Did the Virgin Mary have other children apart from Our Lord? Some people say there are, but that the Catholic Church has made much efforts to hide the truth. Who are these brothers and sisters of Jesus mentioned in the bible? What are the proofs that they are the Virgin Mary's children? What could possibly be the reason to want to hide the truth, if they are actually her children?
Let us carefully go through the gospels and try to piece the pieces together to get at the truth.
Pay particular attention to; (Mark 6:1-3)
He went away from there and came to his own country; and his disciples followed him. 2 And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue; and many who heard him were astonished, saying,
“Where did this man get all this? What is the wisdom given to him? What mighty works are wrought by his hands! 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?”
(Mark 15:40-41) There were also women looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Mag'dalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salo'me, who, when he was in Galilee, followed him, and ministered to him; and also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem.
And from Matthew;
There were also many women there, looking on from afar, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him; among whom were Mary Mag'dalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zeb'edee. Matthew 27:55-56
From the above passages, if you compare the identities of the “brothers” of Jesus in the account in Jesus ministry in Nazareth with the account of the people present at His Crucifixion and burial, you will clearly see that the “brothers” of Jesus referred to in (Mark 6:1-3) are the sons of another Mary, not sons of the Virgin Mary.
Mark’s gospel identifies “James” and “Joses” as two of the brothers of Jesus (Mark 6:3). Mark’s gospel also provided evidence that the same two men “James” and “Joses” are the sons of a different woman named Mary. This other Mary is mentioned three time in the account of Jesus Crucifixion, burial and resurrection.
At the Crucifixion she is called “Mary the mother of James the younger and Joses” (Mk 15:40). At the burial, she is called “Mary the mother of Joses” (Mark 15:47). On the morning of the resurrection, she is called “Mary the mother of James” (Mark 16:1). Who is this woman. Mark would never refer to the mother of Jesus as “the mother of James or Joses” especially when he has already referred to Mary as Jesus mother twice in his gospel. (Mark 3:31-32)
In Matthew’s gospel the same thing is true for James and Joses, except that Matthew uses the proper Hebrew form Joseph for “Joses.” Also in Matthew’s gospel, Matthew refers to the mother of James and Joseph as “the other Mary.” (Mt 27:55-56; 59-61; 13:55)
Matthew could never have referred to the Virgin Mary as “the other Mary.” Because of this, according Brant Pitre, the Protestant scholar W. D. Davies and Dale Allison admit that this evidence suggests that the “brothers of Jesus” who were named earlier in the Gospel (Mt 13:55) “were not the sons of Jesus' mother but of another Mary.”
It is important also to note that the brothers of Jesus cannot be the sons of Joseph from a previous marriage as some people suggest. This is because, for Joseph to be a widower, his wife had to have died. But Mary the mother of James and Joseph is obviously still alive at the time of the resurrection. In fact, when Luke refers to her simply as “Mary the mother of James”, (Luke 24:10) a strong case can be made that he must be referring to the famous leader of the Church in Jerusalem, also know as “James, the Lord’s brother .” (Gal 1:19)
In the words of Richard Buckham:
“Normally in the early Church only James the Lord's brother could be called James without the risk of ambiguity ” (Acts 12:17; 15:13; 21:18; Jude 1:1)
So, if James and Joseph are the children of another Mary, why then are they called Jesus’ “brothers.”? The reason is this, in ancient Jewish context, the Greek for the word “brother” used (adelphoi) could be used as synonym for close relatives, kinsmen, such as cousins. There are many examples;
Jesus Himself actually used the word for “cousins” or relatives (Kin) for His so-called brothers and sisters. (Mark 6:3-4)
THE OTHER MARY = THE WIFE OF CLOPAS
The gospel of John provides another important clue to the identity of the “the other Mary” who was present at the Crucifixion. (John 19:25-27)
This account of Jesus death provides us with three more significant insights into the relationship between Jesus, Mary and His “brothers.” First notice that John identifies the second woman at the Cross as “His mother's sister, Mary.” (John 19:25).
Try to understand this particular paragraph. The point here might be easy to miss. The verse provides important support for the word “sister” being used to refer to someone other than a blood sister. It is extremely unlikely that Mary’s parents would have given both her, and her sister the name, Mary. However the text makes perfect sense if John is using the word Sister to refer to a close relative of Jesus’ mother.
Secondly, when John refers to the woman as “Mary the wife of Cleopas” John (19:25), he gives us an important clue to the identity of “the other Mary” referred to by Matthew and Mark. If John is referring to the same Mary that Matthew and Mark say was present at the Crucifixion and burial of Jesus – Mary the mother of James and Joseph – then we have further evidence that James and Joseph are not the sons of Jesus’ mother, nor are they the sons of Joseph from a previous marriage. It is very clear now that James and Joseph are the sons of a man named Cleopas, whose wife is also called Mary.
Thirdly and finally, Jesus gives His mother Mary to John the beloved Apostle as his own mother. (John 19:26-27). Why would Jesus give His mother to His Apostle if His mother Mary had other children? Failure to take care of a parent in Jewish culture was a very serious offence which Jesus Himself describes as a sin (Mark 7:9-13)
Evidence from Church History
The brothers of Jesus = The First Bishops of Jerusalem
According to the ancient Christian historian Hegesippus, who was apparently the first person to write a “history” of the Church – two of the so-called brothers of Jesus (James and Simon) also happened to be the first two bishops of Jerusalem. Furthermore, they were widely known to be Jesus cousins.
Consider the following from Hegesippus, which is quoted by Eusebius in his fourth century history of the Church:
The same writer [Hegesippus] also writes as follows:
“After James the just suffered martyrdom for the same reason as the Lord, Simon his cousin, the son of Cleopas was appointed bishop, whom they all proposed because he was another cousin of the Lord. [Hegesippus (2nd century A.D), quoted in Eusebius, Church History 4.22]
Material from; Brant Pitre and Fr. Isidore Omodeagbon