Our text today is Matthew 12:46-50
[46] While Jesus was still speaking to the crowds, His mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to Him. [47] Someone told Him, “Look, Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to You.”
[48] But Jesus replied, “Who is My mother, and who are My brothers?” [49] Pointing to His disciples, He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers. [50] For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”
Let’s call this text “Brothers and Sisters in Christ.”
From today’s text, we notice three things:
1. We see the heart of Christ’s mission.
While His biological family sought His attention, Jesus turned to His disciples and declared, “Here are my mother and my brothers!” This statement invites us to understand that Jesus came to establish a spiritual family. We are his brothers and sisters. We are Brother Jones, and Sister Smith. What sounds like just religious expressions, really is grounded in truth.
2. These verses call us to rethink our understanding of family.
While Jesus’ biological family stood outside, seeking, Jesus turned to His disciples and declared, “Here are my mother and my brothers!” This powerful statement reveals that the bonds formed through faith in Christ surpass even the closest earthly ties.
Jesus emphasizes that those who embrace the will of His Heavenly Father are His true family, transcending the limitations of biological kinship. The blood of Christ, shed for our redemption, proves thicker than the blood shared by ancestry. This should cause us to realize that our spiritual family, united in devotion to God, holds a sacred and eternal significance that is greater than all else.
3. In the midst of a gathered crowd, Jesus defines family not by blood but by obedience to God’s will. It’s a gentle but powerful reminder that our spiritual kinship with Jesus is forged through our actions and commitment to follow the Father’s commands.
Lonnie Davis