Yes, she did! We read about this in Matthew 13:53-56, which says, “Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables, that He departed from there. And when He had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, ‘Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?”

Here we learn that Mary gave birth to four sons and some daughters (which are not numbered or named). In this passage we see Jesus returning to His OWN COUNTRY to teach the people there. Of course, His “own country” was the region of Galilee and the town He and His family lived in was Nazareth. We read about this in Luke 4:14-16, “Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to GALILEE, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. So He came to NAZARETH, WHERE HE HAD BEEN BROUGHT UP. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath Day and stood up to read.” Not only did He grow up here, but we learn that it was His custom to open up the scriptures on the Sabbath. This is one of the few glimpses we get in the life of the Lord Jesus and it teaches us that He had a MINISTRY there before He went out into His public ministry to all the cities of Israel. He was received well by His hometown for we read that He was “glorified by all.” But this “warm reception” changed!  In the synagogue in Nazareth, He read a portion from Isaiah 61:1-2 where Isaiah prophesied of the coming Messiah and Jesus then said, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (verse 21). Some that heard those words “marveled at His gracious words” but they still questioned this by saying, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” (verse 22). Jesus knew their hearts were filled with unbelief and He told them, “Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country” (verse 24) and He then gave them the example of Elisha the prophet (verses 25-27). We read then of a “change of heart” in verse 28, “So ALL THOSE in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were FILLED WITH WRATH.” This scene ended with the crowd rising up and hauling Him away to a hill outside of the city so they could “throw Him down over the cliff” yet Jesus “passed through the midst of them and went His way” (verses 29-30).

I wonder if any of Jesus’ brothers and sisters were there? If so, they too rejected His claim to be the Messiah and joined the angry mob who were determined to kill Him. We can’t say for sure, but we do know that while Jesus was alive, His brothers did NOT believe in Him. This is brought out clearly in John 7:1-5 where Jesus was once again in Galilee (a couple of years later): “After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him. Now the Jews’ Feast of Tabernacles was at hand. His BROTHERS therefore said to Him, ‘Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing. For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.’ For EVEN HIS BROTHERS DID NOT BELIEVE IN HIM.” Their unbelief is on display for in essence they were saying, “If You truly are the Messiah, show Yourself to the world.”  He responded, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready. THE WORLD CANNOT HATE YOU, BUT IT HATES ME, because I testify of it that its works are evil” (verses 6-7). In these words, the Lord was saying, “The world can’t hate you because you are of the world.”

Think of this dear reader, these brothers grew up in the same home as Jesus. They saw a perfect, obedient child who never rebelled against His parents. They saw an unselfish child who was always nice to His siblings. They saw a godly child who at some point would read the scriptures each Sabbath Day in their synagogue. Yet they never believed this child was sinless. Mary was told by the angel Gabriel, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that HOLY ONE who is to be born will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). Jesus was HOLY! He “did not sin…knew no sin…in Him was no sin” (1 Peter 2:22; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 John 3:5). They, along with the masses in Judea, were spiritually blind and would not believe in Christ as Israel’s Messiah.

In closing, we cannot end our devotion without “telling the rest of the story.” After the Lord was raised from the dead HIS BROTHERS DID BELIEVE ON HIM! We know this because we read in Acts 1:14, “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and WITH HIS BROTHERS.” In 1 Corinthians 15:7 we read, “After that He was seen of James.” James was one of Jesus’ half-brothers. He became a pillar in the “church at Jerusalem” (Acts 15:13-21) and was the inspired writer of the Epistle of James (James 1:1). Judas, the brother of James and the half-brother of Jesus, was the inspired writer of the book of Jude (Jude verse 1). Praise be to God for making these brothers (all FOUR of them) “trophies of His amazing grace.”  (DO)  (714.1)