We live in a time when the redefinition of family is celebrated. Any shape, any size, any group of individuals, if they want to call themselves a family, then wallah, (and the waving of the politically correct wand) and magically it is a family. At least that is what we are told we need to, or perhaps must believe.
In previous ages a family required biology. A man and a woman, usually married through some cultural or religious ritual, begin to do what men and women were designed to do. They recognized that act as something special and the consecration of their relationship by the ceremony as necessary. And when children came along, there was no surprise. The baby was connected to these two parents by blood.
Now with the rebellion of humanity, and the abandonment of any culturally sanctioned moral standard, any mix will do. No need for biology or even a ceremony. If we say it is a family, then it must be! It will only be a couple of years before someone will marry their pet (or their motorcycle, oven mitt, favorite plant), and it will be accepted by the politically correct crowd. Once God’s design gets abandoned, then there are no limits imposed by an independent, outside authority. We get to write the rules anyway we want. We pontificate about the correctness of the position, and about there being “no consequences” to this action, without the slightest clue, or even care about the long term effects. Long term has become the 30 second commercial spot.
Jesus’ family has heard about Jesus ministry, the crowds, the results of the crowds and they think He is crazy. They have traveled together to do an intervention. They are going to take Him away. When they arrive they send word in to Him as He is among the crowd in a house.
When Jesus gets the message He asks a simple question. Some have said that Jesus turned His back on His family at this moment. But remember on the cross Jesus passes care for His mother on to one of the disciples?
Jesus sees the need of those who have gathered around Him as more important, at that moment, than explaining what is going on to His family. For Jesus, doing the will of God is more important than anything else. Jesus creates a new family without destroying the old family. The new family lasts forever. It has eternal values and principles. At that moment, Jesus’ family did not have eternal values. They could only see the crowds and the missed meals. They hadn’t grasped the true mission of their son and brother. That happened after the resurrection, just like almost everyone else.
Jesus redefines who family is in this context at that time. It is not a definitive statement about communal living, or about abandoning blood relatives when you become a Jesus-follower. At that moment, the crowd sitting in front of Jesus were more important than the family outside who had come to take Him away because they thought He was nuts. Any group that demands leaving your family and cutting off ties with them as a cost of membership is not from God. Family is important. We all need connections.
The Arnold Journey 