Wednesday's SOAP - Matthew 12:46-50

⁴⁶ As Jesus was speaking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. ⁴⁷ Someone told Jesus, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, and they want to speak to you.”

 ⁴⁸ Jesus asked, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” ⁴⁹ Then he pointed to his disciples and said, “Look, these are my mother and brothers. ⁵⁰ Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother!”

S(cripture) - "Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother!”


O(bservation) - Wonder how Focus on the Family feels about this?  And the other statement like it where Jesus says that "everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life."?  Ouch!  At a time when the nuclear family is breaking down and with it, our moral base as a society, how do I reconcile our need for strong families with Jesus' call to abandonment?  Jesus is clearly saying that his blood is thicker than family blood.  Does reading this make you uneasy?  Is your first thought to figure out how to make it palatable to your soul?  (it is mine)


First let me be clear - Our SOAP text only causes tension when family and God's will are pulling in opposite directions.  Jesus' mother and brothers were calling for him - to take him home. Jesus was "shaming" his family by wearing the mantel of Rabbi.  The carpenter's son didn't know his place in a culture where everybody knew their place.  Jesus was acknowledging in a very bold statement that those who were gathered around him were closer to the will of God and more like his family.  As parents and siblings, your calling includes a desire to see your family align with the will of God - family that is both related by biology and by Spirit.  There is another text (Matthew 10:21-22) where Jesus says that the Kingdom - loyalty to him will cause great conflict - even in families "brother will betray brother to death."  Serious stuff this Kingdom life!


The second text? (I wish the Spirit hadn't brought it to mind.)  It is difficult and calls for a level of commitment that I find hard to fathom.  God is the creator and designer of families not the destroyer of them.   Yet Jesus is clearly saying, following me comes first.  Like the rich young ruler who couldn't sell all he had to follow Jesus, I don't want to walk away, head hanging because the cost - leaving my family - is too great.  I want my family to align with me on this great mission from God.  Let's leave at this for now.


A(pplication) - Clearly there is an overwhelming call to allegiance and priority in this text.  I need to always examine my heart for this allegiance.  Seek first the Kingdom.  These are difficult texts and more than I can engage with in this short space.  But as hard as these sayings are, the call is still to simplicity - away from duplicity - "No one can serve two masters."  And I want the best of both worlds - I want my will and my family's will to align with God's will.  But if they don't?  Lord, have mercy.


P(rayer) - Abba, do I love your Son more than these?  Would I leave everything, including my family, if need be to follow you?  Just yesterday, you restored the family of Mary, Martha and Lazarus.  You used their home as a base - refuge.  Could it be that you aren't saying leave family, but that there is great reward for those of single-minded purpose?  Teach me your ways, O God.  I want to follow you no matter the cost.  Amen.