Mark 3:31-35 "God's Forever Family"
Jesus own family was standing against Him.
The average Jew respected the religious establishment which the scribes and Pharisees represented.
Jesus handled His family’s misguided opposition to Him with sensitivity. He taught us a valuable truth concerning the fellowship of believers called the Church.
Out text has several important lessons:
- A new reality being presented to us.
- Jesus introduces the concept of the family of God.
The Church As Family (vv. 33-35)
“Who are My mother and My brothers?” (33b) – Those who follow Him.
Jesus gives an illustration of family relationships.
- We are brothers and sisters. We are family.
Jesus calls up the imagery of the loyalty, caring and commitment of the family to describe the relationship we should have toward one another in the body of Christ.
“The Charter of the Church” John 17:20-24
The Church is more than a spiritual supermarket.
“The Church is not a channel of inspiration for uninvolved observers, but a communion of involved participants. Our language betrays us. We say we go to church, give to the church, support the cause of the church, attend the church. Not so! We are the Church. But a strange thing has happened over the years of history. The Church is now a programmatical presentation which can be attended. Today, we have become sermon-taster, music appreciators, Bible students, devotees of spiritual leaders, without commitment to a family. It’s possible, actually, to assume that we can have Christ without the family of faith, but that’s realizing only half of the reason for which Christ came.” Lloyd John Ogilvie, Life Without Limits
Commitment to Christ must be spelled out in our commitment to a local church.
The Family As Church
By using the illustration of family life to typify the Church, Jesus also set the tone for our relationship with our own families.
Our families should be like the Church.
Our families should be reflective of the love of God as we love Him together.
Only as we see our spouse and children as brother and sister can we succeed in our homes. The more we relate to one another as the family of God, the more we will honor and respect one another.
We must recover the truth of the family of God in the Church. And we must live by that rule in the home.
