Suppose someone is writing the biography of a great world leader. In plowing through piles of notes, the writer comes across some minutes of a meeting in which the leader was interrupted by a phone call from a relative. Do you think the biographer would bother putting this insignificant detail in the book? Probably not.
Those who wrote about Jesus found it important, however, to include a seemingly insignificant detail in their stories. One time when Jesus was teaching, he was interrupted by an unexpected visit from relatives. How could such a detail merit to be included in a gospel account (Luke 8:19-21)?
“The mother of Jesus and his brothers came to him but were unable to join him because of the crowd. He was told, ‘Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, and they wish to see you.’”
How strange that the evangelists would put this in their gospels. It’s like a CEO getting a phone call in the middle of a meeting. Is that worth putting in the minutes?
What made this important was Jesus’ response.
“He said to them in reply, ‘My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it.’”
What is Jesus talking about? He is talking about a set of relationships that exist within the new world of God’s Kingdom on earth. A new level of family comes into existence when a person enters God’s kingdom, and this level is more important than even that among blood relatives.
Remember the words St. Peter wrote to the early Christians communities. “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9).
Peter uses the word “race” to describe the new creation that God established on this earth through Jesus. When a person is reborn in baptism, something so amazing happens that Peter describes it as becoming part of a new “race.” St Paul uses the term “new creation.” From this perspective, then, there are two races, the human race and the Jesus race. Such a significant leap is made at baptism that a person becomes part of a new race—the Body of Jesus Christ.
Thus “mother and brothers” takes on a new meaning with Jesus. It goes beyond those of his natural relatives on earth. There is an intimacy between Jesus and the members of his Body that surpasses even the deep connection that exists between human family members.
He speaks of these Kingdom relatives as those “who hear the word of God and act on it.”
Once again Jesus emphasizes that hearing is not enough. To become his new mother, brother, or sister a person must “act” on God’s word. This means a person must seek out the will of God and conform their own will to His. This is our challenge every day, as the world, including members of our families, have a way of pulling us in a direction that is contrary to that of God’s will. It takes both courage and grace to be faithful to the new identity we receive in Christ, especially when our old identity tugs away at us.
