“Who are my mother and my brothers? … Whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother. (Mark 3:33, 35)”
“When his disciples asked him to teach them to pray, Jesus said, “When you pray, say, our Father… (Luke 11:2)”
One of the kindest things you can say about friends is that “they feel like family.” It is a statement of trust, closeness, identity, and responsibility. When we describe friends this way we are reflecting something beautiful about God’s design and desire for humanity, that familial relationships are meant to be near and dear to us. We were made to be part of a family.
We see this shown from the earliest pages of the Bible, where God made Adam and Eve for each other and commissioned them to be fruitful and multiply, that is, have a family. We see it when God tells Abraham that through his offspring all the nations of the earth would be blessed (Genesis 12:1-3). We see it when God establishes the people of Israel as twelve tribes, the offspring of twelve brothers (Genesis 49:1-28). The Bible uses familial language and descriptions throughout because they are the most foundational relational reality we have.
It also becomes clear throughout the Bible that God’s idea of family extends far beyond biology. Something else defines our closest, most meaningful relationships: Jesus Christ. Jesus himself said “Who are my mother and my brothers? … Whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother” (Mark 3:33, 35). When his disciples asked him to teach them to pray, Jesus said, “When you pray, say, our Father…” (Luke 11:2; my emphasis).
In these two brief exchanges, Jesus is expanding and defining what it truly means to be family. He points to those who faithfully walk with him and calls them his family. We know that Jesus is the Son of God, but he then points at his Father and tells us to talk to him as our Father.
Barnabas Piper, Belong: Loving Your Church by Reflecting Christ to One Another (The Good Book Company, 2023). Used with permission by the author.
MONDAY MEMO
This past Sunday, our ministry spotlight was on Adoption and Foster Care. Interested in the Show Hope conference? Sign up here for free.
Watch the full interview with Pastor TJ Tims and David Petty here!
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