Who Are Jesus's Family?

Mark 3:28-35

*28 Ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι πάντα ἀφεθήσεται τοῖς υἱοῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὰ ἁμαρτήματα καὶ αἱ βλασφημίαι* ⸀ὅσα ἐὰν βλασφημήσωσιν· 29 ὃς δʼ ἂν βλασφημήσῃ εἰς τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, οὐκ ἔχει ἄφεσιν ⸋εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα⸌, ἀλλʼ ἔνοχός ⸀ἐστιν αἰωνίου ⸁ἁμαρτήματος.* 30 ὅτι ἔλεγον· πνεῦμα ἀκάθαρτον ἔχει.*

*31 ⸂Καὶ ἔρχεται⸃ ⸄ἡ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ αὐτοῦ⸅ καὶ ἔξω ⸀στήκοντες ἀπέστειλαν πρὸς αὐτὸν καλοῦντες αὐτόν.* 32 καὶ ἐκάθητο περὶ αὐτὸν ὄχλος, καὶ λέγουσιν αὐτῷ·* ἰδοὺ ἡ μήτηρ σου καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοί σου ⸋[καὶ αἱ ἀδελφαί σου]⸌ ἔξω ζητοῦσίν σε. 33 ⸂καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς αὐτοῖς λέγει⸃· τίς ἐστιν ἡ μήτηρ μου ⸀καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοί °[μου]; 34 καὶ περιβλεψάμενος τοὺς περὶ αὐτὸν κύκλῳ καθημένους λέγει·* ἴδε ἡ μήτηρ μου καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοί μου.* 35 ὃς °[γὰρ] ἂν ποιήσῃ ⸂τὸ θέλημα⸃ τοῦ θεοῦ, οὗτος ἀδελφός μου καὶ ἀδελφὴ ⸆ καὶ μήτηρ ἐστίν.

English Standard Version Chapter 3

28 “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— 30 for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

Jesus’ Mother and Brothers

31 And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. 32 And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.” 33 And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

THE MARKAN SANDWICH

Todays text form’s the final layer of what is known as a Markan sandwich. It’s an ancient literary technique that Mark used whereby he will begin one story, then another narrative quickly intercalates with that one before returning to the initial narrative or topic. The layers of the Markan sandwich are intended to provide contrast to help the reader see something more clearly

The first layer of this sandwich unit begins in verse 13 when Jesus summons those who He wanted and chose them to be His apostles. The second layer begins in verse 21 when His family and the scribes come to contend with Him and the final layer starts in verse 31 as His family arrive.

And it’s this subject, the subject of family that we are going to address this afternoon. This is, after all, the focus of this entire passage of scripture. Who are the real Jesus people? Who are His true family and what does it mean to be part of His family?

FAMILY

“Family is the first essential cell of human society” Pope John XXIII

Family is not a man-made institution. It’s not something that was though up by the brightest minds of academia as a means of furthering human flourishing. Neither is it something that is merely incidental to our existence; like breathing air. Family is God’s idea, He chose family as the means by which we would come into the world and as the framework through which we would begin to know and experience it.

Family isn’t something that began in the garden of Eden, nor will it cease to exist long after this earth passes away. The concept and function of family you see is rooted in the very nature of the Godhead, in the relationship that exists between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, it’s eternal. There is something of His image which is displayed in the workings of a healthy family.

In a healthy family we see a mother and a father putting the needs of their children first, giving of themselves sacrificially in order to benefit their young ones. It’s in the cradle of the family that children first begin to piece together their identity; important questions such as ‘who am I?’ ‘what am I hear for?’ And ‘am I valuable?’ get answered in such a foundational way within the family unit.

So it should come as no suprise that the family unit is one of the chief targets of the powers of darkness which are at work in this world. The assault upon the family comes from many angles; both internal and external.

For example the cultural attack upon the institution of marriage in the 20th century has had a devastating effect upon the nuclear family, leading to a tragic epidemic of fatherlessness in this nation. The impact of this cannot be overestimated.

In totalitarian regimes the attack on the family unit often comes from state government. The state assumes the role of parent and guardian to every child under it’s governance, overruling the natural governance of the child’s natural parents with predictably horrifying results.

For most of us this has not been our experience. Many of us will have had very positive experiences of family, however no family is without it’s dysfunctionality and Jesus’s family, that is His blood relations, were no different.

JESUS’S DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY

21 And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”

Up to this point in Mark’s gospel we haven’t heard any mention of Jesus’s family; Mary, Joseph, His four brothers and sisters (from what we can tell there were two or more of them). The first mention we have of them in this gospel is of them coming to seize him and take him away because they thought he had lost His mind!

This should encourage us to know that Jesus was not alone in experiencing dysfunction, pain, misunderstanding and relational breakdown within his own family. He can sympathise with our difficult family experiences and comfort us in them because He himself lived with them too.

They are also “looking for” him. The Gk. zētein occurs ten times in Mark, and in each instance it describes an attempt to determine Jesus and gain control over him, his family assumes it has rights that Jesus is obliged to honor. - James Edwards

In verse 31 his family arrive and stand outside, calling to Him to come out.

This is a curious contrast; we have Jesus’s family, His closest relations, standing outside calling Him outside to take him away because they think He’s had a breakdown, and a crowd, many of whom were likely strangers to Him sitting inside, close to Him, hanging on His every word.

It’s the reversal of the norm; a family sitting inside their home, enjoying harmonius relationship and the crowd outside, disconnected from what’s happening inside.

For many who choose to follow Christ, there is an experience similar to this. Those who were once closest to them, sometimes even their own families reject them or treat them like they’re out of their minds and it’s the strangers, those who are following Christ with them who they become bonded to.

Luke 12:51-53 - Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

So we can see that at this early stage of Jesus’s ministry, His own family did not believe in Him. We know from John’s gospel that His brothers certainly didn’t believe that He was the Messiah at first;

John 7:2-5 - Now the Jews’ Feast of Booths was at hand. So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” For not even his brothers believed in him.

And from what we can tell here, they had brought His mother, Mary with them to help them persuade Jesus to come home with them. This seems to indicate that Mary perhaps had her own concerns about Jesus’s ministry at this point.

The sent word to Jesus that they were outside waiting for Him, and began to call for Him. At this point the crowd would surely have been expecting Him to excuse Himself and go outside to see His family, they begin telling him that His family are outside, this would have been the proper thing to do according to Jewish custom and tradition. But that is not what Jesus does, instead He says this;

“Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

What Jesus is saying here isn’t an attack or a sleight upon His natural family, He’s not going out of His way to be disrespectful. We know from the rest of scripture that Jesus loved His family. But we must know that even those dearest to Him got short shrift for trying to divert or restrain Him from His mission.

What Jesus is doing here is using this moment to tell His listeners and also us here today that there is an even greater revelation of family than biological relation, and that indeed it is possible to a part of that family, that is His family.

WHOEVER

So who does Jesus say gets to be in His family? He opens the clause in verse 35 with a word so wonderful it ought to give us all hope; ‘whoever’.

This word is inclusive of all, it’s unrestrictive in it’s scope. Rich and poor, black and white, male and female, jew and gentile. No matter your background, your social status, your intellectual aptitude, your reputation whoever includes you. The invitation to join Christ’s family is open to all and we must never forget that.

We know that God’s people will be from every tribe, tongue and nation that inhabits this planet. The average Christian in the world today does not look like us, or talk like us. The Global Christian Church is as culturally and racially diverse as you could possibly imagine and we, here in the UK are in the minority.

Some theologians have erred in this matter, though. Wanting Jesus to finish His sentence at the word ‘whoever’ and not move on to qualify that statement. Pretending to be more merciful than God they make Jesus’s family to be totally inclusive of every single person who has and will ever live. And so, we must never try to censor Jesus, to try and make Him more appealing to a world which loves it’s sin and hates holiness. We must not attempt to become PR agents for God by baptising the culture and calling everyone a child of God when they clearly are not!

This is the heresy of universalism; that everyone is in God’s family and that everyone will be saved. However, we know from what follows immediately after the word ‘whoever’ that this is not true, that ALL are not in Jesus’s family but rather those who ‘do the will of God.’

DOES THE WILL OF GOD

Jesus qualifies the ‘whoever’ with the condition ‘does the will of God.’ Jesus doesn’t make genealogy, blood relation, wealth, or education a condition of being one of His brothers or sisters but rather obedience to the will of God.

Who are those who ‘do the will of God?’ Does He mean those who obey the commandments? Or is this the sort of obedience whereby we are obedient to the Spirit? Whereby we pray and follow the leading of the Spirit? Well, context is king here. Jesus says this while looking at those sitting around Him and says ‘here are my mother and my brothers and my sisters..’ There was something about these people then! How was it that they were doing God’s will? They were listening to Jesus, they were letting His words take root in them, they were believing the Gospel!

So who belongs to Jesus’s family? Those and those only who hear His gospel and believe on Him through it.

No one gets in on a technicality, no one! Not even His own mother, she had to believe on Him just the same that you do.

New Testament II: Mark (Revised) Whether Mary Was Closer to Him as Parent or Believer

Mary is more blessed in receiving the faith of Christ than in conceiving the flesh of Christ. For to the one who said, “Blessed is the womb, which bore you!” he himself answered: “Blessed are they who hear the Word of God and keep it.”

AUGUSTINE

There will be no prawn sandwich brigade in heaven, no privileged VIPs who get in without fulfilling the condition of faith in Christ.

All must be BORN AGAIN. In John 3 we read of Jesus’s conversation with a man named Nicodemus. He was a Jewish teacher, a Pharisee, a very influential and powerful man, knowledgeable of the scriptures. Even Jesus calls him ‘the teacher of Israel.’ And yet even a man of this standing cannot enter God’s family of his own standing, He needed to be born again!

Unless you are born again you cannot see the Kingdom of God, you cannot enter His family. There is no other way to enter! I worry that many believe they are Christians on the basis of their upbringing, or because they have always gone to church, or because they have Christian values. None of these things make you a Christian, none of these things bring you into God’s family. Only the empty hand of faith receiving the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ will do.

Are you born again? Have you believed on Christ for the forgiveness of your sins? Do you continue to believe on Him today? That is how we know if we are in His family or not.

HOW WILL THIS FAMILY BE KNOWN

There are some who want to add to Jesus’s words here in Mark 3. They want to add extra conditions, extra things that one must be in order to be received into His family. Brothers and sisters, we must be as on guard against this heresy of legalism every bit as much as the heresy of universalism.

One might think it would be easy to spot these gross errors creeping into the church but history tells us that whenever the church has become complacent it has quickly become corrupted by the world.

The nation of Germany has given us some of the greatest theologians and preacher of all time, and this was true also in the early 20th century. Yet with the rise of the Nazi party came the rise of Der Deutsche Christen, The German Christians. This group was made up of ministers, theologians and lay peple who wholeheartedly supported and aided the Nazi Party. In fact the vast majority of ministers in Germany at that time were supportive of Hitler, dissenting voices such as Bonhoeffer and Niemoller were in the minority.

The German Christians voted for the introduction of the Aryan Paragraph into church life. Which meant that you could only serve as a minister if you could prove you were of pure Aryan descent.

The reich also made every German carry with them a document, not a passport or an ordinary ID card but a record of their racial heritage attested to by their pastor.

Jews, or people of Jewish descent were not welcome at Church and the theologians of the German Christians taught that even baptism did not wash away ones Jewishness. So a Jew, even if he believed the gospel, could never be an equal member of Christs family in their eyes.

They later hunted down any church members with Jewish descent through their baptismal records and reported them to the reich. Thousands of these Christians were sent to the death camps by their own churches.

This is an extreme example but let history serve as a warning to us to be on our guard against legalism, sectarianism and the invasion of political ideas into the church.

Christ said that His people would be known by one thing in particular; by their love for one another. Not by the way we look, or the way we vote, by our race, social standing, views on masks or our vaccination status but by our love.

Beloved, Jesus said that a house divided against itself cannot stand. Remember that. Let this house, His house not be divided by things that won’t matter in eternity. But let’s be united by our love of Christ and His gospel today!

Pray