The general belief in the Christian church is that the brothers of Jesus were older than Him. Is this biblical?

The question of whether or not the brothers of Jesus were older than Him is a topic of much debate and discussion within the Christian community. While many people believe that this is true, there is actually very little biblical evidence to support this claim.

In the New Testament, there are several references to the brothers of Jesus, but none of these passages explicitly state that they were older than Him. In fact, there are several passages that suggest that Jesus may have been the eldest of His siblings. For example, in Mark 6:3, the people of Nazareth refer to Jesus as “the son of Mary,” which would have been an unusual way to refer to Him if He had older brothers.

There are also several passages that suggest that the brothers of Jesus may have been younger than Him. In Matthew 13:55, the people of Nazareth refer to Jesus’ brothers as James, Joses, Simon, and Judas, and they also mention “his sisters.” This suggests that Jesus may have had more than four siblings, and that they may have been younger than Him.

So why is the belief that the brothers of Jesus were older than Him so prevalent in the Christian church? One possible explanation is that this belief has been passed down through tradition rather than through biblical evidence. In the early church, there was a strong emphasis on the idea of Mary’s perpetual virginity, which led many people to believe that Jesus was her only child. As a result, any references to Jesus’ brothers were interpreted as referring to His cousins or other relatives.