“Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of
God is my brother and sister and mother.” Mark 3:34–35
Jesus said many things that caused people to pause and think.
Today’s Gospel passage is one of those times. Just prior to the
passage quoted above, Jesus was told that His mother and brothers
were outside looking for Him. After hearing this, instead of going
to greet them, He asked those around Him, “Who are my mother and my
brothers?” Then He looked around and answered His own question with
the above quoted Scripture.
What may have caused some people to pause and think at that time,
and even now when this passage is read, is that Jesus’ comments can
easily be misunderstood. Some will conclude that He was distancing
Himself from His own family and that He was even disowning them to
a certain extent. But nothing could be further from the
truth.
First of all, we know that Jesus had a perfect love for His dear
mother Mary and that she loved Jesus with a perfect reciprocal
love. As for His “brothers,” it was common to refer to one’s
extended family (such as cousins) as brothers and sisters.
Therefore, these brothers who were coming to see Jesus were
relatives to one degree or another. And though our Blessed Mother,
the mother of Jesus, was perfect in every way, Jesus’ extended
family was not. Recall that some of them thought Jesus was out of
his mind and tried to prevent His public ministry.
But back to our question: Was Jesus disowning His family members in
some way? Certainly not. Instead, He was establishing a deeper
context for His new family in grace. Though biological bonds are a
gift and must be respected and cherished, the spiritual bonds
established by our joint conformity to the will of God is of much
greater importance. Jesus simply pointed to this fact, elevating
the spiritual family bond over the purely natural. Of course, it’s
also important to point out that Jesus' mother was first and
foremost His mother, not only because she gave physical birth to
Jesus, but primarily because she was in perfect conformity to the
will of God with Him and, thus, the most intimate member of His
family by grace. And the same can be true for all of us. When we
conform our wills to the will of God, we become Jesus’ “mother” in
the sense that He enters our world through us. And we become His
“brothers and sisters” in that we become intimate members of His
eternal family and enjoy a profound and spiritual union with
Him.
Reflect, today, upon the fact that you are called to be so much
more than just a physical brother or sister of Christ Jesus. You
are called to the most intimate and transforming familial union
imaginable. And this union is more fully accomplished when you seek
to fulfill the will of God with your whole heart, mind, soul and
strength.
My dear Lord, I desire deeply to become more fully a member of
Your most intimate family in grace. Help me to always dedicate
myself to the complete fulfillment of the will of our Father in
Heaven. And as I conform my will more fully with that of the
Father’s, draw me deeper and deeper into union with You. Jesus, I
trust in You.
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Featured image above: Christ taking Leave of his Mother by
Albrecht Altdorfer, via Wikipedia
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