Jesus’ Bros

Understanding Mary's perpetual virginity

09/26/2023

Lk 8:19-21 The mother of Jesus and his brothers came to him but were unable to join him because of the crowd. He was told, "Your mother and your brothers are standing outside and they wish to see you." He said to them in reply, "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it."

If you listen carefully to teenagers talking these days you will hear a new slang word that is very popular, namely, “bro.” It is short for “brother” but it does not refer to your own blood brother. For example, sometimes girls are in a group – no boys present – and one will say, “Did you go the Taylor Swift concert, bro? Bro, it was so cool!”

When I was growing up, we said “Man!” like kids use “bro” today. “Man, can you believe Willie Nelson is still on tour?!” These English idioms make it challenging for those who are learning English because they hear “bro” and think “blood brother” but for those who know how teens talk, we know it is a term of affection but not a sibling relation.

I mention this bro business because it can shed light on a little confusion in the gospel this morning. We read in Lk 8:19, “The mother of Jesus and his brothers came to him but were unable to join him because of the crowd.” Now, at first sight we might jump to the conclusion that Jesus must have had other blood brothers through Mary because Luke clearly says “his brothers.”

But like in modern English, so the Greek language used “brother” with a wider meaning than merely “blood brother.” The term brother can include blood brother, but it can also mean cousin, or another close relation, like a nephew or uncle. Again, think of our teenagers saying, “bro” today and you will begin to see how a word can have a literal meaning, but also a rhetorical meaning that is distinctly different.

I was reading a commentary on this passage in Luke, and similar passage in Mk 6 and Mt 12, and found this intriguing observation: “The question of the meaning here (the brothers of Jesus) would not have arisen but for the faith of the church in Mary’s perpetual virginity.” In other words, the correct interpretation of Jesus’ bros has as much to do with Mary as it does with Jesus. How so?

Well, Catholics believe that Jesus is the only child Mary had, and therefore these other “bros” of Jesus must be cousins or some other relation. Now, this belief in Mary’s perpetual virginity had been held consistently and unanimously by Christians for 1,500 years until the Protestant Reformation. Even though the original reformers like Martin Luther held that Mary was perpetually virgin, later reformers began to question it. Why is that?

I believe it has to do with the implication of a key Protestant tenet, namely, we are saved by “faith alone” or in Latin, “sola fide.” You have probably heard our Protestant friends, say, “If you sincerely accept Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, you will be saved.” That acceptance of Christ is an act of faith, and that alone will save you. And to underscore and emphasize that faith alone saves, they discarded and deemphasized the importance of living out your faith in a life of virtue and charity. In other words, faith alone saves you, and not good works.

Now, what does faith alone, sola fide, have to do with Mary’s perpetual virginity and Jesus’ bros? Well, to the Protestant mind drawing attention to Mary’s perpetual virginity looked awfully close to “good works” and “earning” your salvation by being a virgin. And in order to highlight that Mary was like other ordinary women who have more than one child, they interpreted “the brothers of Jesus” to mean literally “blood brothers.”

That is, Mary had relations with Joseph and bore other natural children in addition to Jesus. What matters for Mary’s salvation, therefore, is faith and not works, like perpetually virginity. If you can follow the logic here, you can see how the doctrine of sola fide (faith alone) leads to the belief that Mary had other children.

Catholics, on the other hand, believe it is "both-and" when it comes to our salvation, both faith and works. We must indeed accept Christ as our personal Lord and Savior by a genuine act of faith. That is crucial and indispensable. And Mary did exactly that when she conceived Christ in her womb and in her heart at the message of an angel.

But we must also respond to Christ’s grace throughout our lives and live that faith every day. Our faith lived out in good works is what saves us, and that is what will save Jesus’ bros, too, like you and me.

Praised be Jesus Christ!