Scriptures that mention the brothers and sisters to Jesus:

Compiled by Robert Hyatt

Oct. 2003

 

Matthew 13:54-56

 54 And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this [man] this wisdom, and [these] mighty works?  55 Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?  56 And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this [man] all these things?

 

Biblical Scholars are split on the topic of James being the brother of Jesus:

James E. Talmage, Jesus the Christ, p.209, Footnotes

Concerning the James's mentioned in the New Testament, the opinion of Bible scholars is divided, the question being as to whether two or three individuals are indicated. Those who hold that there were three men of this name distinguish them as follows: (1) James the son of Zebedee and brother of John the apostle; all scriptural references to him are explicit; (2)  James the son of Alpheus;  and (3) James the brother of the Lord (Matt. 13:55; Mark  6:3; Gal.  1:19). If we accept this classification, the references given in footnote qq on this page apply to James the Lord's brother. Both the Oxford and Bagster Bible  "Helps" treat James the son of Alpheus and James the Lord's brother as one person, the expression "son of" being understood in a general sense only. The Bagster designation is: "James II, apostle, son of Alpheus, brother or cousin to Jesus." (See Note 3, end of chapter.) The Nave "Student Bible"  states (page  1327) that the question as to whether James the Lord's brother  "is identical with James the son of Alpheus is one of the most difficult questions in the biographical history of the Gospels." Faussett (in his Cyclopedia Critical and Expository) supports the contention that but one James is meant; and other acknowledged authorities treat the two as one. For detailed consideration of the subject the reader is referred to special works.

 

 

LDS explanation of the scripture that says that “in the resurrection, they neither marry, nor are giving in marriage…”:

 

Journal of Discourses, Vol.17, p.226 - p.227, Orson Pratt, October 7, 1874

Marriage is an ordinance pertaining to this mortal life--to this world--this probation, just the same as baptism and the laying on of hands; it reaches forth into eternity, and has a bearing upon our future state; so does baptism; so does the ordinance of the laying on of hands; so does every ordinance which the Lord our God has revealed to us. If we attend to these things here in this life, they are secure something beyond this life--for eternity. They neither baptize, nor receive baptism, after the resurrection. Why? Because neither was intended to be administered after the resurrection. After the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage. Why? Because this is the world where these ceremonies are to be attended to. That which is secured here, will be secured hereafter, if it be secured upon the principles of law which God has revealed.

 

Joseph Fielding Smith, Conference Report, October 1951, p.119

The one passage of scripture above all others that is relied on in the world to attempt to prove that marriage comes to an end and that there is no marriage hereafter is taken from the remarks of our Savior to the Sadducees who came tempting him. You recall that these Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection. They came with a story, which no doubt is fictitious, to the effect that a woman had been married consecutively seven times, and trying to catch him in a trap, they asked him which of these seven husbands would be the husband of the woman in eternity. Our Lord gave them the proper answer because he was speaking to people who did not believe in the hereafter. So he said in answer to their questions: "The children of this world marry and are given in marriage." I call your attention to the fact that the Lord said that he and his disciples did not belong to this world; the Sadducees did. To continue: "But they which shall be counted worthy to attain that world and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage." ( See Matt. 22: 23-30. ) This is absolutely true.

 

Journal of Discourses, Vol.16, p.177, Orson Pratt, August 31, 1873

Says one--"What are you going to do with that Scripture which says that in the resurrection, they neither marry nor are given in marriage?" I am going to let it stand precisely as it is, without the least alteration. A man who is so foolish as to neglect the divine ordinance of marriage for eternity, here in this world, and does not secure to himself a wife for all eternity, will not have the opportunity of doing so in the resurrection; for Jesus says, that after the resurrection there is neither marrying nor giving in marriage. It is an ordinance that pertains to this world, and here it must be attended to; and parties neglecting it wilfully, here in this life, deprive themselves of the blessings of that union for ever in the world to come.

 

Joseph Fielding Smith Jr., Doctrines of Salvation, Vol.2, p.72

NO MARRIAGE IN HEAVEN FOR THE SADDUCEES. This is the answer: Marriage, like baptism, is an ordinance which has to be performed in this life; it cannot be performed after men are dead, except as in the case of baptism by proxy, and so the Lord said that they neither marry nor are given in marriage in heaven. He might have answered those who questioned baptism, by saying, there is no baptism in heaven. All of the ordinances of the gospel given to us here pertain to this mortal probation and must be attended to here by the contracting parties or by some one in their behalf after they are dead . . . but they must be performed here.