Making Jesus Family vs. Joining Jesus’s Family
Making Jesus Family vs. Joining Jesus’s Family
Daily Reflection: Matthew 12:46-50 — 11/25/2023
46 While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. 47 Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.” 48 He replied to him, “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.” — Matthew 12:46-50
How do we support the work of Jesus? What reveals that we are members of his family?
A typical family rightly concerns itself with ensuring that family members conduct themselves in ways that honor the family name. Consequently, we support the right kinds of behavior and discourage the wrong kinds, sometimes even necessitating interventions.
Is that what we observe from Mary and Jesus’s brothers? Can we consider Matthew 12:47 an intervention? There is reason to believe it is.
Jesus’s reputation had been declining. His encounters with religious authorities, his peculiar yet compelling messages, and the company he kept all posed a threat to the family name. Out of concern, Mark’s Gospel states, “they [his family] went to find him, for they were saying, ‘He is out of his mind’” (Mark 3:21).
In Matthew’s Gospel, they interrupted his teaching by standing outside and sending someone to fetch him. Surely, there is some embarrassment here.
This still happens in our day. Those closest to Jesus may find themselves tempering his message, making him more palatable, or modifying his teaching to be less offensive or demanding.
When we do this, it is akin to pulling him aside from his mission, revealing that we are more concerned with making Jesus a member of our family than being members of his.
It is safer to adopt Jesus into your family. Then you can mute him, correct him, give him advice, all while being content that Jesus is in your home. But Jesus doesn’t come to join our family; he comes to make us part of God’s family.
This is harder. Being part of God’s family means listening to Jesus with humility, trusting that he knows best. It means acting on his word with faithful obedience, even when you don’t understand. It means never being ashamed of him or his word but embracing them as your source of life.
Heavenly Father, you have made us members of your family through Jesus Christ, our big brother. Forgive us, we pray, for trying to make you a member of ours. Forgive us for being ashamed of you and your ways. Teach us, by your Spirit, to listen humbly and act faithfully, without being concerned for our reputation. Show us that what you think of us matters more than the opinion of the entire planet. We would stand in the name of Jesus, bearing witness to your goodness. Grant that we can do this worthily, in your Name. Amen.