It is true in the New Testament there is reference to 'brothers' and 'sisters' of Jesus. For instance:

"He was still speaking to the crowds when his mother and his brothers appeared." (Matthew 12:46).

"This is the carpenter's son surely? Is not his mother the woman called Mary, and his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Jude? His sisters, too, are they not all here with us?" (Matthew 13:55)

"All these joined in continuous prayer, together with several women, including Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers" (Acts 1:14).

Although the terms 'brother' and 'sister' are used in these texts, the question arises as to whether the persons referred to were members of the same family or only cousins or near relatives. If they were Jesus' blood brothers and sisters and Mary's children, this would go contrary to the traditional belief in Mary's virginity.

1. In the first place, there is no positive affirmation anywhere in the texts that Mary had other children or Jesus had brothers and sisters born of the same parents. Although there is mention of Jesus' 'brothers' and 'sisters', never are they mentioned as being the children of Mary or Joseph. The silence in this respect is very noteworthy. It is tantamount to saying that Jesus did not have any blood brothers or sisters.

2. There are instances when we would have expected the evangelists to refer to Jesus' own brothers and sisters if he had any. For instance:
(a) Luke tells us that "every year his parents used to go to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover", and once when Jesus was twelve years old he was lost there (Luke 2:41-50). Not a word about Jesus' brothers and sisters. Did they all stay at home at Nazareth or did they accompany the other members of the family? Was Jesus in the company of his brothers and sisters when he got lost? How did he alone stray away?

(b) Luke tells us that after Jesus was found in the temple he went down with the parents and came to Nazareth and "lived under their authority. And Jesus increased in wisdom, in stature, and in favour with God and men" (Luke 2:51-52). Again not a word about his brothers and sisters. Surely they would have an important part in the family life at Nazareth. While Jesus grew in wisdom and God's favour under the authority of the parents, his association with his brothers and sisters, too, would have made some contribution to his life and formation. But they are totally ignored.

(c) Before his death Jesus entrusted to his disciple John, the care of his mother: "Seeing his mother and the disciple he loved standing near her, Jesus said to his mother, 'Woman, this is your son'. Then to the disciple he said, 'This is your mother'. And from that moment the disciple made a place for her in his home" (John 19:26-27). Why entrust the mother to a disciple if Jesus has his own brothers and sisters? Surely the latter would have wanted to look after their mother after the death of their brother!

Thus, if there is no mention at all of Jesus' own brothers and sisters where we would have expected the evangelists to refer to them, it was no doubt because he really had no brothers or sisters.

3. In Asian society, families of near relatives are so closely knit that cousins and even other close relatives are referred to as 'brothers' or 'sisters'. In fact, even those who are not related at all are sometimes called 'brother' and 'sister'. Many Asian languages do not have a word for 'cousin'. It was so in Hebrew and Aramaic as well. In the Old Testament there are instances when close relatives who were not brothers were called 'brothers'. Examples:

Abraham said to Lot: "Let there be no dispute between me and you, nor between my herdsmen and yours, for we are brothers" (Gen. 13:8). But we know from Gen. 11:27 that Lot was Abraham's nephew.

Moses summoned Michael and Elzaphan, sons of Aaron's uncle Uzziel, and said to them, "Come and take your brothers far away from the sanctuary were Nadab and Abihu, Aaron's sons, who were therefore not brothers of Mishael and Elzaphan.

It is true that Greek has a word for cousin (anepseos) but the evangelists, who wrote in Greek, were very much influenced by their Semitic cultural environment, apart from the fact that, except for Luke, they were themselves Jews. Hence, the use of brother and sister for cousin or close relative.

It is clear therefore that the brothers and sisters of Jesus were not members of the same family but only cousins or near relatives.