Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother

 

 "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 

 

In our recent readings, Jesus has been responding to the criticism of the scribes and Pharisees, who condemned Him for healing on a Sabbath.  In yesterday's reading, 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, Psalms 106-34-39).  Therefore, we guard our hearts.  Unless there is full repentance and the Holy Spirit dwells in a person, my study Bible says, an expelled demon will return with others and reoccupy its abode.  If we think about it, this is also a statement about continuing down the same wrong road:  without repentance, our next state is worse than the last.  See also Matthew 23:15.

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 have not yet understood His identity and mission.  He points to a spiritual family which is based on obedience to the will of My Father.  In Jewish usage, it is also noted, brother can indicate any number of relations.  Abram called his nephew Lot "brother" (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).  Christ Himself had no blood brothers, for Mary had only one Son:  Jesus.  The brothers who are mentioned here are either stepbrothers (that is, sons of Joseph by a previous marriage), or cousins.  It is important to understand that Christ committed His mother to the care of John at the Cross (John 19:25-27).  This would have been unthinkable if Mary had had other children to care for her.  

In the King James Version of Psalm 27, verse 10 declares, "When my father and my mother forsake me, the Lord will take me up."  To "take me up" incorporates both the sense of family and also of care.  In this psalm of devotion to God, it indicates that the Lord can take the place of parents in very full senses of what that means, both of name (or family) and care in many dimensions.  In today's reading, Jesus makes this explicit when He says, "Here are My mother and My brothers!  For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother."   While it is important to understand that this does not mean a denial of the role of the commandments to honor parents, it is, however, a very profound statement about our kinship to God, and what makes that kinship.  Devotion to God within the soul and heart becomes a kind of loyalty that ultimately liberates, and teaches us who we are in ways that human family cannot, because it will correct misperceptions and misunderstandings that may dwell within the family, and teach us a kind of deeper love that extends to us when we make mistakes and return, with a patience any normal human being would have an extremely hard time manifesting.  We must perhaps give way to compassion for Jesus' family, for we can only imagine what they might experience as the religious authorities turn against Jesus, and as their own townsfolk in Nazareth reject Him as well.  In Luke's Gospel this rejection comes at the beginning of His ministry (Luke 4:14-30), and in Matthew's Gospel, this will be reported in our next chapter, after He begins to preach to the multitudes in parables (Matthew 13:53-58).  It's important that we understand Jesus is not rejecting His family, His mother, nor the teaching of proper respect for parents.  He is, however, laying down a profound reality for all those who will come to faith and accept this gospel of the Kingdom that He preaches.  Jesus will quote to the religious authorities Psalm 118:22-23, as prophecy that He is the stone the builders rejected which will become the chief cornerstone (Matthew 21:42).  But this transformation of a new chief cornerstone also takes place within us through the act of faith and the work of grace.  Christ, in this sense, lays a new foundation within us for our own lives.  This is what Jesus is making clear when He refers to another, deeper relatedness that comes through acceptance and devotion to "the will of My Father in heaven."  These become "My mother and My brothers."  We contrast this with the first verses in today's reading, which come immediately before the text about Christ's mother and brothers.  Those who fail to repent simply open the door to a worse state of affairs spiritually within themselves, even if they have been exorcised from whatever errors or demonic influence was present.  Without this devotion and dedication, we fall into worse error, deeper misunderstanding, and are more easily misled than before.  He is clearly advocating in His gospel message a universal need for devotion to the will of "My Father in heaven," for this is the saving message, the true unification and right relatedness that is possible for us in participation in this Kingdom, even as we live in the world.