In short, it is likely that Mary & Joseph had other children.
Lu 1:36 And, behold, thy cousin (SUGGENES) Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.
Luke 14:12 And he said also to him who did call him, `When thou mayest make a dinner or a supper, be not calling thy friends, nor thy brethren, nor thy kindred, nor rich neighbours, lest they may also call thee again, and a recompense may come to thee; These lists demonstrate that words are being distinguished from one another. There is a distinction between a man's brothers and his "kindred, blood relatives, kinfolk, cousins." IN SHORT, the Protestant position MUST be admitted to be entirely tenable, and those who reject fellowship based on this difference are being difficult with other Christians."
Lu 21:16 And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death.
Mr 6:4 But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin (SUGGENES), and in his own house. Note the distinction Jesus draws between "kin (SUGGENES" and "own household." They knew the difference between cousins and brothers.
Mt 13:55 - Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas?
Mt 12:46 - While He was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him.
Mt 12:49 - And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers! This is a very interesting passage in that Jesus intentionally distinguishes between these "fellowship brothers" and the "brothers associated with Mary."
Mr 6:3 - Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?" And they were offended at Him.
Ping
Better put on that flame-proof suit!
Where do we KNOW this from?
I married into a Catholic family who looked at me as though I were crazy for saying, point blank, that James was the half-brother of Jesus (as in, son of Joseph and not God). It got brought up because they kept making reference to "Mary, the ever-virgin". I had asked why they called her that b/c of her having other children. Man, that was uncomfortable.
I was reading on another thread how Mary was supposedly completely devoted to Jesus and that is supposed evidence that she was unique among all human beings. But here we have Mary and Joseph both unaware that their son was not even with them when they left Jerusalem and not discovering that fact for at least 24 hours.
The implication here is that Mary was so busy with other duties, i.e., tending to her younger children, that she didn't even notice that her oldest son was not among the company.
Now in todays society, both Mary and Joseph would have been charged with child neglect and Jesus would have ended up in a foster home pending a complete investigation by child protective services.
Funny that this is the only mention in the Bible of the pre-ministry relationship between Mary and Jesus.
One should ponder greek before making such assertions.
As I understand it Greek (as is the case in Russian which I speak) has a longer version of the word for brother or sister when reffering to cousins. For this reason I thought my wife (then fiance) had several brothers and sisters when in fact she has only one brother, and several cousins; however they commonly shorten this to simply brother or sister.
The myth of Mary's perpetual virginity comes from the Gnostic apocryphal literature of the early church [the Gospel of Peter, and the Protevangelium of James] --- books that the RCC magisterium insists from time to time that it does not consider authoritative, except, of course, when it finds some immaculate concoction therein to challenge the facts of the Scriptures.
So what happened to the biological brothers of Christ? Are there still relatives living today, people who are genetically related to the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity?
Mary cannot have had any other children. They would have to have been younger than Jesus, and for Jesus to give Mary to John at Calvary would have been sinning, by permitting his younger siblings to avoid the commandment "Honor thy father and thy mother".
And to claim that the error that Mary had other children is "the Protestant position" dumps Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli out of the Protestant fold, because none of them agreed with it, as their writings clearly attest.
Why some "Christians" go to such great lengths to prove that Our Lord's mother was not a perpetual virgin baffles me. Having studied all your listed verses, and more, I can say with absolute certainty that there is no N/T verse whatsoever that establishes that Jesus Christ had blood brothers or sisters. The Old Testament is rife with examples of people calling their uncles, cousins and followers "brothers". And never once does the N/T say "these are Mary's sons/daughters". Other O/T examples have only-child sons being called "first born", (because "first born" was actually the title bestowed on the child who opened the womb of his mother, whether or not he had siblings afterwards.
I have been in this debate many times with Protestants, and have never lost, having been able to answer each and every heretical example more than adequately. But this time around I'm going to pass, letting you prots make your charges against the Mother of God as you may. Though how anyone can possibly think such allegations against Christ's mother are pleasing to Him escapes me. I will, however, part with an Old Testament verse which prefigures the Virgin Mary:
" Then the man brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, the one facing east, and it was shut. The LORD said to me, "This gate is to remain shut. It must not be opened; no one may enter through it. It is to remain shut because the LORD, the God of Israel, has entered through it."" (Ezekiel 44:1-2).
There are still plenty of childhood stories. That they didn't make it into the canon should not be surprising.
Well, at my church, he just got the lead in a production of Footloose...
Protestants hate St. Joseph even more than they hate St. Mary.
bumpforlater
It is important to note that even Kings of Israel had to have an occupation. Jesus, son of Joseph and Mary, both of the line of David, was a Prince of the House of Israel, heir to Throne of Israel and Crucified as King of the Jews.
His occupation as carpenter also has several meanings, not just being one who makes wagons or houses, but encompasses one who has been taught the higher mathematics such as geometry and who would, with such knowledge, have been considered a sage or Wise Man.