Who are My Family Members
Pastor CJ
Translated by Allan Liang
Mark 3:31-35
The above verses contained in Mark can also be found in Mathew and Luke. Those who are not yet believers may find these verses to be unsettling and startling. Is Jesus teaching us to disown our mothers and brothers? Of course not. Here, by using the genetic relations of mother and brother, Jesus answered the question of who our brothers and mothers actually are. Jesus gave a clear and simple answer: “those who do the will of God”, they are indeed our brothers and sisters, belonging to one family. Those who have believed God, because of Jesus’ relationship with his father, we now have also become children of God, becoming one family in God. Hence, we now have a spiritual family, brothers and sisters in Christ. Because we have been redeemed by Christ, we join all others who have been redeemed in forming the family of God. We have one Father, one heavenly kingdom, all are sojourners in this world and have one future hope. Brothers and sisters in Christ, we are all followers of Christ and doers of God’s will; truly we are fellow pilgrims journeying unto Mount Zion. As one family, let us understand more deeply our true identities: we may have come from different places and different countries, we may have different occupations, we may have different experiences and memories that we cherish, having walked along different paths, but we share the same experiences of being once lost, now redeemed by the precious blood of Christ -- we are indeed first and foremost, the children of God. We pray that those whom we have lived amongst, our countrymen, neighbors, classmates, and friends, may one day through the power of the gospel, receive the redemption of God and join us in the loving union as one family in Christ. In this common relationship of belonging to God and belief in one Father, we share in our sorrows and joys, and together walk in accordance to the will of God. Dear brothers and sisters, because of God’s creation and continuing act of providence, we have been given a family on this earth - fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, and so forth. But because of his grace, we have been given a spiritual family composed of fellow redeemed sinners and co heirs of the kingdom of God. If we love our fleshly parents and siblings and children, we are to all the more love our brothers and sisters in Christ, for they are part of the precious family we have in Christ Jesus. Please meditate and pray about: Who in my family ought I pray about in this time of pandemic and who is there that I can lend a helping hand? Let us join those weeping in their sorrows and join those rejoicing in their happiness. May God lead us. Amen.