Jesus Speaks to a Crowd About His BrethrenBible World
12:47Matthew 12:47
Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee.
The message came while Jesus was speaking to the people, just after He a second time healed a man possessed, blind and dumb, just after the Pharisees repeated the charge that He cast out devils through the prince of devils, and just after He warned that speaking against Himself may be forgiven but attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan cuts off the fountain of blessing. Rejection of the Holy Spirit places the soul where repentance and faith cannot come, because the Spirit is the channel by which God works on the heart and communicates with men. It was in that setting that someone told Him His mother and His brethren were waiting outside and wanted to speak with Him.
Those outside were Mary and the sons of Joseph, standing without and desiring an interview with Him. They had come to stop His work because they were far from sympathy with it and thought He was working too constantly without rest. They were astonished and dismayed by reports that He spent entire nights in prayer and the day thronged by great companies without time so much as to eat, and they concluded He was wearing Himself out by incessant labor and feared His reason was becoming unsettled. They felt keenly the reproach brought on them by relation to Him and knew the tumult His words and works created. They were alarmed at His bold statements and indignant at His denunciation of the scribes and Pharisees, and were moved by the Pharisees' charge that He cast out devils through Satan's power.
They therefore decided He must be persuaded or constrained to cease this manner of labor, and they induced Mary to unite with them, thinking that through His love for her they might prevail on Him to be more prudent and give Him periods of rest. Jesus used the report as the occasion to identify those who do God's will, His Father's will, as His mother and brethren, His brother and sister and mother, His disciples and spiritual family. They are closer to Him than ties of birth and are precious to Him and belong to Him.
Family ties do not take precedence over following Him. Every soul striving to do God's will is to be treated as family, with the Christlike love, kindness, and care given to one's own relatives rather than favoritism toward one's own relatives.
The message came while Jesus was speaking to the people, just after He a second time healed a man possessed, blind and dumb, just after the Pharisees repeated the charge that He cast out devils through the prince of devils, and just after He warned that speaking against Himself may be forgiven but attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan cuts off the fountain of blessing. Rejection of the Holy Spirit places the soul where repentance and faith cannot come, because the Spirit is the channel by which God works on the heart and communicates with men. It was in that setting that someone told Him His mother and His brethren were waiting outside and wanted to speak with Him.
Those outside were Mary and the sons of Joseph, standing without and desiring an interview with Him. They had come to stop His work because they were far from sympathy with it and thought He was working too constantly without rest. They were astonished and dismayed by reports that He spent entire nights in prayer and the day thronged by great companies without time so much as to eat, and they concluded He was wearing Himself out by incessant labor and feared His reason was becoming unsettled. They felt keenly the reproach brought on them by relation to Him and knew the tumult His words and works created. They were alarmed at His bold statements and indignant at His denunciation of the scribes and Pharisees, and were moved by the Pharisees' charge that He cast out devils through Satan's power.
They therefore decided He must be persuaded or constrained to cease this manner of labor, and they induced Mary to unite with them, thinking that through His love for her they might prevail on Him to be more prudent and give Him periods of rest. Jesus used the report as the occasion to identify those who do God's will, His Father's will, as His mother and brethren, His brother and sister and mother, His disciples and spiritual family. They are closer to Him than ties of birth and are precious to Him and belong to Him.
Family ties do not take precedence over following Him. Every soul striving to do God's will is to be treated as family, with the Christlike love, kindness, and care given to one's own relatives rather than favoritism toward one's own relatives.