In Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus’ mother and brothers searched for him and finally found him in the midst of a crowd. When Jesus was told that his family was there asking for him, he turned to the people and asked, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” (Mark 3:33b). What? Who doesn’t know their mother and brothers, their sisters and fathers? We know by now that Jesus was constantly turning things upside down. So, too, here, when he looked at the crowd and announced, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother” (Mark 3:34-35).
Do I do the will of God? Sometimes. Sometimes not. But Hebrews assures us that Jesus is “not ashamed to call (us) brothers and sisters” (Hebrews 2:11). If it were required of us to fully do God’s will to be Jesus’ sisters and brothers, we wouldn’t make it. God’s grace creates the miracle that we are all sisters and brothers of whom Jesus is not ashamed.
This message is excerpted from “Always being made new” by Sue Gamelin in the March 2017 Gather magazine. Today we commemorate James of Jerusalem, martyr, c. 62.
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