As Jesus was speaking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. Someone told Jesus, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, and they want to speak to you.”
Jesus asked, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” Then he pointed to his disciples and said, “Look, these are my mother and brothers. Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother!”
Family bonds are generally pretty strong. Even in seriously dysfunctional families there is a bond. But there is a bond that transcends family: the spiritual bond of those who love God. Jesus points to it clearly here.
In this passage, there is no mention of Joseph, Jesus' earthly father. It is a fair assumption that by the time Jesus was in his 30's, Joseph had passed away. According to Jewish tradition and custom, when the father died, the eldest son took on the responsibility of overseeing the family -Jesus was the eldest son. It is very likely that Mary and Jesus' brothers were there to remind Him of His responsibility.
Jesus understood something that others didn't. He understood proper priorities. The right priority is always God then family; it is never family then God. If we get confused on this, while trying to do what is right for the families we love, we instead cause great harm. When we put family first, we teach our children that God is secondary. When we put family (or any other thing -career, hobby, money) first, we are by definition following our own best thinking instead of God's direction.
Because God is good, and because He can be trusted, and because He loves us even more than we love ourselves, and because He knows us even better than we know ourselves, and because He desires what is best for us, and because He is both knowledgeable and wise, the best thing we could ever do for the people we love is make Him our top priority. Although my own best thinking has often led me astray, God will not lead me down wrong paths or in wrong directions.
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