An Interesting Thought...I Wonder?

This morning I am reading from John's Gospel, Chapter 19, and found myself wondering about the following statement made by John, and eye-witness to Jesus crucifixion - John 19:25-27 NIV:

[25] "Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. [26] When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” [27] and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home."

Here are a very similar set of verses from Matthews Gospel - Matthew 27:55-56 NIV:

[55] "Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs. [56] Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee's sons."

In both sections we see two other Mary's (Mary Magdalene, and one listed as Mary wife of Clopas, the other as Mary, mother of James and Joseph.  It would seem possible that the latter Mary was indeed the same person, The wife of Clopas and the mother of James and Joseph.  So, that leaves the other woman - named as Mary's sister  by John, and named as the mother of Zebedee's sons by Matthew.  John was Zebedee's son (Luke 5:10).  If both of these sets of verses are talking about the same woman, than that would make the mother of Zebedee's sons, the sister of Mary, and would make James and John, Jesus' cousins!  How is that for conjecture?  I wonder if it might be true?

I also thought that would make some sense to verse 26 & 27 where Jesus tells John to take His mother as His own, for John would be inviting his Aunt into his house.  I also think that might have to do with the protection that was over John, for James was killed early on, but John survived to be an old man.  Jesus clearly cared for His mother, and placed her into John's care, and would have likely ordained her protection as well.

Finally, there always seemed more to the story of Peter and Andrew and James and John, their calling and immediate response.  If James and John were Jesus' cousins, isn't it likely that Jesus had spent some time in his childhood years at his cousin's house? We know Mary was close to her relative (cousin) Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist, and visited her at her home (Luke  1:39-44).  Elizabeth lived in Judea and Mary lived in Galilee which is quite a trip.  Capernaum, the city which is where Jesus moved to when He began His ministry was located in Galilee,  not that far from Nazareth.

Anyway, it makes little difference to the Gospel, but it is an interesting conjecture.  I believe the Lord is very interested in family, relationships and relations.  They are the God ordained organization in which we find our key identities and as such there is blessing that flows through and within them.  There are whole families that are assigned certain roles in the Temple, the family of Aaron were priests (Ex 29:), the family of Asaph were singers and prophets (1 Chron 25:1-8) the whole tribe of Levi set apart for service to the Lord (Num 3:6-9), and Aaron was Moses' brother.  Clearly the Lord works in and through family relations and thus I am encouraged that Jesus might have surrounded himself with at least a few cousins.

For me, I am encouraged to look more closely at my own family, and the generations that have gone before me, and those who follow after me, my own son and daughter, and nieces and nephews.  There is a familial blessing that the Lord does pour out, and I believe a familial anointing for certain types of ministry.  Over the last few years, through deep conversations with my father, I have seen how the Lord has put very similar hearts in both of us.  I am very much my father's son.

Lord, I pray that you will open my eyes and my heart to understand the special blessing that is our family and how you see us, for you clearly know us all and have plans for us all.  Help us to embrace the blessings, and encourage one another in Your purpose for us individually and corporately.  I pray also for those of us that have been wounded and rejected by family to find in the Body of Christ, a welcoming family to which they can connect and experience blessing and calling.