They were cousins, so why, in today’s Gospel, does John the Baptist suggest twice that he doesn’t know Jesus? There’s an explanation, a hypothesis based on modern history—since the Bible itself doesn’t speak of it—and it seems a plausible explanation. The family of John the Baptist lived in Judea, while the Holy Family lived in Galilee, so the geographic distance would have restricted frequent visits, even if the annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem would have given them the chance to see each other.