Could Jesus have familial descendants still living in the MIddle East?

[Openly Curious]

I agree that it is a most intriging question and it's the first time I've ever heard of it before. It is most definately possible that there are descendants of Jesus but that doesn't mean they are living in the Middle East. Just as Jesus has a genealogy which you can read in Matthew chapter one this being his lineage line in which he came into the world. Then in Luke 3:23-38 you can read the geneology of Jesus but in this account it starts with his ministry on earth and then his lineage goes backward. All the way back to Adam which Jesus was the first Adam and he was the second Adam.

Every person has a lineage and some people are so interested in knowing their families ancestry that today they have people to hire to research their family history.

I don't think it a good idea to dwell on the lineage of Christ because it tells us the reason why in................

1 Timothy 1:4--Neither give heed to fables and endless geneology, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.

It is so true when you get into geneologies of any person they are "endless" going back and back and back there is no end to them. Now I'm not saying we can't share our thoughts on these things with one another but instead we are to avoid teaching on such things like fables and endless geneology as sound doctrine because they are unsound doctrine. Apostle Paul instructed young Timothy while at Ephesus to charge some of the people teaching unsound doctrine. But instead they were to stop teaching on "fables" and on "endless geneologies" as sound doctrine. 1 Timothy 1:1-4

Again you've brought the most interesting thoughts to the table I've heard in quite sometime.

[Dragoon]

I'm not sure why this thought just came to my mind, but is it not possible that Jesus could have familial descendants alive in the Middle East?

We know that Jesus had both brothers and sisters. If they had children, and so forth and so on, I would say it is definitely possible that Jesus has cousins many times removed in the Middle East. It doubtful that they know He is their cousin (X number of times removed and only in the human sense), but I wonder if somewhere under the sands of Israel is an old family history just waiting to be found by some archeologist.

And before anyone asks: No, Jesus had no children. Any descendant would have to be related through his brothers/mother.

Definitely an interesting question, and I think it's very instructive that the Apostles and the early church did not consider this an important criteria to dwell on.

I would hope that we would be true spiritual descendants of our Lord Jesus Christ though and that we spawn many more children to follow in His path.

[Botz]

Also we have to wonder why Jesus did not reach out to his brothers to take care of His mother like He did the Apostles?

Possibly He did....only a fraction of what the L-rd did or said is recorded.

It seems to me that the special relationship Jesus had with John was almost like a father with a son, John was purportedly the youngest of the disciples, and it is conceivable that Jesus was around 30, while John was just 14 or 15...there is an intimacy between them that is different from the other disciples, and it seems to hinge around the way one relates to a younger person in a different way to that of adults....you can catch hints of it in the image of John laying his head on Jesus' chest, or writing 'the disciple that Jesus loved'...which at first glance seems an odd almost boastful phrase....but if you see it in the context of filial love, then it begins to make sense...because obviously Jesus loved all his men...(even Judas?).

As you know, both the Orthodox and Catholic traditions don't believe Mary had other children, and that when she married Joseph, he was a lot older, and had children from a former marriage, and these are suggested to be the brothers and sisters referred to in Scripture....I don't think language or cultural context allow for it, but many accept it as true.

[nebula]

Also we have to wonder why Jesus did not reach out to his brothers to take care of His mother like He did the Apostles?

I would suspect because His brothers were not there; but John was.

[Fez]

If any were shown or even suspected of being related to Him, there would be glory to man, not glory to God. I would never want to know that I am related to Him even if such could be the case. I would not want the temptation to have pride in that way. I am content being grafted in, to be called a child of God because of my faith.

Amen!

We directly relate to Him anyway, by being children of God

More than good enough for me!

[Robert1985]

There is a saying among researchers of family trees that every family has a princess and a castle. What they mean is that the further you go back in time, the more people there are in your family tree and the greater thechance that you will be directly (albeit distantly) related to royalty.

Think of it this way:

2 parents

4 grandparents

8 great grandparents

The number doubles every generation.

After 10 generations you can trace a direct line back to 1,024 people (great great great [...] grandparents)

After 20 generations: 1,048,576 people

After 30 generations: more than a billion people.

After 40 generations: more than a trillion people.

But there have never been more than a trillion people born on this planet. At this website it is estimated that there have been 106 billion people born throughout history.

This has been explained on another website which says that most marriages are between sixth cousins which means they share great great great great great grandparents.

Now I don't have the expertise to properly analyse those figures, but the chances are that all of us are related to each other. Not only would there be people in the middle east related to Jesus, the chances are that YOU are related to Jesus (and probably any other famous historical character you care to mention).

Edited July 17, 2011 by Robert1985

[~candice~]

There is a saying among researchers of family trees that every family has a princess and a castle. What they mean is that the further you go back in time, the more people there are in your family tree and the greater thechance that you will be directly (albeit distantly) related to royalty.

Think of it this way:

2 parents

4 grandparents

8 great grandparents

The number doubles every generation.

After 10 generations you can trace a direct line back to 1,024 people (great great great [...] grandparents)

After 20 generations: 1,048,576 people

After 30 generations: more than a billion people.

After 40 generations: more than a trillion people.

But there have never been more than a trillion people born on this planet. At this website it is estimated that there have been 106 billion people born throughout history.

This has been explained on another website which says that most marriages are between sixth cousins which means they share great great great great great grandparents.

Now I don't have the expertise to properly analyse those figures, but the chances are that all of us are related to each other. Not only would there be people in the middle east related to Jesus, the chances are that YOU are related to Jesus (and probably any other famous historical character you care to mention).

Well, this is my playground. The reason why it doesn't strictly double is because "most marriages are between sixth cousins", i.e. you don't add two independent people each generation, sometimes it's not a new branch on the tree, just a branch from another part of the tree. Not to mention death and infertility.

You may not realise it, but this is how the Ephraimite error is presented. Basically, we are all 'Israel', part of the lost 10 northern tribes. I wonder who the gentiles are .

[other one]

The six million dollar man is my cousin....

[Smalcald]

He could very easily have cousins and half nieces and nephews many times removed BUT if they were not Messianic Jews they would not want to recognize Him or acknowledge any relationship to Him.

But what about his brothers and sisters? It is speculated that James was His brother, what about the others if they existed? It would seem indeed that every believer would have known all of these guys and I don't think there is any indication that the family of Jesus were not believers in Him. It is a fascinating topic, the other option is that there were no siblings.

[Guest]

The six million dollar man is my cousin....

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