Bible Discussion Thread

Chris, took a bible trivia quiz on this site and it asked the question , how many half brothers did Jesus have . the answer was 4. I was very surprised by this answer. I myself have 2 half sisters. one we share the same father and the other the same mother. Can you or anyone give me some insight into this ? confused!

Hi Ronald. According to Matthew 13:55,56, "Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?"

Since Jesus' birth as the Son of God wasn't the result of the procreation of Joseph & Mary but of Divine Seed, His birth had to be exceptional, both in terms of his dual Being as Human & Divine, but also in His relationship to His 'parents & siblings'. His four brothers & sisters (not told their number), could only ever be Jesus' 'half' brothers/sisters as they came into the world from the union of their parents, unlike Jesus coming from God, His Father, the Producer of that Holy Seed.

The questions then arise: did Jesus also have similar DNA (or, even genetic markers) as the other siblings or His Mother, or did Jesus' physical appearance have similarities to the others? Depending on where your understanding on this is (i.e. if Jesus' birth was wholly Divine with Mary only contributing to His human nurture, sustenance & delivery of the Babe from the womb; or, if Jesus' birth was half Divine & half human thereby giving Him both Sonship to God & man), you might have your answer. My belief is that Jesus' was wholly Divine for the simple reason that if He wasn't, then the sin nature (of Mary) would have been passed onto Him: & I don't understand that from Scripture. Others, might understand this differently.

He was physically human, having physical human DNA, Jesus wouldn't have been able to be killed if He wasn't flesh and blood. After His resurrection His body was indestructible, one resembling the son of man. His nature, all His thought and actions however were always the Spirit of His Father. John the Baptist said God gave Him the Spirit without measure.

I fully agree David. But whose DNA do you think Jesus would have had? A completely new, specific to a new creation-type of DNA, or from Mary? I'm thinking: was Jesus' DNA comparable to Adam's DNA in that completely new creation of God? Or, if Jesus had DNA or genetic markers from Mary, how then does the sin nature through her bear upon Him? These maybe rhetorical questions, as can one give conclusive answers?