Sermon Notes

March 23, 2025

His Family

John 19:26-27; Mark 3:20-21, 31-35

Jesus challenges our thinking about what it means to be a part of a family, specifically to be a part of God’s family. We have preconceived notions about what family is or should be, not to mention what church family is or should be.

You might think you are part of God’s family or a church family, simply because you grew up in the church. You come to church almost every week. You pray a lot, or you and God have an understanding. None of those things necessarily point to the reality that you are part of God’s family.

John 19 and Mark 3 speak to how we can know what makes us, truly, a part of God’s family. In John 19, we are in full swing into John’s account of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Jesus has been flogged, beaten, mocked, and sentenced to death through a sham trial. Pilate had given Jesus over to be crucified and Jesus was paraded through the streets to Golgotha, where he was crucified between two thieves.

John 19:26-27 (ESV)

“When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.”

Jesus, in his final hours, continued to care for the people closest to Him deeply. His words to Mary and John are impactful. Jesus is making provision to meet the physical needs of His mother following His death. Normally, care of His mother would have fallen to Joseph, but there is no mention of Joseph in any Scripture after the account of 12-year-old Jesus at the Temple. Many scholars believe Joseph had died by this point, but we don’t know for certain. After Joseph, the care of Mary should have fallen to Jesus’ brothers. However, his brothers didn’t even believe in Jesus until after His resurrection (cf. Jn 7:5; 1 Cor 15:7). At this point, following Jesus’ death, Mary would be alone and vulnerable. Jesus is calling John to take Mary into John’s own family.

Jesus’ words to John and Mary are also pointing to something deeper that we see supported elsewhere in Scripture. Jesus is redefining our understanding of family. Specifically, the family that is centered on a relationship with Him ‒ the Church.

In Mark 3, Jesus is talking to a group of people who are convinced they know what “family” means, however, He is going to turn their understanding upside down. In the book of Mark, leading up to chapter 3, Jesus has been teaching with authority, doing miracles, and healing people. He has called his disciples and is beginning to draw the anger of the Jewish religious leaders and teachers against Him.

Mark 3:20-21 (ESV)

“Then [Jesus] went home, and the crowd gathered again so that they could not even eat. And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him (or “to take him away”), for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”

Jesus’ family was convinced that He was out of His mind. They are coming to take Him home. The reason they thought He was “out of his mind” was because he was not living a normal Jewish life. His obedience to God was so different from the normal expectations that even His own family thought He was crazy.

Mark 3:31-35 (ESV)

“And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.” And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

In Mark 3:22-30, Jesus had an interaction with the Scribes who were saying that Jesus was casting out demons by the power of Satan. The Scribes, who were supposed to be expert teachers on all things Jewish religion and law, weren’t even able to see the flaw in their logic. No house, empire, or power can stand if it is divided and working against itself. Immediately following this interaction, Jesus’ family arrives.

In verse 31, Jesus’ family comes, and they are “outside” the house where Jesus is. Jesus is redefining who is “inside” His family. The religious leaders who think they are “inside” God’s family are probably “outside” of God’s family. Those whom the religious leaders think are “outside” about to be welcomed “inside” God’s family. As in John chapter 19, Jesus is redefining how we understand the family of God.

Jesus Disrupts Familiar Assumptions. (vv. 31-32)

The assumption here is that Jesus would’ve gone straight to his family when they called for him. In first-century Israel, your entire identity was built on who your family was. Your family origins and status define your identity and pre-determine your opportunities and potential in life. However, Jesus disrupts familiar assumptions and redefines things.

When Jesus’ family comes to Him and can’t even get inside the house, that alone would’ve been incredibly disrespectful and unheard of. Jesus’ mother and brothers were trying to gain access to Jesus, but He didn’t go to them. He’s using the circumstances as an opportunity to upset a familiar assumption about family and teach us that He has a family greater than his biological family.

The family that Jesus is creating through a relationship with Him would trump even the bonds of biology. In John 19, He was doing the same thing. We find our identity, our unity, and our relationship with one another through our relationship with Jesus, established at the cross and through His resurrection. Our identity is not found in who our biological family is, but in where we stand with Jesus. If we want to follow him, then our identity can be in nothing else. Our identity, as a follower of Jesus, in the family of God is more important than any other relationship we have in life. He is challenging the familiar assumption about what is most important in life. Jesus challenges our priorities and disrupts our familiar assumptions of things that everyone assumes are important ‒ things that have no bearing on our status before God.

Jesus Radically Redefines. (vv. 33-34)

Jesus asks, “Who are my mother and my brothers!” Jesus is not being insensitive or indifferent to His family. Jesus deeply loved and was devoted to His earthly family. Jesus is also not suggesting we abandon our biological family. Jesus always had a plan and was about the mission He was given by the Father.

If Jesus had gone with His family and stopped teaching, the Scribes and other critics there would’ve seen that as evidence that He was crazy. He wants us to see that our biological family should not stand in the way of our allegiance to Him. Jesus uses the circumstances at hand to radically redefine their understanding and our understanding of who the family of God is and what it means to be a part of that family.

Too often, we put other good things ahead of God and His priorities for us. That translates to us making our jobs, our sports, our entertainment, and our comfort the top priority in our lives. We no longer see the value of gathering with the church, growing in our relationship with Christ, serving those inside and outside of the church, or even sharing the gospel. We must refuse to allow the protection and care of our families to trump our devotion to God. His calling and our obedience are what He has for us to carry out this side of heaven. True love for our family will never distract us from God’s leadership in our lives.

Jesus said, “Who are my mother and my brothers? Here are my mother and brothers.” That would get their attention because Jesus is speaking to a Jewish crowd. They were the ones chosen by God to reveal Himself to the world! The Jews thought they were the only ones who could be in a relationship with God because they were Abraham’s descendants. However, Jesus makes it abundantly clear that family heritage does not matter. The new family Jesus is creating is not made up of Abraham’s descendants but is made up of those who would believe in Him.

It’s not those who are part of the right family, the right race, the right culture, or the right church who get to be in God’s family. The only family or thing that matters is the spiritual family of God that is entered into by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone. This family is open to anyone who would call upon the name of the Lord (cf. Rm 10:12-13; 1 Tm 2:3-4).

Radically redefined, it is not about what we do or where we came from those matters to God, it is about a relationship with Jesus. We can’t do anything to earn our way into the family of God. We can never measure up to what it takes to be in God’s family. The good news is that God has provided us with a way to be in His family through a relationship with Jesus! Jesus Himself said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” It is only through a relationship with Jesus that we can be brought into God’s family

Jesus Identifies His Family. (v. 35)

Jesus went on to say, “For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.” Entering a relationship with Jesus is where our belief in Jesus meets our behavior. Those who have put their faith in Jesus and then demonstrate that faith by doing the “will of God” are His brother, sister, and mother. Those who are obedient to His commands are in His family.

Faith is what starts a relationship with Jesus and obedience is the fruit of that relationship. When Jesus becomes our Lord and Savior, His will and desires become our will and desires. What is important to God becomes important to us. God’s mission becomes our mission.

Throughout Scripture there is a very distinct line drawn with obedience between those who are in His family and those who are not (Ex 19:5; Jer 7:23; Mt 7:21; Jn 8:31). You will only know how to “do the will of God” if you know the Word of God. As we spend time in God’s Word, the Holy Spirit helps us to understand it and then live it out in our lives. All of this begins with that relationship with Jesus.

We are to love God with everything we are and with everything we do. Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind . . . And . . . love your neighbor as yourself” (cf. Mt 22:37, 39). One of the best avenues to walk this road is with others who are doing the same thing and are in the same family. If we have a relationship with Jesus and are part of His family, we are identified by what we do that flows out of who we are. The church is the physical representation of God’s family and is made up of those who are identified as His family.

There is nothing more important than being a part of God’s family. Nobody is born a Christian. His Word says it is only by belief and faith in Jesus that you can be a part of His family (cf. Eph 2:8-9). The Bible says that if we “Confess with [our] mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in [our] heart that God raised him from the dead, [we] will be saved” (Rom 10:9).

If you’re part of God’s family, then you should be doing God’s will. John 19 and Mark 3 make it clear we have responsibilities as part of His family. We are to do God’s will and part of that is loving and serving each other in the church, and loving those around us through service.

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Sermon Notes

His Family

John 19:26-27; Mark 3:20-21, 31-35

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