17).
- Hebrews grounds the brotherhood in the Incarnation: Jesus shared flesh and blood and “had to be made like his brothers in every respect” (Hebrews 2:14–17).
- Catholic teaching says believers are Christ’s brethren “not by nature, but by the gift of grace” (Catechism 654); Protestant confessions speak of adoption.
- The Gospels name brothers and sisters of Jesus (Mark 6:3); Protestants usually see them as Mary’s later children, Orthodox as Joseph’s children, and Catholics as close relatives.
- Latter-day Saints teach that Jesus is our elder brother as the firstborn of Heavenly Father’s spirit children.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture quotations from the English Standard Version, with Genesis 13:8 and 14:14 cited from the King James Version: Matthew 6:9; 12:48–50; 13:55–56; 25:40; 27:56; 28:10; Mark 3:31–35; 6:3; John 1:12; 7:5; 20:17; Acts 1:14; Romans 8:15–17, 29; 12:10; 1 Corinthians 9:5; Galatians 1:19; Colossians 1:18; Hebrews 2:11–18; 4:15; 1 John 3:14; Psalm 22:22. https://www.biblegateway.com/
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 460, 500 and 654. https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P1S.HTM
- Second Vatican Council, Gaudium et Spes (1965), 22. https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19651207_gaudium-et-spes_en.html
- Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 12, “Of Adoption.” https://opc.org/wcf.html
- John Chrysostom, Homilies on Hebrews, homily 5. https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/240205.htm
- Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies 3.19.1. https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103319.htm
- Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 20.9.1, translated by William Whiston. https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0146:book=20:whiston%20chapter=9:whiston%20section=1
- “Brothers of Jesus” and “Perpetual virginity of Mary,” Wikipedia, on the Helvidian, Epiphanian and Hieronymian views and the Reformers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brothers_of_Jesus
- “Brethren of the Lord,” Catholic Encyclopedia (1907). https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02767a.htm
- Orthodox Church in America, “Apostle James the Brother of the Lord.” https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2020/10/23/103039-apostle-james-the-brother-of-the-lord
- “The Sheep and the Goats,” Wikipedia, on Reginald H. Fuller’s reading of Matthew 25:40. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sheep_and_the_Goats
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Guide to the Scriptures, “Firstborn.” https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/gs/firstborn?lang=eng
- First Presidency, “The Origin of Man” (1909), reprinted in Ensign, February 2002. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2002/02/the-origin-of-man?lang=eng
- Nicene Creed (325). https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3801.htm
