Prior to today’s Gospel reading, Jesus went up to the mountain and called the disciples. (Mrk 3:13-19). Then, when Jesus came down from the mountain, He was immediately encountered by many people, who even pressed around Him, making requests. Mark the Evangelist wrote that this situation has made Jesus not even have time to eat.

When Jesus’ family heard about this, they wanted to take Him away forcibly. In their minds, He was crazy. Why did they think so? Jesus was placing the needs of the crowds above His own. He was using up His time helping all types of people. His family thinks it is too much. They did not fully understand Jesus’ mission or His purpose. So, although it seems they were perhaps acting out what they thought was Jesus’ good, their lack of understanding about Jesus’ mission precluded them from making a valid judgment. They want Him to follow their agenda.

We can see again how crowded it was, and Jesus’ family too, were there set out to seize Him. Yet, His family was probably standing outside because people were too jammed to get into the house. They had to pass the message to Jesus by word of mouth. In this regard, Jesus responded with a sound ‘offended’ question: “Who are My mother and My brothers?

Hence, Jesus is not disrespecting his family. Later while hanging on the cross, He told John to take care of His mother. In John 2, Jesus miraculously helped Mary when she came to Him with a need, even though it wasn’t according to His planned schedule. Other biblical passages, such as Ephesians 6, also tell us that we must honor our parents. Jesus’ point here is not actually about who is not part of His physical family but who is part of His spiritual family. Jesus often used situations He and the people around Him were part of as object lessons. And this is one of those examples. The " family " issue came up and Jesus taught them that anyone who obeyed God could be part of His spiritual family.

Again, the terms 'mother,' 'brother,' and 'sisters' biologically speaking (kadugo) are not the focus here. Therefore, we don’t need to get caught up in the question of whether a believer can be Jesus’ spiritual mother (the answer would be no). Jesus’ point is that He has a large spiritual family that anyone can be part of. What can we learn from this?

Jesus welcomes anyone into His family. There are many people from distressing family situations. Fathers abandon their children. Parents get divorced. Orphans do not even have and know their parents. Many people who do have two parents have parents who are drunk, take drugs, are abusive physically or verbally, argue all the time, ignore them, dominate them, and so on. Siblings are often selfish towards one another, even to the point of fighting over their parents’ money after they pass away. Yet as bad as your family might be, there is hope. Jesus offers a different kind of family. He offers the love, care, peace, mercy, and kindness that is absent in many homes around the world. Jesus’ own physical family was not like this as his brothers for a time they rejected Him and tried to control Him.

The spiritual family is more important than the physical family (Galatians 6:10). Try to model your family and community after God’s. Do not let your family and community become like those mentioned, where the members are divided, lonely, lost, desperate, bitter, and angry. Follow God’s rules for your own family and you can have one that reflects God’s own.

There is an entrance requirement. Only those who do His will can enter His family, be His brothers, sisters, and mothers. Then, application questions for us to ponder: Are you already a member of His family? Are you leading your home to be a model of God’s family?