The Tribute of His Brothers

Two brothers of the Lord according to the flesh were authors of separate epistles of the New Testament: that of James and that of Judas. Santiago was also considered, in the beginnings of the church in Jerusalem, one of the columns.

However, these, his brothers, did not always believe in him. Santiago (Jacobo) was –apparently– the one who followed the Lord; then came Joseph, Judas and Simon. All of them shared, along with their parents and sisters, the vicissitudes of a pious but normal family. It must have been so normal that they didn't recognize who their older brother really was.

When the Lord begins his ministry, they are confused. They accompany him on some of his trips, but apparently not as disciples (John 2:12). Although Maria had witnessed portentous events at the birth of her child, she surely was not a believer. John, the apostle, says of them: "For not even his brothers believed in him" (John 7:5).

They then assume erratic behavior. Sometimes they go looking for him to bring him home, thinking that he was beside himself (Mark 3:21); Others mockingly tell him to go to Judea, because "no one who seeks to make himself known does anything in secret" (John 7:4).

The fact that the inhabitants of Nazareth did not believe in him was understandable. But that his family didn't believe that was amazing – and painful. For this reason, the Lord summarizes in a single sentence all his discomfort (Wasn't he a true man?): "There is no prophet without honor except in his own land, and among his relatives, and in his house" ( Mark 6:4). So, the void left by his brothers is filled – happily – by all those who “do the will of God” (Mark 3:35).

However, at some point after his death and resurrection, they see him for what he is, and join his disciples (Acts 1:14). Then, James can say of his brother and Lord of him a beautiful phrase that erases all a past of contempt: "Our glorious Lord Jesus Christ" (James 2:1). Now she is something more than his brother: He is the Lord of glory. He now he really knows him.

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