The verse in question reads as follows: “I have become a stranger to my
brethren, an alien to my mother’s sons” (v. 8). There is no doubt that this
psalm is Messianic and in the New Testament it is referred to as a forecast
of Our Lord’s experiences: St. Matt. 27:34; St. John 15:25; Acts 1:20; and
Rom. 15:3. The following verses specifically speak of Christ:
“…those who hate me without cause” (v. 4).
“For zeal for thy house has consumed me” (v. 9).
“…for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink” (v. 21).
However, the Messianic interpretation of the psalm does not exclude the
possibility that it also describes personal experiences of the psalmist. This
must be the conclusion when considering the following other verses:
“O God, thou knowest my folly; the wrongs I have done are not hidden
from thee” (v. 5).
“Insults have broken my heart, so that I am in despair. I looked for pity, but
there was none; and for comforters, but I found none” (v. 20).
“Add to them punishment upon punishment; may they have no acquittal
from thee” (v. 27).
The above words in verse 8 simply apply to David who considers the
consequences of those sins he wails over in verse 5. It is in the other verses
that he is carried on by the Holy Spirit to depict the ideal Messianic
sufferer.
Who, then, exactly were the brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ? It is best
to start by looking at St. John 19:25. There it is evident that the Virgin
Mary had an older “sister” whose name was also Mary: “Meanwhile,
standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister,
Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.” The wife of Clopas may
have been a direct sister of the Virgin Mary or more probably a cousin.
Nevertheless, they would have had blood kinship ties.
Turning next to St. Mark 15:40, speaking on the same point we read:
“There were also women looking on from a distance; among them were
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