Did Mary Have Other Children?

It was prophesied that Christ would be born of “the virgin” (Isaiah 7:14). The prophecy was fulfilled in person of Mary, who was betrothed to Joseph of Nazareth (Matthew 1:22-23). She conceived Jesus super-naturally through the Holy Spirit without the help of any man. However, there is disagreement about whether Mary remained a virgin or went on to have other children with Joseph.

Roman Catholicism teaches that Mary was a perpetual virgin. They refer to her as “ever virgin” and say she never had sexual relations with Joseph or have any other children of her own. Most of Christendom does not agree with this teaching. They believe Mary and Joseph did have other kids. Which position is true?

We are told that Joseph knew her not “until she had given birth to a son” (Matthew 1:25). This implies he did know her after that. We are also told that Mary gave birth to her “firstborn son” (Luke 2:7), not her “onlyborn son.” This indicates she had other sons after Jesus.

On one occasion, Jesus was told that “his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak with him” (Matthew 12:46) and in the next chapter those brothers are specifically named. When Jesus returned to his hometown of Nazareth the people were astonished by his teachings and asked some rhetorical questions. They said, “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us” (Matthew 13:55-56)? Here we get a glimpse into the family of Joseph and Mary. It consisted of at least seven children — Jesus, four sons, and two daughters. I would argue for even more daughters since the text says “all” rather than “both.” The use of “all” suggests more than two.

The Lord’s brothers were skeptical of him during his earthly ministry. John says, “For not even his brothers believed in him” (John 7:5). That changed after the resurrection. His brothers, along with Mary, were present in the upper room at Jerusalem (Acts 1:14) and two of those brothers, James and Jude, wrote letters of the New Testament.

Paul mentions “James the Lord’s brother” as a prominent member of the church at Jerusalem (Galatians 1:19). Interestingly, the Jewish historian Josephus also makes mention of “the brother of Jesus…whose name was James” in his writings (Antiquities, 20:9) and an ossuary inscription was discovered that reads “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus.” Typically, brothers of the deceased would not be mentioned unless they were notorious figures.

There is even a prophecy that makes mention of the Lord’s siblings. The psalmist declared of Jesus, “I have become a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my mother’s sons” (Psalm 69:8). Notice they were specifically identified as his “mother’s” sons, a reference to Mary.

There are other passages we could reference, like 1 Corinthians 9:5, where Paul mentions that “brothers of the Lord” as examples of men who supported their wives through ministry. However, the point is clearly proven. Mary had other children after Jesus.

Having grown up in Roman Catholicism, I never felt their response to these passages were credible. They would say the siblings were either children of Joseph from a prior relationship or they were cousins. Even as a teenager, I thought those were flimsy attempts to deny the obvious.

There is no need to create fanciful traditions that contradict scripture to honor Mary. We are all believe that she was a virgin when she conceived Jesus through the Holy Spirit. The fact that Mary went on to have sexual relations with Joseph and brought forth other children does not tarnish her image in any way. In fact, it enhances her image for a wife has biblical obligations to her husband (1 Corinthians 7:5), which Mary would not have fulfilled if she were a perpetual virgin.