The Text:
Jude 1:1 Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called: (KIJV)
The Challenge:
“1). Protestants generally use the principle of Scripture “alone”. This is fine, but by utilizing that principle, they say that Jude was a blood-brother of Jesus. But in the opening sentences of Jude, it states: “Jude, a SERVANT of Jesus and a BROTHER of James…”
My Answer:
Since Jude mentions that he is the brother of James, and we know that James is the brother of Jesus, we know that Jude is the brother of Jesus likewise and in the same sense. It may be out of humility that Jude states this relationship in the manner he did.
This may be an example of the transitive property I learned in Geometry: If A = B and B = C then A = C.
If we carefully compare Scripture with Scripture, the following Bible texts also factor into resolving the question: Did Mary have additional children by Joseph after Jesus was born?
The Evidence of His Own Family’s Unbelief:
John 7:5 For neither did his brethren believe in him. (KJV)
John 7:5 indicates that the brothers of Jesus did not originally believe in him.
The Evidence of Messianic Prophecy:
This fact is the subject of prophecy and the fulfilment of prophecy found in Psalm 69:8,
Psa 69:8 I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother’s children.
In context, Psalm 69:8 was true of David’s personal situation. But David’s personal situation is also a prophecy of our Savior’s situation. It is well known that Psalm 69 is a Messianic Psalm. It is one of a limited number of Messianic Psalms that by its structure presents the truth Jesus directly mentions in His explanation that the Scriptures, including the Psalms, predicted that “first the sufferings, then the glory” was the divinely established order of events concerning the destiny of the Messiah (Luke 24:26; 1 Peter 1:11).
Luke 24:26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?
1 Peter 1:11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
In the very next verse of Psalm 69, verse 9, we read:
Psalm 69:9 For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.
This verse is cited in the New Testament as prophecy which Jesus fulfilled in the account given by John in his Gospel, John 2:14-17,
John 2:14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:
Joh 2:15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables;
Joh 2:16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.
Joh 2:17 And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.
Evidence of the Post Resurrection Appearances of Jesus:
Back to the theme I started with, that the brothers of Jesus did not believe in Him: that was true until Jesus appeared to His brothers after His resurrection, as Paul records in 1 Corinthians 15:7, that Jesus was seen of James:
1Co 15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
1Co 15:5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:
1Co 15:6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.
1Co 15:7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.
1Co 15:8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.
The Evidence of the Close Connection of Jude and James:
We read of the close connection of Judas (Jude) and James after the resurrection of Christ for they are mentioned as being among those gathered for prayer in an upper room (Acts 1:13):
Act 1:13 And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James.
We are told that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was there with his brethren:
Act 1:14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. (KJV)
Act 1:14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. (ESV)
The brothers of Jesus are named in Mark 6:3,
Mar 6:3 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?” And they took offense at him.
The Evidence of What Jesus Said About His Own Family:
Jesus speaks of the unbelief of His own family as recorded in Mark 6:4,
Mark 6:4 And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.” (ESV)
Mar 6:4 But Jesus told them, “The only place a prophet isn’t honored is in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his own house.” (GW, God’s Word translation)
Mar 6:4 But Jesus said, “Prophets are honored by everyone, except the people of their hometown and their relatives and their own family.” (CEV, Contemporary English Version)
Therefore, James and Jude are blood brothers, the brothers of Jesus, included in His own household, in His own family.
Conclusion Drawn from and Established by the Testimony of Scripture:
Conclusion: Mary, the mother of Jesus, had additional children by Joseph after Jesus was born.