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The Family Of God

At first glance, Jesus seems to be dismissing His earthly family, not bothering with them because He had more important things to do. But as with many such episodes in the Gospels, we are not getting the whole picture.

We can safely assume Jesus loved and valued His earthly family. From other readings, we can safely assume that at times they weren’t in entire sympathy with what He was doing. So His love for them was tempered with the recognition that He was not on earth to satisfy their normal family expectations.

Jesus is not devaluing His own family but urging us to recognize there is a wider meaning to that word ‘family.’ We become part of God’s family by receiving Jesus and His Spirit. This doesn’t mean we neglect our earthly family, but that we have entered yet another family. And as some experience, sometimes the priorities of these families clash.

We are not to cut ourselves off from our human families because we rightly believe we have an ultimate allegiance to Jesus. Then again, we are not to make idols of our own families so that they become barriers to our service of Jesus. Our lives in Christ leave room for us to embrace and enjoy both families.

written by DAVID REAY