Right, let's read together in
Luke's Gospel, chapter 8. Luke's Gospel, chapter 8. And we're going to read from verse
19. And it really is a very short passage today. Luke chapter 8 verse 19, Then
came to him his mother and his brethren, and could not come
at him for the press. And it was told him by certain
which said, Thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring
to see thee. And he answered and said unto
them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word
of God and do it. Amen. May the Lord bless to us
this reading from his word. Here are only a few verses which,
in truth, might easily have been passed over without too much
comment because, at least on the surface, they're very straightforward,
it would seem. But I thought it would be an
opportunity to compare a few different passages to get a little
bit of an overview of the Lord's wider family, although I confess
that's of secondary importance, and also to acknowledge that
the Holy Spirit has, in his wisdom, left a three-fold record of this
episode by three gospel writers. So it's appropriate for us to
hear again the emphasis that the Lord places on the family
of faith. Now from parallel passages in
Matthew and Mark, we learn that this occasion took place in Capernaum
while Jesus was preaching in a packed house in the presence
of some scribes and Pharisees. And his mother and his brethren
likely came from Nazareth to speak with the Lord on this occasion,
which was no small journey. It was probably about 40 miles
that they had come on foot. And what subject they wished
to speak about is not said, although The idea has grown up that they
were concerned for Jesus' safety and wellbeing, perhaps having
heard how much work he was doing and how emphatically he had thrown
himself into the labours of his ministry. And who these brethren were is
also unclear. There are at least four names
given to us in the Gospels of Jesus' brethren, but even this
is not as straightforward as it might seem. When Jesus was
rejected at Nazareth, we read there in Matthew chapter 13,
Is not this the people of Nazareth said concerning Christ? Is not
this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary
and his brethren James and Joses and Simon and Judas and his sisters? Are they not all with us? So it has been suggested that
these named brothers here were actually half-brothers or cousins
or even just kinsmen further removed rather than the children
of Mary. But maybe it is just best to
accept that they were, after all, Jesus' brothers, born to
Mary and Joseph after the birth of Jesus. And actually, of those
four that are mentioned, James and Judas appear to be amongst
Jesus' 12 disciples. So perhaps it was merely Mary
with Joseph and Simon who had come from Nazareth to Capernaum
in order to speak with the Lord, who was their son and their brother. And having come so far to speak
with Jesus, as it appears they had, Mary and Jesus' brothers
were halted at the door of this house because of the throng of
people, what's called the press. And not only could they not speak
privately with him, they could not even get into his presence. And this reveals an aspect of
Jesus' ministry which we often encounter. The press around Christ
was often so great that many of those who had a desire to
meet Jesus and to draw close to the Lord found it difficult
to do so. We might think of Nicodemus who
came to Jesus by night, perhaps somewhat embarrassed by approaching
him, perhaps because that was the only time that he could actually
get an audience with the Lord. We might think of Zacchaeus who
had to climb a tree in order to see the Lord, or Bartimaeus
who shouted at the side of the road Jesus, thou son of David,
have mercy on me, and was only able to get access to the Lord
when the Lord called for him to come. Or the woman with the
issue of blood who touched the hem of his garment. So often,
the people whom we regard as being key characters in the story
of the ministry of the Lord struggled to get into the presence of the
Lord. And I think that part of the wisdom of God in the plan
of salvation is to make our union with Christ spiritual and personal
and not physical and time bound. None of the Lord's people are
ever prevented from approaching the Saviour because we come to
him by faith. And the Lord said, all that the
Father giveth me shall come to me and him that cometh to me
I will in no wise cast out. You or I will never be crowded
out by the press from visiting with the Lord Jesus. Far from
it, the Lord says to his little ones, come unto me. He says, behold, I stand at the
door and knock. If any man hear my voice and
open the door, I will come into him and will sup with him and
he with me, which is a lovely invitation to the Lord's people
to share fellowship with him spiritually. In verse 20, of
these three verses that we've looked at, we read that someone,
perhaps a disciple, conveyed to the Lord this message. The message was, thy mother and
thy brethren stand without desiring to see thee. Now, it's slightly
different in the other gospel writers, the synoptic, the two
other gospel accounts. Matthew says, behold thy mother
and thy brethren stand without desiring to speak with thee. So the first one said that they
wanted to see the Lord. This one says that they want
to speak with thee. And Mark, he says, behold thy
mother and brethren without seek for thee, or they're looking
for you. Now it may simply be that the
Lord was told that his mother and his brothers had arrived
outside the house and there was simply a recounting of that fact
without there being any implied intrusion. However, some have
thought that there is something rather officious and demanding
about this request from the mother and brothers of the Lord, as
if to say We're your family. Stop doing what you're doing
and come with us now. We're here looking for you. We
want to speak to you. We want to see you. And indeed,
rather than let the Lord finish his sermon, finish what he is
doing, that there was an attempt here to interrupt his ministry
and hinder him from saying any more. Now that's a possible construction
that could be placed upon these verses, but it's not certain
and we just leave it at that. What is certain is that the Lord
was not going to be deflected from his task. After all these
years, he was still about his father's business. And he asks
the question, at least according to the two other gospel writers,
he asks the question, who is my mother or my brethren? And here Luke just gives us the
answer to that question. In turning to the Lord's disciples
and perhaps pointing to them, he says, my mother and my brethren,
My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of
God and do it. Now the Lord Jesus, in saying
that, is not impugning or despising his natural connections with
his family. But he is declaring that he now
answers to a different motivation and a different impulse. His
first obligation was not to his earthly ties, but to his divine
duty. Not to his earthly mother, but
to his heavenly father and to his spiritual family. Now his
public ministry had begun and the cross was in sight, he marched
to a different tune. And by the Word of God here,
when he says that, my mother and my brethren are these which
hear the Word of God and do it, by the Word of God is meant what
he is speaking, what he is saying, the sermon that he's now preaching.
It's what he called in the earlier parable, the good seed that the
sower sowed. It's the gospel, it's the good
news of the kingdom. What he is saying is that his
true spiritual family, as distinct from his natural relationships,
were to be reckoned as those who hear the word and do it,
those who hear the gospel and keep it, those who believe it
and accept it and trust in the one of whom the gospel speaks. And trusting Christ is evidence
of our union with him. It is evidence of eternal election. It is evidence of being born
again into the family of God and being the children of God
by adopting grace. And so Christ's brethren are
believers who are adopted into the family of the same father. And these spiritual relationships
were more dear to Christ than relations with his natural mother
and brethren. We've already in this chapter,
earlier in the chapter, heard of some of those who travelled
around with the Lord, who went with him from town to town and
village to village. Mary Magdalene, Joanna, the wife
of Chusa, Susanna. They were probably there that
day in the crowd of people in this house. Or maybe the Lord's
disciples and others who followed him, believing in his word. And
it includes us too, who trust in him by the gospel. And here's another lovely example
of the Lord stressing this union that exists between him and his
church and people, those for whom he died. And the hymn writer,
John Kent, has a hymn that says, "'Twixt Jesus and the chosen
race, "'subsists a bond of sovereign grace, that hell with its infernal
train shall ne'er dissolve or rend in twain. So that here,
in these few verses, the main lesson is that Christ's natural
relations were subordinate to his spiritual relationship with
his people. His true brethren are the members
of his mystical body, and not such as were by natural descent. And this is consistent with the
rest of scripture which teaches us the flesh profiteth nothing. This was the great significance
as the gospel began to go out into all the world and the Jews
had to learn that not natural lineage was important as it had
appeared to be in the Old Testament dispensation, but rather spiritual
obedience and faith in Christ. Christ and his seed are one. He is the head and we who believe
are members of his spiritual body and of these God says, I
will pour my spirit upon thy seed and my blessing upon thine
offspring. It's said in Hebrews, that Levi
was in the loins of his father Abraham when Melchizedek met
him and Abraham offered gifts and tithes. And that little verse
in Hebrews is recorded to show that the Levitical priesthood
was inferior to the priesthood of Christ there's another lovely
application to that that can be drawn I think. We who are
Christ's offspring were in his loins in the eternal covenant
of grace and peace. We were set apart as his dear
family and we were eternally united to him. We've been speaking
in recent days of Christ the true vine and we the branches. And I mentioned that that was
a similitude, it was a picture to show us something more profound
and abstract about our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. And
here Christ further confirms that eternal union by employing
these family relationships as pictures of our more blessed
relationship with him. And how blessed we are indeed,
brothers and sisters, if we can trust by faith that we are joined
to Christ and numbered amongst those whom Jesus owns as his
own and calls his mother and his brethren. May the Lord bless
these thoughts to us today. Amen. Amen. Thank you.