Matthew 12: The Lord and His Family (6)

Pray Psalm 5.11, 12.
But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You;
Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them;
Let those also who love Your name
Be joyful in You.
For You, O LORD, will bless the righteous;
With favor You will surround him as with a shield.

Sing Psalm 5.11, 12.
(Angel’s Story: O Jesus, I Have Promised)
Let those rejoice who seek You and shelter ‘neath Your wing.
Their tongues shall rise to speak to Your praise; Your grace they sing.
Your people You will bless, Lord, all those who to You yield.
Preserve them with Your best Word, and guard them like a shield.

Read Matthew 12.1-50; meditate on verses 46-50.

Prepare.
1. Why did Jesus’ family come looking for Him?

2. Whom did Jesus identify as His family?

Meditate.
Readers sometimes think Jesus is being harsh on His mother and siblings here. But He does not necessarily exclude them from His true family. Indeed, we know that Jesus’ half-brothers James and Jude came to strong faith in Him, and His mother believed in Him from before He was born. It’s not unlikely that all Jesus’ siblings learned to trust in Him, as He doubtless knew they would.

The point of this exchange is not to exclude from Jesus’ family those who raised Him and with whom He grew up. The point is to include all as true members of His family who, like His disciples do the will of His Father (v. 50). Luke says the family of Jesus are those “who hear the word of God and do it” (Lk. 8.21). This, after all, is what Jesus did, and any who follow Him in hearing and doing the Word and will of God are His family, indeed.

And what a privilege it is to be so related to Jesus! He is our Savior, Lord, and King; He is also our Brother, and as such He has banished the bully in the neighborhood and invites us to enjoy the freedom we have in Him. As His family members we bear certain responsibilities. We are members of His household, and so must attend to every Word of God, and be quick and diligent in obeying the will of our Father. Thus we follow in the steps of our older Brother and King, seeking the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. We are a worldwide family of brothers and sisters in Jesus, and our pedigree is to hear the Word of God and do it.

What a family!

Reflect.
1. How does one become a member of the family of Jesus?

2. What are the identifying traits of those who belong to Jesus’ family?

3. How should the members of Jesus’ family relate to one another?

To believers he applies all the terms of family relationship, those, namely, who had been joined to him in the kindred fellowship of obedience. Apollinaris (310-392), Fragment 75

Let me hear Your Word, O Lord, and send me forth to do Your will today as I…

Pray Psalm 5.1-8.
Seek the Lord’s mercy and leading for the day ahead, that you may have grace to do all His will.

Sing Psalm 5.1-8.
Psalm 5.1-8 (Angel’s Story: O Jesus, I Have Promised)
O Lord, attend and hear me, consider how I groan.
Receive my cries and near be, and love me as Your own.
By morning, Lord I seek You, for You will hear my voice.
My every need You speak to, and make my soul rejoice!

In sin You take no pleasure; no evil dwells with You.
Vain boasts You will not treasure, nor those who boasting do.
Sin kindles Your hot anger, You crush all those who lie.
The violent live in danger of Your all-searching eye.

O Lord, Your lovingkindness escorts me in this place.
I bow before Your highness and praise Your glorious grace!
In righteous ways You guide me; Your pathway I will know.
No good will be denied me as I with Jesus go.

T. M. Moore

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing adapted from The Ailbe Psalter. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006). All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (available by clicking here).