God Is Greater than Family
"Jesus' mother and brothers arrived at the house where he was teaching. They stood outside and sent word for him to come out and talk with them. There was a crowd around Jesus, and someone said, 'Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.' Jesus replied, 'Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?' Then he looked at those around him and said, 'These are my mother and brothers. Anyone who does God's will is my brother and sister and mother.'" Mark 3:31-35 (NLT).
To understand this scripture we must remember some things.
Jesus was homeless. He even said, "Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but I, the Son of Man, have no home of my own, not even a place to lay my head" - Matthew 8:20 (NLT).
In Jesus' day, homelessness was not uncommon, but not for respectable families. Respectable families stayed together. In fact, sons that married brought their wives to live with them at their father's house. The father's house was expanded with an edition for the new husband and bride. If a father had four sons, as Joseph (Jesus' step-father) had, there would be four additions to his house as each son grew up, married and moved out. The eldest son would have his "apartment" closest to his father's house. It was a position of honor. When his father died, he would inherit the whole property.
Respectable sons, then, stayed and served the family their whole life through, and stayed at their father's house, or very nearby.
Respectable sons simply did not wander off and become homeless. Even slaves had homes - they lived with their masters.
But Jesus was homeless. Not only this, he was doing without food and missing meals. We do not know, but perhaps this caused him to be thin or look slightly gaunt. He also had no money. What little he had came from donations from his followers, and no doubt, that was precious little.
So you can see why his family may have felt they must intervene. In all likelihood, they had the best of intentions, though they undoubtedly also felt a little shamed by Jesus' behavior.
So they make repeated attempts to get him to abandon his ministry and return home. They probably tried reasoning with him; criticizing his actions, and even laying guilt trips on him to get him to come home. Remember, they told everyone that they thought Jesus was out of his mind.
But Jesus responds by telling his followers that his mother and brother and sisters are those who do God's will, not necessarily those who are related to us by birth.
The truth for us in this story is obvious. Nothing and no one should ever come between us and God. No matter how well-intentioned they are, or what kind of guilt trip they put us on, we must not allow our families to hinder the work God has given us to do. Not even our mother should be greater than God to us.
Notice here that Jesus is greater than Mary. He does not venerate her, or lift her up as an equal. In fact, he says that anyone doing God's will is his mother! So Mary, while a key servant of God in bearing the Messiah, should not be venerated or prayed to today. Also, our mother's opinion should never be more important to us than God's. The same is true of other family members.
Time and again, over the years, I have seen well-meaning Christians place God and his Word second to the will of their families. As followers of Jesus, this simply cannot be. We must love our families, but never allow them to usurp God's rightful place in our hearts, or veto his Word when it speaks to our situations.
Jesus said, "If you want to be my follower you must love me more than your own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters - yes, more than your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple." Luke 14:26 (NLT)
Lord Jesus, we love our families, but help us to love you more than anyone. In Jesus' name, amen.