Matthew 12:46-50

The True Family of Jesus - Spiritual and Physical Relationships

47 Someone said to Him, "Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to You."

48 But Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, "Who is My mother and who are My brothers?"

49 And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, "Behold My mother and My brothers!

50 "For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother."

Physical and Spiritual Relationships

What does relationship mean? As with any feeling it's difficult to describe. Dictionary.Com (TM) explains that a relationship is "an emotional or other connection between people".-- a good description so we'll leave it at that.

Physical Relationships - Family

As feeling and loving creatures of the earth, family ties and relationships are important to us. Though my father and mother passed away many years ago I still think of them and miss them. But, the love we feel for our families is a physical relationship. And, I am certainly not discounting these feelings for our families but, spiritual relationships are of equal value, if not more so.

Is Jesus abandoning his mother and family in these verses?

Of course not. There are numerous times throughout his ministry where Jesus reinforced the importance of honoring the family and taking care of them. One illustration is that, even while hanging on the cross, he arranged with John to care for Mary. In other words, he had strong emotional ties to his family.

Spiritual Responsibility

No, what Christ is saying here is that spiritual relationships are just as important to us. When we accept Christ as Lord and Savior we are bound in a spiritual relationship with other believers and they become our Christian family. They become our responsibility just as we are responsible for our earthly family.

The universal church is our family now. Although we may have differences of opinion (just as we sometimes argue with siblings), we should love and support fellow believers as we would our own brothers and sisters. When either of our two families are in need, we should be there for them. God arranged for us to have two families; physical and spiritual -- We are truly blessed!

Love In Christ

- Bob

Matthew 12:38-45 - Pharisees Demand Miracles from Christ - Asking for Signs - Do you ever ask for signs or miracles from God in order to believe in Him? Some people need proof for everything. If we tell something out of the ordinary, they'll respond with; "Prove it." Well, becoming a believer in Christ doesn't work that way as we will learn in this Bible study lesson from Matthew. Although we have proof from The Bible, faith is the final answer.