The True Family of Jesus
Notes
Transcript
Opening Illustration
Opening Illustration
More than ninety people conducted an ALL-NIGHT SEARCH for an eight-year-old boy named Dominic.
While on a skiing trip with his father, this little boy apparently had ridden a new lift and skied off the run without realizing it.
They hoped to find Dominic somewhere on the snowy mountain slope before it was too late.
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As each hour passed, the search party and the boy’s family became more and more concerned.
By dawn they still had found no trace of him.
Two helicopters joined the search, and within fifteen minutes had spotted ski tracks.
A ground team followed the tracks which changed to small footprints.
The footprints led to a tree where they found the boy at last.
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“He’s in super shape,” Sgt. Terry Silbaugh, area search and rescue Coordinator, announced to the anxious family and press.
“In fact, he’s in better shape than we are right now.”
A hospital spokesman said the boy was in fine condition and was not even admitted.
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Silbaugh explained why the boy did so well despite spending a night in the freezing elements:
His father had enough forethought to warn the boy what to do if he became lost, and his son had enough trust to do exactly what his father said.
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Dominic protected himself from possible frostbite and hypothermia by snuggling up to a tree and covering himself with branches.
As a young child he never would have thought of doing this on his own.
He was simply obeying his wise and loving father.
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We too as followers of Christ must obey the words and wisdom of our Father.
We must follow the commands of our Heavenly Father and obey the Word of God.
For it is those who both hear and obey the Word of God who are the true family of our Lord and Savior Jesus.
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So, please turn your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke.
We will conduct our study in Chapter 8 and focus on verses 19 through 21.
Our message this morning is titled, “The True Family of Jesus”
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This message today will focus on an event when Jesus’ mother and brothers attempt to visit Him while He is teaching...
Due to the large crowd that is gathered a message is sent to Jesus of their arrival...
And with that Jesus teaches the crowd who truly is His family.
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So, this morning we will cover three main points:
Jesus’ Earthly Family...
Purpose of the Visit...
And...
Jesus’ Spiritual Family.
Opening Prayer
Opening Prayer
Before we consider our text, please join me in prayer...
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Heavenly Father...
Help us to better understand Your truth...
Help us to better understand Your commands...
Help us to better understand Your written word.
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Thank You for taking us, Your former enemies, and adopting us...
Thank You for allowing us to be a part of Your royal family...
Thank You for giving us a set at Your table.
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We worship You Heavenly Father...
We worship You Jesus, Son of God...
We worship You Holy Spirit...
Three in One!
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And it is in Jesus’s name we pray all these things...
Amen.
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Let’s turn to our text for today:
Reading of the Text
Reading of the Text
19 Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd.
20 And he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you.”
21 But he answered them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”
So, let’s look at our first point...
1) Jesus’ Earthly Family
1) Jesus’ Earthly Family
Verse 19: Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd.
The earthly family of Jesus has always been a topic on much discussion all throughout church history...
All understand that Jesus’ mother is Mary but it is the subject of His siblings that has caused a lot of debate...
However, if we base our theology on the Word of God, the answer to the question...
“Who are the brothers of Jesus?” is a very easy one to answer.
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Beloved, the “brothers” mentioned in our opening verse of our study are actual siblings and half-brothers of Jesus Christ...
They are most naturally understood as the sons born to Joseph and Mary after Jesus’ birth...
As Matthew 1:24-25 says:
24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife,
25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
Joseph did not have relations with Mary until after Jesus was born...
But he did have relations with her just like would be expected of any husband and wife.
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In the Gospel of Matthew the former tax collector explicitly connects Jesus brothers with Mary...
Just look at what it says in Matthew 13:55–56:
55 Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?
56 And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?”
The James mentioned in this list of siblings is the same James that writes the epistle of James and who is mentioned by Paul in Galatians 1:19 which says:
19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother.
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Additionally, the brother of the Lord named Judas is Jude...
Both names were used interchangeably like William or Billy is used in our English language...
This is the same Jude who wrote the epistle of Jude and that is made clear by his introduction recorded in Jude 1 which says:
1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:
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So, this would clearly indicate that these brothers mentioned were not merely cousins or Joseph’s sons from a previous marriage, as some of the church fathers, Catholics and Orthodox imagine...
You see Church, those who wrongly believe that Mary remained a virgin all her life regard these brothers as cousins or as children of Joseph by an earlier marriage but there is absolutely no evidence for this view...
In fact, if the brothers were from a previous marriage then one of those older brothers would have been Joseph’s heir and hence the rightful king of Israel, not Jesus.
Yet as we previously discussed in our study Jesus was both the physical decedent of David through Mary and legal decedent of David through Joseph.
All historical and biblical evidence points to both Joseph and Mary being young teenagers when they married, making a previous marriage and family for Joseph complete nonsense.
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Regarding the view that these brothers here were really only Jesus’ cousins is equally problematic.
The Greek word for “brother” is “adelphos” in this verse and that word is never used in the New Testament in the sense of “cousin.”
In fact, the New Testament writers had a word available that specifically means “cousin” and that word was “anepsios” and when Paul referred to Barnabas’s cousin Mark he used that word in Colossians 4:10.
We can be confident that the Holy Spirit did not use the wrong word here.
As pastor John MacArthur says:
“Further evidence that these were Jesus’ actual brothers comes from Psalm 69.
In this messianic psalm Messiah says in verse 8, ‘I have become estranged from my brothers and an alien to my mother’s sons.’
Here ‘brothers’ cannot mean ‘cousins,’ or ‘step brothers,’ since the term refers to Messiah’s mother’s sons.”
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The origin of this erroneous view stems from a document called the “Protoevangelium of James” from the second century...
This document is filled with errors, was written much later than accepted biblical texts, and comes into conflict with the Gospel accounts...
Yet, despite this, some early church fathers, the Roman Catholics, the Oriental Orthodox, and the Eastern Orthodox build there doctrines on this man-made tradition...
They believe virginity to be a trait that contributes to holiness and hence they engage in the practice of monasticism and celibacy of priests.
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As the ESV Study Bible notes:
“Some interpreters, seeking to defend a doctrine of the ‘perpetual virginity of Mary,’ have suggested that these were cousins, or children of Joseph from another marriage, but no evidence in the Greek words adelphoi (‘brothers’) and adelphai (‘sisters’), or in any other historical information, gives support to that view.
For Mary to have sexual relations with her husband, Joseph, and to bear children, would contribute to her holiness, not detract from it.”
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So, Jesus’ Mother and His half-brothers were attempting to visit Him but were meet with a large crowd...
As Mark 2:2 says:
2 And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them.
So, due to this obstacle, Jesus is sent word that His earthy family, who is outside, desires to see Him...
And this takes us to our second point.
2) Purpose of the Visit
2) Purpose of the Visit
Verse 20: And he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you.”
So, why was Jesus’ mother and brothers desiring to see Him?
If we look at the Gospel of Mark we get some insight regrading the purpose of their trip to see Him
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Look with me at Mark 3:21 which says:
21 And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”
Evidently Jesus’ family intended to seize Him and force him to return to Nazareth with them...
They thought He was insane and desired to protect Him from Himself...
Yet, it should be noted that this belief was not shared by Jesus’ mother even if she accompanied His brothers...
Mary, may not have full grasped the full intent of Jesus’ ministry but she knew enough to know that Jesus was not insane...
But her understanding of this did not prevent His brothers to try and seize Him.
As New Testament scholar William L. Lane says:
“It is unnecessary to suppose that Mary also suspected that Jesus had lost his grasp upon reality.
Her presence with Jesus’ brothers in Mark 3:31, however, indicates that her faith was insufficient to resist the determination of her sons to restrain Jesus and bring him home.”
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You see Beloved, we know that it was Jesus’ brothers who at this time did not yet believe in Jesus as the long-promised Messiah and true Son of God.
As John 7:3–5 says:
3 So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing.
4 For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.”
5 For not even his brothers believed in him.
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Despite living a perfect life for 30 years with His family...
His brothers could not believe the claims about Jesus...
Although, that would only be for a time...
After Jesus’ resurrection and ascension...
His family finally did believe that He truly was the long-promised Messiah and God in the flesh...
We see proof of this in Acts 1:14 which says:
14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
But on this occasion His brothers were still in unbelief...
And they wanted to used there family connection to reach Jesus...
But as we had mentioned before a large crowd was in the way...
So, they sent a message...
And when Jesus receives this message He uses it as an opportunity to teach about who His true family is...
And this takes us to our third and final point.
3) Jesus’ Spiritual Family
3) Jesus’ Spiritual Family
Verse 21: But he answered them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”
To be clear, Jesus was not repudiating or renouncing His earthly family...
Remember Jesus made sure to take care of His mother even while hanging on the cross as recorded in John 19:26-27 which says:
26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!”
27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.
Rather, Jesus was emphasizing the supremacy and eternality of spiritual relationships over blood relationships...
Jesus’ family did not have special access to salvation...
They too had to repent and believe.
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For example, Jesus’ brother at this time did not believe so they were not yet at this time part of His true spiritual family...
But like we discussed in our last point His brothers eventually do believe and are at that point entered into His spiritual family...
For it it at that point they are part of the Body of Christ.
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So, to believe in Jesus is to surrender to Him and place one’s trust in Him...
The result of that true genuine saving faith will be obedience to the Word of God...
Which is obedience to God’s will...
Or as Matthew 12:50 puts it:
50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
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Notice that in Luke’s account it says whoever hears the Word of God and does it...
While Matthew’s account, and Mark’s for that matter, says whoever does the will of God...
Those individuals are Jesus’ true family.
So to obey the Word of God and to do God’s will are one and the same.
Volume 8 of the Expositor’s Bible Commentary set says:
“Most Christians would probably say that we come closest to him through prayer and reading the Bible.
But with searching practicality Jesus says that the way to be close to him—even as close as his own family—is through being receptive to (‘hearing’) God’s word and then doing it.
Hours of praying and reading the Bible will not bring disobedient Christians as close to the Lord as doing his truth brings even the simplest believer.”
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This truth is found throughout all of Scripture...
Just look with me at what it says in John 1:12–13:
12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
All who truly believe in Jesus as the God of the Bible...
All who surrender to Him as Lord...
All who sacrifice their desires for His desires...
All who ear the Word of God and obey it...
All of them are the children of God!
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It does not matter what tribe you come from...
It does not matter who your family is...
It does not matter who you know...
God is no respecter of persons!
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The Gospel invitation is meant to go out to all whom we can share it with!
We are to share the Good News with as many people as we encounter!
For Heaven will be filled with those from every tribe and every nation...
Anyone who will receive Him and believe in Him!
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Belief and obedience go hand and hand...
They can’t be separated...
That is why Jesus says in John 14:21:
21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”
Those that are deceived and think they only need to have an intellectual understanding of Jesus and live a disobedient life will be disappointed on the last day if they do not repent and believe as Matthew 7:21 says:
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
Only the obedient will enter the Kingdom of Heaven...
Only the ones obedient to God’s will are considered members of His true family...
Only the ones who both hear and obey the Word of God are children of God!
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One day all people from all times will be gathered an put into one of two groups...
One on His left hand...
And one on His right hand...
And Scripture chronicles this as happening as recorded in Matthew 25:34–46:
34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,
36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’
37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?
38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?
39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’
44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’
45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’
46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
We are indeed saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone!
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Don’t look for salvation in any other form...
Nobody else can save you except for Jesus.
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It pains me to see so many in this world today put their faith in people they believe were close to Jesus instead of just putting their faith in Jesus Himself.
Mary veneration and worship is an epidemic problem in the Catholic and Orthodox churches...
Members of these religions are trusting in Jesus’ earthy connection to His mother to save them.
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Yet, Jesus Himself made it clear that our attention should be on the Word of God...
Our attention should be on hearing the Word of God...
And our attention should be on obeying the Word of God.
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Just look at what it says in Luke 11:27-28:
27 As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!”
28 But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”
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We must saturate our lives with the Word of God...
We must know it like the back of our hands...
It must be on our minds and hearts at all times!
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Furthermore, we must take seriously what the Scriptures say...
We must see its truth as superior to all other claims of truth...
We must surrender to the commands and decrees of God found in His word!
Closing Illustration
Closing Illustration
So, as this message comes to a close...
I would like to share this that I came across in my study this week:
In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis wrote:
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Christ says, “Give me All.
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I don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work:
I want You.
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I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it.
No half-measures are any good.
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I don’t want to cut off a branch here and a branch there, I want to have the whole tree down.
I don’t want to drill the tooth, or crown it, or stop it, but to have it out.
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Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked – the whole outfit.
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I will give you a new self instead.
In fact, I will give you Myself:
My own will shall become yours.”
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Jesus is not looking for a half measure of loyalty...
He wants it all!
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Jesus does not play with kid gloves...
He does not hold back His punches...
Jesus strikes right at the heart of the matter!
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Our Lord and Savior boldly declared in Matthew 10:34–38:
34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.
35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
36 And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household.
37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
Family is a wonderful thing.
But your family can’t get in the way of your relationship with God.
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Jesus didn’t just say it, He lived it!
He loved His physical family but He made it clear who was His true family.
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Again, Jesus didn’t mince words when He said in Luke 14:26:
26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
Of course Jesus did not mean we are to hate our family...
That would be sinful...
Be our love for Christ needs to be so great...
Any other love that is next in line will look like hate in comparison.
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That is not an option...
That is the mandatory attitude of anyone who claims to be born-again...
This is the cost to follow Jesus!
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So, on this Palm Sunday...
Knowing full well the cost of following Jesus...
Will you cry out, “Hosanna in the Highest!”
Or...
Will you follow the footsteps of those who only a few days later said, “Crucify Him!”
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To God be all the glory.
Amen.
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Please join us for one more song from the Praise Band.