Luke 8:19 - 21
19 Then his mother and his brothers[b] came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. 20 And he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you.” 21 But he answered them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”
Questions:
ReplyDelete1. Why does Jesus seem to be dissing his physical family?
2. What did Jesus mean by identifying His family as everyone who hears and does the word of God?
https://hartmangroupdevotionsmark.blogspot.com/2017/05/mark-313-35-13-jesus-went-up-on.html says:
ReplyDeleteIn the Galilee at the time of Jesus, because of the system established during the long periods of government of Herod the Great (37 BC to 4 BC) and of his son Herod Antipas (4 BC to 39 AD), the clan, (the community) was becoming weaker. This closing up was strengthened by the religion of the time.
Now, in order that the Kingdom of God could manifest itself in community living of the people, the persons had to overcome the narrow limits of the small family and open themselves again to the large family, to the Community. Jesus gave the example. When his own family tries to take possession of him, he reacted and extended the family.
Jesus asked the same thing from all those who wanted to follow him. Families could not close themselves up in self . The excluded and the marginalized had to be accepted in the life with others, and in this way feel accepted by God (Lk 14, 12-14) This was the path to attain the objective of the Law which said “There must, then, be no poor among you” (Dt 15, 4). Like the great Prophets of the past, Jesus tries to consolidate community life in the villages of Galilee. He takes back the profound sense of the clan, of the family, of the community, as an expression of the incarnation of the love toward God and toward neighbor.
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Lets be clear on one thing. Jesus is not renouncing his family or saying that we should dishonor our families.
He ignores his biological family for the time being to spend time with his spiritual family indicating his
priorities.
Jesus priorities were not God, family, church.
Jesus priorities were God, church, family…
Is your biological family important? Absolutely.
Should you neglect your family to serve the church? No!
But Jesus makes it clear that the people of God (your spiritual family) are more important than your
biological family. So don’t let your family get in the way of the mission of the church.
Furthermore, if your family has rejected you for following Christ you have another family that will never leave you or forsake you. This family will last forever!!!
Jesus spiritual family is full of siblings!
Jesus spiritual family is primary!
https://hartmangroupdevotionsmark.blogspot.com/2017/05/mark-313-35-13-jesus-went-up-on.html continued:
ReplyDeletethis is the first of what I like to call Mark’s “sandwich stories,” that is, a story within a story. A number of times in his gospel, instead of telling two stories separately, Mark will start with one, move on to the second, and then come back and finish the first one.
There are times in life when you need to choose sides. Some of us don’t like that. We would rather try to straddle the fence or ride down the middle of the road, but there are certain times when you have to take a stand and choose your side.
Mark gets this point across with this sandwich story of Jesus’ family coming to get him and the teachers of the law accusing Jesus of siding with Satan. And though one offense is certainly more serious than the other, they are both instances of opposing Christ rather than coming over to his side. And so they are both examples of choosing the wrong side.
So Jesus’ own family says that he is out of his mind. And then they come to take charge of him. The word translated “take charge” here is the same word used of arresting someone elsewhere in Mark.
https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-8-commentary says:
ReplyDeleteJesus not teaching we are to reject our family ties or obligations. He took care of Mary even as He hung on the cross (John 19:26, 27). What He is doing is giving us priority -- obedience takes precedence over natural family relationships. Allegiance to God always trumps allegiance to one's family.
Ryle on His mother and brothers - From this expression, many have concluded that Joseph, the husband of Mary, was now dead. Whether this was the case we do not know. He certainly seems to have been dead at the time of the crucifixion. from the fact of our Lord commending His mother to the care of John.
Barclay - In Matthew 10:36+ Jesus warns his followers that a man’s foes may well be those of his own household—and he was speaking out of hard and bitter experience.
John MacArthur - The belief that Mary remained a virgin after giving birth to Jesus is foreign to the New Testament and the apostolic era, first appearing in the apocryphal literature of the second century. Catholics have argued that these were Joseph’s children from a prior marriage and hence Jesus’ step brothers. There is no evidence, however, of such a marriage. Further, if that were the case one of those older brothers would have been Joseph’s heir and hence the rightful king of Israel, not Jesus. All historical evidence points to both Joseph and Mary being young teenagers when they married, making a previous marriage and family nonsense. Others have argued that these were Jesus’ cousins, not His brothers. But adelphos (“brother”) is never used in the New Testament in the sense of “cousin.” In fact, the New Testament writers had a word available that specifically means “cousin” (anepsios), and when Paul referred to Barnabas’s cousin Mark he used that word (Col. 4:10).
James Edwards writes "According to Lk 8:21, the Holy Family cannot assume privilege, and sinners cannot assume rejection. This is at once a warning to the comfortable and complacent, and an encouragement to the dejected. In the kingdom of God true family is determined not by biology or physical proximity to Jesus, but by hearing “the word of God and doing it!”
https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-8-commentary continued:
ReplyDeleteJesus makes it very clear that spiritual relationship is far more important to Him then is physical relationship. Genuine believers obey because the CAN obey, not in their own fleshly strength, but because we are enabled by His Spirit in us. This truth does not absolve us of responsibility to choose to obey. And it does not indicate we will obey perfectly. In short, we are not talking about perfection (that's called glorification!) but about direction!
Questions and findings:
ReplyDelete1. Why does Jesus seem to be dissing his physical family?
Physical family was extremely important in that culture. Jesus was pointing out that devotion to God and His family is more important. He was also pointing out that sometimes your family will be against you when you follow Him. And, when that time comes we need to remember who our family really is. So, yes, Jesus was dissing His family in that He prioritized His spiritual family.
2. What did Jesus mean by identifying His family as everyone who hears and does the word of God?
Everyone who hears and does what Jesus says is a new creature in Him. The old has passed away and Jesus' life comes into us. We are united with Him and become part of His family. Jesus is the head of the family.