Jesus and His Human Relatives (2) - All The LORD is near Daily Devotionals for 2026

Even His brothers did not believe in Him.

After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles.

They returned to Jerusalem they went up into the upper room where they were staying [The eleven remaining apostles] all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.
John 7:5; 1 Corinthians 15:7; Acts 1:12-14

Jesus and His Human Relatives (2)
Before the Lord Jesus suffered and died on the cross, even His brothers (strictly speaking, half-brothers, for they were sons of Joseph and Mary) did not believe in Him. Nor did they at all enter into the motivations behind His actions. In John 7 we find them accusing Him of seeking to be known openly. When Jesus hung on the cross, we see in John 19 that He entrusted His mother to the care of His disciple John, not to one of His brothers.

We often overlook that among the male witnesses of the Lord's resurrection whom Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians 15 is James, the first of the Lord's half-brothers. How touching to think that the risen Lord would show Himself to one of His brothers who had impugned His motives, even thinking He was out of His mind!

The Lord's resurrection evidently had, among its many wonderful results, also the outcome of bringing these once unbelieving, scoffing brothers to faith in Him. After the ascension of the Lord Jesus, they are seen uniting with one accord in prayer with the disciples who had long faithfully followed Him, awaiting the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Mary, the mother of Jesus, was there praying too. This is the last mention of her in the Bible.

Galatians 2:9 and Acts 15 and 21 show us James functioning as a pillar in the assembly at Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit later used him and his brother Jude to write epistles in which they humbly refer to themselves as bondservants of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Eugene P. Vedder, Jr.