The Thursday after the Eighth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on August 14, 2025 by under
Scripture: St. Matthew 12:46-50 (NKJV)
12:46 While He was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him. 47 Then one said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You.”
48 But He answered and said to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” 49 And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”
Devotion
“Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” That is quite a statement for Jesus to make when one considers “His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him.” While it may appear that Jesus is disowning His mother and brothers, if one sets aside a quick reaction and listens to what Jesus is saying, one can begin to appreciate the comfort found in Jesus’ words.
For too many of the Jews in Jesus’ day, knowing they were of the bloodline of Abraham was all that mattered. They felt no need for repentance and no need for forgiveness. They failed to understand that even though their bloodline could be traced to Abraham, they still needed to be adopted by God to be a part of His eternal family.
Those who are to be called His “brother and sister and mother” are the ones adopted into the family of God. Such adoption takes place through Holy Baptism as God snatches us from the grasp of Satan and places us into His own loving arms. God’s family is one eternal family that He creates as His Holy Spirit continues to call people to faith in Jesus Christ.
So, did Jesus really disown His mother and brothers? “For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother…” This statement does not exclude them, for everyone who believes in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins is His “brother and sister and mother.”
Collect: Grant to us, Lord, we beseech Thee, the Spirit to think and do always such things as are right; that we, who cannot do anything that is good without Thee, may by Thee be enabled to live according to Thy will; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
