The fifth of the Ten Commandments describes God’s plan for the family: “Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12).
Jesus never sinned, and we can take it to the bank that He always followed this command. However, His words in Capernaum seem startling all the same.
“While he was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers were standing outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, ‘Look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.’
But to the one who had told him this, Jesus replied, ‘Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?’ And pointing to his disciples, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother'” (Matthew 12:46-50).
Mary, the mother of Jesus, and His brothers traveled from Nazareth to Capernaum, the base of His operations in Galilee. Houses were small in that day, and apparently, there was no more room inside the residence. While they were standing outside, someone told Jesus that they were present.
Jesus did not dishonor His family members, but rather declared an important opportunity for all humanity. If we do the will of the heavenly Father, we are considered members of Jesus’ family. Let’s explore the great blessing of being a member of God’s family and how to get there.
A Blessing of a Lifetime
I don’t understand how soccer is played. When I was growing up, football, baseball, and basketball were the three major sports for kids my age. I did watch a few minutes of the FIFA World Cup, primarily because some of the matches took place in Kansas City.
One thing I noticed was the children who accompanied their parents to the games. Given the fact that the cheapest tickets in Kansas City were over $1,400, we can guess that these children were not born into abject poverty. I’m sure they will talk about their World Cup experience to their grandchildren one day.
Jesus met with a group of people in a small house without indoor plumbing, much less air conditioning. Yet, these people were more privileged than the richest person who flew in a private jet to a World Cup match. They had the opportunity to be family members with Jesus, His Father in heaven, and the Holy Spirit.
To emphasize the great possibility of being a member of God’s family, Jesus pointed to His mother—the one who changed His diapers and nursed Him as a baby. He certainly had no disrespect for His mother, but He wanted to make a very important point: Human beings like you and me can be intimate family members in the household of God, provided we know and do the will of the Father.
Knowing and Doing God’s Will
Henry Blackaby has an excellent understanding of knowing and doing God’s will. If you have not read his book, Experiencing God, you owe it to yourself to read it. Blackaby highlights several aspects of knowing and doing God’s will.
(1) God invites us into a relationship with Him. The ability to read the Bible and talk to God about what we have read is a gift from God. The fact that we have a written record of Jesus’ words and God’s dealings with humans is invaluable. Add to this the ability to have a conversation with God over what we have read, and it is a gift beyond words.
(2) Knowing and doing God’s will doesn’t stop with a personal relationship with God, as wonderful as that is. God invites us to join Him in what He is doing in the world. The invitation to be aligned with God’s activity will produce a crisis of faith in us. It will stretch our faith, and we must decide whether to trust God with obedience or turn to our own devices.
Isaiah met Ahaz and delivered to the king God’s declaration about a potential war with neighboring countries. The message presented Ahaz with a crisis of faith. Would he trust God or rely on an alliance with Assyria? Isaiah’s message was true for the king, and it is true for us today:
“If you do not stand firm in faith,
you shall not stand at all.” (Isaiah 7:9)
Jesus’ family members follow the Lord’s leading, even when it stretches their faith.
(3) When we trust God and see Him do what only He can do, we experience God in a new way. Every time our faith is tested and every time we obey, we discover a new dimension of God that we previously had not known.
What’s the payoff for the exercise of our faith? We grow into the likeness of the head of our family, the Lord. Being part of the family means that we display the nature and character of our loving heavenly Father.
What does it look like to resemble our Lord? Paul described the personality of God’s family members with these words: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).
Who doesn’t want to have a personality and a character like that?!
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross, Bruce Kirby, and I discussed this passage on YouTube today.
Real Voices 