Holy Boldness

commitment to His goal would demand something beyond the casual commitment or natural affection or even family loyalty.

The Final Break

In Matthew 11 Jesus says emphatically, “No one knows the son except the father,” (Matt. 11:26) which meant that no man or woman could reveal to Jesus who He was. This unveiling and defining were within the power and purpose of the Father alone. This suggests that misunderstanding of Jesus would be inevitable, even by those who were closest to Him. The time came when Jesus moved beyond the control and foresight of His family. His mission and purpose progressed beyond all natural understanding. All three of the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) record an incident that Jesus had with his family that rebuffed any pseudo claim they might have had upon His loyalties. While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him (48) But he replied to the man who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” (49) And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! (50) For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” Matthew 12:46-50 The scriptures do not say what the family’s response was to this event but to the sensitive ears of Western culture, it seems very harsh. And yet this response is recorded in all three of the Synoptic Gospels without any explanation or apology. Suffice to say that there are times when the pursuit of the will of God requires a severance of familiar claims and family loyalty. Jesus had already called his own disciples to forsake the comforts of home and to follow him; Andrew and Peter, James and John were called while they were in the process of working in the family fishing business with their respective fathers. The urgency of Jesus’ message and mission were not to be interrupted. It called for complete and radical commitment. With Jesus’ response to the request from His family for private access to His time and attention, He redefined his family ties. “Who is my mother and who are my brothers?” (v. 48) The fact that He raised the question suggests that He was about to redefine basic understanding of the question. Who has family privileges? Who has the prerogative to

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