Is there a living relative of Jesus?

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Whilst most of the answers below are of interest, there is a great deal of confusion.

The question did not ask 'does Jesus have any descendents?'. If this was the case the answer would be 'no' because nowhere in scripture does it mention that Jesus was married (which would be certainly be mentioned if he was!). The silly notion that he was married to Mary Magdalene raised its head recently through Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code but is based on nothing at all except Dan Brown's desire to make money by writing something controvertial. Nowhere in scripture or history or in verbal history through John to Polycarp, and the early church is there one scrap of evidance that he had any sort of 'relationhip' with mary or any other woman for that matter. The even sillier claim that he might have had an illegtimate child goes against everything Jesus taught about relationships and marriage and shows a total lack of scriptural understanding - and is tantamount to blasphemy.

The question actually asks 'is there a living relative of Jesus?' In this case the answer is almost certainly 'yes'. We are told in scripture (Matthew 13: 55-56) that Jesus had brothers and sisters:

"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? Where then did this man get all this?"

One can argue that as Jesus was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and Mary, these siblings are only half-brothers and half-sisters, but in law they would still be classed as 'relatives'. No one knows very much about these siblings. Judas of course was not Judas Iscariot (his name suggests he came from Iscaria not Galilee). We are not told that James was married but almost certainly the other brothers and sisters would be - and have offspring, who in turn would have their own children right through the generations. In parts of Syria today there are many thousands who still speak Aramaic - the language Jesus spoke, and it is almost certain that at least a few these would, in some way, be related, at least in law, to Our Lord.

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No, because Jesus had no offspring and neither did James.

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I disagree. No neither of them had offspring, that is very true. But if we all come from one Father, doesn't that mean we are all brothers and sisters? even our brothers and sisters passed over a thousand years ago?


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The first answer does not take into account other relatives Jesus may have had, such as cousins, which he did have. Or, for that matter, any relation who would have shared a common ancestor with Jesus.

There is no genealogy that I could find quickly on the 'net that shows a family tree for Jesus. Obviously, Saint Joseph was only his foster father. But Mary would have had parents, maybe siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. Anyone who has ever made or seen a Family Tree will acknowledge that with each generation back the number of relatives doubles -- at the very least!

Example: If you start with Mary being Generation 1 (1 person)

Gen 2 Mary's mother and father (2 people)

Gen 3 Mary's ''maternal'' grandmother and grandfather + her ''paternal'' grandmother and grandfather (4 people)

Gen 4 her grandparents' parents, in other words, Mary's great grandparents (8 people)

Gen 5 parents of Gen 4 (16 people)

Gen 6 parents of Gen 5 (32 people)

Gen 7 parents of Gen 6 (64 people) and so on...

One hundred and twenty-seven individuals already by the seventh generation and this does not take into account siblings or half-siblings each individual may have had! (This is part of the reason why genealogy is such a time-consuming and often frustrating hobby or profession.) :)

However, it would seem to me that if someone alive today ''were'' related to Jesus, however distantly, it would be a matter of public knowledge (or public debate). Even if this hypothetical living relative knew of his lineage (Over two thousand years of family tree here, folks, keeping in mind most people couldn't tell you the maiden names of their great grandmas), he'd have plenty of reasons to keep it to himself; yet scientists, theologians and other scholars would probably have ferreted him out by now.

So, without having access to Mary's family tree, the best I could say is that it is ''possible'' but ''unlikely'' that Jesus has any living relatives.

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Adam is the father of all humans existing on earth. Adam also came directly from God. While Jesus's birth came though Abraham's line by Mary, like Adam. Jesus's human existance was,not due to man but,from God. Eventhough Jesus had brothers and sisters, biologically these were from Adam, Jesus was not. There is no one on earth geaneologically related to Jesus. Also, it would be impossible to trace the relatives of Jesus's mother,brothers and sisters because of the destruction of the temple(where all of isreal's record were kept) in 70 AD.Jesus is related,spiritually, to all who faithfully serve his Father in spirit and truth.

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There is a possability that Jesus and Mary Magdalin had offspring. Mary was not a prostitute as the church would have us believe but a loyal and close companion to Jesus. It is possible they were in fact married so the idea that there are direct descendants living today is an intriguing one.

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Since YESHUA HA MOSHIACH was a descendant of ADAM the son of GOD, and we are all genetically connected to ADAM, we are all HIS descendants.

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Jesus had half-brothers and sisters...Im sure that their descendents still live today

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I believe the idea of Jesus and Mary M. having children is a Gnostic story. If Jesus had a wife and/or children, why does the Bible only mention Him asking John to take care of his mother, and not his wife and children also? That would not make him a very good husband or father if he failed to secure someone to take care of his wife/children, now would it? Since Jesus did not sin, and the Bible says that one who does not provide for his family is worse than an infidel, then I see no way He could have had a wife/children, and yet not have seen to it they were cared for after his death, like he did for his mother with John.

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Just because Jesus had half-siblings doesn't mean he has any relatives alive today approximately ''two thousand'' years later! It takes far less time than that for entire family lines to die out. I believe that if Jesus had any living relatives today ''someone'' would know of it. This would not likely be a family to simply ignore or forget its heritage.

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We ALL are living relatives of Jesus. God is the Father of all of us.

Son of Jesus?

Consider the possibility of Jesus having a true descendent, as the Da Vinci code and other works posit. Sin came into the world through Adam (Romans 5:12-15). Jesus "bypassed" the curse by being born of a virgin. Therefore, any descendent of the man Jesus would also be born without the curse. This goes against the Scripture that '''all''' have sinned and fallen short of God's glory (Romans 3:23).

This doesn't say anything about other relatives, such as descendents of Jesus' half-brothers, cousins, etc. As stated elsewhere here, go back far enough (to Noah, even) and we're all related.

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Due to the imbreeding the Bible leads to, we are all related to everyone else.

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One time when Jesus was speaking to a crowd his mother and brother came asking for him the crowd relayed this to him. Jesus said to them: "Who are my mother and [my] brothers?" And looking around at those seated in the circle said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. [For] whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother."

First answer by ID1162958598. Last edit by JohnWelsh. Contributor trust: 79 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 83 [recommend question]