Message preached Sunday, February 1, 2015 from Mark 3:31-35
Theme: Jesus’ truest kin are those who do the will of His Father.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
In the third chapter of the Gospel of Mark, we find a story about an encounter that Jesus had with His earthly family. It was the kind of an encounter that we might call an ‘awkward family moment’. But it ended up being an encounter that gives us a very encouraging picture of Jesus’ love for us.
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Let me begin by setting the context for this family encounter.
Jesus was in the city of Capernaum, along the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. Much of what we have been studying in the Gospel of Mark so far has involved His activities in that city by the sea, because it was the center-place of the early days of His earthly ministry.
But the news about Him was beginning to spread far beyond the narrow regions of Galilee; and vast numbers of people were making their way to Capernaum from Jerusalem, from Judea, from cities along the Mediterranean coast, and from regions beyond—all coming to see Him and to be healed by Him. There was also—at the same time—a growing opposition against Him from the religious leaders of the Jewish people. He had healed a man who was possessed by an unclean spirit in the local synagogue—a man who cried out that Jesus was the Holy One of God. And a little later, in the same synagogue, Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath Day. These were great miracles that testified to who He was; but because of them, the Pharisees began to plot together how they might destroy Him.
When we come to our story this morning, we find Him in a house in Capernaum—and with a large crowd gathered around Him that was tightly packed together. Verse 20 tells us; “Then the multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread.” We find that the scribes—the religious scholars of the day—were also in the house. They had tried to argue that Jesus was casting out demons in the power of the devil; but He responded by proving the absurdity of their argument, proving to them that He truly was the Son of God in their midst.
It was a time of great excitement. But it’s important to understand that it was also a time of growing danger. And in the background of all these things was Jesus’ family—His mother and His half-brothers. They too had heard about all the things that were happening; and it seems that they had gotten together out of concern for this developing situation and agreed to take action. They decided to make the twenty-mile trip from Nazareth up north to Capernaum for what seems very much like an early form of “intervention”. Verse 21 tell us; “But when His own people heard about this”—that is, the growing threats against Him, and the vast crowds that were pressing in on Him—“they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, ‘He is out of His mind.’”
Now; I believe that the members of Jesus’ earthly family were acting out of sincere love for Him. But they had completely misunderstood Him. And that brings us to our passage this morning. Verses 31-35 tell us;
Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him. And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You.” But He answered them, saying, “Who is My mother, or My brothers?” And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother” (Mark 3:31-35).
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Now; let’s make one thing very clear right at the start. In saying this, Jesus was not rejecting His earthly family or somehow severing Himself from His mother and brothers.
You may already know that some cults love to use the story in this morning’s passage as a way of separating their young victims away from loved ones. “They’re not really your family”, they’ll say. “See? Even Jesus cut off relations with His old family; and embraced the new family—just like we’re telling you that you must do.” Well; that’s not at all what was happening. Jesus was not saying that His half-brothers were not loved by Him as brothers, or that His mother was not loved by Him as a mother. He clearly did love them and cared for them—in spite of the fact that they were misunderstanding Him. I believe that Jesus always remained identified with His family in love—no matter what they may have thought about Him. A little while later in the Gospel of Mark, we find that Jesus went to His home town of Nazareth and preached; and the people there said,
“Where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands! Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?” (6:2-3).
And we always need to keep the end of the story in mind too. After Jesus was raised from the dead, He showed Himself to many—including some of the members of His own family. We’re told in Acts 1:14 that after He ascended back up to heaven, when the apostles and Jesus’ many followers were gathered together in the upper room for prayer, they were gathered with “Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.” Did you know that two of those half-brothers wrote books that we have in our Bible? James who wrote the book of James, and Jude who wrote the book of Jude, were both half-brothers of Jesus; and both of them begin their New Testament letters by calling themselves ‘bondservant’ of Jesus Christ. They may not yet have understood the truth about Him at the time that this morning’s story took place; but they eventually would.
So; this passage isn’t really about any kind of separation that Jesus had with His flesh-and-blood family. He truly loved them. Rather, its a passage that shows us that He had a set of family relations that were deeper and more eternal than that which can be had only through the ties of flesh and blood. The flesh-and-blood family relationship—the deepest natural relationship we can think of—is one that is only temporary, and one that comes to an end when literal flesh and blood come to an end at death. But there is a relationship that Jesus enjoys and shares with His followers that is eternal, and far deeper than that of the deepest temporal kinship we can imagine—a relationship for which our flesh-and-blood kinship is only a faint reflection—a superior relationship that even our flesh-and-blood family members can enter into and share.
As this passage shows us, Jesus’ truest kin are those who do the will of His Father. And I believe that this passage is meant to show us how much Jesus values that spiritual kinship—and how it is possible for people to enter into it.
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So; let’s go back through the beginning of this passage together, and see first . . .
1. WHO THOUGHT THAT THEY WERE HIS TRUEST KIN (vv. 31-32).
We’re told, “Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him” (v. 31). When the Gospel writer Luke tells this story, he says that they “could not approach Him because of the crowd” (Luke 8:19). If they had come up from Nazareth—a journey that would have taken a day or so for the whole family to make—then we can imagine that they would have been a bit frustrated when they arrived. Perhaps as they stood on the outside, they could see the crowd gathered around Him, and could hear Him teaching them. And perhaps they even expected Him to stop what He was doing and go out to them at their call; or to at least make some of the people inside leave the house for a while, so that they could make their way in to Him.
Perhaps someone near the door saw them; or perhaps one of them—Mary, or James, or Jude—told the person at the door that they were wanting to speak to Him. Soon, word from the doorway spread throughout the midst of the crowd and made its way up to where Jesus was in the midst of the house. Mark tells us, “And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, ‘Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You’” (v. 32). By that point, everyone knew that Jesus’ family was there; and they would have naturally expected Him to stop what He was doing and respond to their call.
I wonder, by the way, if we can’t see a lesson from this. People sometimes try to approach Jesus spiritually in a similar way as His own family did. Some people might believe that they have a right to Him, but for all the wrong reasons. They might think that they have a right to Jesus’ attention because they grew up in a Christian home, or because they had a long term relationship with a church, or because they had gone to a Christian school, or because they have a Christian heritage of some kind, or because they live in a country with a Christian history, or even because they had done a lot of good deeds in His name.
People may think that they have a right to Him on the basis of such things; but they aren’t the kind of things on which a relationship with Him can be claimed. Rather, it’s on the basis of what He says later in this passage—doing the will of His Father. In His Sermon on The Mount, Jesus once said;
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” (Matthew 7:21-23).
It’s a dangerous thing depend on a relationship with Jesus on the basis of anything else than what He Himself said—and that is, doing will of the Father. Not even the members of His own family were given a place of priority above that.
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Now; His family members—as His flesh-and-blood kin—thought that they had the first right His attention. And perhaps in some other circumstance, they might have been correct, and He might have accommodated them. But right then, He was surrounded by followers who were believing on Him as He taught them and ministered to them. He might have been able to say to His family right then what He had said to His mother once before; “Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49). And what’s more; wouldn’t you agree with me that He knew that they had actually come to put a stop to things and take Him away?
Well; His own flesh-and-blood family weren’t understand Him, and they didn’t have an appreciation of who He was and what He was called to do. We’re told elsewhere in Scripture that, at this time in His ministry, “even His brothers did not believe in Him” (John 7:5). (They would eventually, of course—but they didn’t yet.) And I suspect that Mary—who certainly should have known better—was caught up in the concern of her other sons for Him.
But all those other people who were crammed into the house with Him, and who were seated all around Him, were clearly drawn to Him and were listening to Him. And that’s when we see . . .
2. WHO HE DECLARED TO BE HIS TRUEST KIN (vv. 33-34).
Now, people in the crowd told Him that Mary and His brothers were standing just outside the door, wanting to see Him. Everyone would have known that they were there. And perhaps His family could even be seen just outside the doorway—waiting. And it’s then that Mark tells us in verses 33-34; “But He answered them, saying, “Who is My mother, or My brothers?” And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him”—Matthew, in his Gospel, even telling us that He stretched out His hand—“and said, ‘Here are My mother and My brothers!’”
And again, I don’t believe Jesus was saying anything like, “You folks out there—standing outside the door—are not my family anymore. These folks are now my family. You’re out and they’re in.” That would be a horrible thing to think of our Lord! Rather, I believe He was saying something more like this: “You folks outside are My flesh-and-blood kin—My mother and My brothers; and I will always love you. But these folks sitting around Me—they believe on Me and are paying heed to My words and My works—which is what you should do. They are My kin through faith and through obedience to My Father; and that makes them kin with one another. They are My truest kin—My spiritual family; which is a deeper and more profound kinship than flesh-and-blood could ever be. And right now, they are the ones who hold priority over My attention and My commitment.”
And you know; that would sound very much like something else that Jesus said. In Luke 14:23, we’re told that He turned to those who were following Him and said,
“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26).
Obviously, He didn’t mean that, if you were going to follow Him, you must first cut off all ties with your family and sever yourself from them—any more than He would have meant that you must cut off all care for your own physical life and bring your life to an end. Rather, He means that when the choice is forced upon us—to either follow Jesus, or remain devoted to a family that demands that we stop following Jesus—then we must choose to follow Jesus every time. We still must remain in love with and devoted to our family; but Jesus is to have the first place in our love and devotion. Our love for Him must involve so great a devotion that it looks like a “hatred” of everything else by comparison—even of something so dear as our family—and even of something so dear to us as our own life.
Some folks have had to make a difficult decision like that. Many, in fact, have had to choose to follow Jesus and to give Him the first place in their heart’s affection—even while it meant that their family would utterly reject them for doing so. It’s a truly heartbreaking thing whenever that happens. But Jesus said something about that too. The apostle Peter once said to Him,
“See, we have left all and followed You.” So Jesus answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life (Mark 10:28-31).
Those who put Jesus first will experience persecution for doing so; there’s no doubt about that. But even if they lose the love of their precious flesh-and-blood kin in the process, they have a deep and profound kinship in the fellowship of Jesus’ followers—and mutual care that we show for one another under His love—that makes up for it multiple times over.
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So then; Jesus’ truest kin were not the members of His own flesh-and-blood family—even though He loved His mother and His brothers and His sisters very dearly. Rather, His truest kin were those whose relationship with Him was on a spiritual basis. That spiritual kin took the priority place in His devotion and affection over even His flesh-and-blood kin.
And that leads us to one more thing . . .
3. HOW SOMEONE BECOMES HIS TRUEST KIN (v. 35).
After looking at all those who were sitting around Him—listening to Him and believing on Him—and after saying that they were His mother and brothers, He said; “For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother” (v. 35).
What wonderful words! But let’s consider them carefully. First of all, there is a condition involved in becoming His kin. And that condition is that they ‘do the will’ of Jesus’ Father in heaven. That’s how Jesus Himself relates to His Father. He said, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work” (John 4:34). And if we want to be His kin—and be in the family of His Father—then we must do the will of the Father too.
You might wonder what the will of the Father is that we’re supposed to do. And Jesus answered that question for us in the Gospel of John. People came to Him and asked, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” And Jesus answered and told them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent” (John 6:28-29). Jesus came to this world to do the will of the Father and finish the work that He gave Him to do; and for us, the will of the Father is that we put our sincere faith in Him and believe in whom the Father sent. Jesus said;
“For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:38-40).
That’s what all those people were doing as they sat around Jesus. They were believing in ‘Him whom the Father sent’. They were doing the will of the Father; and that’s why He was able to say that they were His truest kin.
Consider the unlimited openness of that statement. Jesus said, “whoever does the will of God . . .” That means that anyone—no matter who they are, or what they may be—may enter into a spiritual ‘family’ relationship with Him and be His kin, so long as they meet that important condition. There is no past sin that would keep anyone out. There is no cultural background that would keep anyone out. There is no limitation that would keep anyone out. All they have to do is fulfill the condition of doing the Father’s will and truly, sincerely, repentantly believe on the One whom the Father sent. The apostle John tells us;
He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:10-13; emph. added).
And consider the immediacy of it. Jesus said, “For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother”—not “has the potential of becoming”, nor “will one day become”, but “is”. I love what Jesus said when He rose from the dead—after He completed the Father’s will for us and died on the cross for us. He met Mary of Magdala; and sent her to the apostles and told her to
“go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God’” (John 20:17).
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What a wonderful story this is—even though it started off with an awkward family moment. I can’t help but think of the joy that must have filled the hearts of all those people around Jesus as spoke these words about them—all these people who had come to Him with all their brokenness and failure and need; some of whom had come to Him to be healed of terrible afflictions; some of whom had been brought to Him to be delivered from unclean spirits; some of whom had simply sought forgiveness for a horrible life of sin; all these people who had believed on Him whom the Father had sent—and as they heard Him say of them, “Here are My mother and My brothers!’”
I hope that, if the Lord Jesus were to stand bodily in our church this morning, He would find a church full of people who sincerely trust Him—every one of whom do the will of the Father and believe on Him as the One that the Father has sent for us. I hope that He would be able to stretch His hand out to us, and say that we are His mother and His sisters and His brothers—His truest kin.