Jesus' cousins were the Apostles James and John
This is a post I’d really like to get your comment on …
Most people know that Jesus and John the Baptist were second cousins, but few know that the Apostles James and John were Jesus’ first cousins.
I’ve always found John the Baptist interesting because I was born on the feast day of St. John the Baptist (June 24th) and was actually named “John” for this reason. Jay is a nickname. I later became the editor of The Forerunner which is another name for John the Baptist. John was a bold prophet who spoke the word of God without fear for his own life. James and John were similar. They were called the “Sons of Thunder” by Jesus. The Apostle John is also known as the “disciple whom Jesus loved.” So my other namesake, the Apostle John, is interesting to me as well.
This is something I discovered this year while reading a book on the canonicity of the Bible. Jesus’ first cousins were James and John. I doubted this when I first read it, but the more I looked at the scriptures concerning the relationships, the more convinced I became that this is right. It has significance because it helps to explain how the New Testament canon came about. It also helps to explain several other obscure passages in the New Testament scriptures.
I’ll write more on that later, but first the data. Read the following and decide for yourself if Salome is the wife of Zebedee, the mother of James and John, and Mary’s sister. If you disagree or agree, I’d like to get your comments.
1. In the Gospel of Matthew, James and John are identified as the sons of Zebedee.
“And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father” (Matthew 4:21).
2. Standing among the women near the cross with Jesus’ mother Mary was the mother of Zebedee’s children as identified by the Gospel of Matthew.
“Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s children (Matthew 27:56).
3. Standing among the women near the cross with Jesus’ mother Mary was Salome as identified by the Gospel of Mark.
“There were also women looking on afar off: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome“ (Mark 15:40).
4. Salome was Jesus’ mother’s sister as the apostle John himself states, about his own mother. Mark’s Gospel account refers to her by name. John’s Gospel account refers to her by her relationship to Mary.
“Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene” (John 19:25).
From Matthew’s account we know that James and John were the sons of Zebedee. By comparing Matthew and Mark we discover that Salome was the name of wife of the wife of Zebedee and the mother of James and John. From John we see that Salome was Mary’s sister.
I first thought that there could be other women in the account as well, but the order of the names and the similarity of the language in the accounts leads me to be almost certain that Jesus’ mother’s sister is Salome, the wife of Zebedee and the mother of James and John. Therefore, James and John were Jesus’ first cousins.
The implications of this are enormous when we consider how the various books of the New Testament were compiled and the roles that James and John, and also the “brothers of the Lord” James and Jude, had in writing and compiling the New Testament canon.
I’ll write more on that idea next.
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Comments
Your comments are welcome!
I first discovered this relationship reading a book called The Original Bible Restored, by Ernest L. Martin, which is chock full of these little esoteric ideas. The book caused me to change my most basic presuppositions about the canonicity of the New Testament.
He also wrote an excellent book defending the historicity of eh Nativity accounts in Matthew and Luke called: The Star That Astonished the World. I don't agree with 100 percent of what martin wrote, but these two studies have become favorites of mine and have challenged me to defend the authenticity, and historicity of the Bible. I produced a video series called The Real Jesus (available at this website) during the time I was studying this.
Martin also has another book in which he argues that the Apostles James and John were Aaronites and were serving as priests during the Passover when Jesus was killed. But I haven't read that book yet (Secrets of Golgotha).
I used to think the canon was determined by the church fathers and that the early Church councils somehow had the authority to decide this infallibly. As a Protestant that is an odd view to take. However, I came to it because I once asked R.C. Sproul in a call-in TV show how he knew that canon was decided correctly. He basically said he didn't know for sure, but that he has confidence looking at all the evidence that it was decided correctly.
I wasn't satisfied. Think about it: Protestants believe in sola Scriptura. So since he Bible doesn't have a table of contents that is inspired, how do we know we have all the right books?
As a result of seeing that paradox I adopted the view held by the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches, that the Church preceded the Bible. Therefore, the apostolic church that wrote the Bible also had the authority to canonize the Bible.
I used to think that men such as Irenaeus and Tertullian had the authority to decide which books were canonical. I know thing that these men merely received a known canon that was transmitted directly to them by bishops -- such as Clement, Ignatius, Polycarp and others -- who were ordained by Peter, John and Paul. Ironically, that was the view of Tertullian and Irenaeus themselves.
Posted by Jay Rogers on 05/21/2012 10:29 AM #
Matthew, the Epistles of James and Jude get their canonical authority directly from Jesus. They were received and recognized by the Apostles at Jerusalem in the mid-60s prior to the Roman-Jewish War.
I believe that most of the NT (with the exception of John) was collated and canonized as scripture by the Apostles Peter and Paul and their bishops in Rome during the persecution under Nero.
Peter canonizes Paul's writings.
Paul canonizes Luke.
Peter canonizes Mark.
Peter and Paul (with the assistance of Luke, Timothy and some other bishops in Rome collate the all the NT books they have (including Hebrews) before they die in 67 AD.
John receives these books which were passed on to him in Ephesus. The bishops in Asia Minor receive John's books.
For a while (until the early 2nd century) the Church at Rome either did not receive John's books or simply did not know about them.
But in the east the canon was established very early -- before the death of John during the reign of Domitian.
I also hold that the Gospels of Matthew and Mark are dependent on an earlier oral telling of the Gospel (they are independent) but that Luke also made use of written copies of Mark and was at least aware of Matthew. He also used oral accounts from Jesus' immediate family and cousins, including the Apostle John.
Posted by Jay Rogers on 05/21/2012 10:29 AM #
This would explain why Jesus told John to take Mary as his mother.
It would explain why Salome (James and John's mother) felt comfortable
in asking Jesus to make them his right and left hands.
It would explain why they were the first to follow him.
When I was reading my Bible one day, I was suddenly struck by this fact.
I believe that only the Holy Spirit could have been the agent that
explained this to me.
Posted by Bob Rutledge on 12/11/2007 09:36 AM #
Posted by Jay Rogers on 07/08/2009 02:25 PM #
Herodias, [...], was married to Herod, the son of Herod the Great, who was born of Mariamne, the daughter of Simon the high priest, who had a daughter, Salome; after whose birth Herodias took upon her to confound the laws of our country, and divorced herself from her husband while he was alive, and was married to Herod, her husband's brother by the father's side, he was tetrarch of Galilee; but her daughter Salome was married to Philip, the son of Herod, and tetrarch of Trachonitis; and as he died childless, Aristobulus, the son of Herod, the brother of Agrippa, married her; they had three sons, Herod, Agrippa, and Aristobulus ...
Posted by Jay Rogers on 07/08/2009 02:31 PM #
Posted by Jay Rogers on 07/08/2009 02:33 PM #
Jay, when I first studied the NT scriptures in depth, during college, I came to the conclusion that Jesus and the first several disciples knew each other before He called them to follow Him. It made sense: why else would they have abandoned the trade that supported their families? Peter, at least, had a wife and mother-in-law, who depended on his income. So, to follow a perfect stranger is unlikely. But I have only this week heard that Jesus and the Sons of Zebedee might have been first cousins. That would SO make sense. That would explain why they were in training with John the Baptist, and why, when John sees Jesus one day (gospel of John), he tells James and John to follow Jesus because He is the Messiah. Jesus meets several of His disciples in Jerusalem before John is imprisoned and Jesus leaves town. It is likely they traveled back north together. Also, at the Wedding at Cana it says that Jesus AND HIS DISCIPLES were invited to the wedding. If they were family, that would make sense, because they are not yet traveling with him “officially.”
However, this last entry I find rather surprising, the one by Anthony. He claims Mary had no other children… that would go against the information we receive directly out of scripture. Though the gospels refer to the visit of Jesus’s mother and brothers as simply that, “His brothers” (not her sons), it stands to reason that they were her sons. They would otherwise not have traveled with her. They would have been with THEIR mother. so I am rather surprised by Anthony’s statement.
Carrie -
From my studies into the matter of Jesus being the only son of Mary, scripture does support Anthony’s statement. Mark6.3 says Jesus was the son of Mary. ‘The’ is singular, if Mary had other children, it would have read ‘one of Mary’s sons’ or ‘a son of Mary’. John 6.42 shows the same language for Joseph.
It was traditional in those times that if someone did not have siblings, their nearest kinsman (i.e. cousins) would be referred to as their brothers. In Mark 15.40 it is another Mary that is called the mother of James and Joseph, who in Mark6.3 were identified as being with Mary. This would suggest that these men with Mary were related but not directly.
It should also be noted that in the modern day, brother is used by many to refer to someone who is not their literal brother, but with whom they share a connection with (blood/social group) So this supports the idea that the use of ‘brother’ is not necessarily saying they are his literal brothers.
John19.26-27 shows Jesus giving his mother to the care of the beloved disciple. If Jesus would have had any brothers, according to the Jewish custom, they would have been obligated to take care of Mary after Jesus died. But Jesus placed the care of His mother to another man, this would indicate that Mary had no other children who would look after her.
In Matthew1.25 where it refers to there being no sexual relations with Joseph before/until Mary gave birth, this use of words ‘before/until’ does not confirm that after birth they went on to have more children. 1Timothy4.13 says ‘Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. ‘ Paul isn’t saying that when he comes back that they should stop reading/preaching/teaching. Similar language used 2samuel6.23, she did not suddenly start having children after she died.
Luke2.7 reference to Jesus as the first born, this was his legal title, inheritance of the first born rites and privileges that Jewish custom follows, and doesn’t mean that he had other siblings.
Hope this helps you see why Anthony made his statement, even if you don’t hold the view yourself
Posted by Douglas on 03/20/2012 11:45 PM #
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Posted by Arlynda on 05/21/2012 10:29 AM #