Which is thicker?

"While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. But he replied to the man who told him, 'Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?' And stretching out his hand toward 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 12:46-50).

I believe the Lord arranged this little clash of spheres to make things clear, because we might have wondered about this. Jesus goes around teaching and leading a movement. But every man watching him harbors this question in the back of his mind: When push comes to shove, is blood thicker than water? The young preacher seems very passionate and totally consecrated. But at the end of the day---if suddenly the two duties are in conflict, and he has to make a choice of one or the other---will Jesus pick his family over his cause or his cause over his family? How serious is he about this Revolution?

Jesus uses the opportunity to address the elephant in the room. This scene is a mini-crisis. His family seeks audience with him as he is spending time with others. They make a move to test their standing, perhaps. This is a little power play, perhaps. A hundred pairs of eyes await the decision. Does blood trump water?

But like the short story writer O. Henry, Matthew brings the vignette to a close without telling us what happened next. We do have clues:

"Whoever loves father and mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me" (Matthew 10:37).

Also, in Hebrews, the risen and glorified Jesus is to be found joyfully ensconced in a spiritual extended family:

"I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise" (Hebrews 2:12).

And again:

"I will put my trust in him. Behold, I and the children God has given me" (2:13).

In Acts 1:14, we see that Mary, who had played the role of Jesus' mother during his earthly drama, has now joined the other family. She is one of 120 awaiting the falling of the Spirit. Just as in heaven there will be no marriage or giving in marriage, there will neither be mothers and fathers, but all will be "brethren."

The question raised in today's post is not an abstraction or point of idle theology for us. It is a matter with which many of us have to wrestle daily---because it happens that "a person's enemies will be the members of his own household" (Matthew 10:36). I doubt that George Muller, the 19th century founder of many orphanages in England, would have called his father his "enemy." And yet we read in the younger Muller's diary:

"I went to my father to ask his permission [to be a missionary]. Without it, I would not be admitted to any of the German missionary institutions. My father was greatly displeased and severely reproached me, saying that he had spent so much money on my education hoping that he could comfortably spend his last days with me in a parsonage. Now, all these prospects had come to nothing. . . . Although I needed more money than ever before, I decided never to take any more from my father. I still had two more years of seminary left. It seemed wrong to let my father support me when he had no guarantee that I would become what he wanted me to be---a clergyman earning a good living" (The Autobiography of George Muller).

I like the balance Jesus strikes on the cross: As He is suspended there in commitment to the Revolution, He is making arrangements for his mother Mary to be taken care of in the Apostle John's house. And we are told that a mixture of blood and water poured out of his side.

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