If we are in a gathering of friends and relatives and I ask you who your mother and brothers are, what will you do? Instinctively, you will certainly look around and point to your physical mother, brother or sister. This is our natural tendency because we are living in this earthly world. However, there is a greater relationship that we can build, which is our spiritual kinship. This spiritual kinship is established through our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We can better understand this if we consider what the apostle Paul said: “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things” (Col. 3:1-2). Because of the spiritual relationship that we have, we can now call each other brothers and sisters. Jesus Christ himself pointed out this new connection between believers when he said, “Who are my mother and my brothers? … Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother” (Mark 3:33-35).
Jesus’ words concerning his mother and brothers were not meant to deny or relegate his relationship with them. Instead, he was putting our true relationship with each other in its right perspective. The people outside the room where Jesus was teaching did not believe in him. They had been trying to discredit him in every way they could and even questioned his earthly relationship. They insultingly asked, “Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” (Mark 6:3). Even his own brothers did not believe in him. The reason his mother and brothers were looking for him was to stop him from doing what he was doing. They said, “He is out of his mind” (Mark 3:21). In the hearing of everyone outside the room, including his mother and brothers, he took the opportunity to teach his disciples that there is a greater relationship that we can have—one that is built on our obedience to the living God.
Jesus does not only care about us as individuals, but he cares about our physical family. When Jesus delivered a man from demon possession, that man wanted to follow Jesus. However, Jesus restrained him and said, “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you” (Mark 5:19). Once we come to know him as our Lord and Saviour, Jesus expects us to go back to our own family and share our newfound faith with them. If we truly love the members of our family, we should have special concern about their spiritual life. It is a lot easier to reach out to our loved ones when we put our faith into practice. They need to see that the Word of God is alive in us. To further our outreach to them, we should also be concerned about their physical needs. The apostle Paul admonished believers, saying, “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Tim. 5:8). In this particular case, our actions speak louder than our words. If we do not live by what the Bible says, it will be difficult to reach out to our loved ones. They will be looking for the fruit of our Christianity.
Jesus did care about his family. He did not abandon them, but continued to show his love for them. This was evidenced by the fact that his brothers became believers also. Even when he was hanging on the cross, his family was still on his mind. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Dear woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home (John 19:26-27). Until the last minute of his earthly life, Jesus was concerned about his mother. He entrusted his mother to his faithful disciple, John, who became a son to her. Is this not what Jesus meant when he said, “I tell you the truth no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life”? Friends, let us love and care for one another as brothers and sisters—we are all related in the family of God. Hallelujah!
