Pastor Scott Andrews | December 29, 2024
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Luke 8:19-21
We’ve just come through Christmas, the celebration of the birth of Jesus to the virgin Mary and the carpenter Joseph. Now, Matthew tells us they were betrothed to be married but had not gone through the wedding week. They had not, in fact, consummated their marriage. They were engaged/betrothed, but not yet living as husband and wife. That betrothal period usually lasted about a year, when they dreamed of the wedding week, being officially and before the Lord, married.
Of course, during that time, Matthew also tells us Mary was found to be with child – pregnant. So Joseph, being a just man, was considering how he might put her away privately – divorce her – that’s how serious the betrothal period was. Well, you know the story. An angel appeared to Joseph and told him not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife, because that which was conceived in her was of the Holy Spirit. She would bear a son; they were to name Him Jesus, because He would save His people from their sins. In fact, this was a fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy – the virgin would be with child, and they will call His name Immanuel, which means, God with us. Joseph awoke from His dream and did as the angel commanded. He married Mary but kept her a virgin until after the Child was born.
Matthew tells us a little more – wise men from the east who had seen the Child’s star, and somehow knew He was to be a king – no, the King – came to worship Him – gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Of course, Herod the Great enters the story with the tragic events of murdering all the boys in Bethlehem, under two years old, trying to kill this one born king of the Jews. You see, Herod was a usurper – he wasn’t a Jew – how could he be king of the Jews. Well, an angel appeared to Joseph again and warned the new family – flee to Egypt to protect the Child. Again, Joseph was obedient. By the way, it’s interesting to note we have no recorded words of Joseph in the Bible – just obedience. Well, they stayed in Egypt until the death of Herod, and an angel appeared to Joseph yet again – you can go back now. So, they moved to their hometown of Nazareth and raised Jesus there.
And that’s all we know from Matthew. Of course, we’re studying the book of Luke, and Luke records more about the birth of Jesus than any other gospel, at least from Mary’s perspective. You see, the angel Gabriel appeared to her, actually before Joseph, and told her, Mary, you have found favor with God – you will be graced by God. You see, she would have a child – the Son of the Most High. How can this be since I am a virgin? The power of the Most High will overshadow you, and for this reason, the one born to you will be the Son of God. Mary responded, behold the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.
That was Luke 1. By chapter 2, Joseph and his young, very pregnant wife made their way to Bethlehem to register for the census, as required. There, she gave birth to her firstborn son –firstborn, implying there were others. You know the rest of the story – no room for them in the inn, born in a stable, wrapped in swaddling cloths, laid in a manger. The angels appeared again – this time to shepherds – to tell them Christ had been born. Then a heavenly host of angels appeared, saying “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men.” The shepherds hurried to Bethlehem to find the child, and we’re told they made known to Joseph and Mary all that been told them about baby Jesus. Mary treasured all these things in her heart.
You say, yeah Scott – we know all that. As you said, we’ve just come through Christmas, read the Christmas stories, sang the Christmas carols, displayed our Nativity sets. We know.
Here’s my point. That’s all very familiar to you, and you weren’t even there. It was over 2,000 years ago, and you know. Do you suppose it’s possible that Jesus’ earthly family knew? During Christmas, some sing Mary Did You Know, and of course she did since Gabriel told her. And Joesph knew. The shepherds knew, and told everyone who would listen. Herod knew. The wise men knew. And we know. Here’s my question: do you suppose Jesus’ brothers and sisters knew? At least heard the stories. They grew up with Jesus. Now, Jesus knew who He was at least by age 12. We know later in Luke 2 when the family went to Jerusalem to observe the Passover. You remember the story – Jesus stayed behind, it took Joseph and Mary three days to find Him – Mary asks, why have You treated us like this – don’t you know we were anxiously looking everywhere for You? To which Jesus responded, you didn’t know where I was – you didn’t know I would be in My Father’s house?
This is the story of all stories – revealed to many – Simeon and Anna in the Temple. Don’t you suppose Jesus’ siblings – and He had several – that is, Joseph and Mary had other children after the birth of Jesus – James and Joses and Judas/Jude and Simon plus some unnamed sisters. And remember, Jesus was the oldest – they grew up with Him. They observed Him. They saw His character, His faithfulness, His unusual trustworthiness. The fact that He never sinned – that had to be irritating. Don’t you suppose they knew the stories about Jesus? It’s an argument from silence – I’ll grant that – but since so many knew, don’t you suppose they did?
What’s my point? Have you ever thought, if only I could have seen Jesus walking on the earth – been with Him – I think I would have believed more. If only I could have heard His teaching with my own ears, seen His miracles with my own eyes – I think I would believe – or, at least my faith would be stronger. I suppose we’ve all had those thoughts before.
But, we’re discovering that’s not necessarily true. Yes, Jesus said what He said and did what He did to prove He was the Christ, the Son of God – and did so admirably and efficiently. But seeing, many, in fact most, did not believe. Those who should have accepted Him, did not. Namely, the religious – the guys who read the Bible, who supposedly knew, who were the experts in the Law – they should have been ready, when He came fulfilling those OT prophecies, to welcome the Son of God. When He came, teaching with authority, and performing undeniable miracles – healing people of every disease and casting out demons – their response should have been one of wonder, awe – even praise. But instead, their response was one of denial, and not just denial, but rejection, and not just rejection, but hostility.
At one point, they actually said, we can’t deny Your miracles – the lame are walking, the blind are seeing, the deaf are hearing, the dead are breathing, the demon possessed are freed. But what you do, you do by the power of Satan himself. They had heard it all, seen it all, and refused to believe. They had come to a settled rejection of truth. And so, seeing is not necessarily believing. In fact, there will always be those who oppose the truth of Christ. Those who, despite the overwhelming evidence, refuse to believe.
But, what do you do when you believe, and those around you who should believe, don’t? In fact, some around, oppose you for believing? Let’s say, you decide to get serious about your faith. You become convinced Jesus really is worthy of worship, He’s worthy of your attention, He’s worthy of your service, He’s worthy of your life. And you get serious. And those around you who should be glad, they should be with you, aren’t? The religious around you – they profess to be Christians, they go to church, they occasionally even do Christian things. But you get serious, and they say to you, don’t get carried away. Don’t get radical. Don’t start doing what those fundamentalists do – talking to everyone about Jesus. That’s embarrassing. And for sure don’t become intolerant like those overbearing ones who think Christianity is the only true religion. They’re so judgmental and intolerant. What do you do when the religious around you start opposing you because you really believe Jesus is the real deal?
Further, what do you do when that opposition comes from your own family? You’ve gone off to college to get an education and you’ve gone off the deep end. What do you mean you want to go on a mission trip – isn’t that part of the world dangerous? What do you mean you want to change your major so you can go into ministry – that’s not what we paid for. What do you do when your family – mom, dad, brothers, sisters, think you’ve lost your mind? You’ve gone too far. I’m alright with your Christian clubs on campus, you can go to church, I don’t even care if you read the Bible, but you can’t give up everything for Jesus, can you?
What do you do when those who you want to accept your faith and join you in your commitment – instead oppose you? What if it gets worse than that. What if they disown you because of your commitment? You understand that happens all around the world today – deny your Christian faith, come back to our faith, or we’ll disinherit you, or we’ll cut off your head. Becoming a follower of Jesus in some places could get you killed, by your own family. You do understand opposition to Christianity is rising even here. What now?
Which poses a question, why are different religions, why are non-believing family members so vigorously, even violently opposed to our faith? Can’t they just let us believe and leave us alone? They can’t – because light always exposes darkness and darkness always opposes light. They opposed Jesus, the light of the world, and they will oppose us.
If you find yourself here this morning vehemently opposed to Jesus and His gospel – could I ask you to do something? Could I ask you to put aside your animosity for just a moment and consider the possibility Jesus might just be the Son of God. That His words and works actually turned the world upside down for the better. That He came to deal with the brokenness of humanity that you have not only experienced, but possess. That the Son of God came to die on a cross, taking your sins in His body so that you could be saved. Ask yourself this question – why am I so angry – so opposed to the story? Is it possible because it’s true? Is it possible it’s because Jesus infringes on the way you want to live your broken life?
We’ve been in Luke 8 for awhile now, with some time to go. And over the last few weeks, Jesus has had some hard things to say centered on this truth: he who has hears to hear, let him hear. Let’s read the text, Luke 8:19-21.
At the beginning of this chapter, Jesus told one of His longest and most famous parables – the parable of the sower. I won’t take time to review it, but at the end of the parable, Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” And that set the theme for the next several verses. You see, after explaining the parable to the disciples, He said, “But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.” The idea of hearing/listening and doing something about what you hear is the theme. In the next set of verses, Jesus says, no one lights a lamp and covers it – no, when you hear the word, you do what it says, and people will see the reality of your faith. Because you see, there is coming a day when all secrets will be made known. The implication seems to be – when you hear the word, do the word – if you don’t, the little you have will be taken away.
Bringing us to the text we just read. We’ll spend a few minutes here, but here’s the point – Jesus says His family are these who hear the word and do it. Do you see the theme running through all these verses. It’s not enough to hear the gospel, to hear the word, and do nothing about it. It must transform your life. You must do what it says. Otherwise, as James said – the kind of faith that hears and does not do is a dead faith. The two points this morning are simply these:
- We’ll meet Jesus’ Biological Family (19-20)
- Then we’ll meet Jesus’ Spiritual Family (21) – that is, His true family
Verse 19 says Jesus’ mother and brothers came to Him – stop right there a moment. His mother we know – we just came through Christmas. Mary has a special place in biblical and church history – after all, she was the mother of Jesus. Yes, the Catholic Church has fabricated much about her – for example, that she was immaculately conceived, that she remained a virgin her entire life and therefore had no other children, that she was sinless, and therefore that she was bodily received into heaven by her Son and crowned the queen of heaven, and most egregiously, she is to be revered and worshiped as a so-called co-redemptrix with her Son. In other words, you can pray to her because the story of the wedding in Cana obviously demonstrates she has her Son’s ear. Why, you can pray to her for salvation if you want. None of that is true – none is found in the Bible – it’s just made-up stuff.
But, there is good reason to honor Mary as the mother of Jesus – God chose her and graced her to bear the Son of God. Further, she received a visit from the angel Gabriel. She heard from the shepherds what had happened at Jesus’ birth – the angelic choir and all that – and treasured these things in her heart. She was there to hear the pronouncements of Simeon and Anna at the Temple when Jesus was 8 days old. She was there when the magi came and worshiped, presenting Him gifts. She knew the angel appeared to her husband three times – and they obeyed and did what the angel commanded. She was there to observe His perfect life. She was there to hear Jesus say, Did you not know I had to be in My Father’s house? She was there at the wedding in Cana when Jesus turned the water to wine. And she was there when Jesus was crucified, receiving instruction from Jesus that the Apostle John would now be her son, that is, he had the responsibility to care for her since likely Joseph had passed off the scene. And she was in the upper room when the Spirit descended on the believers on the Day of Pentecost – and was likely there when Jesus appeared to them in that same upper room. The point is, she was most graced by God, and there is no indication that she ever did not believe what she was told. There is a sense in which she was the first believer in Jesus, the Christ.
But that’s not all who came that day. Verse 19 also tells us His brothers came as well. As I suggested earlier, some wanting to ascribe almost deified qualities to Mary have denied she had other children – as if having children is wrong. It’s not. They suggest that either these brothers were actually cousins, even though the word is brothers, or that they were step-brothers by Joseph’s earlier marriage. Again, none of that is biblical. Joseph and Mary had other children, and so Jesus had half-brothers and sisters.
But here’s something to know. Luke doesn’t mention it – neither does Matthew. But Mark tells us something about Jesus’ brothers that day. He records the same thing Matthew and Luke do, but we read these words a few verses earlier, “When His own people heard of this, they went out to take custody of Him, for they were saying, ‘He has lost His senses.’” His own people is more literally, those of His. It’s somewhat ambiguous, but I and others suggest Mark identifies His own people in verse 31 – they were His immediate family – His mother and brothers. It seems clear at this point His brothers, probably not Mary, but His brothers thought He’d lost His mind – He was out of His senses.
There’s further proof of that in John 7, which reads, referring to these same brothers:
1 After these things Jesus was walking in Galilee, for He was unwilling to walk in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill Him.
2 Now the feast of the Jews, the Feast of Booths, was near.
3 Therefore His brothers said to Him, “Leave here and go into Judea, so that Your disciples also may see Your works which You are doing.
4 “For no one does anything in secret when he himself seeks to be known publicly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.”
5 For not even His brothers were believing in Him.
His own family – not believing in Him. Well, in Luke 8, His family lived in Nazareth, but they had apparently heard what was going on up in Capernaum – in fact, in all Galilee. Remember, people were coming from all over. Word spread this Jesus of Nazareth was teaching and healing everyone. He was gathering quite the following. And the brothers down in Nazareth looked at each other and said, “Are you kidding me? Our older brother, Jesus? He’s lost His mind.” And so they made the short trip to Capernaum to take custody of Him. The word there in Mark speaks of forcibly arresting or seizing Him.
So, they came to get Jesus because they thought He’d lost His senses. John 7 makes it clear even His brothers didn’t believe in Jesus…yet. In that passage, they mocked Jesus – hey, they said, if you’re really the Christ, why don’t you go to Jerusalem and show yourself to the world.
They didn’t believe in Jesus. They’d grown up with Him, lived with Him, and didn’t believe in Him. Can you imagine what that was like? If in fact they were children of Joseph and Mary, then they were all younger siblings. Most of us have had siblings who thought they were always right – who thought they were perfect – can you imagine having an older brother who was always right? Who never did anything wrong – who never lied to mom and dad, who always obeyed them? If light exposes darkness, I can imagine no other place that happened more starkly than in Mary and Joseph’s home. So they didn’t believe. Which means, it shouldn’t surprise us when others around us who should believe, family members, don’t believe.
Notice something else – growing up in the family of Jesus did not make them okay. There’s no such thing as proxy membership in the family of God. Just because Jesus was their brother did not give them some kind of pass. Just because your family is Christian, your parents are Christian, you grew up in a church doing Christian things, you got confirmed, you got baptized, attended Sunday School, joined the church, grew up in a Christian nation does not make you a Christian. You must personally declare your allegiance to Jesus. Just as there is not guilt by association, so also there is not salvation by association.
So they go to rescue Jesus from Himself – He’s bringing embarrassment to the family name. When they arrive, they have to stand outside – the crowd is so great they can’t get to Him – both Matthew and Mark tell us He was in a house. They send word to Him, come out and see us. And the crowd sitting around said to Jesus, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside wishing to see You. Don’t miss the contrast between outsiders and insiders. The disciples were on the inside sitting around Him – His brothers were on the outside – not believing.
Which brings us to our second point and conclusion in verse 21 where Jesus identifies His true family. Now, at first glance, this can appear a little rude, maybe even mean – like He’s dissing His family. This would have shocked His hearers – the family was held in high regard in the Greco-Roman and Jewish world. So for Jesus to say these things would have been a bit surprising, even dismissive. But He’s teaching a truth – frankly, an encouraging truth for us. “And He answered and said to them, ‘My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.’” There’s the theme. He reiterates the truth He has been stating throughout this section – it’s why Luke places it here. When you hear the word of God and do it, proving to be His disciples, you demonstrate you have become part of His spiritual family.
Here’s the truth I want to encourage you with: even if your biological family thinks you’re crazy – if they reject you, oppose you, even if you lose them, you gain a spiritual family that is far greater, far bigger, and far longer – we call it eternity.
There’s so much I could say about this. We remember in other places Jesus said things like, if you’re not willing to hate your father and mother for My sake, you’re not worthy of Me. The point being, following Christ is far more important than biological commitments. Spiritual relationships are thicker than blood. We also remember Jesus said, I’ve come to divide families – father against son, mother against daughter, brother against sister. A person’s enemies will be from his own household. Again, the point is the same. We must willing to sacrifice even family relationships for a relationship with Christ. But what we gain in the end is infinitely greater.
So, two significant points of encouragement for us today. If your family rejects you because of your commitment to Christ, you’re in good company. Jesus’ family rejected Him, too. Further, if your family rejects you because of your commitment to Christ, be encouraged – you have gained a far greater, eternal family. True spiritual family comes through faith in Jesus. Through a common allegiance to our Savior.
But, as we close, let me encourage you with one final, important thought. Yes, Jesus said His followers make up His true family. When we repent and believe, we are adopted into the family of God – with God as Father, and each other as brothers and sisters. But even if your biological family rejects, it’s never too late for them, at least in this life. It’s never too late for them to believe and join our spiritual family as well.
Why do I say that? Well, Mary was there that day. I’m not sure why. She knew she was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus. She had heard the angel tell her that she would give birth to the Son of the Most High – the Son of God, who would sit on David’s throne. She heard him say the power of the God would overshadow her such that the Son born to her was of the Holy Spirit.
I don’t know why she was there that day. Maybe with Joseph off the scene and Jesus, her oldest gone, she had been pressured by her other sons to tag along. Maybe she was thinking, Jesus is taking this Christ thing too far – it might cost Him His life. They’re going to kill Him if He keeps it up. Maybe your family has said similar things to you – you’re taking this Christianity thing too far. But know this – Mary was later at the cross of her Son, a believer in her Son Jesus.
Not only that, those brothers – James and Joses and Jude and Simon? By the time Luke wrote this gospel, at least two of them had become believers in Jesus after His resurrection. Jesus cared about them – He appeared personally to James after He rose from the dead. And James became a pastor in the church of Jerusalem, and wrote the letter that bears his name. And Jude became a believer and wrote the letter that bears his name. The encouraging truth? It’s never too late for those family members who have rejected your Christ, opposed your Jesus, ridiculed your faith. Keep praying, keep sharing – and trust their eternal salvation to Jesus.
Finally, don’t miss the incredible truth that Jesus calls you – His disciples – His spiritual family. It’s why whenever we read the Christmas liturgy from Doug McElvey’s Every Moment Holy, and we get to the end, and hear these words, “Now we celebrate Your first coming, Immanuel, even as we long for Your return. O Prince of Peace, our elder Brother, return soon. We miss You so.” It’s why whenever we read that, I can hardly choke out the words through tears. He is our elder Brother, because we have believed.