Matthew 12:46-50

Matthew 12:46-50

While He still spoke to the crowd, behold!  His mother and his brothers had stood outside while seeking to speak to Him.  And someone said to Him, “”Behold!  Your mother and brothers have stood outside while seeking to speak to you.”  And the one who replied said to the one who spoke to Him, “Who is my mother and who are my brothers?”  And after stretching out His hand upon His disciples He said, “Behold!  My mother and my brothers!  For whoever should do the will of my Father who is in heaven – he is my brother and sister and mother.”

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

I’m going to be frank for a moment – although note that at the end of this thought I will temper my frank speech.  We know from other places in Matthew, Mark, and Luke that Jesus was not understood by His family while He was doing ministry.  They came to Him because they thought He was insane.  See Mark 3:21.  How sad is it that even Jesus’ family struggled to accept what He was!  What we can learn from this is that even people who should know better can doubt God’s work.  We as human beings are prone to doubts and questions when God seems to be working outside the box we’d rather put Him in.  It’s not right, but it is natural.

I said I would temper this, and I will.  We know that Mary was at Jesus’ crucifixion and likely was one of the major resources that Luke used to write his Gospel.  Several of Jesus’ brothers came around to see what Jesus was about after Jesus’ death and resurrection – James and Jude even have letters in the Bible named for them.  So while they went through periods of doubting and questioning, they also finished well!

Have you ever doubting what God was doing in your life?  Have you ever questioned God?  Why do we as human beings tend to have moments like this?

Second Thought:

 Let’s talk a bit about the qualification that Jesus lists for being Jesus’ brother, sister, or mother.  Jesus says that His mother, brother, and sister are those who do the will of the Father in heaven.  To put it bluntly, Jesus is talking about people who are both submitted to God and united around the common purpose of God’s will.  We become family with Jesus not through physical blood but through spiritual alignment with the Father’s will.

Are you pursuing God’s ways?  Are you family with Jesus?

Third Thought:

Of course, Jesus is making a really incredible claim about His family.  As Jesus spreads His hands out over His disciples, remember the differences among His disciples.  Fishermen.  Tax collectors.  Religious zealots.  Roman sympathizers.  Sibling pairs.  Once more Jesus reminds us that if we are truly pursuing God, we should be able to get along with other people who are pursuing God’s ways.

What purpose unites you with other disciples of Christ?  Are there any places of your agenda that divides you from other disciples of Christ?

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 13:1-9