Mark 3:33–35 (NKJV): 33 But He answered them, saying, “Who is My mother, or My brothers?” 34 And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.”
In this world our families are the most precious things to us. With the exceptions of disfunctional structures that wound rather than heal, our earthly families are our life. But if we stop for a moment and put aside our physical and emotional feelings, we would soon realize that they cannot and do not minister to the spiritual. Jesus was not dissing His family, and we can know for sure that they were a big part of His prayer life. But what He was saying here is that those who are the closest to Him are those of His spiritual family, who do the will of God, and if we are close to Him as a family, then we are close to one another as a family. There are many in the church today that never allow themselves to get close to the fellowship of believers, simply because they do not get close enough to Jesus. They are not doing the will of God and constantly struggle with spiritual relationships, because they are not experiencing that close relationship with Jesus, that only comes through obedience. Perhaps this is the root of the problem that exists within fellowships across the world that choose division rather than reconciliation when there is tension between brothers? It is easy to call oneself a spiritual brother, it is quite another thing to practice it. But the Lord here shows us the answer to this dilemma: if we draw close to Him in this family relationship by doing the will of God, then we draw close to one another in the same relationship, and live by a code of forgiveness and love for one another.