“God’s anonymous: Jesus’ brothers and sisters”
Matthew 13:55-56
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus.
Twenty years ago, back in 2002, an Israeli engineer and collector of antiquities by the name of Oded Golan contacted a professor at Sorbonne University in Paris, a man named André Lemaire, who was known to be the greatest authority on ancient inscriptions in the world. You see, Golan had acquired quite a lot of valuable artifacts over the years and was eager to have him come and take a look at his collection and to hear what he might have to say.
And among his many clay tablets, pieces of pottery and other ancient artifacts, there was one that stood out beyond all the rest--a small, foot-and-a-half-long, ten-inch-wide, first-century limestone box, what’s called an ossuary. It’s a container that’s used to store the bones of the dead.
Now it’s not unusual at all to find these small limestone burial boxes in and around Jerusalem. Quite a lot of Israel’s rich and famous used them when they died.
But what made this particular “bone box” different than any other were the words, or rather, the names that were inscribed on its side. In Hebrew, it reads “Ya’akov bar-Yosef akhui diYeshua.” In English, it says “James son of Joseph, brother of Jesus.”
And that’s strange. You see, families would often inscribe one name on the side of the box. But to find two names or even three names, especially names like James and Joseph and Jesus(!), can only point to one thing--the fact that the one who was buried in that box was not only a man named James, he was also Joseph’s son, and Jesus’ brother!
Needless to stay, it’s proved to be one of the most amazing archaeological finds of the twentieth century.
I’ll read the words of our text, from the book of Matthew chapter 13. I’ll start at verse 53: “And when Jesus had finished these parables, He went away from there, and coming to His hometown 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 not this the carpenter’s Son? Is not His mother called Mary? And are not His brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all His sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?’ And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.’ And He did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief” (Matthew 13:53-58).
The words of Matthew chapter 13 take us to the beginning of Jesus’ life and ministry among us. By this time, He had taught the crowds and healed a paralytic and a man with a withered hand. In just a few short months, He would feed the five thousand and the four thousand and walk on water.
And now as He returned to His hometown of Nazareth, population four hundred, He did what He always did--He taught in their synagogue.
And as it always happened, whenever Jesus spoke, the people were amazed. In fact, when Matthew recorded these words, he used a word that’s used only once in all of the Bible. He said the people were shocked, dumbfounded, and astonished. In fact, they were so astonished, they couldn’t help but say, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And are not His brothers and sisters here with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” (Matthew 13:54-56).
“Brothers and sisters,” it said. So Jesus had brothers and sisters?
Now to be fair, (since there are many who would disagree), we could take that one of three ways. We could say, for example, that they weren’t really Jesus’ brothers and sisters at all. Instead, they were His step-brothers and step-sisters, children born to Joseph from a previous marriage.
Or if that doesn’t quite work for you, then you could say that instead of being His brothers and sisters, they were really His cousins from His mother’s side or from His father’s side, whichever you’d prefer.
You could say either of those things, but I’m afraid neither of them would hold any water. The only reasonable and logical way to understand it, (and to translate it for that matter!), is to say that they were literally Jesus’ brothers and sisters, children born of Mary and Joseph.
How do we know? Because whenever the Bible talks about them, it never calls them His cousins, (that’s a different word). Instead, it always calls them His sisters and brothers.
Think of the words of Luke chapter 8. It says, “Then His mother and His brothers came to Him, but they could not reach Him because of the crowd. And He was told, ‘Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see You” (Luke 8:19-20). Or think of John chapter 2: “After this He went down to Capernaum, with His mother and His brothers and His disciples, and they stayed there for a few days” (John 2:12). Or think of Acts chapter 1 where it says, “All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and His brothers” (Acts 1:14).
And not only does the Bible call them His brothers, it also tells us their names: James and Joseph and Simon and Judas (Matthew 13:55).
And not only did Jesus have brothers, Matthew added in verse 56: “And are not all His sisters with us?” “Sisters,” he said. As in plural, more than one.
What does it mean? It means that not only was Jesus the Son of God, He was also the Son of Mary, who grew up in a very normal and natural family, with a mother and father, four brothers and at least a couple of sisters--all together five boys and two girls, a family of seven.
Now imagine this for me--what must it have been like to have Jesus for your brother?
Think about it--He was like no one who ever lived. He never had a bad attitude. He never disobeyed His parents. He never bickered or complained about dinner. He never said a bad word. He never lied. He never sinned. He never gossiped about a friend. He was always and only absolute and total perfection.
Now let me tell you, if you’re a parent, He would have been your favorite child, as in zero-maintenance parenting. Mary and Joseph never disciplined Him, they never reprimanded Him, because they didn’t need to. He was perfect all the time. If you asked Him to help out around the house, He’d help out around the house. If you told Him to be home before dark, He’d be home before dark. He must have been the absolute envy of all the rest.
Can you hear Mary or Joseph muttering under their breath, “If only you could be more like your Brother!”
No wonder it says in John chapter 7: “For not even His brothers believed in Him” (John 7:5).
Max Lucado tells the story of a time when he was sitting around a table with a half-a-dozen friends. He said, “Give me a word picture to describe a relative in your life who really bugs you.” And since all of them had an expression that said, “What in the world are you talking about?” he went on to explain.
He said, “I keep meeting people who can’t deal with somebody in their family. Either their mother-in-law or an uncle or even a father who treats them like they were never born.”
When they finally understood what he was getting at, the word pictures started coming. One said, “A parasite on my neck. My wife has this brother who never works and always expects us to provide.”
Another said, “A cactus wearing a silk shirt. It’s my mother. She looks nice. Everyone thinks she’s the greatest, but get close to her and she’s as dry and prickly as a cactus.”
“A marble column,” was the way another described an aunt. Dignified and noble, but high and hard.
It’s been said that life is very much like a crammed and jammed elevator, people of all kinds all thrust together on a short journey, waiting for their floor, saying as little to each other as possible. And eventually they get off that elevator and you never see or hear from them again.
But that’s not how it is with family. While neighbors move away and coworkers eventually get a job somewhere else, not family. Christmas, Thanksgiving, weddings, funerals--they’re always there.
You know the saying? You can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family.
Does Jesus understand? Of course, He does! He was raised in a family. And though He was perfect, His family was less than perfect. Maybe that’s why the writer to the Hebrews said, “Our high priest understands all of our weaknesses, for He faced all of the same trials and tests that we do, yet was without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). And Jesus said in the book of Mark: “A prophet is honored everywhere, except in His hometown and with His own people and in his own home” (Mark 6:4).
Jesus didn’t try to control His family’s behavior, nor did He let their behavior control Him. He didn’t demand that they agree with Him. He didn’t sulk when they insulted Him. He didn’t make it His mission to try to please them. Instead, He knew that what His physical family didn’t provide, His spiritual family could. That’s why when, one day, His brothers and sisters came looking for Him, He said, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers? Whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother” (Matthew 12:48, 50).
Though your family may never give you the blessing you seek, God will. He can give you what your family won’t.
To put it another way, it’s one thing to accept God as Lord and another to recognize Him as Savior. But it’s something else to accept Him as Father.
To recognize Him as Lord is to acknowledge that He’s sovereign and supreme in the universe. To recognize Him as Savior is to accept His gift of salvation accomplished on the cross. But to regard Him as Father is to go one step further.
But like a Father, He has provided for all your needs (Matthew 6:25-34). He’s protected you from all harm (Psalm 139:5). He’s adopted you (Ephesians 1:5). And He’s even given you a name. As John wrote in his first epistle, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God” (I John 3:1).
One day, after a speaker finished giving his lecture, a Nigerian woman physician came up to speak to him. She introduced herself using an American name.
The speaker asked, “What’s your African name?” She immediately said what it was. It was several syllables long with a kind of musical sound.
“What’s it mean?” he asked.
She answered, “It means ‘Child who takes the anger away.’”
She went on to explain. She said, “My parents had been forbidden to marry by their parents. But they loved each other so much that they defied their family’s opinions and married anyway. And for several years, they were ostracized by both of their families.
Then my mother became pregnant with me. And when my grandparents held me in their arms for the very first time, the walls of hostility came down. I became the one who swept their anger away. And that’s the name my mother and father gave me.”
Is there One who sweeps God’s anger away? There most certainly is! He’s God’s Son, our Savior, our Brother, Jesus Christ.
One more thing--do you know whatever happened to Jesus’ family?
You’d be surprised. Though they may well not have been with Him at the cross when He needed them the most, they were there on Pentecost. For as it says in the book of Acts: “All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and His brothers” (Acts 1:14).
Even more, not only would each of them someday become missionaries (I Corinthians 9:5), but James, the son of Joseph, the brother of Jesus, was stoned to death for preaching the cross.
As he wrote in the epistle that bears his name: “Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way, saves his soul from death and covers a multitude of sins” (James 5:20).
We thank You, Father, for our families, for those who care for us and know us the best. But we thank You most of all, for our Savior, our Brother, Jesus, who takes our sin away, for His sake. Amen