The Real Family of God - Matthew 12:46-50 (3)

Introduction: I specifically asked Jason if the worship team could do the song, “I’m so glad that I’m a part of the Family of God” this Sunday, as it would go along with the sermon.

That song is another Bill & Gloria Gaither hit. It’s a wonderful song. In that song, verse 1 says,

“You will notice we say “brother and sister” ’round here, it’s because we’re a family and these are so near; when one has a heartache, we all share the tears, and rejoice in each victory in this family so dear.”

Now, I was saved in a church where people called one another brother and sister. My church family would say to me, “Hello Brother Buster”, or they would say to a Christian sister, “Hello Sister Mary.” Why would they do that? Because they understood that we were all a part of the family of God.

Do you know 100% that you are a part of Family of God? At Got Questions.com I read, “The Bible is clear that all people are God’s creation (Colossians 1:16), and that God loves the entire world (John 3:16), but only those who are born again are children of God (John 1:12; 11:52; Romans 8:16; 1 John 3:1-10).”

Are you just a part of God’s overall creation, or do you have a personal relationship with God’s Son, Jesus Christ.

· Being born in America doesn’t make you a Christian.

· Being born into a Christian home doesn’t make you a Christian.

· Being born into a pastor’s home doesn’t make you a Christian.

· Being born in a missionary’s home doesn’t make you a Christian.

· Attending Church weekly doesn’t make you a Christian.

· Serving in a Church ministry doesn’t make you a Christian.

· Giving money to God’s work doesn’t make you a Christian.

· Attending Sunday school doesn’t make you a Christian.

· Going to Youth Group doesn’t make you a Christian.

· Going on a mission’s trip doesn’t make you a Christian.

I came to know the Lord on November 14, 1976. On that day I placed my faith in Jesus Christ to save me from my sins. I was 17 years old. Do you have a date nailed down as to when you trusted Jesus Christ to save you?

Today I want to have a word with you about, The Real Family of God. Let’s get into our text and look at what it really means to belong to Jesus’ forever family.

I. Jesus’ Mother and Brothers show up to speak with Him – 12:46-47

46 While He was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him. 47 Then one said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You.”

What do we discover in this verse?

A. Jesus is talking to the multitudes

Jesus is talking to the multitudes

Jesus still was able to draw a crowd even though the religious leaders were questioning Him, and casting doubt on His message and miracles. The multitudes here are the same people from Matthew 12:23.

The multitude stuck around because no one ever taught like Jesus did. His message struck a nerve. The common people could feel the power behind His words.

One of my favorite quotes is, “Get on fire for God and people will come and watch you burn.” Jesus was on fire, and people gathered from every village and hamlet to hear Him speak. And get this, His words sparked interest!

B. Jesus’ Mother and brothers are outside

behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him.

Who is Jesus’ mother? Mary. She gave birth to the Son of God.

Who are Jesus’ brothers? Most conservative Bible teachers believe that the brothers mentioned here are additional children born to Mary and Joseph. Mary had additional sons and daughters. The sons are listed for us in Matthew 13:55,

Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas?

Are you aware that Catholic dogma teaches that Mary remained a perpetual virgin after the birth of Jesus. That she didn’t have other children. However, there is no biblical evidence for this teaching – as we just read in Matthew 13:55.

Some teach that the brothers mentioned in our text are the sons of Joseph by a former wife, whose name is said to be Escha. I don’t believe that I have ever read anything about this in all my 45 plus years of preaching. I will tell you that I choose to stick with the Scripture and what it teaches us.

Still other say the brothers here are Mary's sister's sons, the wife of Cleophas. These brothers then would be the cousins of Christ. It is not usual among the Jews to call such kindred brethren.

C. A message is passed on to Jesus

47 Then one said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You.”

Have you ever seen a situation where someone had to pass a message through a crowd to the front because there was no way to navigate through the number of people. It was standing room only and shoulder to shoulder at that. This is the picture we have here in our text.

We are told in Luke 8:19–20,

19Then His mother and brothers came to Him, and could not approach Him because of the crowd. 20 And it was told Him by some, who said, “Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see You.”

Jesus’ is interrupted and He is told that his mother and brothers are outside and that they want to speak with Him. Some believe that they were trying to get Jesus to stop talking and to come out and speak with them.

Are you aware that according to John 7:5 that Jesus’ brothers didn’t believe that He was the Messiah? Bible teachers believe that it wasn’t until after His resurrection that his brothers believed in Him. His brothers, James and Jude each wrote a book in the New Testament which bears their names. Jesus was spending so much time preaching and teaching that He wasn’t taking time to rest or eat. We read in Mark 3:20-21, that Jesus’ family tried to physically stop Him from teaching and said, “He is out of His mind!” They mistook Jesus’ focus for not caring for Himself.

Dr. A. T. Robertson’s wrote, “It was natural for Mary to want to take him home for rest and refreshment.”

Jesus doesn’t even take a pause. He sizes up the situation and sees it as a “karious” moment to teach a very important truth in Christianity about the real family of God.

II. Jesus asks, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” – 12:48

48 But He answered and said to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?”

A. Jesus responds to the messenger

48 But He answered and said to the one who told Him,

Jesus speaks directly to the individual who told him that his mother and brothers were outside and wanting to speak with Him.

Can you imagine having all eyes on you? What must have this person felt like. Jesus is looking at him eyeball to eyeball. Wow!

B. Jesus asks the messenger an important question

“Who is My mother and who are My brothers?”

Now, I ask you, did Jesus know who His mother and brothers were? Of course He did. Jesus was setting the stage for a mic drop, and what a mic drop it will be. We need to be prepared for the mic drop. Are you prepared?

Now, I have told you to be ready for this mic drop. Here it is…

III. Jesus stretches out His hand toward His disciples and says – 12:49

49 And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers!

A. Jesus stretched out His hand towards His disciples

49 And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said,

It has been said that a person’s hand jesters can often be more important than his spoken words. We don’t see it in our English translations, but this verse is telling us that Jesus waved His hand over His disciples (make the hand motion so that the congregation gets the point).

B. Jesus makes a life transforming statement

Look again at the second half of verse 49,

“Here are My mother and My brothers!

Jesus was identifying Himself with a family circle that was more precious to Him, closer to Him, of a higher priority to Him, and that received a greater commitment from Him, than even His own earthly mother and brothers and sisters.

Jesus is calling our attention away from earthly relationships to spiritual relationships. Jesus is talking about His spiritual family.

There is a note in the Disciples Study Bible that reads, “Jesus followed His own teaching, being willing to forsake earthly family for His Heavenly Father’s mission (Matthew 10:37-38). He created a new family of persons obedient to God.”

Sowers Fellowship Hall

Our church basement is called, Sowers Fellowship Hall. It is named after, Jim and Margie Sowers. They were former members of SLBC, greatly loved by this fellowship. Margie used to testify here in church when we had Sunday night worship that her spiritual family was more like a family than her biological family. What a statement!

Now, how can you know whether or not that you are a part of Jesus’ spiritual family? Well, we need to move along to the last point of this message today. Here is what Jesus said about how we can know we belong to His forever family.

IV. For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother – 12:50

50 For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”

A. Whosoever – This means anyone and everyone.

For whoever

Underline the word “whosoever”. This is truly a GOSPEL word (a Good News word). This is the message of the New Testament. It is the teaching of Jesus Christ, the apostles, and Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles.

Dr. Warren Wiersbe wrote, “Note His use of the word “whosoever” (Matt. 12:50). This paralleled His beautiful invitation in Matthew 11:28–30 where He encouraged all to trust Him. If the nation would not receive Him, at least individuals within the nation—and among the Gentiles—could trust Him. But what will happen to the promised kingdom?”[1]

B. Does the will of God – believe in Jesus

does the will of My Father in heaven

David Platt wrote, “Jesus says that those who do God’s will are part of His family, a family united around the gospel. We come to God the Father through God the Son, knowing that Christ Jesus is our Brother. In His humanity, Jesus is like us in every way, only He is without sin (Heb 4:15). He alone is righteous. He alone is able to obey the law that we cannot obey. He alone is stronger than Satan, which enabled Christ to overcome sin in His life and in His death. And finally, only Jesus was able to rise from the grave. On that basis, Jesus invites us into His family. He makes it possible for us to be called sons and daughters of God. When we turn aside from sin and self and trust in Jesus, we are brought into God’s family by the power of His Spirit. This is the kind of relationship that brings about inner transformation.[2]

Jesus said that membership in His “family circle” was true of “whoever does the will” of His Father in heaven. So then; what is His Father's will? We can see from the context that it is—above all else—a matter of believing on Jesus and entering into a relationship with Him by faith.

In John 6:28-29 Jesus taught, “This is the work of God, that you believe on Him whom He sent.”

C. Hear the Word and do it – Luke 8:21

In a parallel account of the same story from the Gospel of Luke, we're told that Jesus said, “My mother and My brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it” (Luke 8:21).

True believers are obedient believers! A life of grace is a life lived by God’s grace.

James, the brother of Jesus (and one that was probably here in this account) penned the following in his epistle. In James 1:22 we read,

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

And in the Parable of the Sower and the seed that we will be looking at in the next chapter we have the following words from Jesus,

23 But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” (Matthew 13:23)

The Real Family of God hears the Word and puts it into practice. They don’t just it lip service. Are you a part of the Family of God? Do you hear the Word and do it?

Conclusion: What are the take home truths from these final few verses?

1. We may not draw crowds, but all of us have our sphere of influence. Use your influence to share Jesus.

2. Get on fire for Jesus and people will come a watch you burn. People enjoy being around those who are excited about their faith.

3. Jesus’ mother, brothers, and sisters include His spiritual family. His Spiritual family was important to Him. Our Spiritual family should be important to us as well.

4. “Whosoever” in our text means YOU!

5. Doing the will of God means believing in Jesus Christ. Have you placed your faith in Jesus Christ?

6. We must hear the word of God and do it. These are two characteristics of belonging to Jesus’ forever family.

[1]Dr. Warren Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary [2]Platt, D. (2013). Exalting jesus in matthew (D. L. Akin, D. Platt, & T. Merida, Eds.; p. 168). Holman Reference.