Whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother

Virgin and Child.  Mosaic, 1315-1321.  Holy Savior in Chora Church, Constantinople (Istanbul)

 "When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none.  Then he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.'  And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order.  Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.  So shall it also be with this wicked generation."

While He was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him.  Then one said to Him, "Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You."  But He answered and said to the one who told Him, "Who is My mother and who are My brothers?"  And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and 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."

- Matthew 12:43-50

On Saturday, we read of Jesus' continuing encounter with the Pharisees, after their accusation that He cast out demons by the power of demons.  He said, "Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.  Brood of vipers!  How can you, being evil, speak good things?  For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.  A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.  But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.  For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."  Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from You."  But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.  For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.  The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.  The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here."

 "When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none.  Then he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.'  And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order.  Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.  So shall it also be with this wicked generation."  My study bible comments that when the Israelites were delivered out of Egypt, they did not repent of their impure ways, and an unclean spirit took up residence in their hearts (Deuteronomy 31:20; Psalm 105:34-39).  Therefore, we are taught to guard our hearts.  Without true repentance and the invitation of the Holy Spirit to dwell in the heart of a person, my study bible says, an expelled demon will return with others reoccupy its abode.  This serves to emphasize the need for vigilance in the inner life, and also constant prayer.  Our faith is not a one-time declaration, but an ongoing commitment, a practice of struggle for awareness, growth, and dynamic internal movement. 

While He was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him.  Then one said to Him, "Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You."  But He answered and said to the one who told Him, "Who is My mother and who are My brothers?"  And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and 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."  My study bible suggests that Christ's relatives haven't yet understood His identity and mission.  Jesus points to a spiritual family based on obedience to the will of My Father.  My study bible also reminds us that in Jewish usage (and for that matter, still today across the Middle and Near East), brother can indicate any number of relations.  In some examples from Scripture, Abram called his nephew Lot "brothers (Genesis 14:14); Boaz spoke of his cousin Elimelech as his "brother" (Ruth 4:3), and Joab called his cousin Amasa "brother" (2 Samuel 20:9).  The Church by tradition upholds that Jesus Himself had no blood brothers, for Mary had only one Son.  The brothers, therefore, who are mentioned here are either stepbrothers (that is, sons of Joseph by an earlier marriage), or cousins.  As further evidence of this, Jesus commits His mother to the care of His disciple at the Cross (John 19:25-27), an unthinkable gesture if Mary had other children to care for her.

Jesus began His present discourse to the Pharisees after they had accused Him of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub, whom they refer to as the "ruler of the demons" (see Friday's reading).  Jesus' initial response was to teach that to blaspheme the Spirit -- in other words, their calling the work of the Spirit in Christ's ministry "evil" -- is to participate in a kind of sin that must be repented.  To criticize Him personally is one thing, but to call the holy work of the Spirit in the world "evil" is another.  Here in today's reading, He continues that train of thought, teaching that true spiritual commitment requires an ongoing awareness and vigilance about who we are and what we are, and especially paying attention to the heart and the words that come out of our mouths.  All of these things are connected.  Jesus teaches that "when an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none.  Then he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.'  And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order.  Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.  So shall it also be with this wicked generation."   It is an illustration of a paradigm, an understanding that spiritual life is always in motion, and not stagnant.  We don't make a decision one day and say that we belong to Christ, and then fail to act on that decision every day, in the moments of our lives in which we elect to remember this and act on it -- or not.  In other words, there is a kind of vigilance that belongs to spiritual endeavor.  It is a matter of guarding the heart, of recognizing who we are and to whom we belong, and of exercising this discipline of commitment.  We're not "neutral" according to Jesus' illustration.  As a psychologist once put it to me, we're either going in one direction or the other.   Jesus speaks of a kind of continuum, a constant process toward something or away from it.  In the second part of today's reading, He teaches us what precisely it is He asks us to be going toward:  a union of love for God the Father by seeking to live God's will for us, and in turn we are also united toward others within that same "family."  This goal or end point gives us a full set of relations, a network based in faith, love, and trust of God.  And in Jesus' statement today, we can read that it transcends even our closest relationships based on other types of commonality, even blood family.  Let us note that Jesus is not rejecting family.  What He speaks about is a union of relationship within a spiritual bond to God who is love.  Within that bond, we have a definition of what true relationship is like, a goal toward which it goes, a definition and measuring stick of what constitutes love and goodness and health.  Let us consider Jesus' emphasis on a constant vigilance regarding our priorities, our commitment to what is good and true.  Where does God ask you to begin today?  How do you affirm this, even for a moment?  Do you have an old hurt that needs to be redressed under the protection of the Holy Spirit and prayer?  Take time to remember God, take time for prayer, even in the midst of your day.  You never know how you might help others, or what the power of that prayer will be for yourself.  Let us note once again this is an active process; when we take even a minute for prayer to seek Gods' will, so we participate as He asks.