The Bible tells us that Jesus was born of a virgin through the virgin birth. About this back in Old Testament times, that is, hundreds of years before the birth of Christ, God gave a prophecy: “So the Lord Himself will give you a sign: behold, a virgin will be with child and give birth to a Son, and they will call His name Immanuel” (Is. 7: 14).
The fulfillment of this ancient prophecy is also described in the New Testament. Specifically, in Matthew 1:18-25. From this passage we learn three important details about the birth of Jesus Christ:
1. Jesus was born of a virgin, that is, a girl who had not known a man: “...before they were united, she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit” (verse 18). “Rising from sleep, Joseph did as the Angel of the Lord commanded him, and took his wife, and did not know her. How at last she gave birth to her firstborn son, and he called his name Jesus” (verses 24-25).
2. The Immaculate Conception was brought about by the Holy Spirit: “...before they were united, she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit” (verse 18) and “...for that which is born in her is of the Holy Spirit” (verse 20).
3. Jesus was the firstborn: “Rising from sleep, Joseph did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took his wife, and did not know her. How at last she gave birth to her firstborn son, and he called his name Jesus” (verses 24-25). The same thing is said in Ev. Luke 2:6-7 “And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth; and she gave birth to her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”
Brothers according to the flesh
The Lord Jesus Christ was not ashamed (Heb. 2:11) to call all His disciples (Matt. 28:10; John 20:17) and His followers, redeemed, regenerated and adopted by God, His brothers, as well as the Apostle Paul (Rom. 8:29) on the same basis it is expressed about Him that He is “the firstborn among many brothers.” But in the Gospel and in other New Testament writings, in addition to this spiritually grace-filled brotherhood, the Lord’s brothers in the flesh are also mentioned.
There are several passages in the New Testament that refer to the number of Jesus' brothers and sisters. We'll look at just a couple of them in the Gospel of Matthew. One of them is found in the very first chapter of the New Testament.
When Joseph woke up, he acted at the command of the angel of the Lord and took Mary into his house as his wife, but kept her virginity until she gave birth to a son. Joseph called Him Jesus (Matt. 1:24-25).
It is natural to assume that Joseph and Mary led a normal married life after Jesus was born. In the first century there was no idea that Mary always remained a virgin, even after the birth of Jesus.
Jesus' mother and His brothers are mentioned in Matthew 12:46-50. And this is quite normal, since Joseph and Mary led an ordinary family life.
“While He was speaking like this to the people, His mother and brothers stood outside: they wanted to talk to Him” (Matthew 12:46).
“And he went to his hometown. There He began to teach them in the synagogue, and everyone marveled and asked: “Where did He get such wisdom and power to perform miracles? Isn't this man a carpenter's son? Isn't His mother called Mary and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Jude? And aren’t His sisters here among us? So where did He get all this from?” And they did not want to recognize Him. Then Jesus said to them: “A prophet is not without honor except in his own city and in his own home” (Matthew 13:54-57).
Jesus lived in His home area, where everyone knew His family, including all of His brothers and sisters. What can we see from this passage? Jesus had four younger brothers.
“His sisters are among us” - meaning three or more. Although it may seem more logical that we are talking about only two. In order not to overdo the interpretation of this passage (one could assume that the number of brothers and sisters is equal), we will modestly assume that there were three of them.
So there were at least eight children (including Jesus), and if you count Mary and Joseph, there were only ten people in the family. Of course, in relation to Jesus, these seven children were half-brothers and half-sisters. All these brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ were only on the mother's side, because His Father is God, while the father of the other brothers and sisters is Joseph.
Jesus had many brothers and sisters. He grew up in a large family. This means that He learned to share, learned to understand other people, learned to be an example for His younger brothers and sisters, and so on. Joseph died before Mary, so Jesus had to become the head of the family, which in turn may explain the fact that He was in no hurry to begin His public ministry. Mary needed His support, especially when the children were still very small.
Did Jesus Christ have children?
The Vatican will hold public debates about the relationship between the Savior and Magdalene.
“Komsomolskaya Pravda” has already talked about the novel “The Da Vinci Code” (“KP” dated January and February of this year). With the help of scientists, we tried to figure out why Christians accuse the American writer of distorting the history of the Church. Thanks to everyone who was interested in our publications and who sent their comments and new questions on the history of early Christianity. Our expert, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Deacon Vasily (Salnikov), answers the most interesting of them today. But first, one more piece of news about this book. As Komsomolskaya Pravda predicted, both the Catholic and Orthodox churches have finally made official statements regarding the novel The Da Vinci Code. It turned out, as we expected, that it is not recommended for a real Christian to read this work.
The church accuses
The Italian Cardinal Archbishop of Genoa Tarciso Bertone has been appointed by the Vatican to head a special commission that must thoroughly study the scandalous book and collect all the facts that Dan Brown misinterprets, distorts or simply invents. After which the case may be taken to court. The Vatican's dissatisfaction was caused by the fact that people are beginning to use The Da Vinci Code as a textbook on Christianity and take on faith the “false statements” contained in it. The Vatican also plans to organize public debates in Rome with fans of Brown's work. An invitation to participate in them was sent to the writer himself, but it is not yet known whether he will agree.
And in Russia, the book was criticized by the deputy chairman of the Department of External Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Archpriest Vsevolod (Chaplin): “Such an annoying desire to rewrite the Gospel and the history of the earthly life of Jesus is due precisely to the fact that people are trying to justify personal and social vices and errors by attributing them to Christ and presenting the matter in such a way that he agrees with them.”
In the priest’s opinion, such fantasies appear for two reasons: because of the desire to justify sin and because of the desire to acquire worldly fame. “In this sense, the book “The Da Vinci Code” is not much different from ancient and new attempts to rewrite gospel history,” the archpriest noted.
Brown tries to justify himself
“I hope that my novel will become a kind of catalyst for readers, and everyone will decide for themselves many important issues of faith, religion and history,” says Dan Brown on his personal website on the Internet (www.danbrown.com). — And regarding the accusation of “anti-Christianity”, I can note that the main enemy of religion is apathy. And there is only one cure for this disease - heated debate. Although my opinion differs from the official view of the Church on the events of the first century, the more vigorously we discuss such topics, the better our understanding of our own spirituality.
- You are a Christian?
- Yes. But if you ask three people what it means to be a Christian, you will get three different answers. Some consider it sufficient to be baptized. Others revere the Bible. Still others don’t believe in anything at all... Faith is something that everyone understands in their own way. I consider myself a “student” of many religions, and the more I study, the more questions I have. For me, spiritual quests are my life’s work.
BY THE WAY
The other day, Dan Brown announced that he is currently working on a third book about the adventures of Professor Langdon (the first two are “Angels and Demons” and “The Da Vinci Code”). The novel will take place in Washington and touch on the secrets of the history of American society. The release date of the new book is still unknown.
Why are the Orthodox and Catholic churches so afraid to admit that Jesus Christ could have had a wife and child, as Brown claims? What would this change in Christianity?
Yulia Trofimova, Tambov.
Doctor of Historical Sciences Deacon Vasily (Salnikov) answers:
— I think that almost NOTHING would have changed in Christianity if Jesus had been married. But in the canonical Gospels there is no information that he was married. Therefore, Orthodox, Catholics, and Protestants are united on this issue - Christ did not have a wife. And even more so, he did not have children. So Dan Brown's claims about the Savior's connection with Magdalene are lies.
By the way, the most ancient apocrypha (“from Nicodemus”, “from Peter”, “from James”) and the writings of the Gnostics - opponents of modern Christianity (“Gospel of Thomas”, “from Philip” and “from Mary Magdalene”) - testify to Jesus just as the church claims.
I have already said in previous issues of KP that information about the carnal relationship between Christ and Magdalene is found only in one relatively ancient work - “Questions of Mary”. This is ordinary pornography that has existed in all centuries.
Father Vasily, in the pages of KP you argued that Dan Brown is lying when he says that the Christian Church belittles the importance of women. However, it is known that the Apostle Paul declared: “Let the woman in the temple keep silent.” And there have never been women priests in Christianity. So Brown is right here.
E. P. Nikiforova, Moscow.
— We can also add that in Russia, for example, women were allowed to sing in the choir only in the 19th century. And this decision was considered by many to be very controversial, and the matter almost reached another split. The Eastern tradition, where a woman is, as it were, a “second-class citizen,” has been going on since ancient times and, of course, Christianity also came under its influence. But try to count how many women the Christian Church honors as saints and martyrs? Yes, and temples are named after both holy men and women. And there are no fewer icons and sculptures of the Mother of God in the world than images of Jesus himself. And this has been the case at all times of the existence of Christianity.
Dan Brown claims that the date of the Nativity of Christ - December 25 (old style) - was introduced by Emperor Constantine to replace the pagan holiday of the god Jupiter. Why was this necessary?
Yaroslav Taleev, teacher, Nizhny Tagil.
— December 25 is the day of the winter solstice. After this date, the day begins to arrive. Ancient people knew about this. And on this date there were holidays - the honoring of the “supreme gods” Jupiter, Osiris, Mithra, Huitzliposhtli... The new official religion of the Roman Empire - Christianity - also needed to coincide with this significant event. This was the Nativity of Jesus. But in fact, no one knows the exact date of birth of Christ. Most likely he was born in the spring. Let us remember, for example, that the baby was lying in a sheep manger. At the same time, the cattle were out in the pasture. But at the end of December it is rainy season in Judea - cattle are not allowed outside. But we do not celebrate a specific date, but only the FACT of the Nativity of Christ.
By the way, the exact year of Christ’s birth is unknown. According to different versions, Jesus was 33, 30 or 28 years old at the time of his execution. But Christians should not be embarrassed by this. The exact age of Christ is a challenge for historians. It is much more important to correctly determine the date of Easter. After all, the resurrection of the Savior is the beginning of Christianity. Fortunately, we can do this.
I agree that Christ did not leave children. What can the church say about Jesus' brothers? If these were real characters, does it mean that some distant relatives of Christ still live on Earth?
Tatiana Kamoltseva, St. Petersburg.
- Mentions of Jesus’ brothers are found in the apocryphal Gospels - for example, in the “Gospel of Thomas” or “of James.” Allegedly, the “brothers of Jesus” are the sons of Joseph, the husband of the Virgin Mary, from his first, deceased, wife, Estha. They cannot be considered relatives of Jesus “by blood”. According to another version, the brothers of Jesus are the children of the sister of the Virgin Mary. In this case, some kind of blood relationship takes place, and someone on Earth can claim to be a “relative” of the Savior.
It is also known that, besides Jesus Christ, the Mother of God had no other children, and she remained a Virgin throughout her earthly life.
Is it possible to name a child Jesus?
E.P., Tobolsk.
- It is forbidden. Of course, the child is named after some saint who will be his heavenly patron. But Christ and his mother cannot be chosen as such. The name Jesus is not used as a matter of principle. And if the girl was named Mary, then it is believed that not “in honor” of the Mother of God, but “for the glory” of other Marys. For example, the same Magdalene or Mary of Egypt.
Several theories presenting a different view
It is believed that these "brothers" were cousins of Jesus. However, in each case the specific Greek word for brother is used. Although the word can refer to other relatives, its normal and literal meaning is "sibling". There is a word for cousin in Greek, but it is not used. Also, if they were Jesus' cousins, why is it so often written about them that they were together with Mary, the mother of Jesus? There is not even a hint in the context of anything other than a literal blood relationship.
Another argument is that Jesus' siblings were Joseph's children from a previous marriage before he was married to Mary. There is a whole theory that Joseph was much older than Mary, was previously married, had several children, and then became a widower. The problem with this is that the Bible does not even hint that Joseph was married or had children before he was married to Mary. If Joseph had at least six children before he married Mary, why are they not mentioned in Joseph and Mary's journey to Bethlehem (Luke 2:4-7), or their journey to Egypt (Matthew 2:13- 15), or back to Nazareth (Matt. 2:20-23)?
The Divine and Human Origins of Christ
When studying the nationality of Jesus Christ, we should remember that He is the incarnate Son of God. That is, a Person possessing Divine and human natures at the same time. Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov teaches:
“Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin, one Person in two indivisible and unfused natures, Divine and human. The divine nature, despite Its infinity, did not destroy human nature. And human nature, despite its unfused existence, did not in the least constrain the infinity of the Divine nature” (Complete Collection of Creations, volume 4).
Icon of the Lord Jesus Christ
The Incarnation was necessary for the reconciliation of fallen humanity with the Creator, for the renewal of corrupt human nature. The conception of Christ was immaculate and occurred with the participation of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary. Her formal husband (and therefore the imaginary father of Jesus) was the pious carpenter Joseph. It is possible to talk about the nationality of the God-man Christ only from the point of view of the origin of his earthly parents.
