Matthew 12:46 - Meaning and Application

Many good and helpful sayings came from the mouth of our Lord Jesus on special occasions. Even his side remarks taught something, just as his formal sermons did. Here we see how he was interrupted while preaching by his mother and his brothers, who were standing outside and wanting to speak with him (Mat 12:40, Mat 12:47). Their request reached him through the crowd. We do not need to ask which brothers came with Mary, the mother of Jesus. They may have been the ones who did not believe in him yet (Joh 7:5). We also do not need to guess their exact reason for coming. Perhaps they thought they were helping him by asking him to stop, in case he wore himself out or said something that might upset the Pharisees.

Jesus was still speaking to the people. His preaching was simple, clear talk, suited to the people’s understanding and needs. What he had said had already been criticized, but he kept going. The opposition we face in our work should not turn us away from it. He stopped speaking with the Pharisees, because he saw that he could do no good with them. But he continued speaking to the common people, who were more willing to learn.

His mother and brothers were standing outside, wanting to speak with him, when they should have been standing inside, wanting to hear him. They had the benefit of hearing him often in private, so they were less careful to attend his public preaching. Often those who are nearest to the means of knowledge and grace are the most careless with them. Familiarity and easy access can lead to contempt. We are often tempted to neglect what is available today, thinking we may always have it, while forgetting that only the present time is sure to us. There is too much truth in the saying, “The nearer the church, the further from God.” It is a sad thing when that is true.

They did not only fail to hear him themselves, they also interrupted others who were gladly listening. The devil was a settled enemy of our Savior’s preaching. When he could not stop it by the unreasonable objections of the scribes and Pharisees, he tried another way, by using the untimely visit of his relatives. We often meet obstacles in our work from the people around us. Even friends who truly mean well may, through poor judgment, become a hindrance to our duty. Peter was a problem to Christ when he said, “Master, spare yourself,” though he thought he was being helpful.

Mary wanted to speak with her Son. It seems she had not learned to command him, as later false teaching in the Roman church claimed she could. Nor was she free from fault and foolishness, as some would make her appear. Christ alone had the right to do everything wisely, well, and at the right time. Once he had said to his mother, “How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be about my Father’s business?” and she kept that saying in her heart (Luk 2:49). But if she had remembered it then, she would not have interrupted him while he was doing his Father’s work. There are many good truths we think we have stored up well, yet when we need them, they are out of mind.

Jesus would not stop for the message. He was so focused on his work that neither family ties nor social duty would pull him away from it. “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” This does not mean that natural affection should be cast aside, or that religion gives us permission to be rude to parents or unkind to other relatives. It means that every duty has its proper time, and the smaller duty must yield when a greater one is in front of us. When our loyalty to family competes with serving God and using a chance to do good, we must choose God first. The closest relatives must be loved less than Christ (Luk 14:26). He has given us this example. The zeal of God’s house filled him so much that it made him set aside even his dearest human ties.

We should not take it as a wrong against us when our friends choose God’s pleasure before ours. We should not blame them as if they were being ungenerous, when their choice may simply come from holy zeal for God’s glory and for others’ good. We should be ready to deny ourselves, and our own comfort, rather than do anything that would distract our friends from their duty to God.

Jesus used this moment to honor his disciples, who were his spiritual family, above his natural relatives as such. That was a good reason for him not to stop preaching in order to speak with his brothers. He would rather help his disciples than simply please his relatives. His disciples are those who do the will of his Father. They do not merely hear it, know it, or talk about it, but obey it. Doing God’s will is the best preparation for becoming Christ’s disciple (Joh 7:17), and it is also the best proof of true discipleship (Mat 7:21). That is what marks a person as one of his real followers.

Jesus does not say, “Whoever does my will,” because he came not to do his own separate will, but his Father’s will. His own will and his Father’s will are the same. But he points us to the Father’s will, because in his present work and condition he submitted himself to it (Joh 6:38). The honor of Christ’s disciples is this: “The same is my brother, and sister, and mother.” His disciples, who had left all to follow him and had accepted his teaching, were dearer to him than those related to him by birth. They had put Christ before their family ties, leaving father and home for his sake (Mat 4:22; Mat 10:37). Now he made it clear that he held them in the highest regard too.

What a tender and encouraging word it was when Christ said, “Behold my mother and my brothers.” Yet this honor was not only for them. All the saints share it. All obedient believers are close relatives to Jesus Christ. They bear his name, reflect his image, share his nature, and belong to his family. He loves them and speaks freely with them as with his own kin.

He welcomes them to his table, cares for them, and provides for them. He makes sure they lack nothing that is good for them. When he died, he left them rich gifts. Now that he is in heaven, he keeps in touch with them, and at last he will bring them all to be with him. He will never fail to do the part of a close relative, as in (Ruth 3:13). He will never be ashamed of his poor relatives. Instead, he will acknowledge them before people, before the angels, and before his Father.