Whoever Does God's Will
Jesus redefines family in a single sentence, without dishonouring the one he was born into.
Mark 3:35NIV
Mark 3:35. Jesus' mother and brothers arrive outside a crowded house and send word for him. Looking at those seated around him, he says that whoever does God's will is his brother and sister and mother.
It is easy to hear this as cold, and it is not. Jesus honoured his mother, and from the cross he provided for her. What he is doing here is widening the circle, not shrinking it. Kinship with him is not a matter of bloodline or proximity but of doing the will of God, and that is open to anyone in the room.
On a Tuesday in June, when families are scattering into summer schedules, this verse is a reminder of the household that does not scatter. If you belong to Christ, you have brothers and sisters in every congregation you will ever walk into, and a family that reaches back through the centuries. Doing God's will today, in small things, is how you take your place among them.
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