Jesus' mother and brothers

Luke 8:19-21

Key Verse 8:21

He replied, "My mother and brothers are those who hear God's word and put it into practice."

In this passage Jesus teaches us that he came to build a spiritual family among those who hear God's word and obey it. Through this passage we can learn how to build a spiritual family of God with what sense of priority and purpose. There is a great joy in the life that belongs to the family of God. Yesterday I visited Chicago. There I met people from different continents from different nationalities, ethnic backgrounds, races, and characters, all in one church fellowship called UBF. And I derived lots of joy in not just knowing each of them (not superficially but intimately) but spending time together with them for one common purpose, that is to serve our Lord Jesus and his world mission command. So with the joy of having fellowship with the children the Lord God put in the family headed by Jesus Christ, let us study this passage in two parts: 

Part I, now Jesus' mother and brothers came to see Jesus. [The importance of priority]

First, the priority over materialism

Look at verse 19. "Now Jesus' mother and brothers came to see him, but they were not able to get near him because of the crowd." 

We know that Jesus is the source of salvation. He is the exact representation of God's being, for Hebrews 1:3a says, "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word." Therefore it is critical for everyone to desire to come and "see" Jesus, for "seeing" Jesus is the key to seeing God and thereby being saved by God's power. For the same reason, when Jesus began his public ministry, he invited people saying, "Come and see!" 

But in each person coming and wanting to see Jesus, why he or she comes and wants to see Jesus is also critical to receiving salvation and become a member of God's family. Some people come and try to meet Jesus not to learn of him, and follow His precepts, but to find fault with him and make an argument with him. Some come only to get a quick benefit from Jesus and then leave as quickly as they came. 

In verse 19, we see Jesus' mother and brothers coming to see Jesus. Why did they come at this moment? In view of other gospel accounts such as Mark 3, it is quite obvious that their motive was not to learn of Jesus and follow His way but to file an objection to what Jesus was doing and if possible put a stop to the work Jesus was doing, and let Jesus serve the agenda they had in mind. In other words they did not come to serve Jesus' agenda but their own agenda. As you know, Jesus is God-centered. He alone is totally sacrificial. He is not selfish. Every one is selfish at least to a certain extent. But Jesus is not. He came to offer himself as a ransom sacrifice for many. A lot of people say, "Oh, I do this for God's sake." Or "I do this because I love Jesus." But, when we analyze their motives, it turns out that they say what they say and do what they do only to serve their own hidden agenda. But in case of Jesus he did what he did only to promote God's agenda. 

In the passage as well Jesus was serving God's will. Day in and day out he worked to proclaim the good news of God's kingdom. But Jesus' mother and his brothers had a different priority. When they came to Jesus they had something else in their minds. What did they have in mind? Mark 3:20-22 gives out an interesting comment, for it reads, "Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind." And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, "He is possessed by Beelzebub! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons." [Please also read if you can Mark 3:23-35 as well.] Notice what Mark 3:20 and 21 specifically say: "Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind."" The basis on which Jesus' family concluded that Jesus went out of his mind was that Jesus and his disciples were not even able to eat. Eating! That was a problem. In their dictionary, you must be "able" to eat first, and then do something else. 

It has been said, "First things first." What did Jesus do first? What was Jesus' first priority? To Jesus doing the work God asked Jesus to do was first. But to Jesus' family, the first thing was to be able to eat first, then the rest second or third. 

Of course the business of eating and doing it properly is very important. For example MD Reginald Cherry says that green tea is good for it inhibits tumor growth. [Last Friday during a group Bible study session among the senior staff members, I learned that Mormons do not allow their members to drink coffee or tea, but this medical doctor says that green tea is good for cancer prevention.] Tofu and other soy bean products can also stop early growth of cancer. Garlic is also very good. The more garlic people have in their diet, the less is their incidence of getting cancer, says the doctor. In this way, eating properly is important. But never lose the point of eating. Why eat? To survive? Yes. Why do you want to survive? Why do you want to keep remaining alive? Why are you so anxious to prolong the span of your life even for one minute or second? For the sake of just hanging around here? No. Only to do the will God has sent us to do. For this reason Jesus said in John 4:34, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work." But be careful. Jesus did not say this to ignore the importance of eating. For according to Jesus, serving the Lord God and doing His will is killing two birds with one stone, for Exodus 23:25 says, "So you shall serve the Lord your God and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take sickness away from among you." [NKJV] 

In the day of Jesus the local economy was not that good. Bible scholars say that if you could eat two or even one meal a day regularly, you belong to the upper middle class. Apparently, Jesus' family had a financial problem. We do not know exactly what happened to Jesus' human father, Joseph, the carpenter. By the time Jesus began his public ministry, most likely Jesus' legal father Joseph might have passed away. By occupation he was a carpenter. In those days it was believed that carpenters made a decent living. But with Joseph gone, it is not unlikely that the financial condition of Jesus’ family went down hill. Then it was Jesus, the eldest son, who should provide food for the family. 

But Jesus went out and did not come back home. By the time Jesus needed to be responsible for the family, Jesus went out of home, and since then he even did not even give the family a phone call. Of course he briefly visited his hometown. There in the synagogue on one Sabbath he preached the word of God. Everyone liked the message. But soon he got involved in arguments with people. The local leaders got upset with Jesus. They all banded together and tried to drive Jesus to a spot on a cliff, where they wanted to push him off the cliff. But Jesus forced his way through them. Since that time Jesus took the trouble of traveling from one town and village after another. 

Then, the news that Jesus was near his hometown came to the earshot of Jesus' family. Of course they knew that Jesus was "very" popular. But what did the popularity do for Jesus? Did it result in Jesus becoming "rich" financially? Most importantly what does Jesus' popularity mean for Jesus' family particularly in terms of "dollar" value? Nothing! You know, Michael Jackson became extremely popular. So, he made tons of money. And his family members “loved” him so they’re still sticking around him to this very day. But Jesus was not Michael Jackson. He was not even like the religious gurus who run mega-size churches raking in tons of money every Sunday. Had Jesus made tons of money like these religious gurus, Jesus could have wire-transferred some of the income to the Nazareth branch of the Bank of Israel, to the account of Jesus' family, so that they would buy a house or at least go out to Hometown Buffet and enjoy a family dinner every once in a while. But as they saw Jesus and his so-called "discipleship" ministry, all they could see was the exact opposite of what they perceived as blessings from God - financial poverty. Plus, Jesus could not even take care of himself. 

Again, the basis on which Jesus' family concluded that Jesus went out of his mind was that Jesus and his disciples were not even able to eat. Eating! That was a problem. In their dictionary, you must be "able" to eat first, and then do something else.

In the American scene which is largely based on materialism and humanism, the idea of "eat" first and "God's will" second or third, takes on all different forms. In an extreme case most church going people (I am talking about Christians, missionaries, shepherds) totally abandon the mission to serve, and totally focus on making bread. 

Of course work is important, for 2 Thessalonians 3:10b, "If a man will not work, he shall not eat." Some students are so lazy that although they are in their late twenties or thirties, still they become a financial burden to others. To them, the Bible says, in Proverbs 10:4, "Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth." Also Ecclesiastes 10:18 says, "If a man is lazy, the rafters sag; if his hands are idle, the house leaks." In regard to those who are lazy we need to help them to repent of their laziness and work full time, so they could learn how to be responsible for themselves financially. As they make money and become financially self-sufficient, then, we need to pray that they would not just feed their own stomach but serve God using the money. We need to encourage them to stop just making money, and start serving the Lord's command. 

In the parable of the sower, Jesus described the problem of the third kind of heart soil as the "thorns." This third kind suffers three problems: worries, riches, and pleasures. These three problems hit man in three phases: first, through worry demons, you are driven to become materialistic; second, as you become materialistic, you are driven to indulge yourself in making money, money, and money from Monday to Sunday; and third, as you fully give yourself making money, you become rich, so your financial portfolio grows thick and heavy. You get into the tax bracket of six, seven, or eight digit annual income, and even sometimes above an eight digit income. Then, what will happen? In your sinful nature, as the devil prompts you, even without yourself knowing or being able to control yourself, you are driven to indulge yourself in a pleasure seeking lifestyle. Like the Roman Emperor Nero you think that you have all you need for life. But if you ignored God's purpose for you and indulge yourself in what is physical, you end up collecting lots of thorns, not the real fruit of life. Remember: worries, riches, and pleasures are essentially "thorns". What are the thorns good for? They are good for nothing but fire. 

As Jesus' family saw Jesus, they judged that Jesus and his disciples were not even able to eat. So they said, "Oh, he is out of his mind." Their observation indicates that Jesus was "busy" with serving sheep that he even skipped meals. Jesus forgot the meal time, because he was so absorbed in serving the flock of God. Have you ever been so "absorbed" in doing something that you even forgot about eating? In the past, during my college days, I stayed in a dormitory run by a charitable foundation. There, on so many occasions, I was so sucked into playing card games that I skipped meals many times. As a result, I became very skinny, as skinny as one of the skinniest persons in our ministry. There was another occasion when I was so absorbed in doing what is spiritual, that I forgot about eating. But 99 times out of 100 I was the opposite of what Jesus was doing. In order to eat first, I dropped what I was supposed to do. 

Now it is about the time for us to stop and ask: "What is my priority? Is it eating or serving God's will?" For the sake of our discussion, remember this "eating" business is inclusive of all other concerns such as developing a career, seeking a marriage partner, building a family, raising kids well, or enjoying the so-called ‘family life’ such as being able to buy an RV, and then vacationing to all the cool spots around the world. In the passage for today, Jesus fully immersed himself in serving the flock of God. He surrounded himself first with his disciples, then the flock of God. Because he fully served the flock of God this way, his immediate family members could not even get near him. 

Second priority over humanism

Jesus came to build a spiritual family. Working to build up a spiritual family however is not an easy thing to do. It requires lots of personal sacrifices on the part of the one who serves the purpose. When you think about it objectively, in the case of Jesus, he served God's purpose as a bachelor. He could have married like many of us. But he chose not to marry. Why? In my opinion, he did not have the "need" for marriage. According to Genesis 2:10 Adam "needed" to marry for God found that it was not good for Adam to be alone. So one of the needs we have is "loneliness", and this need can be met through marriage. So, by all means you need to marry. But Jesus did not have this need. He is God Incarnate. He is the Creator God. He is all sufficient. As Isaiah 40:10 says, "His reward is with him and his recompense accompanies him." So he did not marry. 

But to marry or not to marry is not the point. The point is to serve the will God has sent each person to do. And serving God's will requires lots of sacrifice. To Jesus, then, not to marry to serve God's will cannot be called "sacrifice." But to us it is called a sacrifice. Last week end, I visited Chicago. There I met Mother Barry. The staff meeting began around 6:00 p.m. Friday evening, but ended at 2:00 a.m. Saturday morning. And the meeting ended with her praying. All of us prayed together but she prayed last. In her prayer, she talked about the need for us to overcome temptations. She also admitted that we are all sinners, this world is so wicked, and all of us, herself included, need to repent daily to overcome the temptations of the flesh, so we would not sin but be devoted to serving the Lord. Then, Saturday at 2:00 p.m. there was a wedding. After the couple exchanged vows, several of us got together and offered prayers of blessing for the couple. Again Mother Barry prayed the last time. As I saw her praying, one thought crossed my mind: "She is 77, and she remains a virgin. What does she think of her status as single at this particular moment?" This thought came to mind because I was reminded that each time she heard people talking about a girl or a boy in UBF getting romantically involved with a boy or a girl, she always used to say, "If they like each other, let them marry!" Did she ever have any man whom she really liked and therefore wanted to get married? Of course I did not carry this kind of thought too much. The thoughts of this sort quickly arose and I quickly erased them all. But my point is this: it is not easy for any human being, be it a man or a woman, to sacrifice his or her marriage and serve the Lord fully. 

It has been said that men and women suffer from two problems: a money problem and a marriage problem. Of these two, the latter is so severe that I would like to talk about it a little more. That is, I would like to encourage everyone to open the Bible and read 1Co 7:25-35. Let us open the Bible and read it responsively. Here in v. 35 Paul used the expression "undivided devotion" to the Lord. 

To many, the Apostle Paul's teachings in this passage hit them as problematic. But the problem disappears when we think about the purpose of marriage. What is the purpose of marriage? The purpose of marriage is to serve God. We find this purpose in Genesis 1,2. There after creating the Garden of Eden, God gave Adam the mission to take care of the Garden as God's agent. Then God said in Genesis 1:28, "Be fruitful and increase in number!" Then in order to help Adam to serve the mission better God created the woman, Eve. So the two could work together to please God, so that through their service and union, God's children would grow in number and fill the universe. 

But the brothers and sisters in the church of Corinth ignored the spiritual purpose of marriage. Rather, in their carnal mind, the husbands tried to please their wives, and the wives their husbands. But this is not the purpose of marriage. Husbands and wives both must please the Lord. Then they can truly please each other. 

Look at verse 19 again. "Now Jesus' mother and brothers came to see him, but they were not able to get near him because of the crowd." Jesus and his disciples served the Lord's purpose fully. But Jesus' mother and brothers did not fully understand Jesus' priority. So they came to bring Jesus back home. This episode teaches us that just as Jesus' [physical] family members got their priorities mixed up, so also it is so easy for us to lose the priority, and thereby miss out on the truly blessed purpose of life, that is, to build up the spiritual family of God. 

Part II, my mother and my brothers are those who hear God's word and put it into practice [The importance of focusing on the right purpose, not just any good purposes]

Look at verse 20. "Someone told him, "Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you."  We do not know who that "someone" is. But it is not important. We however can understand the motive of this "someone". He wanted to diffuse the tension that was built up between Jesus and his family. As this man said to Jesus, he might have expected Jesus to drop what he was doing, and go out to talk to them. But suppose Jesus did this? Then, at least certainly Jesus' brothers might have made a "scene", making the whole situation "disgraceful". In addition, by describing Jesus' mother and brothers as "your" mother and brothers, he accidentally projected the misconception that Jesus is not the Savior of all peoples on earth. He did not know the idea that Jesus came to build a spiritual family among all peoples on earth, throughout all generations! In short, this man accidentally committed the sin of misrepresenting Jesus as someone who is less than who he really is! 

How did Jesus correct this man? Look at verse 21. "He replied, "My mother and brothers are those who hear God's word and put it into practice."" In this passage in the course of correcting this man's error, Jesus teaches all peoples on earth the true purpose of his coming, that is, to build a spiritual family. What then is a spiritual family? How is it built? The answer is couched in two words: hear, and practice. God's family is the family which consists of all members who not only hear God's word but also obey it. In the case of Jesus' mother, it is certain that she heard God's word a lot. So must have been the case with Jesus' brothers. After all they were members of the chosen people Israel. They attended the worship service and Bible study sessions in their local synagogue faithfully. Being a member of the so-called 'royal family (I mean the descendants of David), their heads were stuffed with tons of Bible knowledge. But they did not put the word of God into practice. For example, in calling the Israelites out of Egypt, the Lord God commanded them to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Here the call to be a "priest" is the call to pray for all peoples on earth. It meant they had the duty to teach the Bible to all peoples on earth. In modern terms, it is as good as the call for them to live as a shepherd nation, feeding the flock of God. But they neglected this purpose of God. Rather, they were only thinking about their own family affairs such as the balance in their own bank accounts. 

"He replied, "My mother and brothers are those who hear God's word and put it into practice."" The call to "hear God's word and put it into practice" sounds like a very complex thing to do. It sounds like asking a man to memorize the entire Bible and put it into practice, every word of it. Then as one thinks about this kind of challenge, one may be tempted to say, "Man, this is too hard. Who can do it?" But when you prayerfully meditate on Jesus' point, it is not difficult to catch His point. What is His point? It is simple: do not be self-centered; be God-centered. This practically means that we need to have God’s purpose in mind, so we would serve God’s agenda, not our own agenda, for it is even when we serve God’s agenda/purpose that we can be truly blessed. So let us think about what God has in mind for each of us to do. Always consider why God gave you this or that. Why did God give you one life to live? 1 Timothy 4:4 says, "For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving..." So everything God created is good: your life, your job, your marriage, your parents, your kids, and your everything. Remember this also: "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD'S purpose that prevails." Pro 19:21 In 2 Ti 1:9, the Apostle Paul also says that God called us to a holy life (meaning the life that is dedicated to serving the Lord) not because of anything...but because of his own purpose. And God's purpose is to build a spiritual family in the Lord. When we remember this purpose, then we can fully dedicate all the resources of our life to serving God's purpose. Then, the joy will only increase to an infinite degree. 

In conclusion, let us read verse 21. "He replied, "My mother and brothers are those who hear God's word and put it into practice."" Today we learned the importance of the priority and purpose. Let us keep the priority and purpose straight, so that with this sense of priority and purpose, we would participate in building a spiritual family headed by our Lord Jesus Christ. 

One word: Jesus’ mother and brothers

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