The True Kindred of Jesus
31 Then his mother and His brothers came, and standing outside they sent to Him and called Him. 32 A crowd was sitting around Him, and they said to Him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside asking for You.” 33 And He replied, “Who are My mother and My brothers?” 34 And looking at those who sat around Him, He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers”
Mark 3:31-34!
In many places in the world families often live together through all the generations, or at the very least, they live within easy walking distance of one another. Not in the western world! My family lives in California, Oregon, Alabama, Florida, Texas, Massachusetts, Korea, New York, West Virginia, Toronto, and Connecticut! When I lived in Africa, the Sukuma lived in compounds with small clay brick homes with grass thatched roofs. As they married, their families would grow larger, and all would live inside of this compound, or within easy walking distance to another new compound.
When Jesus speaks about His family, it is actually quite shocking to His hearers. Jewish identity at the time of Jesus Christ was steeped in family solidarity along with sabbath observance, the food laws, and other signs of Jewish identity. Family meant being loyal to one’s ancestral heritage, and thereby to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
In our text above Jesus is saying that God is starting a new family, a holy family, and everyone is welcomed into this new family. Allegiance to Jesus defines this family. So today pray that you will live the Gospel by being faithful to Jesus Christ! Give thanks for being part of the family of God!
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.
From the Bible:
“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” John 1:12.
“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit” Ephesians 2:19-22.
“So we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another” Romans 12:5.
“For in Christ Jesus you are all children of God, through faith” Galatians 3:26.
Comments