Judas the Brother of James

Luke 6:13 And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles; 

Luke 6:14 Simon, (whom he also named Peter,) and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew,
Luke 6:15 Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called Zelotes,
Luke 6:16 And Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor.

I would like to focus on Judas the brother of James. He is mentioned in as one who was in the upper room when the Holy Ghost was come at Pentecost.

Act 1:13 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.


Judas the apostle spoke to Jesus:


Joh 14:22  Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? 
Joh 14:23  Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. 
Joh 14:24  He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.

In several of the newer translations it is written: Judas son of James. There is no new text, only a new interpretation of the text. The reason for this in my research was because the Greek was not specific, it literally reads: Judas of James. My next question is who wrote the book of Jude (Judas)? It is popularly assumed that this was Jude the brother of James and the half brother of Jesus. Can we be sure that Jude was not written by the disciple Jude? The KJV version says that Judas was the brother of a man named James. If he were the son of James he could not be the author of Jude. As it is written:

Jud 1:1 Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:

In this verse it specifically says "brother" of James in the original Greek; adelphos, brother, but which James and whose brother is he? Is he supposedly the half brother of Jesus referring to this verse?

Mat 13:55 Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?


Paul refers to James as the brother of Jesus.


Gal 1:19  But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother.

James, the brother of Jesus was the head of the church in Jerusalem He was known as the brother of Jesus, so it is assumed that Jude is the brother of this James. Neither James nor Jude mentioned being brothers of Jesus, but his servants, his bond slaves.

Jude in his epistle does not give himself the title of apostle, as did Peter and Paul in their writings. The apostle John gave many first hand accounts of his personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. The evidence points out that Jude was the brother of James and Jesus. Both brothers did not believe that Jesus was the Son of God until after his resurrection. The resurrection is proof that he has power over life and death We can trust Jesus as our Savior as did James and Jude; they were half brothers. We too by faith are the brothers of Jesus through adoption as children of God. Judas the apostle we know little about, but we can expect to see him in glory.