Luke 8:19-21 (NIV) Now Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him, but they were not able to get near him because of the crowd. Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.”
He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.”
Jesus was not rejecting His family in this event, but making an important point. With the coming of the kingdom of God, the world would be forever and decisively split into two, and only two, kinds of people: not Jews and Gentiles, but the people of the kingdom, and the people of the world.
This division depends not on denomination, or tradition, or doctrine, but on whether or not a person is actively living in the kingdom, connected to Jesus in a vital and active relationship. Thus there are even many who attend our churches week after week who are not actively living in the kingdom, and are thus people of the world, with worldly values, worldly actions, and worldly viewpoints and attitudes.
Jesus’ point was that, from a kingdom viewpoint, family relations become less important than the relationships that exist among those who live in and are actively involved in the work of the kingdom. Blood may be thicker than water, but the bond of the Holy Spirit is thicker than either.
That does not mean that we are to cease caring about or caring for our family members once we come into the kingdom, although it is entirely possible that God may call us away from them to do kingdom work elsewhere. Indeed, family members may actually become our first mission field. But, just as the four fishermen left their families and livelihoods behind to follow Jesus and to make a new family with each other and with those who also made the decision to leave all and follow Jesus, many today quickly discover that, as a member of the kingdom of God, they have much more in common with others of the kingdom than they do with blood family.
It is important to note that at least a part of Jesus’ statement was based on the fact that most of those wanting to see Him, specifically His brothers, had not yet come to believe in Him, and thus really were outside of the kingdom of God, and far less close to Him than those who were already hearing God’s word and putting it into practice in their own lives.
Father, I have discovered this truth in my own life. Those I live with and work with in the kingdom life quickly become a “family” in a way that goes far beyond mere blood relation. I also have discovered that there arises in me a powerful desire to reach my blood relatives with the good news, so that I can have the same kind of amazing depth in our relationship. Thank You for this truth today. Amen.