Mark 3:34-35




Jesus looked at those around him and said, “Look, these are my mother and brothers. Anyone who does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”
The Gospels tell us remarkably little about Jesus’ family. We would so love to know about all his family members and the nature of his relationship with them, but the Gospels are largely silent. However, on this occasion we do meet them because they had clearly got the impression that Jesus wasn’t looking after himself. Earlier in this chapter we are informed that Jesus and his disciples were so busy that they couldn’t even find time to eat. Mark records that they had formed the view that Jesus was out of his mind, although we aren’t told why they thought that.
When Jesus was told that his mother and brothers had come to see him, his response was to identify who his true family was. His forever family was composed of people who did God’s will. I don’t believe for a moment that Jesus was abandoning his birth family or seeking to insult them. He always sought to uphold the law, which affirmed the God given responsibility to care for and honour one’s parents. However, he wanted to make it plain that the most important relationships were with his spiritual family.


The whole Bible is very clear in its teaching about family. The apostle Paul was particularly strong in his language when he addressed his young friend, Timothy. He wrote: “Those who won’t look after their relatives, especially those in their own household, have denied the true faith. Such people are worse than unbelievers” (1 Timothy 5:8). We need to care for our families but we are never to lose sight of the fact that our forever family is our Christian family, made up of those who obey God.




Question: How important is your birth family to you?
Prayer: Lord God, thank you for the blessing of both my human family and my forever family. Amen

Released on 16 Oct 2022