A Word in Season: God’s Family (Mark 3:35)

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Toward the beginning of Mark's gospel, there are a number of incidents where our

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Lord Jesus Christ makes plain what his priorities are and where his allegiance really lies.

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One of those is at the end of Mark chapter 3, when a crowd has gathered around him and people have begun to follow him as their master, when they are listening to what he says as he preaches the word of God to them, and they are putting their trust in him and they are walking in his footsteps.

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And under those circumstances, his brothers and his mother come, and they're standing outside and sending to him, calling for him.

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And the expectation in that society would be that this would be the great attachment, and that Christ should therefore leave aside what he's doing at this point and go to be with his mother and his brothers.

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The multitude around him clearly recognise that that should be the case, because they themselves say, look, your mother and your brothers are outside seeking you, you should leave this and you should go to them.

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But Christ answers in verse 33 with a question saying, who is my mother or my brothers?

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Now, naturally speaking, the answer is those people who are standing outside. But he looks around in a circle at those who sat about him and he says, here are my mother and my brothers, for whoever does the will of God is my brother and my sister and mother.

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Now, Christ has no disdain for his natural family. We know that his brothers too will come to faith in him and that his mother, as he hangs dying upon the cross, is an object of particular concern as he puts her into the care of his beloved friend

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John. There's no disregard for his family, but there is a priority.

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It is the people of God, those who do his will, who have the first claim on his affections.

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And that establishes a bond that we still need to recognise.

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It is not one of disdain for our natural families. If we have anything of the compassion of Christ, one of our greatest longings will be that our human parents, our brothers and sisters, our children, our friends will come in to this family of God, that they may know

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Christ and know the blessings that are found in Christ. But to do the will of God establishes a tie that binds us together in a way that transcends every other attachment.

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This is the supreme love. This goes above family connection.

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This goes above nationality and ethnicity. This is the tie that holds us to Christ and therefore to one another.

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So that to enter into the church of God is to find a true spiritual family.

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Whatever other sacrifices we have to make, to be part of Christ's people is to have brothers and sisters and mothers and a great heavenly

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Father. It is to come into an environment that ought to be marked by affectionate love and sacrificial regard.

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It is the attachment, the allegiance that should make those outside say in wonder, see how these people love one another.

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And it is established by doing the will of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

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The Holy Spirit had moved in the hearts of these men and women who were gathered around Christ then, just as he moves in the heart of people still.

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He had drawn them to Christ Jesus. They had become the flock of God, the sheep of his pasture.

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They are under the care of the Great Shepherd. They are following Christ Jesus, the only begotten

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Son of God. And they have become part of that family dynamic.

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Their first allegiance will be to him and his great concern will be for them. And so the gathering of the church is a family gathering.

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The life of the church is a family life. The Lord's Supper is a family meal.

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And it's so vitally important then that we understand that this is our great allegiance and attachment.

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Not that we despise our families, but our great concern is to know

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God in Christ and to understand that that brings us into a spiritual family full of rich blessings and sweet delights.

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And that when the crunch comes, and it's either others or Christ and his church, if there's a tension there, then it is always

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Christ who wins out. He made that clear by his behaviour and we should make it clear by ours.