Introduction
Mothers, have you ever wondered what it would have been like to have Jesus for a son. At first thought, it would seem wonderful. Just think, a child – a son, no less – who doesn’t misbehave. He never lies to you; he does all of his chores; he doesn’t get into mischief. What more could you want in a child?
On the other hand, the glimpses that we do get make you think it wouldn’t be all that easy to have such a son. There is the time he disappears in Jerusalem for three days. His father and mother look frantically for him. They finally find him in the temple courts discoursing with the rabbis. Luke tells us the conversation between mother and son:
His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”
49 “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” (Luke 2:48-9).
That would have satisfied you, mothers, wouldn’t it? “Oh, yes, silly me. Well, are you ready to go home?” Somehow I think not.
Then there is the time Mary attends a wedding and finds Jesus there with his disciples. Apparently she is aware of the special powers of her son, so that when the host embarrassingly runs out of wine, she refers the problem to him. Jesus responds to his mother this way: 4 “Dear woman, why do you involve me? My time has not yet come.” No doubt Jesus would have not been rude to his mother, but he does make it clear to her that he did not appreciate the request. Mary, as a good mother will do, ignores him and orders the servants to follow his instructions. But the story shows that as obedient as Jesus might be as a son, he had no qualms about objecting to her requests.
It may be a joy to raise a good son; but it is an arduous challenge to raise one who is divine. The reason is not that he may do something wrong, but precisely because he will always do the right thing. Even mothers will agree that they don’t always do the right thing or think the right thoughts. What will inevitably result is a…well, let’s call it a misunderstanding. In our passage this morning, Jesus will use one of these “misunderstandings” to give us greater understanding.
The Story
31 Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Mark is picking back up from verses 20 and 21. Let’s read those again. Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. 21 When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.” They are concerned about Jesus’ welfare, evidently worried that his ministry has caused too much stress for him. I suppose they traveled from Nazareth to Capernaum, about a 25 mile trip on foot.
They finally arrive, and, just as they had heard, Jesus is surrounded by a crowd in his home. For whatever reason, they don’t go in themselves, but send someone in with a message to let Jesus know they are waiting outside. And that’s it. We will not hear from them again for the rest of the gospel. I make this point simply to remind us that Mark’s interest is not where our interest would be. We want to know what happened. Did Jesus go out to see his family? We don’t know. I think he did because he elsewhere speaks of the importance of showing honor to one’s parents, but Mark doesn’t care to tell us. Maybe he doesn’t know. His point, though, in including this story is not to give a human interest story on Jesus’ family relations, but to teach us about our relations with Jesus and with God.
Verse 32, the message is delivered: 32 A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.” Jesus responds:
33 “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked.
34 Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”
Jesus is not rejecting his blood relations. He is not being a rebellious son. What he is teaching is what it means to belong to the kingdom of God. He is always taking opportunity to teach about God’s kingdom. Here he teaches the type of relationship one is to have with him in the kingdom, as well as how one gets that relationship.
Consider first the type of relationship. Our bond to Jesus is to be as strong and intimate as the bond between the closest of family relations. That’s the point of using the terms brother and sister and mother. He is not saying that people will have different relations to him. “Some of you will be equal to me as a brother or sister and some over me like a mother,” but rather, “All of you will be tied to me as tightly as siblings are to one another and children to their mother.”
Note to whom he is referring: he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Matthew says that Jesus is pointing to his disciples. No doubt they are sitting the closest to him, but with that term, he probably includes more than the twelve disciples. He is most likely indicating everyone who has come to listen to him and follow him, whether it be a literal daily following, or a following in spirit, that is, adhering to what he teaches. These people, who until recently Jesus had not even known, are now claimed by Jesus as family. You’ve got to wonder what his mother and brothers thought of this statement.
He next identifies how one gets such a relationship with him. 35 Whoever does God’s will…” That is a good Jewish answer. Even the Pharisees could have had no qualms with that word. Indeed, even Jesus’ family, who I imagine would have tensed up at Jesus’ initial remarks, probably would have relaxed a bit. They would have understood that he was teaching sound doctrine.
8 I desire to do your will, O my God;
your law is within my heart (Psalm 40:8).
20 Praise the LORD, you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his bidding,
who obey his word.
21 Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts,
you his servants who do his will (Psalm 143:20-1).
7 For the LORD is righteous,
he loves justice;
upright men will see his face (Psalm 11:7).
To do God’s will is to live a righteous life. We live righteously by following the Word of the Lord. “Amen,” everyone – disciple, relative, Pharisee – would have to affirm.
Being God’s Family
Everybody would be satisfied unless one of the disciples raised his hand and asked, “Rabbi, what do you mean by calling us your brothers and sisters and mother?” What would Jesus have said?
Perhaps he would have talked about how we could regard the kingdom of God as the family of God. This would have fit Jewish thought. Though not often, God is referred to as Israel’s Father.
16 But you are our Father,
though Abraham does not know us
or Israel acknowledge us;
you, O LORD, are our Father,
our Redeemer from of old is your name (Isaiah 63:16).
9 They will come with weeping;
they will pray as I bring them back.
I will lead them beside streams of water
on a level path where they will not stumble,
because I am Israel’s father,
and Ephraim is my firstborn son (Jeremiah 31:9).
It was common for the Israelites to refer to one another as brothers, so that Peter, when addressing the Jews at Pentecost called them brothers (Acts 2:29).
But for Jesus, it is evident that he used the image of family more naturally. Though the Jews might make some reference to God as Father, it was not common. Yet, Jesus regularly referred to God when addressing his disciples and hearers as “your Father.”
Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:44-5).
14 In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost (Matthew 18:14).
Perhaps he would have focused on the possessive pronoun “my,” i.e. the significance of belonging to him. Here is what I mean. The Jews understood that they belonged to God because they were related to Abraham. As Abraham’s children they belonged to the covenant that God had made with him.
7 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you (Genesis 17:7).
Jesus refers to an elderly Jewish woman in this way:
16 Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her? (Luke 13:16)
In a debate with Jesus other Jews proclaimed:
39 “Abraham is our father,” they answered (John 8:39).
Paul, as a Christian, would still make a distinction between Jews and Gentiles:
26 “Brothers, children of Abraham, and you God-fearing Gentiles… (Acts 13:26).
But Jesus changes the relationship that makes someone a child of God. What now matters is whether one belongs to him. One belongs to God because he or she belongs to Jesus. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well (John 14:6,7). Or again in Matthew 7:21-3: 21 Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ Jesus is not speaking in family language, but the meaning is the same. What will matter in the end is the relation that Jesus has with us. Are we his sisters and brothers?
Perhaps Jesus would have discussed the implications of belonging to his family in light of our own families. Though he was not rejecting his earthly family, he was making a statement about which family takes priority. He will make a number of statements that are difficult for anyone to take who loves his family.
He rewards those who have left their families to follow him:
29 “I tell you the truth,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life (Mark 10:29-30).
He rejects those who elect family obligations over immediate obedience to him:
21 Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
22 But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead” (Matthew 8:21-2).
He states frankly that he will be the cause of family divisions:
34 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn
”‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own
household.’
37 “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me…(Matthew 10:34-37).
Jesus highly values the family, and we could go through passages which demonstrate that. But the purpose of this passage is to make the point that as important as the family is, following Jesus is the greatest priority.
Another disciple might have raised his hand and asked Jesus, “Rabbi, how does one do God’s will?” What Jesus ought then to have said was (as he once did to a young man), “You know the commandments; do them. Obey the Law.” But more than likely he would have made statements similar to others he would make.
21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me… 23 Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching… 10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love (John 14:21,23;15:10).
The disciples’ commission was to make other disciples who would obey him:
20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you (Matthew 28:20).
The meaning of following Jesus is to obey his teachings. This is all well and good, but a disciple might still have asked, “Rabbi, how can we do your will. The Law has already proven to be greater than we can bear, and your own commands, if anything, are more difficult.”
Then Jesus could have replied, “The key to doing my will is both the most difficult act to do and the most wonderful: difficult because it requires humility; wonderful because it relieves all burdens. That key is to believe in me.”
29 The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent (John 6:29).
38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day (John 6:38-40).
Many people respect the teachings of Jesus, and many of them even try to live what he taught. But Jesus did not come merely to give us moral instruction. He came to make us members of his family. He did the necessary “paper work” of fulfilling the old covenant obligations and creating a new covenant to cover all who belong to him. Now what he calls us to do to enter into his family is to believe him – to place our faith in him as he claims is necessary. All the other commands about living good lives are important for living within the family. But none of it gets us into the family. It is faith in Jesus and faith alone that does that. That is God’s will to do. That is what makes us the brothers and sisters and mothers of Jesus.
