By Fr. Kelvin Ugwu, MSP
1. If you say Mary had other biological children after Jesus, I will not argue with you. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, and that is fine by me.
2. My only concern arises when someone claims that this opinion is what the Bible explicitly says or teaches. If that is your position, then you need to show us where the Bible clearly states it.
3. Many people quote Mark 6:3 as evidence. The passage says:
“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?”
4. From this text, some conclude that Mary gave birth to seven to nine children. Let us examine that claim. The brothers mentioned are James, Joses, Judas, and Simon. The word “sisters” is plural, meaning at least two, possibly more. By that calculation, Mary would have given birth to at least seven to nine children, including Jesus.
5. However, the text does not say these were Mary’s biological children. It simply calls them Jesus’ brothers and sisters. Notice carefully: Mary is referred to only as “the mother of Jesus.” The others are described in relation to Jesus, not as children of Mary.
6. We are the ones making the assumption that because they are called Jesus’ brothers and sisters, they must be the biological children of Mary. That is a logical fallacy. Someone can be called my brother without being the son of my mother. In Jewish culture, “brother” often referred to relatives, cousins, or even close kin.
7. Furthermore, if Mary had these children after Jesus, they would have been born sometime between when Jesus was twelve (remember when they took Jesus to the temple, he was their only child) and when He began His ministry at about thirty. That gives an 18-year window.
8. Even if we assume a two-year interval between births, the youngest child would have been about four to six years old when Jesus began His ministry. That would mean Mary had several young children at home during those years.
9. Yet at the crucifixion, none of these supposed eight children is mentioned as being present to console their mother. Instead, Jesus entrusts Mary to John.
10. In John 19:26–27, Jesus says to His mother, “Woman, behold your son,” and to the disciple, “Behold your mother.” From that hour, John took her into his home. If Mary had several biological children, why would Jesus entrust her to John, the son of Zebedee? In Jewish custom, the care of a widowed mother belonged to her own sons.
11. This also raises another question: Where was Joseph? It is possible that Joseph had died long before Jesus’ public ministry. He is absent at the wedding feast at Cana, absent during the Passion, and absent at Calvary. If he had been alive, it would be difficult to explain his total silence and disappearance.
12. If Joseph was alive, would it make sense for Mary to leave her husband and live with John? And if Mary had eight other children, does it make sense that none of them could care for their own mother?
13. On a personal note, whether Mary had other children or not does not bother me. My salvation does not hang on this debate.
14. However, I present this reasoning to show that the common interpretation of Mark 6:3 is not as straightforward as many assume, and that its wider implications are often overlooked.
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