Were the apostle John and John the Baptist both related to Jesus?

Answer 1

John the Baptist was the son of Zechariah and Elizabeth (Luke 1:5-25). Jesus was Mary's son, conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:26-38). Mary was Elizabeth's cousin (Luke 1:36). So the relation between Jesus and John the Baptist was that of second cousins.

Jesus and John the Baptist were cousins. Elizabeth, the mother of John, was the cousin of Mary.

Answer 2

To understand the family relationships, go to the three parallel accounts of the women watching the crucifixion of Jesus :- Ist account:-

Joh 19:25 KJV Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. 2nd Account:-

Mar 15:40 KJV There were also women looking on afar off: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome; 3rd Account:-

Mat 27:55-56 KJV And many women were there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him: [v.56] Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's children.

(1). Mary the wife of Cleophas:- There are two disciples called 'James', and they are both mentioned in Acts 1:13: James and John the sons of Zebedee, (whose names are always mentioned together), and James son of Alphaeus:- Act 1:13 KJV And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James. To avoid confusion with the other James, James the son of Alphaeus was sometimes called 'James the Less'. James and John were the sons of Zebedee, so Mary the wife of Cleophas was the mother of James the Less and Joses. (2). His mother's sister, Salome [see Mar 15:40 KJV] was 'the mother of Zebedee's children' [see Mat 27:55-56 KJV ] ie James and John [see Matt 4:21 KJV ] , so she was Jesus' mother's sister of John 19:25. Mat 4:21 KJV And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them. This would make James and John cousins of Jesus.

Answer 3

Another answer from our community:

Yes, John the Baptist was related to Jesus the Christ. According to The Bible, John's mother Elizabeth was a "cousin" of Mary, the mother of Jesus. If that is the exact relationship, then John and Jesus would have been second cousins. Unfortunately, the term translated "cousin" could also mean something more ambiguous like "relative of". Even if the more ambiguous meaning is used, they John would still be related and since Mary went to visit Elizabeth, they probably were fairly closely related.

Answer 4

A:The gospels describe the apostle John only as the son of Zeberdee, so he was unlikely to have been related to Jesus.

The gospels are somewhat divided as to the relationship of John the Baptist to Jesus. On the one hand, Luke's Gospel states that he was the son of Elizabeth, cousin of Jesus' mother Mary. On the other hand, John's Gospel tells us that John and Jesus did not even know each other. In between, Mark and Matthew give us no reason to believe that they were related, but could leave the possibility open.

New Testament scholars generally tend to believe Jesus and John the Baptist were not really related. Uta Ranke-Heinemann (Putting Away Childish Things) says that even Elizabeth, from Luke's Gospel, was probably a creature of legend.

Answer 5

According to Luke's Gospel, yes, John the Baptist was related to Jesus because his mother, Elizabeth, was a cousin of Mary, mother of Jesus. On the other hand, Uta Ranke-Heinemann (Putting Away Childish Things) suggests that Elizabeth was not a real person and that the author of Luke created the story of John's birth.

We can look at the evidence to see which of those views is most likely to be correct. All four New Testament gospels were originally anonymous, so we do not really know who wrote Luke's Gospel. It is known as a 'synoptic' gospel because when laid alongside Mark's Gospel (and Matthew's) and read synoptically ('with the same eye') in the original Greek language, it can be established that Luke was based on Mark. The 'Missing Block' demonstrates that where Luke's source was incomplete, he was unable to fill the gap with information from any other source or inspiration. Other evidence shows that Luke was written no earlier than the 90s of the first century.

What this means is that the author of Luke could not have known anything about the life of Jesus other than what he read in Mark, yet he confidently reported private events that occurred at least a hundred years before the time of writing, providing the only gospel account of the birth of John the Baptist. Ranke-Heinemann would seem to have good grounds for assuming that John the Baptist was not really related to Jesus.

Answer 6

Only the author of Luke's Gospel seems to have been aware of a family relationship between Jesus and John the Baptist, if such a relationship existed. Luke 1:36 says that John's Mother, Elisabeth, was the cousin of Mary, mother of Jesus.

Uta Ranke-Heinemann (Putting Away Childish Things) says, "That Elisabeth was legendary is proved by the historically more credible report in John that Jesus and John the Baptist did not know each other." John Shelby Spong (Born of a Woman) says he is suspicious because Elisabeth in Hebrew would be Elisheba', a name that appears only once in the Old Testament, as the wife of Aaron, brother of Moses. Luke 1:5 describes Elisabeth as the daughter of Aaron, so the author must have had Aaron and Moses in mind when he wrote his gospel.

Answer 7

Yes. Elisabeth mother of John and Mary mother of Jesus were cousins. Luke 1

Answer 8

Their mothers, that is Mary and Elizabeth were cousins.

Answer 9

They were second cousins

Answer 10

brothers