Bible Study Lesson Matthew 12:46-50
Who was the true family of Jesus?In case you haven’t thought about it lately, we are blessed with two families. One is physical and the other is spiritual.
What’s the difference?
These Matthew study lessons explain how Jesus felt about his spiritual family and how we should look at these two relationship situations.
The True Family of Jesus Christ
While He was still speaking to the crowds, behold, His mother and brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him.
Someone said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to You.”
But Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?”
And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers!
For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.” – Matthew 12:46-50 NASB
Physical and Spiritual Relationships
What does relationship mean? As with any feeling it’s difficult to describe. Dictionary.ComTM 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 we have for our families.
With that said, 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 very strong emotional ties to His physical family.
Spiritual Responsibility
Christ explains in the passage above that spiritual relationships should be 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 also become our responsibility just as we are responsible for our earthly family.
Who is the True Family of Christ?
[easyazon_image align=”left” height=”160″ identifier=”1936034891″ locale=”US” src=”https://makingchristknown.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/41Kp7R5gPSL.SL160.jpg” tag=”bobpardphot-20″ width=”119″]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
If you would like to discover how to receive the love and life-changing experience of Jesus Christ, please take a moment to read John 3:16 for more information.