The Family of Jesus

ARE YOU IN THE FAMILY?

Spring, AD 27

Here's Jesus on a Journey.

Imagine, if you will, that this is the journey that Jesus took from Cana to Capernaum.

After the wedding, Jesus went down [from Cana] to Capernaum with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they remained there for a few days. (John 2:12).

First, about Jesus' starting place at the wedding in Cana:

A. Jesus and also his disciples had been invited to the wedding (John 2:2). But Jesus had just met at least five new disciples at a location over two day's travel away from Cana, and Jesus had instructed them to follow him. From the detailed incident about wine at the wedding, it can be proposed that the same disciple who witnessed the call of the disciples (i.e., the writer of the Gospel) also witnessed the water changed to wine. Evidently Jesus was close enough to the family of the bride or groom that he was empowered to invite whomever he wished.

B. Jesus' mother Mary was concerned about the wine running out at the wedding, and was either empowered to do something about it, or took on the responsibility herself (John 2:3). Evidently she too was close enough to the family of the bride or groom to feel responsibility for the happy celebration of the marriage. Mary said to Jesus, "They have no wine." Someone else (they) was actually in charge, but 'they' had dropped the ball. Remember also that Mary's husband Joseph is not mentioned anywhere in the ministry of the adult Jesus, and is presumed to have died before (or at the time!) Jesus turned 30 years old.

C. Mary says to the servants (literal translation), "Whatever [Jesus] tells you, do it!" She used the imperative form of the Greek verb when speaking to the servants. Does this mean that the family of Jesus had multiple servants in Nazareth, and they had been brought to Cana to help with the wedding? That's literally possible from the text, but is certainly not the presumption of centuries of Christians who have read the Bible. It just seems more likely that the servants were part of the household at Cana that was hosting the wedding, rather than being help brought in from Nazareth. In any case, Mary is evidently empowered to give commands to the servants helping with the wedding. This not only shows her closeness with the family of the bride or the groom, but elevates her status to one who can tell servants how the wedding should proceed (at the detail level).

D: At John 2:12 (above) we learn for the first time that the brothers of Jesus were probably also at the wedding, for they joined Jesus' journey to Capernaum immediately afterward.

E: If Jesus and his mother had places of prominence at this wedding, and most of his family members were invited, it strongly suggests that this wedding was between someone in Jesus' family and a person in Cana. Although it may have been someone from Mary's or Jesus' extended family, I propose that it is more likely that the person getting married is either a brother or sister of Jesus. I believe that if it were one of his brothers, the Gospel writer would have mentioned that. But if it were one of his sisters, that would have been passed over, following the custom of their day of not mentioning women unless it were critical to the telling of the story.

This was a family wedding! I propose that one of the sisters of Jesus was getting married in Cana, and this was important enough to Jesus that he would interrupt his disciple-gathering activity near John the Baptist, so that he and his new disciples could attend.

The sisters of Jesus are identified in tradition to have had the names Mary and Salome. There is a separate tradition that identifies a third sister, with the name Anna. As to the sister-wedding idea, the belief that his sisters were older than him (from Joseph's first marriage) would speak against it. Women were married off long before they were 30, when possible. Yet it is not impossible.

If say, Anna, were a daughter of Mary the mother of Jesus she could be quite younger than he, and this could be her wedding day. But I'm sticking to the first-century tradition that all of Jesus' brothers and sisters were older than he. (Mostly out of stubbornness.)

Second, about the journey from Cana to Capernaum:

A. Jesus is on his way to Capernaum, probably to the home where Simon Peter lived. According to formal custom, this would have been at the invitation of Peter. We know that Peter was married, but we do not know if his wife was accompanying him or had remained at home in Capernaum. We do know that Peter later took his wife along with him on missionary journeys (1 Corinthians 9:5).

B. Jesus had told his new disciples to follow him, at least as far as Cana. Now it is evident that they are to follow him again to Capernaum on the shore of Galilee. The majority of the disciples had roots in the fishing village of Bethsaida which lay beyond Capernaum. After visiting in Capernaum, they would not be too far away to also visit their parents and other relatives.

C. Jesus apparently invites his brothers to come also. Or, Peter may have invited them. We don't know if his sisters came, although they may have been at the wedding. If they joined the party going to Capernaum, they would probably be in the company of their husbands. (The now-married bride of the wedding would have been moving in to the new house that a husband was expected to provide.)

So this group of a dozen or more men and women were travelling together. At least three families were involved: the families of Jesus, Simon Peter, and the sons of Zebedee. These are new acquaintances getting to know one another.

Third, about the destination in Capernaum:

A. We know that Peter's mother-in-law resided with him (Mt 8:14, Mk 1:30,  Lk 4:38). We also know that Peter is a native of Bethsaida. Apparently Peter had moved into the home of his wife and mother-in-law rather than providing a new home himself. As there is no mention of his wife's father, we can surmise that her father has died and Peter is a quite welcome addition to his wife's mother's home.

B. We also must assume that this is a fairly substantial house, that can accommodate a dozen guests for a short stay. Later on, this house becomes Jesus' headquarters as his disciples grew in number. When Jesus appointed his twelve apostles, when they were not being sent out they would be with him (Mk 3:14). They may well have stayed with Jesus at the house of Peter and his wife.

C. It is not too far-fetched to describe this home in Capernaum as the first Christian house-church. Note that it begins as a meeting place for families to get to know one another. Later in Jesus' ministry, he would describe his disciples as his mother, his brothers, and his sisters--his new and true "forever-family" (Matthew 12:48-49).

What is the lesson to be learned from all this? Church is a Family!  It's not a building where we meet once a week. It's not simply a gathering of like-minded people with a mission to practice their religion. That would be a business enterprise, not a Church. John in his letters tells us that we should be able be identified as those people who love one another.

If your church does not seem to be an organic family that does things together, do something about it. Invite some of those people that you see every week to come to your house. Invite them to go with you to events. Help organize occasions when you can gather together as "forever-families."

Bonus: Here's Another Journey.

This is a journey that Joseph the widower took.
He's on his way from Nazareth to Bethlehem.
His three sons James, Joses and Simon are on the right.
His two daughters Salome and little Mary are on the left.
On the donkey is his youngest son, Jude.
Behind Jude is his new wife, Mary.
Mary is pregnant.

Jesus was born into a large family.
Is it time for you to be re-born into a large family?


If these story-journeys have struck a chord with you, you may be interested in reading some historical fiction that expands on these premises. Check out rolinbruno.com, where you can find the first two Episodes of the story of John son of Zebedee. The third episode is due out in 2016.