We Are the Mother and Brothers of Jesus

Does Jesus have a family? Yes, you and me - and all who bear the name Christian.

Through our Baptism, we are all invited into the very family of God. When we choose to be obedient to the will and the Word of God; we enter into an eternal relationship with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We actually become a part of the "family" of God; we become "mother" sister" and "brother" to the Lord. We enter into communion with the Trinitarian God, through Him.

CHESAPEAKE, VA (Catholic Online) - There is an interchange in the Gospel of St. Luke which has caused more than one discussion in the history of the Christian Church: "The mother of Jesus and his brothers came to him but were unable to join him because of the crowd.He was told, "Your mother and your brothers are standing outside and they wish to see you." He said to them in reply, "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it." (Luke 8:19-21)

The encounter is also found in the account offered to us by St Matthew: "While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, "Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you." He replied to him, "Who is my mother and who are my brothers?" Pointing to his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother." (Matthew 12:48-50) Finally, a similar account is recorded in the third chapter of the Gospel of Mark.

As one who teaches and preaches in the Catholic Church and the broader Christian community, I am often asked about whether Jesus had brothers and sisters. If by that question is meant natural or blood relatives, the text and the unbroken Christian tradition make the answer clear - No. But the passage has a much deeper meaning.

Failure to consider the original language of the text has led to a mistaken notion of the possibility of Jesus having brothers in his natural family. The reality is that the word used for extended family, a vital part of the Jewish understanding of family, is not accurately translated.

Sadly, since the unfortunate ruptures in the Church since the Protestant Reformation (and there is plenty of blame to go around), this particular misinterpretation has been amplified and used in polemics. Such an exercise not only adds to the unfortunate divisions among Christians, it misses the meaning and beauty of the passage. 

Unfortunately, some have also argued that these passages stand for the proposition that Jesus was making a comment intended to lessen the importance of his earthly mother. This "mother is unimportant" interpretation is textually inaccurate and theologically mistaken.

It runs contrary to the biblical context of the encounter and rejects the consistent, unbroken Christian tradition concerning its profound meaning. Such a misreading ascribes a minimalist role to Mary in the Christian revelation and consequently in the life of every Christian.

It can cause us to miss a profound truth concerning the Christian life and vocation - as well as the meaning of the Church. It can discourage us from digging deeper into the text and grasping a profoundly important insight. This insight has great implications and can lead us to a deeper experience of the Christian life and vocation.

I stand with the ancient Christian tradition, rooted in what is called the Patristic literature (writings of the early Church fathers). The opposite of this "mother is less important" claim is what is being revealed through these words - and in this encounter.

Understood in this light, this passage reveals a framework for an authentically human and relational spirituality, a spirituality of communion. We are made members of the very family of God through Jesus Christ and His saving Incarnation.We are his mothers, brothers and sisters, as we live His Word and walk in His Way.

Through our Baptism, we are all invited into the very family of God. When we choose to be obedient to the will and the Word of God; we enter into an eternal relationship with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We actually become a part of the "family" of God; we become "mother" sister" and "brother" to the Lord. We enter into communion with the Trinitarian God, through Him.

This interchange was recorded for all time for a purpose.

Through it, Jesus teaches us something about the interior meaning of our personal redemption, the intended redemption of the whole human race - and the coming redemption of the entire created order. The message is simple but profound; God is a God of love and relationship. He has invited us into an intimate and eternal communion of love.He invites our response.

"Behold your mother; behold your son". In His final act of Self-giving Love, revealed for all eternity on Golgotha's Hill, Jesus actually elevated and expanded the importance of the expressionmother and brothers. We read about this encounter in the Gospel of St. John. Picture the poignant scene, right before He was to breathe His last breath:

"Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son."Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother." And from that hour the disciple took her into his home." (John 19:26-27).

From antiquity, the Fathers of the Church have correctly and uniformly taught that this encounter was also about more than the relationship between the Apostle John (whom sacred scripture calls "the beloved disciple") and Mary the mother of the Lord. It was -and is-  about the expanded family of the Church, the community that Jesus came to found - and of which He is the Head - and we are the members.

As a final gift, right before He died, He gave His mother to His whole family, through giving her to the beloved disciple John. This was a gift for all of us, an exchange, an expansion of His family. In this exchange, the Christian tradition has long taught, He also entrusted all of us to her maternal care.

Something of the interior meaning of this exchange, this gift, is what is truly revealed in the passage from the Gospels of St. Matthew and St Luke with which we began. Jesus was not minimizing His relationship with His mother through these words given in response to the crowd, He was expanding it.

Jesus hungers, through Divine love, to include all of us in the family circle of God. In doing so, He invites us on the journey home to the Father's house in Him, through Him, and with Him, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

In this exchange, Jesus opens up for those with eyes to see and ears to hear the deeper interior importance and meaning of the motherhood of Mary  and the interior meaning of all family relationships renewed by the Holy Spirit.

He gives to those with ears to hear and eyes to see, a key insight - familial relationships touch upon, model and make present an eternal mystery into which each of us who are baptized are invited! The Church truly is a family, God's family. Understanding this insight, and living it, is a key to the spiritual life. The Christian vocation and mission is fundamentally about relationship and communion.

All who are incorporated into the Body of Jesus Christ through Baptism begin even now to experience the intimacy, (expressed in family relationships), that is the essence of the very life of the Trinity. Through His life, death and Resurrection (the "Paschal mystery"), He opens a way for every man, woman and child, who chooses to do the will of His Father, to enter into the very family circle of God through living our lives in Him.

The Father of Jesus becomes our Father also, as we enter, through Him, into the inner life of the Trinity. He underscores this truth right before He ascended when He instructed Mary of Magdala to tell the disciples "I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.' (John 20:17). Understanding this mystery requires prayer and revelation. Our eyes must be opened to its fullness and our hearts must be changed by the encounter. That requires living faith. We are members of the very Family of God.

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Deacon Keith Fournier is the Editor in Chief of Catholic Online and founder and Chairman of Common Good Foundation and Common Good Alliance. A married Roman Catholic Deacon of the Diocese of Richmond, Virginia, he and his wife Laurine have five grown children and seven grandchildren. He is a constitutional and human rights lawyer. He is also a columnist for the Catholic News Agency and a senior contributing writer to the STREAM.

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