Who is my brother? Who is my sister?

"Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him. ³² And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You.”
³³ But He answered them, saying, “Who is My mother, or My brothers?” ³⁴ And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! ³⁵ For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.”
-- Mark 12:46-50 (NKJV)

A Heavenly family. This subject has always been intriguing to me. Jesus is seen saying here and elsewhere in Matthew and Luke that his brothers and sisters, his family are those that do the will of God. He even says that those who are his relatives by blood, the natural brothers in his life are not his relatives at all. Instead those who do the will of God, those who seek first the Father's will are his brothers and sisters. It is quite interesting for me that this passage does not speak about a "father" in such family imagery. Could that be because God the Father is seen as the only head of the family? Its just a speculation that cannot be proved entirely in this passage, but elsewhere in the Gospels we see Jesus always talking about the Father and doing his will first.

In this context we then see that other believers in Christ Jesus are our brothers and sisters and mothers. There is a misconception that I heard from one of my friends that he should care for the unbeliever because that person is his brother or sister in Christ. That is not entirely true. Only when that person comes to faith, that Jesus Christ is Lord, and seek the will of God in their life will he or she be our brother or sister.

One last thought. This passage is insanely ecumenical. It is calling for a unity of all believers to see them as equals. To see them as a part of a body, of a temple of the Holy Spirit, of a family that is related to one another because of their faith and desire to see the will of God come to pass in their lives. Maybe instead of wondering who's theology is correct, we should be more concerned for the well being of our brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. Loving one another with the love of Christ that is brought to us by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 13). This passage calls for us to turn away from individualism and towards a community as one family in Jesus Christ. All believers, not just those who we agree with Theologically.

Just for fun, here is a contrasting verse:

"Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, ²⁶ “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. ²⁷ And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple."
-- Luke 14:25-27 (NKJV)

So wait! Are we suppose to hate the brothers and sisters that we have in Christ Jesus, disrupting the unity in the family of God? No. This usage of "hate" is in contrast to "love." Let me explain. When Jesus says "hate his father and mother," he does not mean be angry and in conflict with them. A better understanding can be to love your father and mother less than you love Jesus. That is to say that Jesus Christ should be the one we love the most. We must love Jesus even more than our own life! To bear our cross (martyrdom, death as a witness of Jesus). Jesus is saying that to be his disciple we must love him more than anything and even love him more than our own life. To be willing to die, as seen in this imagery, on a cross, the death of a criminal, of one so hated by all in the Roman Empire, essentially to die as a martyr. Why? Because we love him and God so loved us that he sent Jesus (The begotten Son) to die for us. To follow Jesus is to be willing to die for him. For what? For love.

Now, please understand me, I am saying that we must be willing to die a martyrs death because of our love for Christ Jesus. I am not saying that all will experience this, in fact only a few do. I am saying that we must not fear death, but openly accept martyrdom and persecution as it comes.

As Jesus said: "If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. ¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you." John 15:18-19

But there is the Hope. Christ within us the hope of glory. Death does not have the last say in our existence. Rather life does. Love endures forever. Also we will have resurrected bodies!!! Awesome!

So back to family. haha. We should love the one we see (Kierkegaard!). This is a command from Jesus (John 15:17, Matthew 22:37-40), in fact we should love all men because it is God's will for us as disciples and followers of Jesus. Love our brothers and sisters, love every person we see.