Matthew 12:46-50 While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.” He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
We see in the above verses that familial relationships are not as important as heavenly relationships. Jesus points to his disciples and explains to the crowd that they are his true, eternal brothers, sisters, and mothers. He knows that eternity with God in a family relationship is the inheritance of people who put their trust in his works and not their own, for He is divine, sent from God the Father. On earth his purpose is to enlarge the household of God by making new creatures, humans who are born again because they trust in Jesus’ works: his death and resurrection. He, the Son of God, paid the full price for mankind’s liberty from sin and death. Jesus died and rose again to birth new creatures who will be known forever as children of God, adopted into the heavenly family of the eternal Father. The Christ was placed in the raiment of lowly flesh to accomplish the work necessary to make people holy as God is holy. But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. (Hebrews 2:9) Tasting death, He elevated us to a place of righteousness, for He, The Perfect One, paid the complete price for our redemption from sin. By accomplishing this act of love that the Father God requested, we are forever in the raiment of holiness. This holiness allows us to be in the presence of God, experiencing his love for us. After our death, we boldly approach the throne of God, for we are as He is, holy, perfect because our Substitutionary is perfect. In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the PIONEER of their salvation PERFECT through what he suffered. Both THE ONE WHO MAKES PEOPLE HOLY AND THOSE WHO ARE MADE HOLY ARE OF THE SAME FAMILY. (Both Jesus and we are holy.) So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. (Hebrews 2:10-11) As born-again children in the household of God, we are finally at home with our Father. The prophets of old in their prayers would emphasize that God was their God: “O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, my king, MY GOD!” This theme was often in their chanting of their prayers. As Christians we know full well because of the Spirit in us that God is our God, The Father of the household, the Keeper of all power, forever. Knowing all this and being from God, divine in the flesh, Jesus was willing to tell the crowd that the disciples they saw around him were truly his brothers, family members of the household of God. He would make them eternal as He is. This of course was all realized after the cross, for the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all unrighteousness, making us perfect in every way!
In justifying why they are his brothers, Jsus says, For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother. He implies to the crowd that they too can be his brother, sister, or mother. They too can enter into that close relationship with him, but they must be willing to do the will of the Father. But what is God’s will? Are we to do the works of God through our own energy and willpower? All humans who seek God have this question in their hearts. The Islamic believers add up their good works and hope that they surpass their bad activities in life. For them, they must top off their lives with more good than bad to secure a seat in the heavenlies. Other religions have similar ideals. Good over bad is the mantra of their faith. A drunk in the gutter will sometimes say, “Yes, I am bad, my life is not worth much, but I have done more good than the drunk down the street.” His evaluation of his life is based on comparison with others. Yet all of this assessment of good and bad falls short in the perspective of the Bible. We can do marvelous things, holding our spiritual selves together for long periods of time with good works. We can fill our diaries with the wonderful deeds we have accomplished, but the Bible does not grade us on our accomplishments alone. God evaluates us on his standard of perfection. On one side of the gold scale is our lives and on the other side of the scale is God’s perfection. Can there be a balance with our so-called perfection on one side and God’s on the other? No, such an attempt is futile. We are found wanting, needing perfection in place of our sins on our side of the scale. As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:10-12) This idea of our unrighteousness is anathema to our flesh. We do not want to accept God’s assessment of our lives. Of course, we do wonderful things and we act with uprightness much of the time, but we are not measured by our standards of right living. We are measured according to God’s complete righteousness. We have mysteries and shadows in our lives that are hidden from view, but God measures the heart and any wickedness in it. If we are honest under this thorough assessment, the scale does not remain balanced but tips toward the evil within us. The psalmist does not treat kindly any man or woman who does not hold the knowledge of God in his or her heart. The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one. (Psalm 14:1-3) All people whether they acknowledge God or not should know sins are seen by God, and they are not forgiven by him unless there is a price to be paid for them. All fools believe otherwise: there is no need for any price to be paid for my wrongful acts or attitudes, especially if there is no God of retribution. But Christ came for people who acknowledge their misdeeds, knowing they are not right with a holy God. Jesus came as a Savior to mankind with a salvation salve that will cleanse forever the sins of all people. Because of the price He paid for sin, God will not remember their sins anymore. Their sins will be driven out of sight as far as the east is from the west. These two directions will never meet, so sins are forever forgotten, no longer in existence.
Jesus knows the Father’s will for us is to place our faith in him, living our lives for others. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. (John 6:40) We will be raised into glory when we die—Jesus assures us of that truth, for we are one with him and God. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (John 17:21-23) We are IN CHRIST and Christ is IN GOD, so we are IN GOD, hidden in complete righteousness. Now in this world, we must be about our Father’s business: to do good to others by loving them as we love ourselves. We must use our gifts that the Spirit has given us to perform the works of God. If that means pray, pray, if that means sing, sing, if that means create, create, and so forth. All things are to be put at Jesus’ feet, under God’s authority. As servants to God and as brothers and sisters to Christ, we should be obedient to God’s will for us. He has set us free from the bondage of sin; we have escaped Egypt. Now we must live as those who are not under the bondage of slavery. Because of our freedom from the burden of sin, we should express joy about God’s deliverance, his goodness and love towards all people. God possesses an enduring love for his creation, even though man has fallen into the pit of rebellion. Adam and Eve could not stay with him in the Garden, for rebellion had contaminated their souls, but his love never left Adam and Eve. Today his love extends to people in this difficult world outside of the Garden. Through Jesus’ brothers and sisters, He is extending his love to the world. For us Christians, each day should be a Father’s will day. We are the earthly images of God. Therefore, we should put off the works of the flesh and put on the works of the Spirit. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—PUT IT INTO PRACTICE. And the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:8-9) If we put on the attitude and the works of the Spirit, we will live in PEACE. But if we fail to live and think as God desires, our spirits will always be in chaos and anxiety. The Spirit’s presence brings peace. As brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ, we are to be as He is in our actions and thoughts. Yes, Jesus was troubled at times. He cried over Jerusalem’s waywardness. He attacked the Pharisees and the teachers of the law for their obstinance to God’s goodness, his grace and mercy, but still Jesus resided in peace for He was doing the will of God. We must be about our Father’s business. Our familial life spirit is no more of the fleshly DNA composited in our fleshly bodies, but our true DNA component is of the Spirit of God who dwells within us. We identify more with him than we do with our fleshly brothers and sisters. They said to Jesus, Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you. Jesus says to each of us who are participating in this breakfast: Look around this table, these are my brothers and sisters. Amen!
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