Who is my mother who is my brother Luke?

Bible Verse of the Day – Tuesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time, Tuesday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time, Tuesday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time

48 Jesus asked, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?”
49 And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, Jesus said, “Here are my mother and my brothers.
50 For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.”
Matthew 12:46-50

Catholic Readings For Today

Tuesday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time, Year 1

Tuesday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time, Year 2

Tuesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time Year 1

Tuesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time Year 2

Tuesday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time, Year 2

Today’s Morning Prayer

Today’s Bible Verse of the Day Reflections

Jesus defines for us today who are His brothers, sisters and mother. Indeed they are those who do the will of God.

This question was answered not in the earthly context but the heavenly. Yes, we can say that even the earthly context could still have been correct, but Jesus was not interested in earthly matters but concentrated on those things that could lead us to eternal life.

Jesus is teaching us that being a blood relative or kin to Him does not matter, what matters most is if you are doing the will of Our Heavenly Father. What is the will of our Heavenly Father? God created us so that we can know Him, love Him, serve Him, praise and glorify Him so that at the end of time we can live together with Him thereafter.

We serve God by using our wealth, strength, time and knowledge to assist our neighbours and friends during their hour of need. By doing so, God is praised and glorified through our jobs, work, businesses and chores.

Therefore it does not matter how well you are known by people or who you are related to, what matters most is if God is happy with whatever you are doing.

Lets therefore identify and do those things that our Heavenly Father wishes us to do, especially in our families, workplaces, churches, communities and nations. Let Jesus call us His brothers, sisters and mother through our services to others especially the needy, hungry, afflicted, sick and all who we can term as the least of our brothers.

It is better and truly most rewarding to be called a brother, sister or mother of Jesus because we know we will have fulfilled the mandate that God had created us for.

Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, I would like to be called your [brother or sister]. Reveal to me daily, those things I should do in order to please Our Heavenly Father because I would like to be with You together with the Communion of Angels and Saints in Heaven on the last day. Amen

Bible Verse of the Day in Pictures

Who is my mother? Who are my brothers? – Matthew 12:46-50 – Bible Verse of the Day

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Answer

We learn who Jesus’ mother and brothers are from a few separate passages. Of course, Jesus was the Son of God (Matthew 16:16), and His earthly parents were Joseph and Mary (Matthew 1:16). Jesus’ brothers are named in Matthew 13:55: James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas (also known as Jude). He also had sisters, but their names are not given (Matthew 13:55). Not only was Jesus aware of who His family was, but so were those He was talking with in Matthew 12. At first glance it is curious, then, that He would ask, “Who are my mother and brothers?” in Matthew 12:48.

In the context Jesus had healed a man who was blind and mute (Matthew 12:22). The crowds were amazed (Matthew 12:23), but the Pharisees were angered, and they credited the work of Jesus to demonic power (Matthew 12:24). The Pharisees and other leaders had continually rejected Jesus and the gospel He was proclaiming, and this attribution of Jesus’ work to the power of Satan was the breaking point. Jesus pronounced judgment on that generation (Matthew 12:39–45), and from that point on He stopped teaching the multitudes plainly. He instead began to focus on preparing His disciples for their evangelistic task as He began the march toward His sacrifice on the cross.

While Jesus was explaining the severity of that generation’s failure and accountability, Jesus’ mother and brothers were outside, trying to find a way to speak with Him (Matthew 12:46). Someone told Jesus that His mother and brothers were seeking to talk with Him (Matthew 12:47), and He responded by asking, “Who are my mother and brothers?” (Matthew 12:48). Of course, Jesus knew who His mother and brothers were, but He took that opportunity to present an important truth to His listeners. Those who had rejected Him had considered themselves worthy to enter His kingdom because of their deeds, which they presumed to be righteous. But from the beginning Jesus explained that they had to change their minds (repent) about how they could gain entrance into His kingdom (Matthew 4:17). Instead of relying on their own works or their lineage, they needed to rely on Jesus for their righteousness (Matthew 5—7). Many had assumed that, because they were of Abraham, they were automatically qualified to enter the kingdom (Matthew 3:7–9). But Jesus taught that neither their lineage nor their deeds were enough to get them into the kingdom. Their family relationships were not the ticket into the kingdom. After Jesus had been rejected with finality by those in leadership, and after Jesus had pronounced judgment on that generation, Jesus asks, “Who are my mother and brothers?” In this question, He challenges once again the view that family relationships are enough to provide entrance into the kingdom of God. Upon asking the question, “Who are my mother and brothers?” Jesus answers it, pointing out His disciples and telling the crowd that His disciples were His mother and brothers (Matthew 12:49). While that initially may have puzzled His listeners, He clarified immediately: “For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother” (Matthew 12:50). In other words, the relationships that really matter in the eternal scheme of things are those relationships based on rightly relating to God.

Human family relationships are beautiful and necessary blessings, and God is the one who created and provided those relationships. Jesus is not minimizing the importance of family relationships; rather, He is emphasizing that having a right relationship with God by obeying His will is the most important.

How then does one obey His will? As Jesus explained to Nicodemus in John 3, the will of God is to believe in the Son (the word believe occurs 8 times in John 3). Jesus explains later to His disciples that they should believe in Him, even in God (John 14:1), because He is the way, the truth, and the life and no one comes to the Father but through Him (John 14:6). This was the essence of what Jesus had also explained in His Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5—7)—that people’s associations do not make them righteous, but rather how they relate to God. By asking, “Who are my mother and brothers?” and by His answer to His own question, Jesus drove the point home.