07/04/13

We are a family when...

Mark 3:34,35
And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.


Death is a decider of life. It is at the death of a person people wake up and give a thought to their own lives. When a person dies he or she is no longer the person we knew but is a spirit being. When we die we too become a spirit being. The relationship we shared as earthly beings is no longer the relationship we share as spirit beings.

In today's message we see Jesus was upset with His earthly family when His mother and His brothers came searching for Him to know of His wellbeing because they had heard that He was attacked by an unclean spirit. It is at these upset times Jesus gave hard truths. Like here He wakes us up to know our real family.

Notice Jesus uses the words brother, sister and mother only and not father. The disciples used the word brethren for all believers. Brother and sister is the male and female gender of the same word which means offspring of the same parent.

But I was curious since long to know why Jesus used the word 'mother' here. Can any person become His spiritual mother?

Jesus said 'call no one (human) your Father for there is just one Father in Heaven'. It was not to do with earthly relationships for that would go against the Commandment to 'honour your father and mother' and Jesus did not change any Commandment. Jesus used the Greek word in the meaning of creator or provider. Jesus said do not claim any person to be our creator nor our provider. Our parents do not create us God did, our parents are just a vessel through whom the Lord has bought us into this earthly world and our earthly life is just a mission through which we can go back to our Creator to dwell permanently. While we dwell here we are also called bring others to Him.

The Greek word translated as mother is a metaphor for the word motherland or the land which brings fourth. We know a land does not give birth to seeds but is just an instrument to sustain the life of the seed. We do not give birth to people naturally or spiritually, we just are instruments to help sustain the life of people. We can be instruments to make them healthy or corrupt them or choke them naturally and spiritually. We can be fertile land that helps life or a desert or destroys life.

We Christians by our faith will be saved. Christians are called just not to be saved but also to save others, and if we fail in that task we will still be saved but our reward in Heaven would be affected by the results of our work here.

We Christians are a family when we are in Christ for Christ is the manifestation of the Will of God and as a family we are to reach out to each other.


[ Prayer Starter ]
Lord, we pray your people be not lost in their earthly live which is a very small part of their life but think and give importance to their spirit life which is Heavenly. Lord we pray people give as much importance to the Heavenly family as they give to their earthly family. That they reach out and comfort their spiritual brothers and sisters. That they mother those who are small in spirit and yet not come to You...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.


[ Reference ]
Mark 3:28-35
28 Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme:
29 But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:
30 Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit.
31 There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him.
32 And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee.
33 And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren?
34 And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!
35 For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.

Matthew 23:9 - And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.

Ephesians 3:14-15
14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,

1 Corinthians 3:12-15
12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
13 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
14 If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

The Word of God was given free to us, therefore we should also share it freely with others. (All rights are with God)