Matthew 12

“He was still speaking to the crowds when suddenly His mother and brothers were standing outside wanting to speak to Him.  Someone told Him, ‘Look, Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to You.’ But He replied to the one who told Him, ‘Who are my mother and brothers?’ And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, ‘Here are My mother and brothers!  For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven, that person is My brother, and sister and mother.’” Matthew 12:46-50 (HCSB)

I love my parents and my brother & sister.  We had plenty of fun times growing up, but in reality, these days, we’re not as close as I wished.  We love each other but seldom talk on the phone or visit each other.  Part of the problem is that we live so far away from each other.  

I suppose it can be somewhat depressing, but then I think about my family in Messiah.  In the absence of my immediate family, the Lord has provided a church family: hundreds of mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters.

“And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life.” Matthew 19:29 (AMP)

We know from elsewhere in Scripture that Jesus’ family had come to take Him away.  They simply didn’t believe in His Messianic mission.  Perhaps they were concerned for His safety and possibly their own.  They had abandoned the faithful vision and trusted their feelings more than the Lord.  Jesus saw past their scheme.

He turned to those following Him and defined their relationship.  They were no longer only followers.  Now, they were FAMILY!  That relationship is still offered to us today.

The Bible says,

“But to all who did receive Him, He gave to them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in His Name, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God.” John 1:12-13 (HCSB)

It’s true.  

“If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’ and believe it in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9 (HCSB)

The Lord desires that everyone will repent and follow Him.  As a result, we become co-heirs with Jesus, sons and daughters of God and brothers and sisters of Messiah.

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