The disciple whom Jesus loved...
Submitted by Dirk Gently on May 20 2000 22:38:27
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was likely either His cousin or His nephew. According to Mark 15:40 and 16:1, of three women who saw the crucifixion and went to the tomb on Easter morning two were called Mary and one Salome. Matthew 27:56 names two women called Mary, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee, who is probably to be identified with Salome. John 19:25 refers to two women called Mary, plus the mother of Jesus and his mother's sister, who stood near the cross. If his mother's sister is identified with Salome, then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, would be cousins of Jesus. It is equally possible, however, that John has made a different selection of names out of the 'many other women' who, according to Mark 15:41, were present at the crucifixion. (Lifted shamelessly from the New Bible Dictionary, 2nd edition, page 1056.) I started looking into this because one of the people in our Bible study group was asking about the family ties in the Gospel. In the Orthodox tradition, it is believed that Joseph was a widower with children from a previous marriage -- James, Joses, Simon, and Judas, as well as several daughters. Salome was one of those daughters, making her the step-sister of Jesus. Her children (the sons of Zebedee) would therefore be the nephews of Christ. (St. John of Damascus, for one, didn't accept this, but his opinion has been disregarded on this issue.) Of course, the Bible is silent on the exact nature of the relationships. We are not compelled to believe either one of these theories. Still, it goes a long way to explaining why James and John were so quick to drop their nets and follow, and may also explain why their mother felt she could approach the Messiah and ask that her sons be set at His right and His left. Dirk |
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