The Family of

Jesus

*Alfonso *Amper *Bobadilla *Fajardo *Glo *Gonzales

Jesus Family Tree based on references from the New Testament and the ancient historians Josephus and Eusebius.

According to Matthew 1:18-25, Mary became pregnant with Jesus while she was engaged (but still unmarried) to Joseph. After Joseph found out about

the pregnancy, he wanted to break off the engagement. But then an angel

came to him in a dream, told him about Jesus, and persuaded him to go

through with the marriage.

Mary was still a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus, and he was her first child. But she apparently had some other children later. Evidence for this is found at Matthew 13:55-56 and Mark 6:3, which indicate that Jesus eventually had four brothers and at least two sisters. The names of his brothers are given as James, Joses, Simon, and Jude. Unfortunately, his sisters aren't named, and we don't even know how many there were.

Mary is involved in the only event in Jesus' adolescent life that is recorded in the New

Testament. At the age of twelve Jesus, having become separated from his parents on their return journey from the Passover

celebration in Jerusalem, was found among the teachers in the temple. After

Jesus' baptism by John the Baptist and his temptations by the devil in the desert, Mary was present when, at her suggestion, Jesus

worked his first Cana miracle during a marriage they attended, by turning water into wine . Subsequently there are events when Mary is present along with James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas, called Jesus'

brothers, and unnamed "sisters".

The Family of Jesus

Mary: Mother of Jesus

Mary is also later mentioned as the mother of a James, both in the Gospel of Mark and in the Gospel of Matthew. Catholic interpretation

generally holds that this James is to be identified with James, the son of Alphaeus and James, the brother of Jesus. Some women were

watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of

James the younger and of Joseph, and Salome. When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus'

body. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother

of Zebedee's sons.

James the Less

Simon was the brother of Jesus in the New Testament.  Consistent with its

doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary, the Catholic Encyclopedia rejects the idea that Simon was a biological son

of Mary, suggesting that the so-called Desposyni were either sons

of Joseph from a previous marriage (i.e. step--brothers) or else were cousins

of Jesus.The Catholic Encyclopedia suggests that Simon may

be the same person as Simeon of Jerusalem or Simon the

Zealot. Protestant interpreters usually take Simon to have been a half-

brother of Jesus.In The Jesus Dynasty, James Tabor suggests that

Simon was the son of Mary and Clophas.

Simon/Simeon

Joses is only mentioned twice in the New Testament, in parallel passages in Matthew 13:5 and Mark 6:3, which record the people of Nazareth's rejection of Jesus:Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him. Mark 6:3 ESV A minority of (Alexandrian, Western) Greek manuscripts in Matthew 13:55 read "Joseph" (Ἰωσήφ) the standard spelling of the name.

Joseph Jr./Joses

Jude (alternatively Judas or Judah) was one of the four brothers of Jesus(Mark 6:3 andMatthew 13:55) according to

the New Testament. He is traditionally identified as the author of the Epistle of Jude, a short epistle which is reckoned among the seven general epistles of the

New Testament - placed after Paul's epistles and before the Book of Revelation -

and considered canonical by Christians.

Judas Thaddeus/Lebbaeus

And also Mary had at least three daughters, of whom one was probably named Joanna and one Susanna and one possibly named Anna after Mary's mother. For a total of atleast 8 children.

Questions & Answers about Jesus and his family

WHEN EXACTLY WAS JESUS BORN?• Sundown, Sept 10, 3BC, new moon of Elul, 1st day of 6th month on Hebrew calendar.WAS JOSEPH A WIDOWED CARPENTER?• No. He was a teenager and probably a mosaic artist.WAS JESUS' MOTHER A POOR GIRL WHO HAD NO OTHER CHILDREN?• No. Mary was a wealthy Princess of David's line and had at least 8 children: Jesus, Jacob or James the Less, Joseph Jr or Joses,

Simeon, Judas Thaddeus or Lebbaeus, and at least three daughters, of whom one was probably named Joanna and one Susanna and one possibly named Anna after Mary's mother.

WAS JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA JESUS' UNCLE?• Yes. He was Jesus' mother Mary's twin brother, but born second. Any other sequence would result in Jesus being disqualified

from the throne of David through her. He could not be her uncle, for example, or the line would have diverted away from her line through his line.

WHO WERE THE MAGI?• Several Ephraimite wise men serving at Babylon & the King of Petra who came to the feasts every year. This time they expected

to see the Child about whom Simeon had prophesied the previous year.WHAT WAS THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM?• Jupiter was the Messiah's "star" and its position was followed all the time for signs, but the special "sign" was a conjunction of

Jupiter & Venus on June 17, 2 BC. They merged into the brightest of all possible planetary or stellar conjunctions on the western horizon just above Jerusalem as seen from Babylon at sunset. They then rose on the day they went to Bethlehem so that Jupiter was vertically over Venus above the house as viewed from the road the Magi were on. I verified this personally when the conjunctions repeated in 1991. The pointing down at a specific house phenomenon could be seen from my location in Maine, and it would be true anywhere, seen just before sunrise.

WAS JESUS ADOPTED?• Yes. By His uncle, as the law required. The adoption papers are the genealogy of Luke. See the Greek text of Luke where the

phrase "as was supposed" actually means "by custom" or "by law" hence, by adoption.WAS JESUS MARRIED TO MARY MAGDELENE?• No. He is espoused to the Church. She was Jesus' step-mother and married to Joseph of Arimathea, the maternal uncle of Jesus.WASN'T JESUS REQUIRED TO MARRY TO BE A RABBI?• Jesus had not studied as a Rabbi, John 8 says. He was a "small-r" rabbi, with no marriage prospects because no one knew who

Jesus' father was, and He was not adopted until He was about 30 years old. So there was no one to negotiate a marriage contract for Jesus until Joseph adopted Him.

DID JESUS GO TO INDIA?• Possibly. Joseph of Arimathea probably took Jesus on some of his merchant journeys. India was a prime source of brassware,

just as it is today.WHO WERE JESUS' CHILDHOOD FRIENDS?• Jesus seems closer to the family of Lazarus than the family in Nazareth. If John's Gosepl is any indication, Jesus hung out at

Bethany, His step-aunt Mary Magdalene's house, where her younger brother and Jesus used to work on the gardens facing the Temple Mount on the upper flank of Olivet. Martha had married, but was widowed and returned to Bethany.

WHO WERE JESUS' CLOSEST RELATIVES?• Jesus had at least one maternal aunt & uncle, four half-brothers, three half-sisters, a step-uncle, a step-aunt, a step-sister, an

adoptive grandfather, and many cousins--most of whom are named in the New Testament.WHO WAS RELATED TO JESUS BY MARRIAGE, BUT NOT BLOOD?• Jesus' aunt Salome was mother of Peter's wife. So Jesus was related to Peter, Andrew, and their father Jonah by marriage. One of

Jesus' sisters was wed at Cana to Simon Zealotes. Jesus' step-first-cousin Anna, daughter of Mary Magdalene, wed Stephen, the first martyr, and tradition says she remarried into a British royal line of the time.

WHO ELSE WAS RELATED TO JESUS?• Jesus was related by marriage and by blood to Stephen and Anna's children Mary and Joseph Barnabus, and Mary's husband

Judas Iscariot, and their son John Mark. Also, by marriage to Stephen's father's family, which was quite extensive on Cyprus, where they were Levites in the copper trade.

ARE THERE ANY OTHER MORE DISTANT RELATIVES OF JESUS IN THE NT?• Jesus' grandmother Hannah ("St. Anne"), widowed in her 30's(1 BC), went to Britain and married a Silurian prince, who is said

to have been ancestor of "Pope" Linus and his sister Claudia, wife of Paul's brother Rufus, father of four saints who were martyred in Rome.

WAS THE NEW TESTAMENT ABOUT A FAMILY FEUD?• Yes. The house of David's royal claims (Jesus' Family) were opposed by two Hasmonean lines, two Zadokite (Sadducean)

priestly lines, Roman royal families, and the Edomites of Herod's line. This free-for-all declined as various lines died out. Today, Jesus Himself is the only generally-known surviving Claimant to the throne whose genealogy is documented, but He would have to physically return to prove He is still alive.

WERE JESUS & JOHN THE BAPTIST ESSENES?• Hardly. Jesus was occupied working for his uncle and John was legally exiled across the Jordan from the Essenes. It is difficult

to see why either would join them, based upon the first-person accounts of the Essene factions given by Josephus.

WHEN WAS JESUS CRUCIFIED?• Thursday, April 26, 31 AD, according to historical and astronomical evidence. Most peopel and most

scholars have overlooked this date because of the false assumption that the eve of a sabbath is always Friday. In 31 AD, Friday April 27 was the High Sabbath day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Once this is understood, as this article shows, all the known biblical and historical and astronomical data align. There is more evidence than we can include in this one article.

HOW WAS JESUS CRUCIFIED?• On the same fig tree as two revolutionaries atop Mt. Olivet. Each had his own "cross-piece" to which his

wrists were nailed from the back side after his arms were bent over the top. They were naked. It was deliberately designed to be as repulsive as possible to inhibit others from committing crimes.

DID THE RESURRECTED JESUS PASS THROUGH LOCKED DOORS?• No. He appeared in the midst of the Apostles, apparently in an inter-dimensional manner, as a solid

being, not as a ghost or apparition that passed through doors.WHY DOES NICODEMUS HANDLE JESUS' DEAD BODY ON THE PASSOVER?• The Law required Jesus' closest male relatives to bury him. Nicodemus was the grandfather of Jesus by

adoption, being the father of Jesus' adoptive mother, Mary of Bethany, the Magdalene. So Nicodemus was the eldest male relative of Jesus.

WAS JESUS CONSIDERED BY PAGANS TO BE A REAL HISTORICAL FIGURE?• Absolutely. The pagans questioned who & what Jesus was, not whether He had really lived. Doubt about

the historical reality of Jesus is a modern idea, not an ancient one.