46 While He was still speaking to the crowds, behold, His mother and brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him. 47 Someone said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to You.” 48 But Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” 49 And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.”

Having just warned of the consequences of rejecting His authenticating works, the Lord Jesus uses family terminology in referring to those who truly get His message, the ones willing to do as God directs, rather than continuing to rebel. This incident is pregnant with application for today.

First, God shows no respect for a person’s earthly pedigree. Christ gave no deferential treatment to His earthly family, here identified as His mother and brothers. So too, being born into a Christian home, living in a Christian culture, even attending a Christian church cuts no slack with God. What matters is whether a person does “the will of” God. Second, when a person becomes a follower of Christ, he becomes part of the spiritual family of God.

Third, faith is the beginning step in doing the will of God. The very words used in Scripture for salvation are commands. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved” and “This is My beloved Son, listen to Him,” for example, are imperatives. This does not mean faith and repentance are “works” that earn for us salvation as though they contain some source of merit. But, faith is a simple response to God’s command and the first step in doing His will.

Fourth, Mary, while being His earthly mother, did not command special respect from Christ. While she is “blessed among women” she is not to be worshipped. In our passage, Jesus puts her on the same level as all others. Nowhere in Scripture are we ever encouraged to pray to her or see her as a “co-redemptrix” or mediator to Christ. “There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim 2:5). In order for her to be part of the spiritual family of God, she too must do the will of God. She too was a sinner, for she prayed, “My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior” (Luke 1:57).

Fifth, Jesus had siblings (half-brothers), which means that Mary did not remain a virgin after His birth. This is the most natural understanding of the word “brothers” in verses 46 & 47, despite the fact that it can sometimes be used to refer to relatives. Jesus uses the word now to describe “His disciples.”

Lord, thank You for not being ashamed to call me “brother” (Heb 2:11). As when I first believed, I desire to continue walking in the Father’s will.