Tag Archives: brothers

PAUL’S HAPPY LETTER…OVER AND OUT – 18a

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“Give my greetings…(“salute”, ie, embrace, wrap in your arms)… to each of God’s holy people—all who belong to Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me send you their greetings. And all the rest of God’s people send you greetings, too, especially those in Caesar’s household. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.”

‭‭Philippians‬ ‭4‬:‭21‬-‭23‬ NLT

Finally…after the finally’s that were, in the end, not incidental postscripts after all, Paul has to end his letter.  Despite his great love for the Philippians, his gratitude for their partnership, his confidence in their faithfulness…and the snippets of counsel, encouragement, and teaching he passed on to them, he had to say goodbye and, possibly, for the last time. He knew that his days on earth were coming to an end in Nero’s clutches. 

In true Pauline fashion, he sent greetings from far and wide…not only from him to them, not only from those with him to them, but also from and to everyone he classified as “God’s holy people”. Everyone under the banner of “believer in Jesus”, whether the Philippians knew them or not, was “with him”. 

Paul sent to each of them, all included, not just a friendly “hello“ but a warm embrace, enfolding each one as totally loved and accepted…and he asked them to do the same. 

Why is this important for us to know as well? “God’s holy people”is a bold classification. Everyone who has been born of the Spirit…transferred into the kingdom of God…washed in the blood of the lamb…and become a citizen of the “age to come”…belongs to the unique, worldwide group of people Paul called “Gods holy people”. 

This special category of men and women stretches around the world and across every generation from the beginning of time…a supernaturally chosen, redeemed, and perfected family of God…recreated in the image of Jesus…saved by grace… separated from sin to God…highly favoured…deeply loved…and eternally blessed. 

No matter what the world thought of them…no matter how the Roman government treated them…no matter how much the  religious Jews hated them, persecuted them, cancelled them…they belonged to God. In those three little words, “God’s holy people”, Paul encapsulated their status and standing before God, their eternal security despite temporary peril, their destiny in Christ, and all the resources of heaven at their disposal to reach their heavenly goal. 

Paul’s greetings to and from the whole family of God was like the wrapping paper around a very valuable gift. Within the parcel was God’s treasure…His people…the ones in whom He had invested His very best…His own Son. These are the ones He delights in, watches over, cares for, protects ands provides for…and shapes through careful discipline…for an eternity with Him. 

They were God’s children. Paul loved them, prayed for them, taught them, carried them on his heart…and wrapped them in a parcel of greetings to be received by those to whom he wrote. Now he entreats them to do the same. “Greet them…wrap them all up in your love and acceptance.”

Paul’s final prayer…

“May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.”

…is more than a general wish. It’s a world of prayer in itself. “Grace”…all that we are and will ever be…all that we ever receive from God…all the promises we ever hope for…all our dreams and desires…flows from one source…God’s grace that comes to us through Jesus…His unmerited, undeserved, unearned, without a cause, “just because He is who He is” favour. 

…and so, we join with those who gladly received Paul’s ministry by reading, believing, and following his instructions with teachable and obedient hearts. 

Thank you, Paul, for the legacy  you left for us as well. 

To be concluded

JACOB DECEIVER TURNED DEPENDENT – 6

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JACOB HEADS TO EGYPT

And so, Jacob, the deceiver was transformed into Israel, the dependent. The next few chapters in Genesis trace the latter years of Jacob’s life when his newfound trust in God was put the the test. His relationship with Esau, restored on the surface, but with Jacob’s misgivings still smouldering underneath, led him to settle in Canaan far from his brother.

His life in Canaan on his return was ordinary, but God’s promise to him and his descendants and God’s reassurance, became the guiding principle in his life.

‭Genesis‬ ‭35:6‭-‬7‬ ‭NIV‬
[6] “Jacob and all the people with him came to Luz (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan. [7] There he built an altar, and he called the place El Bethel, because it was there that God revealed himself to him when he was fleeing from his brother….
[9] After Jacob returned from Paddan Aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him. [10] God said to him, “Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel.” So he named him Israel. [11] And God said to him, “I am God Almighty; be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will be among your descendants. [12] The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.” [13] Then God went up from him at the place where he had talked with him.”

One by one, Jacob’s closest family members passed on, culminating in the death of his beloved Rachel in childbirth. So, all he had left of her was Joseph and his newborn son, Benjamin. His relationship with his ten older sons slowly soured as his love and attention centred on Rachel’s boys.

‭Genesis‬ ‭37:3‬ ‭NIV‬
[3] “Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made an ornate robe for him.”

Jacob’s story began to take a back seat as the focus shifted to Joseph. As I move into a study of Joseph’s life, I am struck by Joseph’s persistent integrity despite his suffering. How did he weather such compelling temptations without a Bible to guide him?

I believe the answer is Jacob. Obviously, Jacob’s dramatic encounters with God, initially at Bethel and again at Peniel, left indelible marks on his life. His bond with Joseph, as young as he was before he was ripped from his father’s side, fostered intimacy. Jacob must have spent time teaching his son the values he had learned through these experiences, and the promises given to him and his predecessors.

Joseph must have developed an awareness and a holy fear of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob from the lessons he learned from his father, as his father passed down to him the promises made to his ancestors.

So, Jacob, twister though he was, became Israel, a prince with God, and lived to see the next phase of God’s prophetic word to Abraham. He responded to God’s instruction to go to Egypt where Joseph was in charge, assured that God was at the helm of his life and the lives of his descendants.

‭Genesis‬ ‭15:13‭-‬16‬ ‭NLT‬
[13] “Then the Lord said to Abram, “You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, where they will be oppressed as slaves for 400 years. [14] But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and in the end they will come away with great wealth. [15] (As for you, you will die in peace and be buried at a ripe old age.) [16] After four generations your descendants will return here to this land, for the sins of the Amorites do not yet warrant their destruction.”

To be concluded…

THE GOSPEL OF MARK – GREATER THAN HUMAN TIES

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GREATER THAN HUMAN TIES

31 Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”

33 “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked.

34 Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” Mark 3:31-35

There is a relationship that supersedes even the closest of family ties. It’s difficult to pick up the mood of Jesus’ human family in this short record. Why were they here, as a family, to see Jesus? Were they on some kind of rescue mission, seeing that they had all come together? Did they think He needed protection from Himself because His popularity was getting out of hand?

Once again Jesus emerges as the sanest of all the people in this scene. His agenda was long term. This earthly life was only a passing phase in the scheme of things, and He knew it. His mission was to restore and rebuild His Father’s family – those who would reconnect with God by faith through His redeeming sacrifice. He would have to endure this early paranoia in His ministry because there would come a time when people would either become offended by Him because of the cost of following Him, or they would go on seeing and believing who He really was and become connected to Him regardless of the cost, because they understood His long-term mission to reunite them with the Father.

Hence Jesus did not set as much store on the relationship He had with His natural family as He did on His passion to win back God’s forever family. It may have initially seemed like rejection but, in the long term, every one of His natural family members had the same invitation and the same opportunity to become even more intimate members of His faith family.

Paul declared that, when we are “in Christ”, everything changes. The old scheme of things is replaced by the new. Old family ties are replaced by new ones; our old nature with its bent towards independence, is replaced by a restored connection with God as our Father and its accompanying sense of identity and security because we now belong to a universal family forever under the benevolent control of our eternal Father.

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – THE FAMILY REDEFINED

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THE FAMILY REDEFINED

“His mother and brothers showed up but couldn’t get through to Him because of the crowd. He was given the message, ‘Your mother and brothers are standing outside wanting to see you.’ He replied, ‘My mother and brothers are the ones who hear and do God’s Word. Obedience is thicker than blood.'” Luke 8:19-21.

Jesus’ relationship with His human family was unique. No other family on earth had a sibling who was both God and man. Mary knew that, but she still had difficulty in realising that, once He had left her home, she had not more claim to Him. He still acknowledged her as His earthly mother – at the cross He placed her in John’s care – but He embraced a much bigger and closer family than His blood family.

It must have been difficult for Mary to cut the ties of motherhood with Him and make the transition from Jesus, her son to Jesus, her Lord. At some time during her son’s public ministry or perhaps after the resurrection she must have finally made the transition. She was among the one hundred and twenty worshippers who were gathered together on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came and the church was born.

Like many Jewish families, Jesus was the first of a large number of siblings. He had four brothers, according to the mention of their names, and at least two sisters, perhaps more, although unnamed but, to His brothers He was just Jesus, their eldest brother and Mary’s firstborn and heir. They resented Him. They neither recognised Him as the Messiah nor even treated Him with respect until after the resurrection.

His brothers had been sceptical and positively rude to Him. On one occasion, before the Feast of Tabernacles, they taunted Him. “‘Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see the works you do. No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.’ For even His own brothers did not believe in Him.” John 7:3, 4 (NIV).

Jesus was not fazed by their cruel taunts, but He must have been saddened by their unbelief. Yet it must have been difficult for them to realise that their own brother was the Son of God. It took the horrifying and shocking events of His crucifixion and resurrection to shake their scepticism and bring them to faith in Him as Messiah and Lord.

Other gospel writers reveal the reason for His family’s coming on this occasion. Things had hotted up so much around him – His popularity with the crowd on the one hand, and His conflict with the religious leaders on the other – that they thought they needed to rescue Him because He had lost it! But He made is clear that He was very sane. Some of those who followed Him were learning and forging a loyalty with Him that ran much deeper than human family bonds and they needed to understand that.

Was Jesus implying that there is no such thing as second-generation faith? Every person has to believe and take responsibility for his or her own connection to Him. Each one who hears and responds in obedience to the Word of God becomes a part of the family of God and lives under His rule.

Perhaps this is also an answer to the “once saved, always saved” question. We have to move away from the idea that “salvation” is a passport that we carry to give us access to heaven when we die. That is far from the Biblical concept of salvation. It is the process by which we are being restored to “shalom” – wholeness – so that we can fit in in God’s kingdom where there is no imperfection of any kind.

Those who think that salvation is a passport that they will produce at the pearly gates may get a shock when they are told, ‘I never knew you.’ To be saved, in Jesus’ words to Nicodemus in John 3, is to receive the supernatural grace of the Holy Spirit to enter the kingdom of God, to submit to His rule and obey His Word so that He can transform us into true sons and daughters.

Have you done that?

Who Are My Mother And Brothers?

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WHO ARE MY MOTHER AND BROTHERS?

Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone to call Him. A crowd was sitting around Him, and they told Him, ‘Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.’ ‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ He asked. Then He looked at those seated in a circle around Him and said, ‘Here are my mother and brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.’ (Mark3: 31-35).

That’s a bit harsh, isn’t it? Especially since they came all the way from Nazareth to see Him.

As we travel through the Gospel of Mark, we will learn something about Jesus that we should never forget and that it would do well for us to apply in our own lives as well. Jesus always viewed life from the perspective of the Father and never from an earthly viewpoint. As far as He was concerned, the kingdom of God took precedence over earthly considerations.

What was He saying? That He didn’t care about His family or even that He repudiated them, that He did not acknowledge that He had a blood family at all? Had He cut Himself completely loose from them so that they no longer mattered to Him? I don’t think that He meant that at all.

We have to ask, first of all, why they were there. A few verses back we learned that they thought He was crazy. They had come to get Him to take Him home. Why? Was it to protect Him from Himself or to protect Him from the crowd? Perhaps one or both. Why did He need to be protected? Obviously, because He could not look after Himself. He had lost it, so they thought.

What did Jesus mean by His question, ‘Who are my mother and brothers’? He looked beyond mere family ties to a family that He had come to redeem and restore to the Father that was far more important and of lasting value than the ties of human families. Although He belonged to a human family, they had to learn that in the end He headed up a family of people more closely bound together than blood ties because they would become His true “blood” brothers through the shedding of His own blood for them.

His brothers rejected Him and His claims to be the Son of God until after the resurrection. They refused to believe in Him and even taunted Him (John 7: 2-5). The same once-unbelieving family members were together with the other believers when the Holy Spirit fell on the day of Pentecost. Letters from His brothers, James and Jude, were included in the inspired Scriptures. Their faith in Him promoted them from being part of His earthly family to being members of God’s forever family.

How do we know this is so? Mary Magdalene, according to John’s report, was the first to meet Jesus after His resurrection. She was so overjoyed that she wanted to take hold of Him and never let Him go. He remonstrated with her.

Jesus said, ‘Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and to your Father, to my God and your God.’ (John 20:17-18).

Did you get that? He called His disciples, ‘My brothers.’ He had called them servants and friends but never brothers. He put them on the same level as Himself – calling God “my Father and your Father, my God and you God.” Did you get the significance of what He said? Those who sat around Him listening and hanging onto every word that came from His mouth were potentially part of the family of God which spans time and eternity. His death and resurrection sealed the reality of that family.

It was God’s intention, from the beginning, to have a family of sons and daughters who were exactly like His Son. Sin interrupted His plan but He never gave up on it. He sent His Son to reveal His true self to people whose understanding of Him was distorted by the devil’s deception, and to redeem and reconcile mankind to Himself. Through faith in Jesus and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, He works in us to restore and recreate His image in us.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. (Rom. 8: 28-29).

Can you see, now, why Jesus was not willing that His human family lay exclusive claim to Him? Family He might be, but that was earthly and temporary. His intention to rebuild God’s forever family overshadowed any earthly ties. It was imperative that His mother and brothers get the message as quickly as possible and release Him to fulfil the will of the Father of all fathers.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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