As to why Jesus entrusted His mother to John, the answer may not be all that perplexing
But if they were they showed no regards for their older brother so why would they honor Jesus`s wish that John care for his mother.
They would have no regards for what Jesus said.
No way, if Jesus had younger brothers and sisters they would not have accepted John, they would have threw a fit.
Also i believe the Navajo`s use brother for cousin even in the English language, my niece who is Navajo explained it to me but i can not remember any details.
I also have a Daughter who went to the Synagogue for years and she said it was common for a cousin to be called brother.
As i mentioned the only fact is that the scriptures say Jesus had brothers, incidentally who never thought much of him which indicates they may have been older step brothers or cousins.
But we are not really talking about brothers are we, what we are really talking about is the children of Mary.
The scriptures say nothing about any child born by Mary other than Jesus, so according to scripture Mary had only one child.
That is what i believe.
I appreciate your post. You argue respectfully and sincerely. That’s not always seen on the religion forum [though to the moderater’s credit, the absence not infrequently carries reprocussions].
Ravenwolf, when it comes to the brothers—adelphoi—of Jesus, we have two things. One, what the Scripture says, and Two, our opinions. We can’t prove anything by our opinions, because as often as not they cancel each other out. So if we really want to get anywhere, we need to see what the Holy Spirit, via His inspired Scripture, has told us.
I looked around and found a quote by John Ankerberg [a Baptist] that does a better job than I have done in discussing, ‘adelphos,’ vs, ‘anepsios.’ Please let me know what you think.
‘[T]here is a big problem in [claiming that Jesus’ brothers and sisters were actually cousins or other kinsmen]. The reason being that there was an exact term for cousin, anepsios, a very well known word in New Testament times. This word for cousin is not used in any of the passages [that refer] to Jesus’ brothers or sisters. On the other hand, the word for cousin is used in Colossians 4:10 where Paul writes, “Aristarchus sends you his greetings as does Mark, the cousin (anepsios) of Barnabas.”
So the New Testament writers knew the exact word for cousin but didn’t use it in referring to Jesus’ brothers. In addition, the word for kinsmen (suggenes) occurs eleven times in the New Testament [such as in Luke 1:36 to identify Elizabeth as Mary’s “relative”]. But it never appears in any of the passages describing the children of Mary and Joseph.
So, if the writers of the New Testament really meant to say that the brothers of our Lord Jesus were merely cousins or kinsmen, it seems strange that they never used the correct words to do so, words they used in other passages to describe other people’s cousins or kinsmen.
Finally, the word for brother which is used in speaking about Jesus’ brothers is the word adelphos, and for “sister” it is adelphe. Adelphos and adelphe can sometimes be used in a wider sense. But their primary meaning speaks of a relationship of shared parentage. Unless the context suggests otherwise — and in none of these passages is that the case — this must be the primary meaning of the word that is intended.’
Jesus’ own brothers did not believe in Him until after He died.
No way they were going near that cross.
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 cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
*FIRSTBORN* not *only born*.
Besides, why do Catholics insist that Mary never had sex or had other children? What possible difference could it make in God's plan for the salvation of mankind?