#62 Lu. 8:19-21 A VISIT FROM THE MOTHER AND BROTHERS OF JESUS Introduction: Jesus preached a series of parables, but Luke recorded only two of them. In our text today Luke records a visit from the mother and brothers of Jesus. I. The arrival of the mother and brothers of Jesus, V. 19 V. 19, "Then came to him his mother and his brethren..." The mother of Jesus is, of course, Mary, the wife of Joseph. The brothers are the sons who were born to Joseph & Mary after the birth of Jesus. Technically they were half-brothers. Mary was their mother of all the sons including Jesus. But Joseph was not the father of Jesus. That is, Joseph was not the physical father of Jesus. Jesus was not conceived by him. There were four of the brothers of Jesus named in Scripture. They are James, Joses, Simon and Judas. These are named in Matthew 13:55. Some teach that Mary was a perpetual virgin and that Jesus had no brothers. They are mistaken, of course, and they are in for a surprise. Some day they will learn the truth concerning the matter. Mary and the brothers of Jesus left Nazareth and came to Capernaum to visit with Jesus. It is noticable that the brothers were not followers of Jesus at this time. If they were, they would have been with Jesus instead of being at home with mother. John tells us plainly in John 7:5 that they were not believers. That is, they were not believers in Jesus at this time. They later became believers, but they were not believers at this time. The brothers of Jesus at this time did not know that their brother, Jesus, is the Christ, the promised Messiah. Mary, of course, knew. She had been told by an angel even before she conceived that the child would be the Christ, but she had not told the other sons. It is noticable that Luke mentions no sisters. In Matthew 13:56 Matthew tells us that there were also sisters, but he does not tell us what there names were nor how many there were. It appears that the sisters did not accompany their mother to see Jesus, but stayed behind to take care of things at home. It is also noticable that Joseph, himself, is not mentioned. There is no actual biblical record of his death. But neither is there any record of his being alive at any point during the ministry of Jesus. It is believed, therefore, that he died before the ministry of Jesus began. II. Their difficulty in trying to see Jesus, V. 19 (V. 19), "...and could not come at him for the press." When Mary and the brothers of Jesus arrived at Capernaum Jesus was down by the seashore in the midst of an exceptionally large crowd of people. The people were all trying to hear and see Jesus. Some were trying to get to Him to tell Him about their ailment or about a loved one who was sick. Some just wanted to get that close to a celebrity. They were all packed in so tightly one to another that Mary and her sons could not get through to Jesus. Jesus was in the middle of this big crowd and Mary and her sons were on the outskirts. Try as they may they were unsuccessful in getting through. They were not big enough and strong enough to push themselves through. It seemed as if they had made this trip in vain. It seemed as if they just might have to wait until the crowd was gone or else go home without seeing Him. III. Jesus informed of their arrival, V. 20 V. 20, "And it was told him by certain which said, Thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to see thee." Somebody told Jesus about His mother and brothers being present. Luke does not tell us how they got the message to Jesus. Perhaps some big fellow out there on the outskirts who saw them just pushed his way through the crowd. Perhaps some smaller person just kept insisting, "Let me through! Let me through" until he finally got to Jesus. Perhaps they relayed the message through the crowd by tapping the person on the shoulder and saying, "Pass this message up to Jesus." But at any rate the message finally got through. Someone finally informed Jesus that His mother and brothers were there and that they wanted to see Him. We might expect that Jesus would give orders for the people to let His family through. Surely whoever brought the message to Him expected Him to do that. Mary and the brothers must have expected Him to do that. However, Jesus gave no such orders as far as we can tell. It would seem that surely they did finally get to see Him although Luke does not say so. Surely Jesus did not let His mother make that trip to see Him and then let her have to go back home without seeing Him. It appears from what follows, however, that Mary and His brothers did have to wait until the crowd thinned down before they got to see Him. IV. The lesson which Jesus taught, V. 21 V. 21, "And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it." Jesus said in effect, "My mother and my brothers are these, my disciples." He was not denying that Mary was His physical mother. Nor was He denying that these sons of Mary were His physical brothers. But He was teaching that He has a spiritual kinship with His disciples that is even more closer than the physical kinship that He had with His mother and His brothers. Those who have believed the gospel and are born-again children of God are in the family of God. They are His spiritual mothers, brothers, and sisters. That is, they have a closeness that is just as great as mothers, brothers and sisters. Let me point out to you right here that there is a difference in being in the family of God and being in the church. One is born into God's family, but he must join the church. One is not born into the church. By giving preference here on this occasion to those who were His disciples, Jesus was showing that the spiritual kinship is an even closer tie than physical kinship. A physical tie is close. It mother and brothers and sisters are very close. Blood is thicker than water. I have no sisters of my own, but I can testify that I love my mother. She is already gone, but my love for her is not gone. I still love her. I love my brothers. One of them is gone, but I love him. But the spiritual kinship is even closer than that of physical kinship. Jesus was trying to show how close He felt toward those who were in His spiritual family, the family of God. He was trying to show how close God the Heavenly Father also feels toward them. Now if Jesus feels that way toward the saved and God the Father feels that close to them then we, too, ought to feel just that close to them. There ought to be a special tie between us and those who are children of God. To be sure, it would be great to have the mother and brothers of Jesus to visit with us in our worship services. I would certainly take great pleasure in seeing them and getting acquainted with them. But to tell the truth, we already have an even greater privilege. We have right here in our congregation those who are spiritually the mothers and brothers and sisters of Jesus. Those who are saved and who do the work of God and the will of God are right here in our presence and we should love them dearly. Conclusion: 1. Are you in the family of God? Have you been born again? Are you saved? If not, you can be saved today. 2. Some of you are saved. Are you, as a saved person, trying to do the will of God? If not, you can change that right now. 3. Some of you who are saved may be in need of a church home. Are you one of those? If so, you can remedy that right now.