Doing the Fathers Business

 

Mark 3:31 – 35

 

Jesus' Mother and Brothers

“And his mother and his brothers came and standing outside they sent to him and called him.   And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.”  And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?”   And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!   For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

As I was discussing these verses with my wife it became clear I need to approach this in a very different way, let’s call it “The Rest of the Story” by Bob.  It is not taken from the Scriptures for they are quiet on Jesus' life between about 12 and thirty.  We do have this insight from Mark’s gospel 3:21, “When His family heard this, they set out to restrain Him, because they said, “He’s out of His mind.”

These are thoughts from my small pea picking mind, not from the Scriptures.  I was raised in a home that taught the three children that family was very important and even as a young child I had a hard time understanding how Jesus could leave his family outside with a crowd, and not have made room for them.  Later after I received Christ, I began to understand that Jesus is God who had the ability to know my thoughts and yours, and the thoughts of His mother and brothers and sisters, standing outside wanting to put him in quarantine.

The Scriptures are very quiet on Jesus' life between 12 & 30, but as the first Son of Mary a very special lady, chosen by God to be the birth mother of His only Son.  Now Joseph was also like Mary of the lineage of King David and a man who God entrusted to be Jesus' dad.  We do not have any insights into when Joseph died, but it was after having had both sons and daughters.

To the best of our knowledge, Jesus being the oldest son helped Joseph in the woodshop making all kinds of things that people needed, a son that any man would be proud of and I believe with all my heart a son that found favor with both God and man.  He and His mother had a very special relationship, for she remembers that trip to her relatives home and the words both she and Elizabeth the mother of John the Baptist spoke to each other. She also recalled the feeding trough where she laid him and wrapped him in cloth because there was no room in the Inn.  She remembers the angels and the wise men, and the words of Simeon and Anna, they all referred to her baby boy as the Messiah, the Son of God who had come to save His people.

It has been 30 years and the Carpenters Son is not coming back home to do woodwork but to do the work of His Father.  Both Mary and the brothers and sister do not understand yet that Jesus is about His Father’s business, that they also must put their trust in Him.  It is about three years till the Cross when Jesus would pay in full for all the sins of the world.  

What was Jesus telling those in the house that day, what was Jesus telling you and me, these are not my thoughts they are taken from my HCSB.  “The phrases standing outside and sent word indicate there was no direct contact between Jesus and His family, only messages exchanged.  Whoever signifies that being part of Jesus' most significant family, is a possibility for all people.”

 

That is an invitation to all, if you are above ground and breathing, your included, no matter how messed up your life or past have been.  That is the good news, you have been invited to be a member of Jesus Christ's family.  It is clear, it is not by works or good deeds, but by placing your faith in the finished work of the Cross, by receiving Jesus blood sacrifice for your sins.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice