Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 12:46

While he yet talked to the people, behold, [his] mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him.

46 50. Jesus is sought by His Mother and Brethren. The true Mother and Brethren of Jesus

Mar 3:31-35; Luk 8:19-21

The account is given with very slight variation by the three Synoptists. But see Mar 3:21; Mar 3:30-31, where a motive is suggested “When his friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him: for they said, He is beside himself” ( Mat 12:21). Comp. the then =therefore, of Mat 12:31. It would seem that the Pharisees, on the pretext that Jesus had a demon, had persuaded His friends to secure Him. This was another device to destroy Jesus, see Mat 12:14 ; Mat 12:38.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Mat 12:46-50

The same is My brother, and sister, and mother.

Christians are Christs Relations

I. That Jesus here implies that the supreme relationships of life are moral

1. It is similar to that of the family.

2. It is superior to that of the family.

(1) It is non-artificial

(2) It is intimate.

(3) It is dear.

(4) It is completer.

(5) It is vaster.

(6) It is more lasting.

II. That Jesus here proclaims that the bond by which men sustain this supreme relationship to Himself, is by their obedience to Gods will. When we do His will.

1. There is the kinship of sympathy.

2. Kinship of resemblance.

III. That Jesus here suggests that the Christian relationship to Christ is individual, varied and satisfying.

1. Brotherhood. Active men.

2. Sisterhood. The intercourse of heart.

3. Motherhood. (U. B. Thomas.)

Moral a affinity the true ground of unity

Christ saw things in their superior relationships. All true relationship springs from moral states, not from the mechanical arrangements of society.

1. It is the real and proper tendency of all moral affections to seek each other, and to coalesce. The lower feelings are to a certain extent centrifugal. Policy, self interest, gifts, are perpetually separating men. All attempts to compromise union, to reason men into external union have failed. It is not found in contiguity. It is found in divergence of thought and feeling. All harmonies are in the direction of diversity. Love will do what reason never could do.

2. Human affections are never carried to their full power, and sweetness and beauty, till they are lifted up into the higher sphere, by their affinities and associations, religious. It is not enough to love the human that is in man; but that which is to live after the body. An unsanctified affection an imperfect one.

3. It is a matter of great rejoicing to those who ponder the spirit of this passage, that this world, after all, is as rich as it is. Although hearts are distributed and unrecognized, yet you can feel what a wealth of relationship there is after all.

4. The true man of God, in our day, is he who feels most sensitively his relationship to the Divine element which is in his fellow man. The largest man is the man of the largest heart.

5. It is piteous to see how men have spent their lives in resisting their relationships, and in putting trust and charity upon hard conditions. We must change away from the hating and fighting to the loving principle. (H. W. Beecher.)

A wealth of relationship

I never read a book of a fine nature that I do not instantly feel, Well, he is mine, too. The Guerins-brother and sister-are as much mine as though I had been brought up on their mothers knee. Fenelon is mine. Bossuet is mine. All those noble men who carried down the light of a true Christian example through stormy times, and held steadfastly to the faith, and suffered nobly-they are mine. Pascal is mine. Newton is mine. All the great natures of the earth that have lifted themselves up under the genial Sun of Righteousness, and have begun to show heavenly colours and heavenly blossoms-they are mine. The same Father is mine. The same Saviour is mine. And I hear my Saviour saying, All those that do the will of God are mothers to each other, brothers to each other, sisters to each other. (H. W. Beecher.)

Relationship revealed in heaven

You do not know how many relations you have till you are in heaven. Oh! when those that are around you, and that you meet from day to day with little pleasure, meet you again, and they have thrown off the cerements of the body; when you see that in them which is good, and in conditions in which counterpoising evil is taken away, and the whole evolutions of their glorious nature are disclosed, you will never know them! It will be as when one looks upon the banks in January, and says, How dreary are these banks I and then in June looks upon the same landscape, and says, It is not the thing that I looked at before. It is winter here, and we are frost-bitten, or ice-clad. It will be summer there; and we shall be in fragrant leaf and glorious blossom. And when you reach heaven, you will never be lonesome, or restrained. Here the necessities of earth, and the proprieties of life, and the laws and conditions of our lower nature, partition and divide us; and we belong to each other more than we do to all the world. But in heaven all that will be gone. Every soul there will belong to every soul; every heart to every- heart; every love to every love. We shall be Gods, and He shall be ours. (H. W. Beecher.)

The family of our Lord

I. Their character. They do the will of His Father.

1. Some do the will of the devil.

2. Some do the will of men.

3. Some do their own will.

4. The Christian makes the will of God the rule of his life.

5. God has revealed His will. Their obedience is

(1) Affectionate;

(2) Impartial.

II. Their privilege. His disciples are Christs kindred.

1. We look for family likeness, and we have it-Conformed to the image of His Son. We shall also bear the image of the heavenly. The resemblance not complete in this world: but it is real.

2. He confers honour upon them as His kindred. It is glorious to belong to persons of illustrious endowments.

3. If they are relations, Christ will love them.

4. Since He declares them to be His relations, He will provide for them.

5. He will keep up an intercourse with them.

6. He will defend them.

7. Admire the grace and condescension of our Lord Jesus Christ.

8. The advantages of religion.

9. The holiness of the gospel.

10. The duty derived from this alliance. (W. Jay.)

Description and dignity of true Christians

I. A description of Christs disciples-They do the will, etc. What is the will of God?

1. God would have us to believe in Jesus Christ.

2. God requires of us to repent of our sins and to walk in newness of life. Naturally men cannot do these things; only the children of God.

II. The dignity conferred on the.

1. Christ here declares how dear and precious to Him are His true disciples. A true brother will watch over the interests of His brethren.

III. The privileges derived from this dignity.

1. Confidence in prayer.

2. Comfort in death. (E. Cooper.)

Spiritual relationship with Christ

Brother and sister, because of either sex. The faithful soul is also the mother of Christ, because by teaching, exhorting, and counselling, she brings forth Christ in herself and in others. Thus St. Gregory says: We must know that he who is the brother or sister of Christ through believing is made His mother by preaching. For he, as it were, brings forth the Lord, whom he infuses into the hearts of his hearers. He subjoins the example of Felicitas, who, by the Spirit, bore to God the seven sons to whom she had given birth in the flesh, because she strengthened them in persecution, and animated them for martyrdom. These words of Christ were also exemplified in Victoria, a virgin-martyr under Diocletian. She replied to the pro-consul, on his asking her whether she would join her brother Fortunatianus, who was a heathen: No, for I am a Christian; and those are my brethren who keep the commandments of God. Wherefore she was shut up in prison, and perishing by hunger, obtained the martyrs crown.

I. Christians are the relatives of Christ. The ground of the relationship not natural, ecclesiastical, but spiritual-faith and obedience.

II. Spiritual relationship to Christ is superior to natural. It is more intimate, happy, honourable, comprehensive, permanent.

III. The love of Christ to Christians as His relatives comprises within itself all, the different phases of natural affections.

1. Let us honour the relatives of Christ.

2. Seek to be of their number.

3. Choose them for our companions.

4. Do them all the good in our power. (Various.)

I. The character of the disciple of Christ. Relates to-What we are to believe, experience, be, do, suffer, enjoy.

II. How near and dear they are to Christ.

III. How near and dear they ought to be to each other. (J. Benson.)

I. The spiritual relatives of Jesus. Close and intimate. All the saints have one Father, one nature, one mind, one name with Christ.

II. The great principle of this relationship. Obedience. Gods will is revealed to us. Obedience must be evangelical, affectionate, full, constant.

III. The advantages of this relationship. Exalted honour, greatest blessings, everlasting security. Rejoice, walk worthy, etc. (Dr. Burns.)

Christs kindred

This reply of our Lord shows-

I. The pervading spiritality of Christs mind. He turned every circumstance to spiritual account. Christ spiritualized because He was spiritual.

II. The pure philanthropy of Christs heart. His love for man as man. The world is made one in relationship as it enters into Christs love.

III. It shows the true bond of mans connection with Christ.

1. Connection with Christ is not determined by social position.

2. It is not determined by material relationships.

3. It is determined by obedience to the Divine will.

(1) That there is but one infallible will;

(2) That this infallible will may be disregarded;

(3) That this infallible will appeals for universal obedience.

IV. It shows the high privileges resulting from moral union with Christ.

1. Here is the idea of infinite relationship.

2. Here is the idea of social communion.

Inferences:

1. If we are to obey the Divine will, a great change must pass over our moral nature.

2. If our union with Christ is moral, it will also be eternal.

3. If all the good are Christs kindred, their meeting-place must be heaven.

4. If we are all Christs, joy should be the pervading emotion of our hearts. (J. Parker.)

Preliminary remarks on the seven parables

The kingdoms similitude

Not the kingdom of heaven is, but the kingdom of heaven is like, so and so. Truth is a separate matter from the forms of phrase along which it is conveyed, or the forms of thought under which it is apprehended. In this respect it resembles the light. No painter can paint light. He can give you colours, the greens, the blues, the crimsons, but he cannot give you light; and yet if he is a genius he will succeed in filling his picture with those tinted suggestions that will somehow quicken in you a deep, thrilling sense of light. So Christ, in a similar manner, did not point out to His disciples this particular thing and that particular thing, but loaded His sentences with suggestions, and started in mens minds presentiments that went leaping along ahead of the spoken word He cut no grooves for mens opinions to slip in, fashioned no moulds for those opinions to be cast in; did not care to have them think precisely this, or precisely that; tied them to no nice forms of declaration; did not accentuate with periods. And so their minds moved as vessels move at sea; at the direction of the compass, to be sure but without the sea ever being worn down into ruts and roadways. He drew for them pictures of the truth, and then let them make what they could of these pictures. A truth never can be quite told. It is best seen when we are not trying too hard to see it, not straining our eyes to see it-as faint stars become visible when we look a little off from them. (C. H. Parkhurst, D. D.)

The seven parables of the kingdom

History of the Church in all ages, from the first preaching of the gospel to the last general judgment, tracing the different steps of its advancement, both externally and internally, from its commencement to its consummation.

1. Sower-the preaching of the gospel, when the apostles and their successors went through the world, sowing everywhere the good seed.

2. Tares-the development of those evils of doctrine, the germs of which existed even in an earlier day.

3. Mustard seed-the extension and progress of the Church. It needs no support for itself, but affords a shelter to others who resort to it.

4. Leaven-the manner in which its vital spirit silently makes its progress, gradually changing the character of the whole mass into which it has been infused.

5. Hid treasure-action of Christianity upon some. In such a ease as this, some unlooked-for occurrence brings the man into contact with this treasure, for which he was not seeking. He finds it accidentally, and at once gives up all to possess it.

6. Pearl of great price-action of Christianity upon others. Here the man is engaged in the business of his life. He gains that for which he has all along been seeking.

7. Net-the solemn winding-up of the mighty drama-the separation-the consummation. (Bishop Wn. Ingraham Kip.)

The general teaching of these seven parables

No one should miss gathering from these parables some notion of the all-embracing character of the kingdom which Christ came to set up among men. We need not wonder that Christ exhibits the truth lie wanted to impress upon them in a great variety of lights. It would have been surprising if He had not supplemented the parable of the hid treasure with that of the pearl, for the four parables which precede these are arranged in pairs. First, we have the action of Christ upon the Church, in the parable of the sower, supplemented by the field and the tares; then the expansive and permeating power of the Christian society, in the mustard and leaven; and, in the third pair, we are shown the attitude of the individual in relation to the saving grace of God. The king, the kingdom, the subjects-under each of these aspects two illustrations are given to enforce important varieties, and to exhibit, in more than one light, the manifold wisdom of God. (J. Henry Burn, B. D.)

The diversity of Christs parables

His parables were divers, when yet by those sundry shadows He did aim directly at one light. The intention of which course in our great Physician is to give several medicines for the same malady in several men, fitting his receipts to the disposition of his patients. The soldier doth not so well understand similitudes taken from husbandry, nor the husbandman from the war. The lawyer conceives not an allusion from physic, nor the physician from the law. Home-dwellers are ignorant of foreign matters; neither doth the quiet, rural labourer trouble his head with matters of state. Therefore Christ derives a parable from an army, to teach soldiers; from legal principles, to instruct lawyers; from the field and sewing, to speak familiarly to the husbandmans capacity. (T. Adams.)

Parables

The word used (masdal) means a likeness or comparison. Parables differ from fables in being pictures of possible occurrences-frequently of actual daily occurrences-and in teaching religious truths rather than moral truths. (A. Carr.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 46. His mother and his brethren] These are supposed to have been the cousins of our Lord, as the word brother is frequently used among the Hebrews in this sense. But there are others who believe Mary had other children beside our Lord and that these were literally his brothers, who are spoken of here. And, although it be possible that these were the sons of Mary, the wife of Cleopas or Alpheus, his mother’s sister, called his relations, Mr 3:31; yet it is as likely that they were the children of Joseph and Mary, and brethren of our Lord, in the strictest sense of the word. See on Mt 13:55.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Mark repeateth the same passage, Mar 3:31-35. Luke repeateth it more shortly, Luk 8:20,21. Both Mark and Luke say more than one spake to our Saviour; first one, then others.

Thy mother and thy brethren: most interpreters think brethren here signifieth no more than some of his kindred, whom the Hebrews usually called brethren. By the following words of our Saviour, Mat 12:48-50, we must not understand that our Saviour slighted his mother or brethren, we are elsewhere taught what honour he gave to his parents, Luk 2:51; yet he seemeth to speak something angrily, because he was interrupted in his work: so Luk 2:49; Joh 2:3-4. We may show a just respect to our parents, and respect to our relations, though we do not neglect our duty to God out of respect to them. The only thing to be further learned from this paragraph, is, how dear believers and holy persons are to Christ; he counts them as dear as mother, brethren, or sisters, and thereby teacheth us the esteem we ought to have for such. Luke saith, he that heareth my word, and doth it. Matthew saith, he that doth it. It is the will of God, that we should believe on him whom he hath sent:

See Poole on “Joh 1:12“, See Poole on “Joh 6:40“, See Poole on “Joh 8:47“; This text derogates nothing from the honour truly due to the blessed virgin, as the mother of the Messias; but it shows the madness of the papists, exalting her above Christ, whom Christ, considered only as his mother, seemeth here to set beneath every true believer, though, considered as a believer also, she hath a just preference.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

46. While he yet talked to thepeople, behold, his mother and his brethren(See on Mt13:55, 56).

stood without, desiring tospeak with him“and could not come at Him for the press”(Lu 8:19). For what purposethese came, we learn from Mar 3:20;Mar 3:21. In His zeal and ardorHe seemed indifferent both to food and repose, and “they went tolay hold of Him” as one “beside Himself.” Mark (Mr3:32) says graphically, “And the multitude sat about Him”or”around Him.”

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

While he yet talked to the people,…. Upon these subjects, which so nearly concerned the Scribes and Pharisees, and which could not fail of drawing upon him their resentment and ill will.

Behold his mother and his brethren: by “his mother” is meant Mary; but who are “his brethren”, is not so easy to say: some are of opinion, that Joseph had children by Mary, who are here meant; but it is more generally believed, that these were either the sons of Joseph by a former wife, whose name is said to be Escha; or rather, Mary’s sister’s sons, the wife of Cleophas, the cousin-germans of Christ, it being usual with the Jews to call such kindred brethren; and so they might be James, Joses, Simon, and Judas: these

stood without: for Christ was within doors, not in a synagogue, as Piscator thought, but in an house; see Mt 13:1 and his mother and brethren stood without doors, either because they could not get in for the throng of the people; or because they would not, it not being proper to make all within acquainted with what they had to say to him:

desiring to speak with him; not with a pure view to interrupt him in his work, or to divert him from it, lest he should overspend himself; nor from a principle of ambition and vain glory, to show that they were related to him, and that he was at their beck and command; but rather, to observe unto him the danger he exposed himself to, by the freedom he took with the Pharisees in his discourses, and probably to acquaint him with some conspiracies formed against him.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Who Are Christ’s Relations.

46 While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him. 47 Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. 48 But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? 49 And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! 50 For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.

Many excellent, useful sayings came from the mouth of our Lord Jesus upon particular occasions; even his digressions were instructive, as well as his set discourses: as here,

Observe, I. How Christ was interrupted in his preaching by his mother and his brethren, that stood without, desiring to speak with him (Mat 12:40; Mat 12:47); which desire of theirs was conveyed to him through the crowd. It is needless to enquire which of his brethren they were that came along with his mother (perhaps they were those who did not believe in him, John vii. 5); or what their business was; perhaps it was only designed to oblige him to break off, for fear he should fatigue himself, or to caution him to take heed of giving offence by his discourse to the Pharisees, and or involving himself in a difficulty; as if they could teach him wisdom.

1. He was as yet talking to the people. Note, Christ’s preaching was talking; it was plain, easy, and familiar, and suited to their capacity and case. What Christ had delivered had been cavilled at, and yet he went on. Note, The opposition we meet within our work, must not drive us from it. He left off talking with the Pharisees, for he saw he could do no good with them; but continued to talk to the common people, who, not having such a conceit of their knowledge as the Pharisees had, were willing to learn.

2. His mother and brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him, when they should have been standing within, desiring to hear him. They had the advantage of his daily converse in private, and therefore were less mindful to attend upon his public preaching. Note, Frequently those who are nearest to the means of knowledge and grace, are most negligent. Familiarity and easiness of access breed some degree of contempt. We are apt to neglect that this day, which we think we may have any day, for getting that it is only the present time we can be sure of; tomorrow is none of ours. There is too much truth in that common proverb, “The nearer the church, the further from God;” it is pity it should be so.

3. They not only would not hear him themselves, but they interrupted others that heard him gladly. The devil was a sworn enemy to our Saviour’s preaching. He had sought to baffle his discourse by the unreasonable cavils of the scribes and Pharisees, and when he could not gain his point that way, he endeavoured to break it off by the unseasonable visits of relations. Note, We often meet with hindrances and obstructions in our work, by our friends that are about us, and are taken off by civil respects from our spiritual concerns. Those who really wish well to us and to our work, may sometimes, by their indiscretion, prove our back-friends, and impediments to us in our duty; as Peter was offensive to Christ, with his, “Master, spare thyself,” when he thought himself very officious. The mother of our Lord desired to speak with him; it seemed she had not then learned to command her Son, as the iniquity and idolatry of the church of Rome has since pretended to teach her: nor was she so free from fault and folly as they would make her. It was Christ’s prerogative, and not his mother’s, to do every thing wisely, and well, and in its season. Christ once said to his mother, How is it that ye sought me? Wist he not, that I must be about my Father’s business? And it was then said, she laid up that saying in her heart (Luke ii. 49); but if she had remembered it now, she would not have given him this interruption when he was about his Father’s business. Note, There is many a good truth that we thought was well laid up when we heard it, which yet is out of the way when we have occasion to use it.

II. How he resented this interruption, v. 48-50.

1. He would not hearken to it; he was so intent upon his work, that no natural or civil respects should take him off from it. Who is my mother and who are my brethren? Not that natural affection is to be put off, or that, under pretence of religion, we may be disrespectful to parents, or unkind to other relations; but every thing is beautiful in its season, and the less duty must stand by, while the greater is done. When our regard to our relations comes in competition with the service of God, and the improving of an opportunity to do good, in such a case, we must say to our Father, I have not seen him, as Levi did, Deut. xxxiii. 9. The nearest relations must be comparatively hated, that is, we must love them less than Christ (Luke xiv. 26), and our duty to God must have the preference. This Christ has here given us an example of; the zeal of God’s house did so far eat him up, that it made him not only forget himself, but forget his dearest relations. And we must not take it ill of our friends, nor put it upon the score of their wickedness, if they prefer the pleasing of God before the pleasing of us; but we must readily forgive those neglects which may be easily imputed to a pious zeal for God’s glory and others’ good. Nay, we must deny ourselves and our own satisfaction, rather than do that which may any way divert our friends from, or distract them in, their duty to God.

2. He took that occasion to prefer his disciples, who were his spiritual kindred, before his natural relations as such: which was a good reason why he would not leave preaching to speak with his brethren. He would rather be profiting his disciples, than pleasing his relations. Observe,

(1.) The description of Christ’s disciples. They are such as do the will of his Father; not only hear it, and know it, and talk of it, but do it; for doing the will of God is the best preparative for discipleship (John vii. 17), and the best proof of it (ch. vii. 21); that denominates us his disciples indeed. Christ does not say, “Whosoever shall do my will,” for he came not to seek or do his own will distinct from his Father’s: his will and his Father’s are the same; but he refers us to his Father’s will, because now in his present state and work he referred himself to it, John vi. 38.

(2.) The dignity of Christ’s disciples: The same is my brother, and sister, and mother. His disciples, that had left all to follow him, and embraced his doctrine, were dearer to him than any that were akin to him according to the flesh. They had preferred Christ before their relations; they left their father (Mat 4:22; Mat 10:37); and now to make them amends, and to show that there was no love lost, he preferred them before his relations. Did not they hereby receive, in point of honour, a hundred fold? ch. xix. 29. It was very endearing and very encouraging for Christ to say, Behold my mother and my brethren; yet it was not their privilege alone, this honour have all the saints. Note, All obedient believers are near akin to Jesus Christ. They wear his name, bear his image, have his nature, are of his family. He loves them, converses freely with them as his relations. He bids them welcome to his table, takes care of them, provides for them, sees that they want nothing that is fit for them: when he died he left them rich legacies, now he is in heaven he keeps up a correspondence with them, and will have them all with him at last, and will in nothing fail to do the kinsman’s part (Ruth iii. 13), nor will ever be ashamed of his poor relations, but will confess them before men, before the angels, and before his Father.

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

His mother and his brothers ( ). Brothers of Jesus, younger sons of Joseph and Mary. The charge of the Pharisees that Jesus was in league with Satan was not believed by the disciples of Jesus, but some of his friends did think that he was beside himself (Mr 3:21) because of the excitement and strain. It was natural for Mary to want to take him home for rest and refreshment. So the mother and brothers are pictured standing outside the house (or the crowd). They send a messenger to Jesus.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

JESUS’ MOTHER AND BRETHREN WAIT TO SEE HIM V. 46-50

1) “While he (Jesus) was still speaking to the crowds,” with the Pharisees and Sadducees and Scribes yet among them, Mat 12:23-24; Mat 12:38.

2) “Behold, his mother and his brethren stood without,” (idou he meter kai hoi adelphoi autou heistekeisan ekso) “Behold his mother, Mary, and his brothers (half brothers) stood outside,” perhaps the entire family, his kinsmen in the flesh, named Mat 13:55-56.

3) “Desiring to speak with him.” (zetountes auto lalesai) “Desiring or seeking an opportunity to speak to him,” as also recounted Mr 3:31-35; Luk 8:19-21. They were both anxious about His health and safety, and disapproved His words, Mr 3:21,31.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

CRITICAL NOTES

Mat. 12:46. His brethren.See on Mat. 13:55. Desiring to speak with Him.A motive is assigned (Mar. 3:21). It would seem that the Pharisees, on the pretext that Jesus had a demon, had persuaded His friends to secure Him (Carr).

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Mat. 12:46-50

True kinsfolk.What was thought of earthly kinship by the Saviour of all? We have some answer to this question in what is told us about Him as a citizen of the world. As an Israelite Himself He had a special regard for the Israelite people and faith. He even went so far on one occasion as to declare that His own personal ministry was almost exclusively for their good (Mat. 15:24). Yet we do not always find Him giving the first place to men of this race. Sometimes, on the contrary (as in Mat. 15:28), it is to a woman of Syrophnicia. Sometimes (as in Luk. 10:33) to a member of the mixed race and hybrid religion of the Samaritans. And sometimes (as in Mat. 8:10) to a Roman centurion; or even afterwards (in that chapter, Mat. 12:12), under certain circumstances, to those of any Gentile connection. Altogether, therefore, it is evident, that, in this broader sense, kinship was not the first thing in His eyes. The Israelite was only first when he did that which was best. Otherwise, any other man might take that place in his stead. In the present passage the same subject is dealt with again; only in a still closer degree. Family ties now, and not only national ones, are, as it were, in the arena; and we are bidden to see how Christ comported Himself with regard to their claims. We shall find that it was in a manner parallel to what we have noted already; and that both on the negative and positive side.

I. On the negative side.Whilst engaged in teaching, the Saviour hears of some without (Mat. 12:46) who are desirous to see Him. From the point of view which is now before us theirs was a crucial case. It was so, in the first place, on account of what is told us of their natural relation to Him. They were His mother and His brothers, i.e. His very nearest of kin. This is true, whoever is meant exactly by the latter expression. According to the ties of earth there were none on earth nearer to Him. This was so, in the next place, on account of what is not told us of them in a higher respect. At one time we are told that His brethren did not believe in His work. We are not told whether or not this was so at this time. On one occasion we read that His friends thought He was beside Himself (Mar. 3:21) because of His devotion to His work. Whether this was so of these friends now we are not informed. We are only told that when others were within, they were standing without. We are not told even that they wished to hear Him; only that they wished to speak to Himwithout saying why. There is nothing before us, in fact, except the fact that they were His nearest of kin. Hence the importance, therefore, lastly of what the Saviour did not do when He heard of their presence. He did not stop His discourse, He only varied its tenor. He did not at once come out to meet them and hear their communication. Still less did He do as Solomon did on a certain very widely different, yet sufficiently parallel case (1Ki. 2:19). The inference is clear, though it must not be pushed into unbecoming regions of thought. Mere kinship, even of the very closest kind, was not supreme in His eyes. Thus much, we say, is quite clear, without disrespectfulness to any. Where all that He hears of is kinship alone, all that He does is to leave it alone.

II. On the positive side.On this side we have everything different from what we found on the other. This is true, on the one hand, of the persons described. Much was said in the case of those others, of kinship to Christ. Nothing is said of it here. Nothing was said in the previous case of anything higher. Much is said of it here. Much acknowledged in the way of profession. The persons sitting there did so as disciples of Christ. Much implied, also, in the way of practice. Of some amongst them, at any rate, Jesus could see that they were doing the will of His Father in heaven. Just as different, therefore, on the other hand, is the treatment vouchsafed to them here. Instead of being left unnoticed, like those others, they are specially noticed and marked. Jesus stretched forth His hand to them as they sat at His feet. Instead of there being no word for them there is every word they could wish. Behold My mother and My brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of My Father which is in heaven, the same is My brother, and sister, and mother (Mat. 12:50). There we see what is supreme in the eyes of the Saviour, viz., identity of will in all things with His Father and Himself; and not the closest identityeven with Jesus Himselfin the things of this earth. There is no greater glory than that of being a true disciple of Christ! There is no surer test of it than that of sharing His mind!

HOMILIES ON THE VERSES

Mat. 12:46-50. A distressing interruption wisely utilised.What will He make of the distressing interruption caused by the interference of His mother and brethren? Knowing their motives and intentions as He did, He could not, for a moment, yield; and how was it possible to deal with them without a public rebuke, from which, seeing that His mother was involved in it, His heart would instinctively shrink?

1. It was a most painful position; and the more we think of it, and try to imagine possible ways of extrication, the more we must admire the wisdom and kindness shown in the way in which He confronted the difficulty. He makes use of the opportunity for giving a new and most winning view of the kingdom of heaven as a happy family, united each to Himself, and all to the Father by the holiest bonds; thus opening out the paradise of a perfect home to all who choose to enter it, taking the sacred ties involved in the sweet words brother, and sister, and mother, and giving them a range, a dignity, and a permanence they never had before.

2. In all this there was not a word of direct censure; yet the sadly mistaken conduct of His kindred did not pass without implied rebuke; for the effect of His words was to make it clear that, sacred as were, in His eyes, the ties of earth, their only hope of permanence was in alliance with the higher ties of heaven.

3. The course of events in later times has proved that the gentle rebuke involved in our Lords reception of the message from His mother was not only necessary at the time and for her, but for the ages to come as well. It certainly is no fault of Mary herself, whose name should ever be held in the highest respect by all who love the Lord, that a corrupt church, reversing all the teaching of the churchs Head, not only elevated the earthly relationship far above the spiritual, but in virtue of this relationship put the mother in the place of the Son, and taught an ignorant people to worship her and trust in her as a mediator. But the fact that this was done, and is persisted in to this day, shows that when our Lord set aside the mere earthly relationship as one that must be merged in the spiritual, He was correcting not only a pardonable error of Mary, but a most unpardonable error that afterwards, without any encouragement whatever from her, should be committed in her name.

4. How this gospel of the family of God rebukes all sectarianism! He stretches out His hand towards His disciples, and then to all the world by that word whosoever. No arms-length recognition there; He takes all true disciples to His heart.

5. Observe, moreover, the emphasis on doing, with which we are already familiar. In setting forth the gospel of the kingdom, our Lord was careful to warn His hearers, not everyone, etc. (Mat. 7:21); and now that He is setting forth the gospel of the family the emphasis is still in the same place. It is not, Whosoever shall connect himself with this church or that church, it is not Whosoever shall be baptised and take the sacrament; it is, Whosoever shall do the will of My Father in heaven. This emphasis on doing, in connection with these endearing relations, is most significant. There must be love among the members of the family. But how is love to be shown? How are we to distinguish it from mere sentiment? Our Saviour is careful to teach us; and never is He more careful than in those passages where tender feeling is most prominent; e.g. Joh. 14:15; Joh. 14:21.J. M. Gibson, D.D.

Mat. 12:50 The kinsmanship of Christ.

I. A few points of doctrinal importance.

1. Christ represents it as being a matter of great consequence that a man should be permitted to claim a kinsmans interest in Him.We never find Moses, or Isaiah, or Daniel, using it as a motive to serve God that if a man were faithful, he (Moses or Isaiah or Daniel) would honour him by calling him a brother; and as little do we find the Apostles imitating Christ in this respect. Learn another lesson of our Lords divinity as being the only begotten Son of God.

2. Liberal as Christ appears in our text in lavishing on His disciples the relations of an endeared kinsmanship, yet it is done with a marked exception.It was with design that the fathers relationship was excluded. And what was the design? Evidently to protect the character of His Divine incarnation. Not even in a figurative sense will He permit any man to call himself by the name of His Father. That honour He preserved entire for God, in respect of His human as well as His Divine nature.

3. Observe how little importance comparatively Christ attaches to carnal descent and connection.It is something, I admit, for a man to have been born of a pious mother, and it is something for a woman to be the mother of a pious son. But of itself, and by itself, it is nothing; and there must be somethingeven personal faith and well-doingbefore it be even of the little profit of which it is possessed. Christ did not disesteem His mother; on the contrary, He set His disciples the example of being a most tender and dutiful son; but, as if in anticipation of the idolatry of Popish apostasy, He appears to have waited, in a manner, for opportunities to teach His disciples that she derived no very peculiar advantage from the circumstance of her being His earthly parent. See also Luk. 11:27-28.

4. Observe what is the condition on which Christ will acknowledge the kinsmans relation to any one.Beautifully logical. First, He Himself is Gods Son; then if He see any man doing His Fathers will with zealThat must be a son of My Father, He will say, for who but a son would serve Him thus? and if he is a son, since I am a Son too, he must be My brother. And again, as He looks, there is a youthful maidenWho could be so devoted to My Father, He says, but a daughter? She must, therefore be My sister, etc.

II. Having thus directed your attention to what may be considered doctrinal in the passage, we are now prepared for the consideration of its sentiment and duty.

1. How great are both the folly and the sin of those who despise and reject this proferred kinsmanship of the Son of God.
(1) Their folly. There is no mans happiness independent of a friend. Does not the folly amount to madness when anyone shall reject His proferred brotherhood?

(2) Their sin is greater than their folly; it is because their evil heart would rather have no friend at all than one as holy as the Son of God.

2. Turning now to the consideration of the case of those who have accepted of the proferred friendship, I call on them to cherish it with much endearment and confiding expectation. There are three classes:
(1) Those whom He salutes as brothers, and there may be distinguished the child, the young man, the middle-aged man, and the old man.

(2) Those whom He salutes as sisters. The personal ministry of our Lord was characterised by the manner in which it honoured the weaker sex, and wherever His religion has gone through the earth, it has been eminently a womans salvation.

(3) The maternal class. The matrons lot is the heaviest for sorrow, but equally is it the richest for consolation.

3. Let us now consider what are the duties which flow from these various relationships. And,

(1) Let us emulate one another in the confidence with which we surrender ourselves to the protection and cherishing of His kinsman love. I was vexed for Christ, said Bunyan, when I thought how my ingratitude must pain Him.
(2) Let us beware of being ashamed of our heavenly kinsmanship. How wonderful that any of His professed saints should be ashamed to acknowledge Him!
(3) Let us take care that we do not discredit our heavenly Kinsman in the estimation of the world by the unworthiness of our conduct.
(4) If ye love Me, keep My commandments. I know of no case in the economy of human life in which obedience is more sweetly rendered than by a mother to a prudent, manly son.
(5) Let us consider one another as the brethren, the sisters, and the mothers of Christ.
(6) I call for a faith founded on good reasons, but equally for a faith of warm feelings.Wm. Anderson, LL.D.

A character and a blessing.

I. The character.Whosoever shall do the will of God. So, then, God has a will. God has a will concerning:

1. Our condition.That we should become a new creation, etc.

2. Our conduct.

3. Our destiny.

II. The blessing.The same is My brother, and sister, and mother.C. J. Vaughan, D.D.

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Section 30
JESUS REFUSES TO ALLOW FLESHLY TIES TO BIND HIM

(Parallels: Mar. 3:31-35; Luk. 8:19-21)

TEXT: 12:4650

46.

While he was yet speaking to the multitudes, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, seeking to speak to him.

47.

And one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, seeking to speak to thee.

48.

But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?

49.

And he stretched forth his hand towards his disciples, and said, Behold, my mother and my brethren!

50.

For whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.

THOUGHT QUESTIONS

Discuss Jesus personal manner of life: Where was His home? What was His trade or craft? What means of support had He during His ministry? What were some of His personal habits or practices? How would you analyze Jesus of Nazareth as a human being? Do not try to dodge the issue by saying He is incapable of analysis, even though you may have to revise your estimate many times and remain, finally, unsatisfied with your attempts. Take a long look at Jesus to see how you would have reacted to Him, had YOU lived in HIS family, in HIS town, had you been a part of His world.

What does this text reveal about His relation to His family?

What, do you think, was the purpose of Mary and His brothers in trying to talk with Jesus at precisely this time? Do you think their purpose was perfectly normal and neutral, a simple wish to be with this beloved Member of their family? Or, looking at the situation from Jesus standpoint, do you decide that their purpose was hostile, a desire to save Him from the necessary, inevitable clashes and climax of His ministry? Is it important to know this in order to understand Jesus refusal?

What is the meaning of Jesus response? Is He refusing to see Mary and His brothers? Is He refusing to claim kinship with them? What is the point of His obviously symbolical remark?

What does this passage teach, if anything, on the subject of the possibility of Marys becoming an intercessor between God and/or Jesus on the one hand, and sinners on earth, on the other?

Do you think Jesus means to elevate every brother, sister or mother on earth to the same level with His earthly kinfolks? What is then important about whether He intended to do so or not?

If you take the view that Jesus kinfolks were intending to save Him from Himself, hence were essentially hostile to the ministry He was performing, what is so very wrong with the request they made?

Do you think Jesus ever gave Mary and His brothers the interview they sought? On what basis do you say this?

PARAPHRASE AND HARMONY

While Jesus was still talking with the people about the accusation of His being in league with Satan and the theologians demand for a sign of His authority to teach, His mother, Mary, and His brothers, James, Joseph, Simon and Judas, arrived at the crowded house where He was teaching. However, they could not get near Him, because of the people crowded all around Him. So they remained outside, requesting to speak with Him. They sent a messenger to Him to call Him: Look, your mother and brothers are here, standing outside, asking to speak to you.
But Jesus sent them this answer, replying to the man who had brought the message, Who is really my mother? Who are really my brothers?
Then looking round at that circle of faces all around Him, Jesus, with a sweeping motion of his arm pointed to His disciples, remarking: Here are my real mother and brothers! You see, anyone who listens to Gods Word and does what my heavenly Father wants, that person is really my brother, sister and mother! That is all the family I really recognize!

SUMMARY

While Jesus was busy teaching, His physical family called Him to step aside to speak with them, since the crowd was too dense to permit their getting near Him. But Jesus refused to let family ties bind Him, since the only significant bond, as far as Jesus is concerned, is the tie of discipleship and obedience to God.

NOTES

I. REGARDFUL RECALL TO REPRESS RECKLESSNESS (12:46, 47)

Mat. 12:46 While he was yet speaking to the multitudes, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, seeking to speak to him. While . . . speaking creates a definite link with the discourse that has just been recorded and provides a clue to explain this move made by Jesus relatives. The total context of this episode is peculiarly illuminating! (Cf. Mat. 12:22-50 with Mar. 3:19-21; Mar. 3:31-35; Luk. 8:19-21). The events which lead up to this section, and perhaps motivate Mary and her sons to react as they do, are:

A busy ministry that permitted Jesus and His men no leisure even to partake of necessary food. (Mar. 3:20)

The vicious attacks by ecclesiastical spies from Jerusalem (Mar. 3:22; Mat. 12:24) Did this charge seem to have just enough truth back of it to convince His family that Jesus was becoming so absorbed in His work as to be losing His mental balance? Did this trigger their move to seize Him?

His own alarming language, so unique and audacious for Him whom they took to be simply their kinsman, may have prompted this action.

These factors make the solicitous care of His kinsfolk the more understandable: they wanted to save Jesus from Himself and from the dangers to which He seemed oblivious. (Mar. 3:21) And yet even their misguided solicitousness for His health and safety make the situation, from which they would save Him, even more critical, for they are interfering with the directions and schedule of the Son of God! What may be surmised about the internal family connections of Jesus?

The real atmosphere of Jesus former home life is apparently only good. Even though this interference on the part of Mary shows her failure to comprehend His mission, it does not betray distrust. Even if the assertion He is beside Himself, is her secret fear and the brothers open expression, it is not to be construed as a criticism, but as the anxious conviction of those who love Him.

This action of His brothers in united agreement does not prove anything one way or the other about their age in reference to the question as to their exact relationship to Jesus. (See The Brethren of the Lord, special study after Mat. 13:54-58; also Mar. 6:3; Joh. 7:3-5; Act. 1:15) ISBE (520) notes that:

When it is urged that their attempts to interfere with Jesus indicate a superiority which, according to Jewish custom, is inconsistent with the position of younger brothers, it may be answered that those who pursue an unjustifiable course are not models of consistency.

Lange (Matthew, 231) agrees that what is happening here is not the expression of an unbelief that deliberately rejects evidence, but rather the practical, however temporary, failure to be what the word disciple really requires of the one who wears that title:

They do not press through the crowd, nor lay violent hands on Him; they send a respectful message, and patiently await His answer. Besides, we find that some time afterward the brothers of Jesus are not of the opinion that He should not work at all, but rather ask Him to transfer the scene of His operations from Galilee to Judea, and openly to come forward before all the world (Joh. 7:1, etc.). In this light the conduct of His family must be viewed. Their unbelief consisted not in doubting Him, but in imagining that it was theirs to preserve and direct Him by their worldly policy. Meyer is therefore mistaken when he maintains that the mother of Jesus was, at the time, not decided in her faith. Such instances as the later suggestion of His brothers (Joh. 7:1), the history of Peter (Mat. 16:23), that of Thomas (John 20), nay, that of all the disciples, prove that during the period of spiritual development prior to the Feast of Pentecost, there were seasons when even believers might for a time be unbelieving, i.e., self-willed, and deficient in the spirit of full surrender to Christ.

However well-intentioned this interruption of Jesus career, however highly motivated, it is nonetheless an interference and must not be tolerated. Worse still it is the sort of interruption in which Jesus mother and brothers make their claims upon Him felt as their Relative, Had Mary forgotten those words that so early had begun to separate Him from her? (Luk. 2:49) Or that His earthly course was not to be dictated by His earthly, fleshly ties? (Joh. 2:4). Had these brethren known what surely their mother must have known, would they have been so quick to suppose they could counsel Him or teach Him wisdom or pretend to know what was best for Him or the movement He had set in motion? Standing without. Aside from the accidental circumstances which caused them to be outside, what were they doing there standing without, when they should have been inside listening to Him!? Again, if even their own special relationship to Jesus gave the advantage of many private conversations with Him, by what right can they interrupt the lessons of others who heard Him gladly?

Mat. 12:47 And one said to him. This almost accidental notice of the man who shouted to Jesus affords us insight into the informal teaching situation and atmosphere maintained by Jesus. The man felt he could interrupt the Lord without incurring censure, But the man, by his good services, is also contributing to that view of governments that promotes the competition and contrasts involved in hierarchy, dynasty, honors, position and authority. Even though he is simply trying to do a service for Jesus and His relatives, he unconsciously elevates these relatives above common disciples, since these latter can wait while questions important to the family are attended to. It is as if the very relationship which they enjoyed guaranteed them His attention prior to that for common followers. And even if none of this was intended by that generous, unknown person, it has since become the doctrine of an apostate Church and deserved to be dealt with immediately and decisively. This, Jesus does next.

II. REFINED REBUFF REJECTING THE REPROOF (12:48)

Mat. 12:48 But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? Were Jesus merely human and a king of earthly governments, He might have been expected to stop His instruction, either make room for them to find special places in His audience until finished, or, in deference to their urgency or desire for privacy, go along with them. (Cf. 1Ki. 2:19-20) Instead, The words of Jesus have the undoubted ring of conscious authority and express the determination of one who wills the control of His own life. (ISBE, 2002)

Though framed in the interrogative form, Jesus question, uttered in all seriousness without even the faintest accent of scorn or satire, becomes the strongest kind of denial that family ties were more binding upon Him, or more important to Him, than spiritual relationships. In His own personal case He damns that old skeptical proverb: Blood is thicker than water! (= Family ties are more binding than those formed through ones baptismal relationship.) And the mentality of the people to whom this saying is directed renders it so much more poignant. The oriental concept of family solidarity had probably no more vigorous exponents than the Hebrews, since the reciprocal responsibilities of parents and children had been ingrained in them for centuries. Notwithstanding the many unfortunate exceptions to this fine rule, where family ties counted for little (cf. Mic. 7:2-7; Jer. 9:4), nevertheless the concept of family was very highly developed among the Jews. (Cf. Edersheim, Sketches of Jewish Social Life, chaps. VIII and IX.) Despite the background of His people and His own deep love for His kin, He must publicly deny what their request implied. Remember A. B. Bruces sensitive comment (Expositors Greek Testament, Synoptic Gospels, 194):

There are idealists, promoters of pet schemes, and religious devotees whom it would cost no effort to speak thus; not an admirable class of people. It did cost Jesus an effort, for He possessed a warm heart and unblighted affections.

But Jesus denial, that physical bonds are somehow more important to Him than spiritual, has proved to be not only essential for Marys understanding at the time, but also for His followers instruction in all ages. PHC-22 (317) has it:

It certainly is no fault of Mary herself, whose name should ever be held in the highest respect by all who love the Lord, that a corrupt church, reversing all the teaching of the churchs Head, not only elevated the earthly relationship far above the spiritual, but in virtue of this relationship put the mother in the place of the Son, and taught an ignorant people to worship her and trust in her as a mediator. But the fact that this was done, and is persisted in to this day, shows that when our Lord set aside the mere earthly relationship as one that must be merged in the spiritual, He was correcting not only a pardonable error of Mary, but a most unpardonable error that afterwards, without any encouragement whatever from her, should be committed in her name.

That the Roman Catholic denomination persists in this error is demonstrated by the Documents of the Second Vatican Council in the following references: The Liturgy (Sacrosanctum Concilium) Chap, V, paragraph 103; The Church (Lumen gentium), Chap. II, par. 59; Chap. III, parr. 6062, 6669; The Apostate of the Laity, (Apostolicam actuositatem), Chap. I, par 4; Ministry and Sacerdotal Life, (Presbyterorum Ordinis), Chap. III, par. 18; Missionary Activity, (Ad Gentes), Chap. III, par. 42. The Closing Speech, Third Session, 21 November 1964, contains the proclamation of Mary as The Mother of the Church and worthy of worship, as well as a prayer directed to Mary.

Jesus is the Master of interruptions! With perfect mastery He deals quickly with this badly-timed, wrong-headed interference caused by people who should have known better. Without hedging about His fleshly relation to His kin or without getting embarrassed with them for their presumption, Jesus not only does not scold them for putting this unnecessary pressure upon Him, but rather, He deftly fields their appeal and turns it into a superb opportunity to reveal what we needed to know about His kinship! Jesus was fast on His feet, because He was long on His knees: these answers came out of His communion with the Father. Study how the Master Orator, even in this perplexing situation, tosses this surprising question into the air to excite even greater interest in the answer. And this question, put in exactly this form, automatically drives the hearer to seek a pro-founder meaning to the terms mother and brothers.

III. RECOGNITION OF HIS REAL RELATIVES (12:49, 50)

Mat. 12:49 And he stretched forth his hands towards his disciples and said, Behold, my mother and my brethren! Mat. 12:50 For whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister and mother. His sweeping gesture heightens the dramatic effect of Jesus question and draws even more interested attention to His answer. Lenski (Matthew, 503) feels this:

And while mens minds are still searching, and before they can center on a wrong answer, Jesus himself gives the terse, striking, perfect answer which, because of the way it is introduced, will the more remain fixed in the memory.

But what is the intent of Jesus affirmation here?

Is it to censure His kinsmen for interrupting His teaching the Word of God? This may be implied, but it is not direct criticism. He knew they were spiritually ignorant as were so many other genuine friends and disciples, especially when, driven by the anxiety of their deep concern for Him, they say, He is beside Himself! (Mar. 3:21) But He could recognize a world of moral difference between their mistaken concern, even if it was prompted by misconceptions and partially by their imperfect faith, and that malignant, deliberately insulting judgment that snarls: He has an unclean spirit!

Is He denying the claim of all family ties under all circumstances? No, but He puts them to the test of discipleship. His dying thought is the responsibility for His mothers care. (Joh. 19:26-27) His family relationship must have been of the very best sort, if He could use them as illustrations of His relation to God and His disciples. Jesus would scarcely make use of the family symbolism to designate the sacred relationships of the Kingdom of heaven, while, at the same time, He was depreciating the value and importance of the very relationships which formed the basis of His analogy. (ISBE, 2002) Rather, He would have us see that the only hope of permanence for these ties beyond the horizons of this earth-life is that they be joined with the bonds of common discipleship in the Kingdom of God.

Is He merely using their appeal as an opportunity to point out those ties that are far higher and stronger than any fleshly bonds? Without despising His family, or requiring that His disciples do so with their own families, He simply puts God and His spiritual family first.

On spiritual kinship to Christ, consider the following texts: Psa. 22:22; Mat. 28:10; Joh. 20:17-18; Rom. 8:29; Heb. 2:11-18; Mat. 10:35-42; Mat. 19:29; Joh. 1:13; Joh. 8:31-39 (cf. Johns message, Mat. 3:7-10); Luk. 11:27-28; Luk. 2:49; Joh. 2:4; Joh. 15:14; Jas. l:22ff.; Eph. 2:19; Gal. 6:10; Rom. 9:6, etc.

For whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister and mother. Ironically, God is the way to Jesus Christ. Just as in other connections the Scriptures teach that men cannot make claims upon God unless they come through Jesus (1Jn. 2:23; Joh. 14:6), so here we learn that no one can make claims upon Jesus unless they come to Him by way of the Fathers will! The will of my Father is no matter of small importance to Jesus, because He sums up the whole point and direction of the life of a true disciple by picturing him as he who does the will of my Father. Some extra-sensitive and perhaps less-informed disciples nervously wonder how they can tell what Gods will for their life should be, and unfortunately, they overlook grand passages of Scripture that spell out exactly what the Father wills for them every day! (Cf. Mat. 7:21; Mat. 18:14; Mat. 9:13; Joh. 6:28-29; Joh. 6:39-40; Joh. 7:17; Eph. 5:17; Eph. 6:6; 1Th. 4:3; 1Th. 5:18; 1Ti. 2:4; Jas. 1:18; 1Pe. 2:15; 2Pe. 3:9) Here again is written your name and mine: whosoever! The grand lessons that pour out of this declaration of our Lord are many, not the least of which are these:

WE TOO ARE KIN TO JESUS! Even though we did not get to walk with Him in Galilee, though we never saw a miracle, never felt His healing touch, still the humblest Christian among us today stands side by side with Nazarene and can call Him Brother! The kindest Christian mother today is as dear to Jesus as the Holy Virgin. The most obedient little boy or girl, who for Jesus sake, does what their daddy or mommy says, is Jesus little brother or sister! Would to God we could get that paganism out of our hearts that longs to walk where Jesus walked, but refuses to do what God says where we DO walk! That kind of longing to have been one of Jesus immediate family, which cannot seek to please the heavenly Father in the simplest, ordinary acts of common courtesy and helpfulness in our own family, can claim no relationship to Jesus of Nazareth! In these simple words, Jesus throws open the front door of His house to us who live in this land in this century, that we might enjoy all the joyous privileges of His home! Although in one, true sense we are the willing servants of God, yet in another sense we are not servants in Gods house, but SONS, and that makes Jesus our Brother! (Study Gal. 3:23 to Gal. 4:7; Heb. 2:10-13) We are His poor relation, but this does not make Him ashamed. (Heb. 2:11) Best of all, He plans to own us as His own before the entire spiritual universe assembled before the Father! (Mat. 10:32)

To Jesus, this relationship is supreme and becomes, at the same time, the standard by which all men will be judged. So the test of connection with Jesus is not church membership, family ties, or other accidental or unreal tests that do not really describe our real standing, but whether we do Gods will or not! How many will be lost, because they permitted their loving, concerned, well-meaning family to come between them and Christ! (Cf. Mat. 8:21-22; Mat. 10:37; Luk. 9:59-62) What an example in the personal experience of our Lord Himself! When it comes to doing the will of God first above all, whether it be the Messiah Himself or one of His lowliest servants, no human ties or claims may be allowed to interfere or dictate our course. Even the Lord of glory has walked this lonely, difficult path and dealt with these thorny problems. He faced this crisis in His own life and gave us a brilliant example of dealing gently but firmly with a delicate, trying situation where those nearest and dearest would take us farthest from the Fathers will.

Whosoever is Jesus disciple is in the family of God, whether he is a member of our group or not, whether he is of our race, nation or social class, whether we like him or not. How this gospel of the true family of God rebukes every sort of sectarian attitude and breaks down prejudicial barriers!

Chrysostom, quoted by Lange (Matthew, 232) is remembered as saying:

How many women have blessed that holy virgin and her womb and have desired to be such a mother as she was! What hinders them? Christ has made for us a wide way to this happiness: and not only women, but men may trend it: the way of obedience, this is it which makes such a mothernot the throes of parturition.

And even as we find spiritual kinship to Jesus founded upon our common interest and our common commitment to do the will of the Father, we will also discover the fundamental secret underlying Jesus promise that those who follow Him will gain in this life many more fathers, mothers and other dear ones than they ever gave up. (Cf. Mat. 19:29; Mar. 10:29-30; Luk. 18:29-30) These are the people who really understand us and share our commitment to the Lord, for they too are really Jesus folk and we really do have so much more in common with them than with our own unbelieving, ungodly kin. Furthermore, this is the reason why the family of God is no mere figure of speech or academic question buried under dusty doctrines. Gods family is a REAL family.

Another lesson in this text is the warning against the subtle danger of allowing ourselves as Christian workers to be distracted from our rightful duty by those dear friends and kinfolk who would cause us to place self-interest or self-preservation or our family ties first. We are easily self-warned and reasonably braced to face the taunts of our enemies, but the perilous persuasiveness of those who love us represents a far greater threat to our best good than any enemy. Jesus led the way by putting family claims upon His time and life into their proper perspective.

When we remember the anxiety of Jesus relatives for His health and safety when He was burning Himself out campaigning for the Kingdom of God, and given His inflexible adherence to what was clear to Him as the will of God, we see that it is too frequent a temptation to presume, with Jesus brethren, that the Kingdom of God may be promoted and protected by the practice of prudential policy born of experience in this selfish world and learned from it.

CONCLUSION

Matthews orderly method of organizing his materials, which places this event at the logical conclusion of a major section, is quite revealing. Even as he concluded his eleventh chapter with Jesus thanksgiving for humble, honest hearts who trusted Him, in which He pointed out that, while Gods revelations are for all, only disciples will understand them, since intellectual gifts are not the determining factor, so also here Matthew concludes this section with Jesus declaration that, while the Kingdom of God is open to all, only real disciples need apply. The credentials of discipleship are validated, not by ones family ties, but by his obedience. Despite the evidences of a growing negative response to Jesus and despite His growing necessity to deal vigorously with slander and opposition appearing in every form, Matthew triumphantly concludes these sections on opposition to the Master by including this brief piece that fairly shouts the happy news: No matter how black seem Jesus hopes of reaching this evil generation, nevertheless, He has won a few good hearts in those disciples who do the Fathers will! In addition, Barclay (Matthew, II, 22) is probably right to see this section as Jesus invitation, once again offered to enter into kinship with Him through obedience to the will of God . . . to abandon our own prejudices and self-will and to accept Jesus. Christ as Master and Lord. If we refuse, we drift farther and farther away from God; if we accept, we enter into the very family and heart of God.

FACT QUESTIONS

During what general period of Jesus ministry is this particular incident to be dated?

What was the general character of Jesus life and work at this time, that provides particular poignancy to this incident?

List other incidents in Jesus life and ministry in which the mother or brothers of Jesus showed particular misunderstanding or lack of true appreciation of His great purpose for having come into the world.

Discuss the meaning of Jesus answer given in reply to His kinfolks request that He stop what He was doing to step outside to talk with them.

Name Jesus brothers.

Discuss the three fundamental views offered as to their actual relationship to Jesus. Which of these three views do you accept? State the reasons for accepting this one and rejecting the other two.

According to Jesus, who are really members of His own true family? On what basis does He establish this kinship?

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

(46) His mother and his brethren.Who were these brethren of the Lord? The question is one which we cannot answer with any approximation to certainty. The facts in the Gospel records are scanty. In what we gather from the Fathers we find not so much traditions as conjectures based upon assumptions. The facts, such as they are, are these: (1.) The Greek word translated brother is a word which has just the same latitude as the term in English. Like that, it might be applied (as in the case of Joseph and his brethren) to half-brothers, or brothers by adoption, or used in the wider sense of national or religious brotherhood. There is no adequate evidence that the term was applied to cousins as such. (2.) The names of four brethren are given in Mar. 6:3, as James (i.e., Jacob) and Joses and Juda and Simon. Three of these names (James, Juda, Simon) are found in the third group of four in the lists of the twelve Apostles. This has suggested to some the thought that they had been chosen by our Lord to that office, and the fact that a disciple bearing the name of Joses was nearly chosen to fill the place of Judas Iscariot (Act. 1:23, in many MSS.) presents another curious coincidence. This inference is, however, set aside by the fact distinctly stated by St. John (Joh. 7:3), and implied in this narrative and in our Lords reference to a prophet being without honour in his fathers house (Mat. 13:57; Mar. 6:4), that up to the time of the Feast of Tabernacles that preceded the Crucifixion, within six months of the close of our Lords ministry, His brethren did not believe in His claims to be the Christ. The names, it must be remembered, were so common that they might be found in any family. (3.) Sisters are mentioned in Mar. 6:3, but we know nothing of their number, or names, or after-history, or belief or unbelief. It is clear that these facts do not enable us to decide whether the brothers and sisters were children of Mary and Joseph, or children of Joseph by a former marriageeither an actual marriage on his own account, or what was known as a Levirate marriage (Deu. 25:5), for the sake of raising up seed to a deceased brotheror the children of Marys sister, Mary the wife of Clopas (Joh. 19:25). The fact of the same name being borne by two sisters, as the last theory implies, though strange, is not incredible, as by names might come into play to distinguish between them. Each of these views has been maintained with much elaborate ingenuity, and by some writers these brethren, assumed to be sons of Clopas, have been identified (in spite of the above objection, which is absolutely fatal to the theory) with the sons of Alphus in the list of Apostles. When the course of Christian thought led to an ever-increasing reverence for the mother of the Lord, and for virginity as the condition of all higher forms of holiness, the belief in her perpetual maidenhood passed into a dogma, and drove men to fall back upon one of the other hypotheses as to the brethren. It is a slight argument in their favour, (1) that it would have been natural had there been other children borne by the mother of the Lord, that the fact should have been recorded by the Evangelists, as in the family narratives of the Old Testament (e.g., Genesis 5, 11; 1 Chronicles 1, 2), and that there is no record of any such birth in either of the two Gospels that give the book of the generations of Jesus; (2) that the tone of the brethren, their unbelief, their attempts to restrain Him, suggest the thought of their being elder brothers in some sense, rather than such as had been trained in reverential love for the first-born of the house; (3) that it is scarcely probable that our Lord should have committed His mother to the care of the disciple whom He loved (Joh. 19:26) had she had children of her own, whose duty it was to protect and cherish her; (4) the absence of any later mention of the sisters at or after the time of the Crucifixion suggests the same conclusion, as falling in with the idea of the sisters and brethren being in some sense a distinct family, with divided interests; (5) lastly, though we enter here on the uncertain region of feeling, if we accept the narratives of the birth and infancy given by St. Matthew and St. Luke, it is at least conceivable that the mysterious awfulness of the work so committed to him may have led Joseph to rest in the task of loving guardianship which thus became at once the duty and the blessedness of the remainder of his life. On the whole, then, I incline to rest in the belief that the so-called brethren were cousins who, through some unrecorded circumstances, had been so far adopted into the household at Nazareth as to be known by the term of nearer relationship.

The motive which led the mother and the brethren to seek to speak to our Lord on this occasion lies on the surface of the narrative. Never before in His Galilean ministry had He stood out in such open antagonism to the scribes and Pharisees of Capernaum and Jerusalem. It became known that they had taken counsel with the followers of the tetrarch against His life. Was He not going too far in thus daring them to the uttermost? Was it not necessary to break in upon the discourse which was so keen and stinging in its reproofs? The tone of protest and, as it were, disclaimer in which He now speaks of this attempt to control and check His work, shows what their purpose was. His brethren, St. John reports, did not believe in Him (Joh. 7:3-5)i.e., they did not receive Him as the Christ, perhaps not even as a prophet of the Lord.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

ATTEMPT OF THE MOTHER AND BROTHERS OF JESUS TO SEE HIM, Mat 12:46-50.

46. Mother brethren Concerning the brothers of our Lord, see on chap. Mat 13:55, also Mat 1:25. Stood without This was in Galilee, but in what house is not said. He was doubtless surrounded within doors by a dense congregation, probably in a synagogue. The purpose for which the mother and brothers of Jesus came to obtain an interview with him, is explained in the parallel passage of Mar 3:31. The family are anxious for his safety or his health, and come to induce him to retire from his ministry to their home at Nazareth.

It seems that our Lord’s disciples were within the house on this occasion, and his brothers were without. They could not then have been the same persons. James the Less, therefore, could not have been one of his brothers, for he was one of the apostles. Nor could James’s brother Jude, otherwise called Thaddeus and Lebbeus. Nor could their brother Matthew, if he was a son of the same Alpheus or Cleophas. Hence the James and Judas, or Jude, among the disciples, who were sons of Cleophas, and cousins of Jesus, were not the same as the James and Judas mentioned Mat 13:55, who were literally brothers of Jesus. Jesus then had half-brothers, the sons of Mary, and the perpetual virginity of Mary is not to be believed.

Our Lord had brothers, (half brothers,) whose names were James, Joses, Simon, and Judas, and also sisters, He had cousins, whose names were James, Joses, Judas, and Matthew. See note on Mat 13:55.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘ While he was yet speaking to the crowds, behold, his mother and his brethren stood outside, seeking to speak to him.’

Once again the connecting link is intended to connect the ideas, rather than to place the passage chronologically. While He is speaking to some crowds, the crowds that continually throng Him, His natural family are outside seeking Him. For as they have not responded to His teaching they are inevitably ‘outside’, like the previous man whose house was ‘empty’. They have no part in the Kingly Rule of God. There is only one way into the Kingly Rule of God, and it is not by ancestry, but by commitment Him and the doing of the will of His Father.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The True Household of God (12:46-50).

In contrast with the house of old one-time Israel is the household of the new Israel of God, the ‘household of God’ (Eph 2:19). In describing this episode Matthew, unlike the other Gospels, has only one interest and that is to reveal that those who have come to Him and are His disciples are now His true family, replacing the old, just as new Israel will replace the old (Mat 21:43). And the test of this is that they do the will of His Father in Heaven.

These verses cap both the exposition from Mat 5:1 onwards, by confirming the new family to whom Jesus spoke in chapters 5-7 (with His emphasis there on their heavenly Father), and the section from Mat 11:1 onwards, so as to confirm that with all the failure of Israel to respond, a new family was coming into existence (compare Mat 11:27). John’s fears in Mat 11:3-4 had had no foundation, and in spite of the apathy of the crowds and the opposition of the Pharisees His cause was going forward. The Kingly Rule of Heaven was forcefully advancing, and the new congregation of Israel were being formed. Some might be ‘outside’, even His own natural family, but there were some who were definitely ‘inside’.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Jesus Declares the Family of the Kingdom ( Mar 3:31-35 , Luk 8:19-21 ) – In Mat 12:46-50 Jesus explains that the true members of the Kingdom of Heaven are those who do God’s will. The comment that a true child of the Kingdom does the will of God reflects man’s physical offering service to the Lord. Jesus responds to man’s rejection of the testimony of His miracles by explaining the distinction between those children of the Kingdom of Heaven and those who are not (Mat 12:46-50). While the Jewish leaders rejected the works of Jesus, He explains that the true children of God are those who are doing the will of God just as He Himself is doing in His public ministry. This pericope also addresses the issue of rejection and persecution that Jesus has faced throughout Matthew 11-12.

The Response of Jesus’ Family towards His Public Ministry – When we read in Joh 7:1-9 how Jesus’ brothers mocked Him and made fun of His ministry, it becomes clear that His brothers were not an encouragement to His ministry, but rather a discouragement. However, there is much evidence to show that His mother Mary remained devoted to Him throughout His earthly ministry. We see her devotion at the beginning of His ministry with the wedding of Cana (Joh 2:1-11) and at the end of His ministry with her presence at the foot of the Cross (Joh 19:25).

Jesus’ Love for His Family The incident in Mat 12:46-50 in which His mother and brothers came to Him and He told the people that everyone who serves God is His and brother and sister and mother. He was in no way rejecting His earthly family. He will later tell the crowds to honor their father and mother (Mat 19:19). While Jesus hung on the Cross for all of mankind, He gave His final act of love towards in individual by handing His dear mother over to the care of John the apostle. Therefore, He is telling the crowds in the Gospel of Matthew that there is a much bigger family in the Kingdom of Heaven than one has ever imagined. The family of God will one day fully assemble in Heaven, bound together in love as close as any earthly family. Yet, we must live this earthly life aware of God’s love for all of His children and our need to recognize that bond of love within the community of believers. [462]

[462] Paul Crouch, “Yes, It’s All in the Family,” in Trinity Broadcasting Network Monthly Newsletter, vol. 39 number 9 (June 2012).

Mat 19:19, “Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”

Joh 19:26-27, “When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.”

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

Christ’s Relatives. Mat 12:46-50

v. 46. While He yet talked to the people, behold, His mother and His brethren stood without, desiring to speak with Him.

v. 47. Then one said unto Him, Behold, Thy mother and Thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with Thee.

v. 48. But He answered, and said unto him that told Him, “Who is My mother? and who are My brethren?

v. 49. And He stretched forth His hand toward His disciples and said, Behold My mother and My brethren!

v. 50. For whosoever shall do the will of My Father which is in heaven, the same is My brother, and sister, and mother.

This interruption is not to be explained as vanity or a desire to interfere with the Lord’s work. Mary had not learned her lesson in vain, Luk 2:49; Joh 2:4. And His other relatives, whether they were His cousins, or stepbrothers, or true brothers, were guided by Mary. It was rather tender solicitude on the part of Mary. It may have happened more than once that the friends of Jesus were afraid He might become distraught on account of too constant application to preaching and healing, Mar 3:21. Jesus makes use of the opportunity to give a lesson to at least a part of the assembled multitude. Natural affection and relationship cannot interfere with the sovereign claims of duty. It may be necessary, under circumstances, for the sake of Christ and the Kingdom, to deny all human ties, as Christ did here. With an eloquent, sweeping gesture, which included His disciples standing near Him, He gave His definition. They whose hearts are bound up in Christ’s, they whose faith in Christ causes them to acknowledge the true Fatherhood of God, and makes them eager to live a life of service in doing His will, are knit together with Him in the closest possible union. To them Christ is in deed and truth their brother, and they are, in the fullest sense of the word, brothers, and sisters, and mothers of Christ. This spiritual relationship is the most wonderful and the most valuable in the world, it is often the one thing which upholds the Christian in the midst of the opposition and the trials of these last days, since the full acknowledgment will be made in heaven.

Summary. Christ proclaims Himself Lord of the Sabbath, performs a miracle in support of this principle, defends Himself against the accusation of being in league with the devil, warns against the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Ghost and hardening of the heart, refers to the final sign of His resurrection, and teaches. what relationship with Him implies.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

Mat 12:46. Behold, his mother and his brethren See ch. Mat 13:55. Mary was attended by her sister’s children, who were the cousins, or, according to the Hebrew dialect, the brethren of Christ, (see on ch. Mat 10:2.) and who waited on her during her stay in Capernaum; a piece of respect which her blessed Son could not shew, on account of the duties of his ministry. It was on occasion of their application to him, that Jesus uttered that excellent saying in the subsequent verses, which will never be forgotten while there are memories in the world to retain it, or tongues to repe

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Mat 12:46-50 . The same incident is given in Luk 8:19 ff. in a different but extremely loose connection, and, as there recorded, compares unfavourably with Matthew’s version (in answer to Schleiermacher, Keim). The occasion of the incident as given in Mar 3:20 ff. is altogether peculiar and no doubt historical.

] even if nothing more were said, these words would naturally be understood to refer to the brothers according to the flesh , sons of Joseph and Mary, born after Jesus; but this reference is placed beyond all doubt by the fact that the mother is mentioned at the same time (Mar 3:31 ; Luk 8:19 ; Joh 2:12 ; Act 1:14 ), just as in Mat 13:55 the father and the sisters are likewise mentioned along with him. The expressions in Mat 1:25 , Luk 2:7 , find their explanation in the fact of the existence of those literal brothers of Jesus. Comp. note on Mat 1:25 ; 1Co 9:4 . The interpretations which make them sons of Mary’s sister , or half brothers, sons of Joseph by a previous marriage , were wrung from the words even at a very early period (the latter already to be found as a legend in Origen; the former, especially in Jerome, since whose time it has come to be generally adopted in the West), in consequence of the dogmatic assumption of Mary’s perpetual virginity (nay, even of a corresponding state of things on the part of her husband as well), and owing to the extravagant notions which were entertained regarding the superhuman holiness that attached to her person as called to be the mother of Jesus. The same line of interpretation is, for similar reasons, still adopted in the present day by Olshausen, Arnoldi, Friedlieb, L. J . 36; Lange, apost. Zeitalt . p. 189 ff.; and in Herzog’s Encykl . VI. p. 415 ff.; Lichtenstein, L. J . p. 100 ff.; Hengstenberg on Joh 2:12 ; Schegg, and others; also Dllinger, Christenth. u. Kirche , p. 103 f., who take the brothers and sisters for sons and daughters of Alphaeus; while Hofmann, on the other hand, has abandoned this view, which he had previously maintained ( Erlang. Zeitschr . 1851, Aug., p. 117), in favour of the correct interpretation ( Schriftbew . II. 2, p. 405 f.). See, besides, Clemen in Winer’s Zeitschr . 1829, 3, p. 329 ff.; Blom, de , 1839; Wieseler in the Stud. u. Krit . 1842, p. 71 ff., and note on Gal 1:19 ; Schaf, ueber d. Verh. des Jak. Bruders des Herrn zu Jakob. Alphi , 1842; Neander, Gesch. d. Pflanzung u. s. w . p. 554 ff.; Hilgenfeld on Gal . p. 138 ff.; Wijbelingh, Diss. quis sit epistolae Jacobi scriptor , 1854, p. 1 ff.; Riggenbach, Vorles. b. d. Leb. d. Herrn , p. 286 ff.; Huther on Jas. Einl . 1; Kahnis, Dogm . I. p. 426 f.; Wiesinger, z. Br. Jud Einl .; Laurent, neut. Stud . p. 153 ff.; Keim, I. p. 422 ff. For the various interpretations of the Fathers, see Thilo, Cod. Apocr . I. p. 262 ff.

] The former incident (Mat 12:22 ff.) must therefore have occurred in some house. Mar 3:20 ; Luk 8:20 .

] not his hearers generally ( ), and yet not merely the Twelve (Mat 12:50 ), but those who followed Him in the character of disciples; these He indicated by pointing to them with the finger.

, . . .] my nearest relations in the true ideal sense of the word. Comp. Hom. Il . vi. 429; Dem. 237. 11; Xen. Anab . i. 3. 6, and Khner’s note; Eur. Hec . 280 f., and Pflugk’s note. True kinship with Jesus is established not by physical, but by spiritual relationship; Joh 1:12 f., Mat 3:3 ; Rom 8:29 . In reference to the seeming harshness of the reply, Bengel appropriately observes: “Non spernit matrem, sed anteponit Patrem; Mat 12:50 , et nunc non agnoscit matrem et fratres sub hoc formali.” Comp. Jesus’ own requirement in Mat 10:37 . He is not to be understood as avowing a sharp determination to break off His connection with them (Weizscker, p. 400), a view, again, which the account in Mark is equally inadequate to support. Besides, it is evident from our passage, compared with Mar 3:20 f., Joh 7:3 , that the mother of Jesus, who is placed by the latter in the same category with the brothers, and ranked below the , cannot as yet be fairly classed among the number of His believers, strange as this may seem when viewed in the light of the early gospel narrative (Olshausen has recourse to the fiction of a brief struggle to believe). Again, judging from the whole repelling tendency of His answer, it would appear to be more probable that He declined the interview with His relations altogether , than that He afterwards still afforded them an opportunity of speaking with Him, as is supposed by Ebrard and Schegg. Be this as it may, there is nothing to justify Chrysostom and Theophylact in charging the mother and the brothers with ostentation , inasmuch as they had requested Jesus to come out to them , instead of their going in to Him.

, . . .] spoken in the full consciousness of His being the Son of God, who has duties incumbent upon Him in virtue of His mission .

] He , no other.

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

4. Even the mother and the brethren of Jesus now hesitate. But this hesitation affords the Lord an opportunity of calling attention to His spiritual and royal generation, in which they also were included. Mat 12:46-50

(Mar 3:31-35; Luk 8:19-21)

46While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother39 and his brethren [brothers] stood [were standing] without, desiring [seeking]40 to speak with him. 47Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren [brothers] stand without, desiring 48[seeking] to speak with thee. But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren [brothers]? 49And he stretched forth his hand toward [upon, ] his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! 50For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which [who] is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Mat 12:46. While He yet talked to the people (multitudes,), etc.The transaction probably occurred at Capernaum, in some public place near to a synagogue (Mar 3:20-21). The words, they were standing without, only imply that the Lord was surrounded by a dense crowd of people, and that His mother and brothers stood outside of it. But it clearly shows that Christ was not in a house. His mother and His brothers now appear, seeking in vain to speak to Him. The event is more fully recorded in the Gospel according to Mark. The occasion was as follows: The news spread through Capernaum with great rapidity, that Jesus had, in presence of all the people, broken with the pharisaical party; that He had been condemned by His enemies, against whom He had denounced the most awful judgments, and who were now encompassing His death. The crowd of heartless, worldly-wise politicians would add, in the complacency of their own wisdom, that it was madness to risk such a conflict. Probably it was soon suggested that He must be beside Himself. These reports would speedily reach His family, and alarm them not a little. We may assume that they were now really staggered as to His position, and that they really believed that He was beside Himself, and that it was their duty to prevent further exposures (Olshausen). But in that case, their state of mind were deplorable indeed. On the other hand, however, we may also assume that from prudential motives they pretended to credit the popular rumor, in order, under this pretext, to withdraw Him from a danger which in their judgment He did not sufficiently appreciate. In our opinion, there are sufficient grounds for adopting the latter view. They do not press through the crowd, nor lay violent hands on Him; they send a respectful message, and patiently await His answer. Besides, we find that some time afterward the brothers of Jesus are not of opinion that He should not work at all, but rather ask Him to transfer the scene of His operations from Galilee to Judea, and openly to come forward before all the world (Joh 7:1, etc.). In this light the conduct of His family must be viewed. Their unbelief consists not in doubting Him, but in imagining that it was theirs to preserve and direct Him by their worldly policy. Meyer is therefore mistaken when he maintains that the mother of Jesus was, at the time, not decided in her faith. Such instances as the later suggestion of His brothers (Joh 7:1), the history of Peter (Mat 16:23), that of Thomas (John 20), nay, that of all the disciples, prove that during the period of spiritual development prior to the Feast of Pentecost, there were seasons when even believers might for a time be unbelieving, i. e., self-willed, and deficient in the spirit of full surrender to Christ. The announcement of the mother of Jesus led to that exclamation of a woman in the crowd recorded in Luk 11:27. Manifestly the circumstances are identicalin both cases we have the simile about this generation, and the demand of a sign. When, by His reply, Who is My mother? Christ had overcome the temptation from that source, He was invited by one of the Pharisees, as stated in Luk 11:37. The situation is explained in the Gospel of Mark. The crowd was so great, that there was no leisure so much as to eat bread (Luk 3:20); or, as we understand it, quietly to return to His home. A Pharisee, whose house was close at hand, took occasion to invite the Lord,no doubt with a malicious purpose. No sooner had Christ sat down, than the Pharisee immediately reproached Him with omitting the customary washings. Probably the Pharisees present at the meal were desirous of employing this opportunity for their wicked devices against the Saviour. But the Lord addressed them in language of even more solemn and conclusive warning (Luk 11:39)the main ideas being afterward further developed and applied in His last address to the Pharisees at Jerusalem. In the midst of these machinations of His enemies, vast multitudes of people gather around ( Mat 12:1); Jesus is soon restored to His disciples; He continues His warning address against the Pharisees; and having refused a request to settle a dispute about an inheritance ( Mat 12:13), He betakes Himself to the shore of the lake, where He delivers (at least some of) His parables concerning the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 13).

Mat 12:47. Thy mother and thy brothers.Meyer holds that the latter expression implies that they were His uterine brothers; but an analogous argument might be derived from the term, father, in Luk 2:48. The only legitimate inference from the Jewish use of language is, that they were His legal brothers, no matter whether they were uterine or merely adoptive brothers. For the arguments in favor of the latter view, we refer to the article Jacobus, in Herzogs Real Encyclop.41

Mat 12:49. Upon () His disciples.Here the disciples in the wider sense. Jesus here places spiritual above carnal ties. His relatives are set aside, in as far as, for the moment, they had turned from the obedience of discipleship; but they are included, in as far as, by grace, they are enabled to stand fast in this temptation. Thus the Lord guards His position, the sanctity of His calling, and the holy effect of this grand moment, which would have been destroyed by worldly prudence. At the same time, He also watches over the faith of His mother and of His disciples, and gives a living example how everything else is to be subordinate to the Divine calling. Bengel: Non spernit matrem, sed anteponit patrem.There is nothing in the text to warrant the supposition of Ebrard, that the announcement of His mother and brothers was made use of by some cunning enemies, in order to interrupt His denunciations; nor in that of Meyer, that in all probability Jesus did not admit them to His presence. But the latter critic is right in controverting the idea of Chrysostom, that this message was a piece of ostentation on the part of the relatives of Jesus. Lisco: Perhaps the presence of His family was announced for the purpose of showing that one who had such humble relatives could not be the Messiah. But we see nothing to warrant this view. Besides, the announcement was made at the request of the mother of Jesus.

Mat 12:50. [The same is my brother, and sister, and mother.Note, that Christ does not introduce the term, father, since he had no human father. A hint of the mystery of the supernatural conception.P. S.]

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. With the position here assigned to the mother of Jesus, we may contrast the decree of Pope Pius IX., a. d. 1854, about the Immaculate Conception of Mary. Like John the Baptist, she waveredno doubt, partly from unbounded love to her Son; but, like him, she was upheld by the strong hand of Jesus. [Alford: All these characteristics of the mother of our Lord are deeply interesting, both in themselves, and as building up, when put together, the most decisive testimony against the fearful superstition which has assigned to her the place of a goddess in the Romish mythology. Great and inconceivable as the honor of that meek and holy woman was, we find her repeatedly (see Joh 2:4) the object of rebuke from her divine Son, and hear Him here declaring, that it is one which the humblest believer in Him has in common with her.P. S.]

2. Gregory the Great: To announce the gospel is, so to speak, to become the mother of the Lord; for thus we bear Him anew. Comp. especially Rev 12:2. The Church, as bearing Christ. Every Christian, as priest, declaring Christ and bearing Him, figuratively the mother of Christ; as following Him, and manifesting the same mind, His brother; as receiving and receptive, His sister. But we must not press the symbolical interpretation. The terms, mother, brother, sister, signify the nearest relatives, the members of the spiritual family of Christ.

[Pope Gregory says (Moral, in Evang.); Qui Christi frater est credendo, mater efficitur prdican do; quasi enim parit eum quern in corde audientis in fuderit. Compare also the remarks of Chrysostom: How many women have blessed that holy virgin and her womb, and have desired to be such a mother as she was! What hinders them? Christ has made for us a wide way to this happiness: and not only women, but men may tread it; the way of obedience, this is it which makes such a mothernot the throes of parturition. Wordsworth: There is but one true nobility, that of obedience to God. This is greater than that of the Virgins relationship to Christ Matthew Henry: All obedient believers are near akin to Jesus Christ. They wear His name, bear His image, have His nature, are of His family. He loves them, converses freely with them as his relations. He bids them welcome to His table, takes care of them, provides for them, sees that they want nothing that is fit for them; when He died, He left them rich legacies; now He is in heaven, He keeps up a correspondence with them, and will have them all to be with Him at last, and will in nothing fail to do the kinsmans part, nor will ever be ashamed of His poor relations, but will confess them before men, before the angels, and before His Father.P. S.]

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

Let us never imagine that we can preserve the cause of God by worldly policy.Sad state of mind of those who fancy they must preserve the cause of God by worldly artifices or other worldly means (the staying of the ark, etc.).The chosen handmaid wavering in the hour of temptation.Wherein the natural kindred of Jesus differ from His spiritual family. 1. According to His human descent, He springs from the former; according to His Divine dignity and mission, the latter springs from Him. 2. The former may misunderstand Him; the latter is founded in knowledge of His glory. 3. The former was saved, as belonging to the latter; while the latter occupies a place of equal intimacy and affection with the former.The Holy Family of Jesus.Meekness of Jesus, in that He is willing to be born in the children of His Spirit.He that doeth the will of My Father, etc.; or, the servant of God, Christs kinsman.Jesus the Saviour of Mary,the Saviour of all the elect.The Mighty One, who upholdeth all the wavering heroes of God.

Starke:Friends and relatives are ofttimes in needless anxiety about those near and dear to them.Public duty must always take precedence of domestic obligations.We must not be detained or hindered by intercourse even with our best friends.Hedinger:We know not Christ after the flesh.Cramer: By faith we are as closely related to Christ as if we were of His kindred.Osiander: Mans highest nobility consists in having been born of God, and being the friend of Christ, 2Pe 1:4.

Gerlach:The bonds of earthly affection must be renounced, if they stand in the way of the progress of the kingdom of God.

Heubner:Care for relatives and nepotism have made more than one Eli, 1Sa 3:13.Behold how wide the heart of Jesus is!

Footnotes:

[39] Mat 12:46.[The E. Versions, from Wielifs down to the Authorized, render : brethren, even where it signifies natural relationship, as here, Mat 1:2 (Judah and his brethren); Mat 1:11; Mat 4:18; Mat 13:55, and many other passages, so that the term brothers nowhere occurs in our Engl. Bible. But present usage confines the word brethren to moral and spiritual relationship. Worcester: The word brothers denotes persons of the same family; the word brethren persons of the same society; but the latter is now little used, except in theology or in the solemn style.P. S.]

[40] Mat 12:46.[. Lange adds in small type: with vain effort. Comp. Luk 8:19, who says, they could not come at him for the press.P. S.]

[41][There are not two, but three different views on the four brothers of Christ, James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas (sisters also are mentioned, Mat 13:56); 1. children of Joseph by a former marriage, and hence older half-brothers of Jesus. So the oldest Greek tradition. 2, children of Joseph and Mary, and hence younger full-brothers of Jesus. So Tertullian, Helvidius (who already produced Mat 1:18; Mat 1:24-25; Luk 2:7, and other arguments in favor of this view, but was violently assailed by Jerome (see my History of the Christian Church, vol. ii., p. 231), and a number of modern Protestant divines, as Herder, Stier, Neander, Winer, etc; 3. children of a sister of the Virgin Mary, and hence only cousins of Jesus. So Jorome, the Roman Catholic and many Protestant commentators, among whom are Olshausen and Lange. The brothers of Jesus are mentioned in the following passages: Mat 12:46 (comp. Mark 2:31; Luk 8:19); Mat 13:55-56 (Mar 6:8): Joh 2:12; Joh 7:8; Joh 7:5; Joh 7:10; Act 1:14; 1Co 9:5. I have discussed this difficult subject at length in my book on James, the brother of our Lord, Berlin, 1842. Comp. on the literature Winer sub Jesus and sub Jacobus, Meyer ad Mat 12:46 (p. 275), and my Exeget, Note on Mat 13:55 below.P. S.]

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

DISCOURSE: 1359
CHRISTS REGARD TO HIS OBEDIENT FOLLOWERS

Mat 12:46-50. While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him. Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. But he answered and said unto him that told him, who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren: for whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother [Note: Another on nearly the same words, (Mar 3:31-35,) had some time before been written. The author, not adverting to that circumstance, composed this. On a comparison of the two, they are so exceedingly different, that, without altering a word in either, they are both presented to the public, in hope that they may be profitable, as illustrating different modes of treating the same text.].

IT is not easy, engaged as we are in a variety of callings, to know at all times what is the duty of the present moment. Seasons may often occur when a tradesman may reasonably doubt whether he ought to be in his shop or in his closet: and it may sometimes be difficult to know exactly where to draw the line between the attentions due to earthly relatives and the higher duties of Gods more immediate service. The example, however, which Christ has set us, may be of considerable use in regulating our conduct on such occasions. He was in a house teaching a great multitude of people who flocked around him: and his mother and his near kinsmen, apprehensive, perhaps, that he might provoke his enemies to destroy him, or that he would injure his own health by his incessant labours, endeavoured to get access to him, that they might persuade him to suspend his exertions. Not being able to get near him for the crowd, they called to him, and prevailed on the intermediate multitudes to inform him, that they stood without, greatly desirous to speak with him. On the message being delivered, our blessed Lord looked round about on his surrounding audience, and, stretching forth his hand towards them, made use of the extraordinary language of our text:in considering which, we shall shew,

In what light our Lord regarded his obedient followers

We are sure, that, in asking, Who is my mother or my brethren, he did not intend to act towards them with any disrespect: he only intended to declare the infinitely greater respect which he had for practical piety than for any other thing whatever; and to shew,

That his obedient followers were the exclusive objects of his regard

[Doubtless, as a man, he felt the ties of consanguinity, and (most probably too) the partialities of friendship [Note: We suppose his peculiar love to John was of this kind.]: but as the Mediator between God and man, who was appointed to judge the world, he considered nothing deserving his notice but a conformity to the will of God. A mere profession of his religion was so far from recommending any person to his favour, that it rendered him tenfold the more hateful in his eyes, if it were not accompanied with a suitable practice [Note: Luk 6:46.]. He compares such a person to a man building his house upon the sand, which is sure to fall and overwhelm him in its ruins: and he assures us, that, in the last day, whatever zeal such an one may have shewn even in propagating the truth itself, he will utterly disown him as unworthy of the smallest regard [Note: Mat 7:21-27.]. The person whom alone he will approve, is the conscientious and devoted servant of God, who does the will of God cheerfully, constantly, and without reserve. The obedience of a slave, were it ever so extensive, would be unacceptable to him, because it proceeds not from love. Nor, if we could conceive a person to obey from love, would his services be pleasing to God, if they were only occasional; because it would prove, that sin retained an allowed ascendency over the soul. Nor, for the same reason, could the most uniform obedience be approved by him, if there were so much as one single lust spared, or one single duty wilfully neglected. An eye, a hand, a foot, retained in opposition to the line of duty, would occasion the whole body to be cast into hell [Note: Mar 9:43-48.]. But whosoever is truly upright in doing the will, the whole will, of God, that person, whatever other recommendations he may want, shall certainly be an object of his peculiar regard: Then are ye my disciples, if ye do whatsoever I command you.]

That there was no honour or happiness which he would not confer upon them

[All are agreed, that, in a temporal view, the most honoured and blessed of all the human race was the Virgin Mary. Yet far more honoured, and more blessed, are all who cordially fulfil the will of God. This our Lord himself affirms [Note: Luk 11:27-28.]: and, in the text, he seems almost to disclaim relationship to her. as it were, in comparison of those closer bonds which unite him to his obedient followers.

But it is not merely the names of brother, sister, mother, that we are to regard: we must consider what is implied in those terms: what ardent love to their persons; what constant attention to their wants; what a liberal supply of their necessities; what familiar intercourse with them at all seasons; what protection against dangers; and what glorious triumph he will give them over all their enemies. We must consider too, that when the relations that were formed by flesh and blood shall exist no longer, then shall these spiritual relations be still acknowledged, and all the blessings attached to them be continued through eternal ages.]
This being a matter not of speculation merely, but of great practical importance, let us consider,

II.

The inferences to be deduced from it

And here we cannot but observe, that if Christ so highly regards his obedient followers, then should we,

Honour them

[The light of the godly has ever been so offensive to the lovers of darkness, that all possible methods have been used to veil its lustre, if not to extinguish it altogether. Who needs be told that there ever have been, and are at this day, terms of reproach, whereby to designate the obedient followers of Christ; and that they who are most active and diligent in his service usually bear the greatest share of that reproach? Even persons not wholly destitute of religious feeling, are yet often so awed by the fear of man, that they dare not own their respect for the godly, or even notice them as their acquaintance. They can hear the most eminent of Gods servants calumniated, and never open their mouths in their defence; and they can even wish and long for their instructions, and not dare to put themselves in the way of receiving them. But what a horrible impiety is this; that the very thing which so endears them to Christ, should render them odious to us: or that we should be ashamed to call them friends whom Christ is not ashamed to call his brethren! Little do such contemners think whom they despise; or such timid Christians, of whom they are ashamed. Paul had no idea that he was darting his shafts at Jesus, when he was persecuting, what he would call, some enthusiastic heretics: but Jesus said to him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? So it is now: they who receive his servants, receive him; and they who despise them, despise him. Beware then, lest ye provoke the Lord to be ashamed of you in the presence of his Father and his holy angels. And as Paul said to Timothy, Be not ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, so would I say to you, Be not ashamed of the Gospel, nor of any of those who obey it: but, as Christ honours his people, so do ye honour them, not in word only, but in deed and in truth. Be willing to suffer affliction with them, and esteem the reproach of Christ greater riches than all the treasures of the world.]

Seek to be of their number

[Who would not wish that in the day of judgment Christ should say of him, That is my brother, my sister, my mother? What then must we do, in order to secure that blessing? Doubtless we must believe in Christ, and seek to be found in him, not having our own righteousness, but his. But though it is by faith, and by faith only, that we are united to Christ, and made members of his family, yet must we be found doing the will of God, or else we can never be found in the number of his people. The grace of God that bringeth salvation teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live righteously, soberly, and godly, in the world. Is it asked, What is the will of God? I answer briefly, first, This is the will of God, even your sanctification [Note: 1Th 4:3.]; and secondly, Rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, and in every thing give thanks; for this also is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you [Note: 1Th 5:16-18.]. Here are two things, a holy and a heavenly life. All the lusts of the flesh must be mortified, all the evil tempers and dispositions subdued, and the thoughts, as well as the actions, be brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. This is a holy life. But besides that, you must be brought into a state of unfeigned, and, as it were, habitual delight in God, praying to him for all you want, praising him for all you enjoy, and glorying in him as your God and portion for evermore. This is a heavenly life. And by these two things you will discover your relation to Christ: the family likeness, if I may so speak, will be visible upon you. Let these things then be found upon you; for on them all your salvation depends. Your creed will signify nothing; your profession, nothing; your practice, nothing, without these: in his family there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ, that is, the image of Christ upon your soul, is all and in all [Note: Col 3:11. Read the whole chapter without prejudice, and you will certainly find this to be the true sense of the passage.].]

Choose them for your companions

[Very few people have an idea how much of their present welfare and of their eternal prospects depends upon their associates and friends. He that walketh with wise men shall be wise, says Solomon; but a companion of fools shall be destroyed [Note: Pro 13:20.]. Again, Make no friendship with an angry man, lest thou learn his ways [Note: Pro 22:24-25.]. For the same reason I would say, associate not with a proud man, a worldly man, a covetous man, a lewd man: for it is certain that evil communications will corrupt good manners. We almost unavoidably drink into the spirit of our companions: we adopt their sentiments; we conform to their practice; we become cast into their mould. Of what infinite importance then is it that we should associate with those whose sentiments and conduct accord with the mind of Christ? This was the conduct of the saints of old: David says, I am a companion of all them that fear thee and that keep thy precepts [Note: Psa 119:63.]. He calls them, the excellent of the earth, and says, that in them is all his delight [Note: Psa 16:3.]. He would not so much as know a wicked person [Note: Psa 101:4.]. This is the conduct which becomes the friends and brethren of Christ: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness, or light with darkness, or Christ with Belial? Come out, therefore, from among the ungodly world, and be separate from them [Note: 2Co 6:14-17.]. Christ was not of the world, neither must ye be [Note: Joh 17:14; Joh 17:16.]: for the friendship of the world is enmity with God; and if ye will be the friends of the world, you must to all eternity continue the enemies of God [Note: Jam 4:4.]. If you would ever be acknowledged by Christ as his brethren, be ye as he was, and let his people be your people [Note: 1Ki 22:4 and 2Ki 3:7.], his friends your friends, his brethren your brethren.]

Do them all the good in your power

[It is the duty of a Christian to lay out himself in acts of kindness towards all, in imitation of Him who went about doing good, and of Him who sendeth rain on the evil and on the good, on the just and on the unjust. But still there is a special obligation upon him to seek the welfare of the Lords people: Do good unto all men, says the Apostle, but especially unto them that are of the household of faith. Let us suppose for one moment that amongst a multitude of persons in distress we spied the Virgin Mary herself; can we doubt whom we should select as the first object of our attention? Or is there one amongst us that would not gladly deny himself some little comforts to relieve her necessities? Should we not feel it our bounden duty to shew kindness to one who was so nearly related to the Lord Jesus Christ? Behold, then, this we may do at any time. He tells us where we may find his mother and his brethren. Is there a pious person languishing in this cottage or yonder workhouse? That same is his brother, or sister, or mother. In ministering to such, you do, in fact, minister to Christ himself; as he has said, Whatsoever ye have done unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Search out then the pious few, wherever they may be found; and account it an honour to minister unto them. Are they hungry? feed them; are they naked? clothe them; are they sick or in prison? go and visit them. Are their troubles of a spiritual nature? lift up the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees; and say to them that are of a fearful heart, Fear not; behold, your God will come and save you. Sometimes perhaps your dearest friends may endeavour to damp your ardour in these holy exercises; but beware how you suffer yourselves to be diverted from such blessed employments. Doubtless there are other duties which demand a great portion of your attention: but whilst you are diligent in business, be also fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

“While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him. (47) Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. (48) But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? (49) And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! (50) For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.”

It is a matter, of no small importance in the faith of every child of God, to have right apprehensions of our Lord’s relations after the flesh. As Joseph was only the reputed father of Christ (and not in reality), very plain it is, that on this side Jesus had none. And whether the Virgin Mary had; or had not children after the birth of Christ, it is of no moment to enquire, for it forms no article of faith neither is it in the least connected with the present question. That Mary was a pure Virgin, at the time of her conception; that she continued so, to the birth of Christ; and that her, conception, was altogether miraculous, by the Holy Ghost, and without the intervention of an human father: these are the grand and the only points essential to be proved; and these are all most fully proved and ascertained in the scriptures. And hence it. will follow, that any further relationship after the flesh, Christ had none. But his bretheren are the members of this mystical body, and not his personal body. Christ and his seed, are spoken of as one. He the head, and they the members; and concerning whom Jehovah saith, I will pour, my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring. Isa 59:21Isa 59:21 . In that holy portion of human nature which constituted Christ’s body, underived from man, and given of God, from all the persons of the Godhead (see in proof, Psa 40:6 ; Heb 10:5 ; Psa 139:13-16 ; Heb 2:14-16 ; Luk 1:35 . and Commentary on Mat 1:18 .) was formed the holy seed of all his members. And as it is said of Levi, that he was in the loins of his father, when Melchisedec met him, Heb 7:10 ; so must it be said of the seed of Christ: they were in Christ; chosen in Christ; blessed in Christ; yea, beheld in Christ, before, the world began. Eph 1:3-5 ; Isa 8:18 ; Heb 2:11 . So that when the Lord Jesus, in answer to the person, speaking to him of his relations, as stated if this Chapter, stretched forth his hand towards his disciples, and pointing to certain among the throng, and said, behold my Mother and my Brethren! these were Christ’s relations both in nature and grace. And if the Reader will turn to the following scriptures in proof, they will serve to throw great light upon the subject. As the everlasting Father, Isa 9:6 . Brother, Joh 20:17 . Husband, Isa 54:5 . Friend, Joh 15:15 . See the Poor Man’s Commentary also on Joh 1:22-25 .

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

46 While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him.

Ver. 46. Desiring to speak with him ] Either out of curiosity or ambition, as Ambrose thinks; certain it is, at a most unseasonable time. Now as fish and flesh, so everything else is naught out of season.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

46 50. ] HIS MOTHER AND BRETHREN SEEK TO SPEAK WITH HIM. Mar 3:31-35 .Luk 8:19-21Luk 8:19-21 . In Mark the incident is placed as here: in Luke, after the parable of the sower.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

46. ] In Mar 3:21 we are told that his relations went out to lay hold on Him, for they said, He is beside Himself: and that the reason of this was his continuous labour in teaching, which had not left time so much as to eat . There is nothing in this care for his bodily health (from whatever source the act may have arisen on the part of his brethren , see Joh 7:5 ) inconsistent with the known state of his mother’s mind (see Luk 2:19 ; Luk 2:51 ).

They stood , i.e. outside the throng of hearers around our Lord; or, perhaps, outside the house. He meets their message with a reproof, which at the same time conveys assurance to His humble hearers. He came for all men , and though He was born of a woman, He who is the second Adam, taking our entire humanity on Him, is not on that account more nearly united to her, than to all those who are united to Him by the Spirit; nor bound to regard the call of earthly relations so much as the welfare of those whom He came to teach and to save.

It is to be noticed that our Lord, though He introduces the additional term into his answer, does not (and indeed could not) introduce , inasmuch as He never speaks of an earthly Father. See Luk 2:49 .

All these characteristics of the mother of our Lord are deeply interesting, both in themselves, and as building up, when put together, the most decisive testimony against the fearful superstition which has assigned to her the place of a goddess in the Romish mythology. Great and inconceivable as the honour of that meek and holy woman was, we find her repeatedly (see Joh 2:4 ) the object of rebuke from her divine Son, and hear Him here declaring, that the honour is one which the humblest believer in Him has in common with her.

Stier remarks (Reden Jesu, ii. 57 note), that the juxtaposition of sister and mother in the mouth of our Lord makes it probable that the brethren also were his actual brothers according to the flesh: see note on ch. Mat 13:55 .

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Mat 12:46-50 . The relatives of Jesus (Mar 3:31-35 ; Luk 8:19-21 ). Matthew and Mark place this incident in connection with the discourse occasioned by Pharisaic calumny. Luke gives it in a quite different connection. The position assigned it by Matthew and Mark is at least fitting, and through it one can understand the motive. Not vanity: a desire to make a parade of their influence over their famous relative on the part of mother and brethren (Chrys., Theophy., etc.), but solicitude on His account and a desire to extricate Him from trouble. This incident should be viewed in connection with the statement in Mar 3:21 that friends thought Jesus beside Himself. They wished to rescue Him from Himself and from men whose ill-will He had, imprudently, they probably thought, provoked.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Mat 12:46 . , brothers in the natural sense, sons of Mary by Joseph? Presumably, but an unwelcome hypothesis to many on theological grounds. , pluperfect, but with sense of imperfect (Fritzsche). They had been standing by while Jesus was speaking. , on the outskirts of the crowd, or outside the house into which Jesus entered (Mar 3:19 ).

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat 12:46-50

46While He was still speaking to the crowds, behold, His mother and brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him. 47Someone said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to You.” 48But Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” 49And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers! 50For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.”

Mat 12:46 “His mother and brothers were standing outside” Apparently they thought Jesus was working too hard or was becoming too untraditional (cf. Mar 3:20-21).

Mat 12:47 This verse is not included in the Greek manuscripts , B, and L or in some Old Latin, Syrian, and Coptic manuscripts. It is included in the manuscripts c, C, and D and the Vulgate and the Diatessaron. It is also found in Mar 3:32 and Luk 8:20. It seems that scribes added it to this verse to make the three parallel. It is included in NASB, NKJV, NRSV, and TEV translations. The United Bible Societies Fourth Edition Greek New Testament translation committee believes that it was inadvertently left out of the text because of a slip of the eye (homoloteleuton) between two similar words (” speak”) in the Greek text at the end of Mat 12:46-47. The verse is required to make sense of the paragraph.

Mat 12:50 “For whoever does the will of My Father” The will of God is to repent and to believe on Him whom He has sent (cf. Joh 6:39-40). Once one is saved, God also has a will of Christlikeness for every believer, (cf. Rom 8:28-29; Gal 4:19). See Special Topic: The Will of God at Mat 7:21.

The NIDOTTE, vol. 1, p. 488, has such a good statement about Jesus’ call to be a disciple.

1. the unconditional sacrifice of one’s whole life (cf. Mat 10:37; Luk 9:59-62; Luk 14:26-27)

2. the unconditional sacrifice of one’s life for the whole life (cf. Mat 16:24-25; Joh 11:16)

3. bound to Jesus and to do God’s will (cf. Mat 12:46-50; Mar 3:31-35)

Jesus’ call to follow Him is a radical call to selflessness which demonstrates that the effects of the Fall are reversed! This is a life-long, life-inclusive call!

“who is in heaven” This is a recurrent theme in Matthew (cf. Mat 5:16; Mat 5:45; Mat 6:1; Mat 6:9; Mat 7:11; Mat 7:21; Mat 10:32-33; Mat 12:50).

“He is my brother and sister and mother” Faith in Christ supercedes earthly family ties (parallel in Mar 3:31-35). Christianity is a family based on the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of Jesus (cf. Rom 8:15-17).

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

talked = was talking.

people = multitudes.

stood = were standing.

desiring to speak = seeking to speak. Their avowed purpose. But in Mar 3:21, Mar 3:31 their real purpose was to “lay hold on Him”, and the reason is given: “for they said ‘ He is beside Himself ‘”. This accounts for the Lord’s answer.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

46-50.] HIS MOTHER AND BRETHREN SEEK TO SPEAK WITH HIM. Mar 3:31-35. Luk 8:19-21. In Mark the incident is placed as here: in Luke, after the parable of the sower.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Mat 12:46. , mother) It is clear that, on this occasion, the thoughts and feelings of Mary were not in unison with those of her Son.-[593], unto Him) as if for His sake.[594]

[593] ) These were not sons whom Joseph had brought to Mary at their marriage; for Christ, as He was accounted the Son of Joseph, so was accounted as absolutely his first-begotten Son.-V. g.

[594] Their intention was to interrupt him; Mar 3:21; Mar 3:31.-V. g.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Mat 12:46-50

9. SPIRITUAL RELATIONSHIPS

Mat 12:46-50

46, 47 While he was yet speaking.-Other records of this may be found in Mar 3:31-35; Luk 8:19-21. This occurred in Galilee, but in what house we do not know. Jesus was in the house and was surrounded by a dense multitude; it may have been in a synagogue. Luke places this after the explanation of the parable of the sower, but he does not say “while” as does Matthew, but simply marks a transition without necessarily indicating any chronological connection. While he was crowded in the house “his mother and his brethren stood without, seeking to speak to him.” There is no reference to Joseph, Mary’s husband; in fact, he does not appear in gospel history after the period of Jesus’ childhood (Luke 2); it is likely that Joseph was dead; this is strengthened by the fact that “the carpenter’s son” (Mat 13:55) is called in the parallel (Mar 6:3) “the carpenter,” as, according to the Jewish custom, he had, in all likelihood, assumed the position of his reputed father on the death of the latter. They desired “to speak to him.” We do not know what they desired to discuss with him; it may be that they intended more than a mere conversation, as he had been accused of being “beside himself.” (Mar 3:20-21.) “His burden”; this means his half brothers; probably the children of Mary or the children of Joseph by a former marriage. We have no way of telling. Some have claimed that these were only cousins of Jesus. Their names are given as James, Joses, Simon, and Judas. He had cousins whose names were the same, but these do not seem to be his cousins. “Brethren of the Lord” is used ten times in the New Testament and they are never called cousins. It is incredible, therefore, that they should have been other than literal brothers, “half brothers.” This supposition is strengthened by the fact that these brothers are mentioned in connection and in company with “his sisters” and his “mother,” all of whom collectively are called his “house” or family. If the mother was a literal mother, the sisters must have been literal sisters, and the brethren literal brothers. Mary the mother of Jesus seems to have had a sister by the same name, Mary; she had sons named James, Joses and Jude; it appears also that the brothers of Jesus were also named James, Joses, Jude, and Simon. Some argue that these brothers are the same and are only cousins to Jesus, but it is quite credible that two sisters, themselves of the same name, should purposely give corresponding names to three of their children. One objection to this is that Jesus committed the keeping of his mother not to these brethren, but to the apostle John;they argue that if he had half brothers he would have committed her to them. This inference is not sound he did not choose his disciples from his own house, but from others. He dealt in sharp words with his brothers. (Joh 7:7.) His brothers were not found among his believers until after the resurrection, hence Jesus chose to commit his mother unto the beloved disciple rather than to her other sons. This idea refutes the claim that Mary was at once a wife and a nun, and that she should be worshiped. However, many scholars claim that Mary had no children after the miraculous conception.

When it was reported to Jesus that his “mother and his brethren” were without desiring to speak to him, it furnished Jesus the occasion to teach a lesson on spiritual relationships.

48-50 But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother?-This does not cast any reflection on his mother, neither does it deny his fleshly relation; Jesus simply shows that spiritual ties are far more important, binding and sacred, than fleshly ties. Jesus respected his mother. (Luk 2:51; Joh 19:25-27.) He did not deify her, but left her to remain as other good women. The superstitious worship of Mary and the false conception that she is the fit mediatrix between us and her Son according to the flesh is shown to be false and foolish. Her relationship to Jesus gives her no greater influence with God than other good women. Jesus is the only mediator between God and man, and no priest, pope, or “deified saint” comes between man and God. While this does not imply disrespect toward his mother, neither should we infer from it that she did not believe in him, but it does imply a gentle rebuke of her interference with the movements of her Son, which, of course, he could not allow. He never let anything interfere with his work as the Savior of man.

And he stretched forth his hand towards his disciples, and said, Behold, my mother and my brethren!-It seems that Jesus refused, or at least delayed, to see his relatives long enough to teach an important lesson. There is nothing that is more closely related to Jesus than his disciples; the ties of human relationship are physical and temporal; the ties of Christ are spiritual and eternal. The connection of any saint with Jesus is greater than ties of blood relation. Jesus speaks of mother, brother, and sister but never of any human father. Jesus includes in the family of God all believers in him; he binds them together with strong ties of love and sympathy. “For whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.” His relation to God was beautifully expressed in a spiritual sense when he throws all earthly relationships into the background and brings to the foreground his spiritual relationships. Obedience to God’s will is the spiritual test of our discipleship. He calls those who obey the Father’s will by the endearing names of brother and sister and mother. Why?

Because he that obeys does all that the will of God requires. He believes, which is the first step and beginning of future obedience he repents of and confesses his sin; he is baptized into Christ, and grows in grace and in the knowledge of the truth, thus being partakers of the divine nature. Those who obey are members of his body, and members one of another.

[When men deliberately refuse to do the will of God, they are no longer brethren of the Lord. When they cease to be brethren of the Lord, they cease to constitute his church; and it certainly is not right to leave questions involving duty to God to those who deliberately refuse to obey God, that add to and take from his commandments.]

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

Our King and his earthly Relatives

Mat 12:46. While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him.

The members of his family had come to take him, because they thought him beside himself. No doubt the Pharisees had so represented his ministry to his relatives that they thought they had better restrain him, lest he should procure his own destruction by his zealous preaching. Friends may be a good man’s greatest hindrance. They intruded upon his holy service “while he yet talked to the people.” A mark of wonder is put before this record: “Behold.” How dare they act in this manner? By the request of his mother and his brethren he is called away from the pressing engagement of teaching the people, which was his urgent life-work; but the call had no power over him. What ailed Mary that she joined in this transaction? Many a nervous mother has been ready to hold back her consecrated son when his courage has defied danger. Our Lord did not allow his love to his mother to turn him aside.

Mat 12:47. Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to apeak with thee.

An officious person reported the errand of the family: one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without. It is hard when interruptions come from our own flesh and blood; for strangers are sure to back them up. Ignorantly or wilfully, the reporting person lent himself to the design of the relatives by representing that they were desiring to speak with him; though, indeed, they desired to take him. He who would not permit a disciple to neglect his duty on the plea of burying his father, how will he act now that his mother comes to hinder him? He will do the right thing. We may always find the rule of our conduct by asking the question, “What would Jesus do?”

Mat 12:48-49. But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!

He does not reject the tender ties of his human nature, but he exhibits their true position as secondary to the spiritual bonds which united him to the spiritual family. Those who were related to him by the bonds of discipleship had in this the truest union with him. He pointed to “his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! “All believers in Jesus are of the royal family, princes of the blood, brothers of the Christ. See how he owns the affinity, and bids all know it. “He is not ashamed to call them brethren.” In this instance his method of acknowledging them was singularly striking; he even set them before his earthly mother and brethren.

Lord, let us know and enjoy our nearness to thyself. Help us also to care for thee as a mother for her son, and to love thee as a man should love his own brother.

Mat 12:50. For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.

He enlarges upon the truth. Every doer of the Father’s will is thereby proved to be a true disciple, and he is to Jesus as near as a brother, as dear as a sister, as much cared for as a mother. According to our condition and capacity, let us act towards our Lord the part of brother in help, of sister in sympathy, of mother in tender love; for all these relationships act in both ways, and involve giving as well as receiving. What a blessed “whosoever “is this! It is not for ministers only, or for persons set apart to special service; but all who do the Father’s will in any position of life are encompassed in the family circle of the Lord Christ.

Our Lord Jesus had a little while before cut himself adrift from the bands of formality by routing the scribes and Pharisees, and now the knife goes deeper, and all that is of the flesh at its very best is divided from that which is of the spirit. Henceforth it is clear that after the flesh he knows no man any more; neither can we hope to know him by birthright membership, or anything else that is of blood, or birth, or of the will of the flesh. The inner life which is akin to God, and shows itself in holiness, is that which gives us union with our Lord. Oh, to feel its influence more and more!

Fuente: Spurgeon’s The Gospel of the Kingdom

While

Rejected by Israel, His “kinsmen according to the flesh” (cf) Rom 9:3 our Lord intimates the formation of the new family of faith which, overstepping mere racial claims, receives “whosoever” will be His disciple.; Mat 12:49; Mat 12:50; Joh 6:28; Joh 6:29.

For Another Point of View: See Topic 301191

Additional Factors to Consider: See Topic 301372

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

yet: Mar 2:21, Mar 3:31-35, Luk 8:10, Luk 8:19-21

his: Mat 13:55, Mar 6:3, Joh 2:12, Joh 7:3, Joh 7:5, Joh 7:10, Act 1:14, 1Co 9:5, Gal 1:19

Reciprocal: Lev 21:11 – his father 1Ki 15:13 – his mother

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

2:46

Brethren is from ADELPHOS which Thayer defines as follows: “1. A brother (whether born of the same two parents, or only of the same father or the same mother): Mat 1:2; Mat 4:18 and often. That ‘the brethren of Jesus,’ Mat 12:46-47; Mat 13:55; Mar 6:3 (in the last two passages also sisters); Luk 8:19; Joh 2:12; Joh 7:3; Act 1:14; Gal 1:19; 1Co 9:5, are neither sons of Joseph by a wife before Mary (which is the account in the Apocryphal Gospels), nor cousins, the children of Alphaeus or Cleophas (i. e., Clopas) and Mary, a sister of the mother of Jesus (the current opinion among the doctors of the church since Jerome and Augustine), according to that use of language by which ADELPHOS like the Hebrew . . . denotes any blood-relation or kinsman, but own brothers, born after Jesus, is clear principally from Mat 1:25; Luk 2:7 . . . where, had Mary borne no other children after Jesus, instead of HUION PROTOTOKON, the expression HUION MONOGENE would have been used, as well as from Act 1:14; Joh 7:5, where the Lord’s brethren are distinguished from the apostles.” For the convenience of the reader and to save him from confusion, I will state that this quotation from the lexicon shows that Jesus had fleshly brothers who were the children of Joseph and Mary, and that Mary did not remain a virgin after the birth of Jesus as the Romanists teach.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Mat 12:46. While he was yet speaking to the multitudes. This definite expression fixes the occasion.

His mother and brethren. On the brethren of our Lord, see chap. Mat 13:55.

Stood, or were standing, without. Either outside the crowd or the house; it is not certain that He was in a house. They remained there unsuccessfully (Luk 8:19), seeking to speak with him. A sufficient motive should be looked for. It was probably affectionate solicitude for His safety (see on Mar 3:21), in consequence of the open rupture with the Pharisees; also for His health, since He had not time to eat (Mar 3:20). It is uncertain whether His friends really thought He was beside Himself or only said so to screen Him (Mar 3:21). They probably did not doubt Him, but mistook their duty, and adopted a worldly policy, which though natural and prompted by genuine affection deserved the rebuke here implied. In any case the faith of Mary His mother must have grown stronger before the crucifixion. Luke (Luk 11:27-28) places immediately after the discourse just narrated, the exclamation of a woman, referring to His mother (Blessed is the womb, etc.),as if Marys presence had occasioned it. The response there recorded is similar in character to Mat 12:50 of this chapter.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Observe here, 1. The verity of Christ’s human nature; he had affinity and consanguinity with men, persons near in blood to him, called his brethren, that is, his cousin-germans.

2. That the holy virgin herself was not wholly free from failings and infirmities; for here she does untimely and unseasonably interrupt our Saviour when preaching to the people, and employed about his Father’s business.

3. That Christ did not neglect his holy mother, nor disregard his near relations; only showed that he preferred his Father’s service before them.

Learn, 4. How dear believers are to Jesus Christ; he prefers his spiritual kindred before his natural. Alliance in faith, and spiritual relation to Christ, is much nearer and dearer than alliance by blood: to bear Christ in the heart is much better than to bear him in the womb.

Blessed be God, this greatest privilege is not denied to us even now: though see Christ we cannot, yet love him we may; his bodily presence cannot be enjoyed by us, but his spiritual presence is not denied us. Though Christ be not ours, in house, in arms, in affinity, in consanguinity, yet in heart, in faith, in love, in service, he is or may be ours.

Verily, spiritual regeneration brings men into a more honourable relation to Christ than natural generation ever did. Whosoever shall do the will of my Father, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Mat 12:46-50. While he yet talked with the people While he was uttering these solemn truths, and giving these awful warnings, in the audience of the vast multitudes that were gathered around him: behold, his mother and his brethren Or near kinsmen, (namely, the sons of Mary the wife of Cleopas, or Alpheus, his mothers sister,) stood without, not being able to come near him because of the multitude that sat about him: But he said, Who is my mother? &c. We must not suppose that our Lord meant to put any slight on them, especially on his mother. He only took this opportunity of expressing his affection to his obedient disciples in a peculiarly endearing manner; which could not but be a great comfort to them, and a rich equivalent for all the fatigue and expense which their zeal for him and his heavenly doctrine occasioned. Stretching forth his hand toward his disciples, he said, Behold my mother, &c. This short speech, related by the evangelists with great simplicity, is, without their seeming to have designed it, one of the finest encomiums imaginable. Could the most elaborate panegyric have done Jesus Christ and his religion half the honour which this divine sentiment hath done them? Whosoever shall do the will of my Father, &c., the same is my brother, and sister, and mother! A saying, this, which will never be forgotten while there are memories in the world to retain it, or tongues to repeat it. As if he had said, I regard obedience to God so highly, that I prefer the relation it constitutes, and the union it begets, to the strongest ties of blood. They who do the will of my Father, have a much greater share of my esteem than my kinsmen, as such. I love them with an affection tender and steady, like that which subsists between the nearest relations; nay, I reckon them, and them only, my brethren, my sisters, and my mother. A high commendation this, and not a reflection upon our Lords mother, who, without doubt, was among the chief of those who did the will of God. What veneration should live in the hearts of men for Jesus and his religion, which exhibits such perfection in goodness! Macknight.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

CHRIST’S TEACHING AS TO HIS MOTHER AND BRETHREN.

(Galilee, same day as the last lesson.)

aMATT. XII. 46-50; bMARK III. 31-35; cLUKE VIII. 19-21.

a46 While he yet speaking to the multitudes, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without seeking to speak to him. [Jesus was in a house, probably at Capernaum– Mar 3:19, Mat 13:1.] c19 and there came {bcome} cto him his mother and bhis brethren; cand they could not come at him for the crowd. aand, standing without, they sent unto him, calling him. 32 And the multitude was sitting about him [We learn at Mar 3:21, that they came to lay hold of him because they thought that he was beside himself. It was for this reason that they came in a body, for their numbers would enable them to control him. Jesus had four brethren ( Mat 13:55). Finding him teaching with the crowd about him, they passed the word in to him that they wished to see him outside. To attempt to lay hold of him in the midst of his disciples would have been rashly inexpedient. The fact that they came with Mary establishes the strong presumption that they were the children of Mary and Joseph, and hence the literal brethren of the Lord. In thus seeking to take Jesus away from his enemies Mary yielded to a natural maternal impulse which even the revelations accorded to her did not quiet. The brethren, too, acted naturally, for they were unbelieving– Joh 7:5.] a47 And one said {bthey say} unto him, c20 And it was told him, aBehold, thy mother and thy brethren bseek for thee. cstand without, desiring to see thee. aseeking to speak to thee. [310] [This message was at once an interruption and an interference. It assumed that their business with him was more urgent than his business with the people. It merited our Lord’s rebuke, even if it had not behind it the even greater presumption of an attempt to lay hold on him.] 48 But he answered {b33 And he answereth} aand said unto him that told him, band saith, {cand said unto them,} aWho is my mother? and who are my brethren? b34 And looking round on them that sat round about him, ahe stretched forth his hand towards his disciples, and said, {bsaith,} aBehold, my mother and my brethren! cMy mother and my brethren are these that hear the word of God and do it. b35 For whosoever shall do the will of God, amy Father who in heaven, he {bthe same} is my brother, and my sister, and mother. [In this answer Jesus shows that he brooks no interference on the score of earthly relationships, and explodes the idea of his subserviency to his mother. To all who call on the “Mother of God,” as Mary is blasphemously styled, Jesus answers, as he did to the Jews, “Who is my mother?” Jesus was then in the full course of his ministry as Messiah, and as such he recognized only spiritual relationships. By doing the will of God we become his spiritual children, and thus we become related to Christ. Jesus admits three human relationships–“brother, sister, mother”–but omits the paternal relationship, since he had no Father, save God. It is remarkable that in the only two instances in which Mary figures in the ministry of Jesus prior to his crucifixion, she stands forth reproved by him. This fact not only rebukes those who worship her, but especially corrects the doctrine of her immaculate conception.] [311]

[FFG 310-311]

Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)

CONSANGUINITY OF THE HOLY GHOST

Mat 12:46-50; Mar 3:31-35; & Luk 8:19; Luk 8:21; Luk 11:27-28. And it came to pass while He was speaking these things, a certain woman, lifting up her voice from the crowd, said to Him, Blessed is the womb having born Thee, and the breast which Thou didst suck. And He said, Truly, blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it. This is simply the gushing ejaculation of a woman in the crowd, so carried away with admiration of His mighty works and wonderful preaching that she is electrified with the conception of the glorious honor appertaining to the woman who enjoyed the privilege and the blessing of motherhood, thus giving the world such a Son. Matthew: And He, speaking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers are standing without, seeking to speak to Him. And responding, He said to the one having spoken to Him, Who is My mother and who are My brothers? Reaching forth His hand toward His disciples [Mark says they were all sitting down around Him in a circle], said, Behold, My mother and My brothers. For whosoever may do the will of My Father who is in the heavens, the same is My brother, My sister, and My mother. Luke says, My mother and My brothers are those who hear the Word of God and do it. His reputed father, Joseph, is not mentioned here in connection with the family, neither have we a single word in reference to him since Jesus accompanied them to the temple when He was twelve years old. There is not doubt but he died during the ensuing eighteen years. We hear of Jesus having sisters living in Nazareth; doubtless married. Questions arise in reference to these brothers of Jesus four in number, James, Judas, Simon, and Joses the Roman Catholics, conservatively to their Mariolatry, claiming that they were the sons of Joseph by a former marriage; and the Protestants, certainly with more plausibility, that they were the uterine brothers of Jesus, and of course younger than Himself, as we have not an intimation that Joseph had a former marriage, and especially from the fact that we always find them in company with Mary, which looks much like she was their mother. Jesus then being thirty-two years old, if they were children of Joseph by a former marriage, it would put them up considerably in bachelorhood, and not seem very plausible that they would have been giving a stepmother so much attention. There is no doubt but they, thinking that He was wearing Himself out, wanted to prevail on Him to relax labor, and go home with them, and take a good rest, which was incompatible with the urgency of His important ministry. We see here, His natural relatives go into eclipse when contrasted with the spiritual. So we all find, as we become more spiritual, our physical consanguinity sinks into deeper eclipse; not that we love our natural relatives less, but the consanguinity of the Holy Ghost is so much sweeter and richer than that of this world, that we find our affections absorbed and literally captured by the saints of God, admiring and appreciating them in proportion to their approximation to that Perfect Man, the fairest among ten thousand and altogether lovely.

Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament

Verse 46

Brethren. Compare Matthew 13:55,27:56. They were alarmed for his safety,–so great was the excitement against him,–and came, accordingly, to conduct him away (Mark 3:21,31,) but could not get in to speak to him, on account of the crowd.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

12:46 {10} While he yet talked to the people, behold, [his] mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him.

(10) Christ teaches by his own example that all things ought to be set aside in respect of God’s glory.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

4. Conflict over Jesus’ kin 12:46-50 (cf. Mar 3:31-35; Luk 8:19-21)

A very subtle form of opposition arose from Jesus’ physical family members. It provided an opportunity for Jesus to explain true relationship to Messiah and to affirm His disciples.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Jesus’ brothers were evidently his physical brothers, the sons of Mary. Some Roman Catholics desiring to maintain their perpetual virginity of Mary doctrine have argued that they were Jesus’ brothers but the sons of Joseph by a previous marriage. [Note: E.g., John McHugh, The Mother of Jesus in the New Testament, pp. 200-202.] If they were, the oldest of these brothers would have been the legal heir to David’s throne.