Sárospataki Füzetek 16. (2012)
2012 / 3-4. szám - TANULMÁNYOK
P.H.R. (ROB) VAN HüUWl, LINGER than the apostles: the brothers of the Lord. That said, the New Testament does tell us something of the role played by Jesus’ blood relatives in the New Testament church. At the beginning, Jesus’ own brothers did not believe in him (John 7:5). It seems, however, that his appearance as the risen Lord, especially to James, brought about a change in their attitude (1 Corinthians 15:7). Together with their mother Mary, Jesus’ brothers formed part of the early church in Jerusalem (Acts 1:14). Later, next to the apostles, the Lord’s brothers played an active part in the proclamation of the gospel. It appears that James, the eldest, remained in Jerusalem, while the younger brothers Joses, Simon and Jude (Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3) are believed to have made missionary journeys of their own. In contrast to Paul, however, they were accompanied by their wives, who themselves belonged to the believers (1 Corinthians 9:5).21 In addition, two letters in the New Testament canon, sent to Jewish Christians, have the names of Jesus’ brothers in their address: a diasporic letter by James himself, and a follow up letter, written by his brother Jude. Neither of them, however, presents himself as the Lord’s brother; rather, each presents himself as the Lord’s servant. Jesus is our Lord and Master, no less (James 1:1; Jude :4). The devout lifestyle of James, who daily prostrated himself in the temple to plead for forgiveness for his people, evoked such respect that he became known as ‘the righteous’ (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History II1, 2-5; 23, 4-7). He was indeed a tsaddiq in the fullest sense of the word. As Jerusalem was regarded as the mother church for all of Christianity, James was held in high esteem even well outside the boundaries of the holy land (cf. Galatians 2:12). The Gospel of Thomas contains an apocryphal saying of Jesus, which could well be taken as a witness to the universally respected righteousness of the brother of the Lord. When the disciples wondered who should become their leader after Jesus left them, he is supposed to have said: “Wherever you are, you are to go to James the righteous, for whose sake heaven and earth came into being”. What the rabbis said about the Torah, applied to James also, throughout the world. After James’ violent death, he was succeeded as leader in the church of Jerusalem by another of Jesus’ relatives: Simeon, the son of Cl(e)opas, known as one of the travellers on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:18; John 19:25). Hegesippus describes Clopas as the brother of Joseph, Mary’s husband. If that is correct, Simeon was a Jesus’ full cousin (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History III 11; IV 22,4).22 In addition, two of Jude’s grandsons, arrested by Domitian because of their Davidic ancestry and later released, played an important role in early Jewish Christianity. The bishop’s seat, the symbol of James’ position as leader, was an object of interest, right up to Eusebius’ day. From the quotation below, it is clear that in the 21 Eusebius quotes Clement of Alexandria in order to prove that marriage is not objectionable, as some apostles themselves were married, for example Philip and Peter (EcclesiasticalHistory III 20,1-2). Eusebius, however, sometimes seems to confuse the apostle Philip with Philip the evangelist. 22 The name Clopas is a rare Semitic variant of the Greek name Cleopas, so rare that Cleopas from Luke 24:18 is often identified with Clopas from John 21:25. In that case, he was married to Mary, who was an aunt of Jesus by marriage and one of the four women at the foot of the cross. Why could she not be the second, anonymous, disciple walking to Emmaus? See further, Richard Bauckham, Jude and the Relatives of Jesus in the Early Church (Edinburgh: T &T Clark, 1990).
