Christ’s Family | Matthew 12:46-50

Scripture

• Matthew 12:46–50

About this sermon

Introduction: False assurance. Believing that you are saved when you are lost. Believing that you are safe and secure when you are headed for everlasting judgment. It is an awful thing to truly believe that you are saved when in fact you are outside the family and kingdom of God. HOW WILL THOSE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN DECEIVED? Some of those people will have been deceived by resting in their own words. They found their confidence in what they said about Jesus, the gospel, the church. Maybe even a prayer that they associated with salvation. A decision that they made. Some will have rested in a demonic kind of faith. Some will have rested in their activities — preaching, teaching, serving. Some will have rested in what others thought of them. Some will have rested in false signs and wonders — their feelings and experiences. Some will have rested in their relationship to the visible church. SOME OF THOSE PEOPLE WILL HAVE RESTED IN EARTHLY RELATIONSHIPS. That is what our text relates to today. What we have before us today is both an encouragement and a warning. It is encouraging because it points to the family nature of the saving relationship that God gives us in His Son. ESV 1 John 3:1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. It is a warning because it points to the fact that nothing, but that saving relationship will count when the judgment day arrives. ESV 1 John 5:12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. Today we think about Christ’s family. • A REQUEST MEANT TO EXPRESS CONCERN (vs.46-47) Our Lord is in a house. The house is so packed full of people that no one else can get in the door. Luke tells us about the crowded conditions. ESV Luke 8:19 Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. 20 And he was told, "Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you." 21 But he answered them, "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it." Mark’s account gives us a sense for why our Lord’s mother and brothers come to speak to Him. ESV Mark 3:20-21 Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. 21 And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, "He is out of his mind." To be clear, the Bible doesn’t say that his family believed that He was out of His mind. It says that when His family heard that IT WAS BEING SAID that He has lost His senses, they went out to get Him. To say that He had lost His mind is very little different than saying He has a demon. “He claims He is greater than the temple. He claims that He is greater than Jonah. He claims that He is greater than Solomon. HE HAS LOST HIS MIND!” Well, He had not lost His mind. He was telling the absolute truth. But it demonstrates, again, that you can’t stand in the middle when it comes to Jesus. The claims are so outstanding that either He is the Son of God, or He’s a madman. IT IS ALSO WORTH NOTING THAT JESUS’ BROTHERS DID NOT BELIEVE IN HIM UNTIL LATER. ESV John 7:1 After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him. 2 Now the Jews' Feast of Booths was at hand. 3 So his brothers said to him, "Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. 4 For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world." 5 For not even his brothers believed in him. If you don’t believe in Him, then maybe the claims that He’s out of His mind concern you a little also. So, why has His family come? I think the best understanding is that they want to rescue Him from trouble. They recognize the rising tide of hatred and opposition against Him. They hear the comments that are being made about Him and His state of mind. They are concerned that He is headed for a major confrontation, and they are wanting to rescue Him from it. So, they arrive at the house, they can’t get inside, they send word to Jesus that they wish to speak to Him. • A QUESTION MEANT TO ARREST ATTENTION (vs.48) Jesus responds with what must have seemed like a very strange question. “Who is my mother and who are my brothers?” It seems that Joseph has already died. This is why it is Mary and the brothers of Jesus who come. Jesus also had half-sisters as well His half-brothers. ESV Mark 6:3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him.

Topics

• Children & Family
• Jesus Christ