Knowing The Word in Luke 8:19-21, Jesus' Mother and Brothers

A crowd was keeping Jesus’ family away from him, not because they wanted Jesus for themselves, but because there were so many of them the family could not get through. The brothers mentioned are the children, most likely, of Mary and Joseph. While theologians of the Catholic tradition hold Mary as a perpetual virgin, there is no biblical support. We can accept the natural meaning . The desire of the family to see Jesus may suggest some possessiveness; however, Jesus turns the phrase and, in light of the Parable of the Sower, says, “those who hear the word of God,” suggesting his possessiveness of them. Followers of Jesus, he tells us, are like family in his mind. He also communicates that our duty to God takes precedence of all else.

19 Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. 20 And he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you.” 21 But he answered them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”

Prayer:

O God almighty, by whom and before whom we all are brothers and sisters: grant us so truly to love one another, that evidently and beyond all doubt we may love thee; through Jesus Christ thy Son, our Lord and brother.

Christina Rossetti, 1830-1894