Did Mary Have Other Children?

Pastor Ross: Our next caller here is Thomas, listening from Long Island. Thomas, welcome Bible Answers Live.

Thomas: Good evening, pastor. How are you doing?

Pastor Ross: Doing well. Thank you for calling.

Thomas: Okay, sir. My question is, after Mary gave birth to Jesus, she had other children also?

Pastor Ross: The other children that she had or could have had, it's not clear. There were other brothers and sisters that Jesus had, but they were probably half siblings from Joseph prior to his marriage with Mary.

Thomas: Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Can you give me a passage to support or to advocate what you're saying?

Pastor Ross: Yes.

Thomas: The Bible is crystal clear, it says she had four children and daughters, four sons and daughters. They were epistles. Jude and then James. James in Greek it means Jacob. I don't know how this name got involved with James. I don't know. I have no clue with that.

Pastor Ross: Sure. Well, let me explain about that.

Thomas: The Bible is very crystal clear.

Pastor Ross: It does say that Jesus did have brothers and sisters. It appears, from the context, and I'll explain why in just a minute, that they were probably the half siblings of Christ. Joseph was most likely married. Of course, he died a lot earlier than Mary. These other siblings appeared older than Jesus because they wanted to tell Jesus what to do. You'll remember a story where Jesus was with the disciples, and Mary came and his half brothers and sisters, and they wanted to tell Jesus what he was to do with reference to his ministry. Jesus turned to the crowd and he said--

Thomas: Where it says that? What chapter?

Pastor Ross: Well, I'd have to look that up. Maybe you can help me if you got to Bible in front of you.

Thomas: There's no way. There is no passage to support that. Number two, when they want to register in Egypt, it said Joseph and Mary. It does not, like what you're saying that Joseph was divorced and had his children from previously marry, that's not the Bible support that. Number three, when the shepherds went to see Jesus when he was born in a stable, they found Mary and Jesus. It is not mentioned anywhere in the Bible that was other children, too.

Pastor Ross: Okay. Let me give you a few verses on that since you're asking. If you look in Mark 3.31, it says, "Then the brothers and his mother came standing outside, they sent him calling him." This is talking about Jesus. "The multitude was sitting around him and they said to him, "Look, your mother and your brothers are outside seeking you." He answered and said, "Who is my mother or my brothers?" He looked around in a circle of those who sat by him and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father, he is my brother and my sister."" There, it does say that Jesus did have brothers.

Thomas: You know why he said that? You know why Jesus did say that? He said that because he didn't want to exalt anybody. "Those who do my will, these are my brothers and my sisters." If you go to Acts 1, also to advocate what I'm saying, you will see everybody down, all the disciples, Mary and the brothers, and everybody else.

The Bible is crystal clear. There's nowhere in the Bible to support that according to the great priest and the Catholic mythology. Do you understand what I'm saying? We sometimes tweak words around that will make our own theology. I understand you guys do preach very well, but this, as far as that, it's false.

[crosstalk] perception about that. I'm from Greece. I know the language very well. As far as that, I disagree all the way. There's no evidence that Joseph had other children from previously married, because I can tell you. I'll give you my--

Pastor Ross: You know what? I appreciate your sharing with us. All I'll have to go with is what the Bible says, there are brothers and it appears that his mother came. The question is, did Mary have other children? It doesn't appear that way, because when Jesus was on the cross, he gave Mary into the guardianship of John, one of his disciples.

If Mary would have had other children or other sons, it would have been their responsibility to take care of her. That's why a number of scholars feel that these brothers of Christ were actually the sons of Joseph from his first marriage, and his first wife died and then he married Mary. Anyway, I appreciate your call, but that's what we see here in these passages of Scripture.

Let's see our next caller. I think we have time for one more before the break. We have Raymond, listening from Michigan. Raymond, welcome to the program. We have about a minute.