TEXT: Luke 8:19-21

SUBJECT: Luke #29: Christ’s Family

Today, with God’s blessing, we’ll move on in our study of Luke’s Gospel—and to one of the most surprising and heartening things the Lord Jesus Christ ever said. Before we get to that, however, let me remind you of the context.

The teaching part of Luke 8 begins with v.4 and runs through v.21. Three stories are told: a long parable, a short parable, and a very short narrative. The stories differ in many ways, but they’re all about one thing: Listening to God’s Word.

The first two stories tell us to do it—and to do it carefully.

The third story does the same thing, but in a very different way. It doesn’t command you to listen to God’s Word or warn you of what will happen if you don’t. No, it does something far better: it tells you what listening to God’s Word does for you. What’s that? It brings you into the family of Jesus Christ. If that doesn’t give you an incentive to listen to and obey God, I don’t know what will.

Do you want to be a child of God? Do you want to be as close to the Lord as His own brothers were? Do you wish He loved you as much as He loved His mother? If you want these things, you can have them. You can have them right now and forever. By listening to the Word of God—and doing it.

I don’t need to say much about the story. Luke doesn’t tell us where it took or when. But he does give us a feel for what was going on. In short, it was a mob scene. The Lord was visiting someone, maybe having dinner after a hard day’s work. Word got out that He was there, and before you know it the house, the yard, and the street were packed with people trying to get at Him. If you’re forty years old, or more, just think The Beatles. Every- where they went, they were mobbed by hysterical fans. That’s what the Lord is in the middle of right now.

Word is relayed to Him that His mother and brothers have come to see Him, but they can’t push their way through the crowd. Should the people step aside for Mary and the boys? Should they be ushered forward and given a special audience with Him?

His reply must have shocked the ones who first heard it,

How do we understand this?

Was the Lord being disrespectful to His family—especially His mother? No He wasn’t. Near the beginning of his Gospel, Luke tells the kind of son our Lord was--"subject to His parents", that is, respectful and obedient. And John—who knew Him better than anyone—tells us that, even on the cross, our Lord was thinking of His mother,

As for His brothers, they did not believe at the time, but the Lord loved them very dearly. After the resurrection, He appeared to them too, and brought them to faith and eternal life.

Thus, there’s nothing shameful in the Lord’s reply. It indicates no lack of respect or love on His part. We don’t have many details, but based on His character, we know He was a model son and brother.

The fine commentator William Hendricksen has a better take on this. He says,

This is a true comment. The Lord Himself knew that following Him might require you to

The "hate" here doesn’t mean wishing them ill or nursing old grudges. It means choosing Christ over them; doing His will even if they don’t like it.

Hendricksen is right about the doctrine, but I don’t see how it fits in here. The story is not about the Lord loving His spiritual brothers (who believe in Him) more than His biological brothers (who don’t). Besides, Mary belongs to both families! Naturally, she is the Lord’s mother, spiritually, she is the Lord’s sister.

Luke is not saying the Lord loved His disciples more than His family. No, it’s far better than that: Luke is saying the Lord’s disciples are His family!

What was true of His followers then is still true. The disciples were a motley crew. Peter had a big mouth; James and John has short fuses; Matthew had been a publican! All of them were stupid men and slow to believe. They caused the Lord all kinds of heartache, yet they were as dear to Him as His own loving mother.

And not only those disciples. His followers today—like you and me, with all our weaknesses and weird ideas—are no less in the family of Jesus Christ than they were—and are no less loved!

This is what the doctrinal parts of the Bible teach. Two verses must do for now (but you can look up many more on your own),

If these verses direct the mind, then some others touch the heart.

On the Day He rose from the dead, our Lord told Mary Magdalene to take a message to His friends,

Years later, Paul says the God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying,

You can read the Bible all the way through—in English, Greek, or Hebrew—and you’ll never find anyone calling God by His familiar name, except for One Man, who in a Garden one night cried,

The followers of Christ, then, are not only His followers (though that’s a high honor in itself). We are also His family—like a brother, a sister, or even a mother to Him.

If we belong to the family of Christ, it means we belong to Him permanently. Neighbors, colleagues, even friends, come and go. But you never get away from your family. If your mother dies, she’s still a part of you. If your kids break your heart, it’s only because you love them. Even families who hate each other are still joined in some mysterious way. Followers of Christ are connected to Him, both now and forever.

If we belong to the family of Christ, it means He

loves us. Not all brothers love their younger siblings, but they all ought to! And the Lord does. He loved us when He called us into His fellowship. He loved when we came into it. He loves us when we stray. He loves us when we come back. He loves us when we’re sick, when we’re old, and when we die…

The love He has for us is more than a warm feeling (though He has that too). It’s also a commitment to us, a commitment to our highest good. Your highest good is not always pleasant, but it’s always good. The Lord devotes Himself to that.

Being in the family of Christ means He makes up with us when we do Him wrong. Armies don’t make up with enemies; judges don’t make up with criminals; dogs don’t make up with cats. But families make up! We’ve done the Lord more wrong than we can imagine. He wants us to apologize and to make things right, if we can. But His terms are easy and His heart is always warm and receptive.

Think of what Peter did to the Lord: after swearing his loyalty to Him, it wasn’t but a few hours until he denied Him three times, the last time with an oath of disloyalty! If you were the Lord would you forgive the traitor? And, if you would, would you wait for him to make the first move? And, if he did, would you grant him a formal pardon, but never trust him again?

I bet you would. But the Lord didn’t. When He rose from the dead, He said, "Go to my disciples—and Peter…" He singled him out for a special word of comfort. Later, He took Peter back on the flimsiest evidence of his love—He took his word for it (the same word he had just broken three nights before). Then, He gave Peter back his old job, to feed His sheep. What a kind Lord we have! Has any little brother or sister had a Big Brother like He is?

Being in the family of Christ means we receive an inheritance. Jesus Christ is heir of all things. By right, we haven’t got a claim on anything. "The meek shall inherit the earth" is a cheering promise for the meek, but that’s the point: we’re not meek! But Christ is. Everything belongs to Him.

But He is so generous that He shares it all with us. He earned God’s favor; He earned a throne; He earned eternal life. But He’s happy to give them to His little brothers and sisters. Paul says we are

Being in the family of Christ means we’ve got to keep up the family name. What you do makes your family look good or bad. That’s why parents boast about their daughter the college professor. It’s why little boys crow about their brother the major league baseball player. It’s also why people aren’t so eager to talk about their son the prisoner or their daughter the prostitute.

What we do reflects on the Lord Jesus Christ. It shouldn’t do that, but it does. Paul said David’s adultery made the Lord look bad (as though He had done it or commanded it). Thus, we need to conduct ourselves as the Lord did. If He was kind and patient and brave and zealous, let’s be the same kind of people ourselves, so that others can see Christ in us—and think well of Him for it.

That’s the challenge of being in the Lord’s family. With the high privilege goes a high responsibility.

The Lord Jesus Christ calls us several things: servants, friends, and family. Each one is undeserved and far too good for us. But none more so than family. Let’s be thankful for His grace and mindful of our duty to live up to it. For Christ’s sake. Amen.