Today’s Gospel reminds me of a sound bite for the evening news or a shoddy post on social media. Taken out of context, Jesus is denying his family. And not only that, but Jesus now has “brothers,” so what happened to the doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary? Sound bites cause nothing but trouble because you don’t have the context to know what’s really being said. These sound bites take a whole lot of explanation, and the ones we have in today’s Gospel are certainly no exception.
First of all, let’s tackle the idea of Jesus having brothers. Many ideas surround that issue and have developed over time, as I am sure you can appreciate. One idea says that St. Joseph was an older man, and had sons by a previous wife, now dead. These would be Jesus’ half-brothers. There is no actual evidence for that theory, nor even a tradition of it from the early Church. Another idea comes from the fact that the Greek word translated “brothers” here is general enough that it might also refer to cousins or some other close kindred. So the brothers here would be close family members, not necessarily brothers. This theory is supported by linguistic study and usage, so it’s more accepted. In either case, the Church affirms the perpetual virginity of Mary and this Gospel is not trying to confuse us, but is rather teaching us on another topic.
The second sound bite is that Jesus seems to turn away from his mother and his relatives and claims that his family is those who hear the word of God and act on it. Well, Jesus certainly wasn’t turning away from his beloved mother or any of his close relatives. We know for a fact that Mary was the first of the disciples. Jesus seems to be more widening his family relationships than restricting them to just those related by blood. Which is good news for all of us who are now included in that family. Giving ourselves to the Word of God, hearing it and living it, we are mother and brother and sister to Christ.
So I think the call for us disciples as we hear this word proclaimed today is that we are to strive to be in the family of Jesus. We were initiated into that family when we were baptized, and we are called to live that way each day. The family of Jesus hears the word of God and acts on it. That’s what Jesus is teaching us today. So we who would be his brothers and sisters have work to do; amazingly joy-filled work.
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