Mark 3:31–35

Theme: Who belongs to the family of Jesus?

Scripture Reading
While Jesus was still speaking, his mother and his brothers arrived. But because so many people were around him, they could not get through. They sent a message to him: “Your mother, your brothers, and your sisters are outside and want to speak to you.” But he answered: “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” Then he looked at the people sitting around him and said: “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of God is my brother, my sister, and my mother.” (Mark 3:31–35)

Sermon

Dear congregation, dear guests,
Just imagine this scene: Jesus is in a house, surrounded by many people. The room is packed, everyone wants to hear him, everyone wants to be close to him. People hang on his words; they are hungry for the Word of God.
And outside – at the closed doors – stand Mary, his mother, and his brothers. They want to speak with him, perhaps even to take him home, to protect him from the Pharisees and scribes who claimed that he was possessed by an evil spirit. But they cannot get through the crowd.

Then comes the message: “Your mother, your brothers, and your sisters are outside and want to talk to you.”

And now something unexpected happens: Jesus does not even look outside. Instead, he asks the question: “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?”

He looks at the people sitting around him and says:
“Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of God is my brother, my sister, and my mother.”

What a moment! As a mother, as a brother, as a sister – that must have felt painful. Overlooked. Not taken seriously. Not belonging. It cuts straight to the heart!

How would you feel if your son or your brother said something like this? Family – that is something precious to us all. Blood, name, heritage – all of this binds us together.

But even for Jesus, it was not easy. His own family thought he was out of his mind and wanted to take him back home. And yet – or perhaps because of this – he speaks these words.

Not to exclude. But to include. Not to belittle. But to open the circle wider. Jesus says: there is a deeper connection. Family is more than blood and a last name. Family is where people live according to God’s will. Family is created where trust grows, where people stand by one another, where they carry each other.

And he asks us a question that is still valid today: “Who is my mother, who are my brothers?”

God’s will is no mystery. It is written clearly in the Bible: Love God with all your heart. Love your neighbour as yourself. Seek peace, practice justice, forgive.

And now comes something important: “As yourself.” We can only love our neighbour as much as we love ourselves.

That means: we may accept ourselves just as we are. We may have joy in life. We may believe with joy – and sometimes with boldness. And we may allow others to live their faith with joy and boldness too, just as God created them.

Or, simply put: “Do not do to anyone what you would not want done to yourself.”

God’s will does not mean saving the whole world on your own. It is about small steps in everyday life: listening to someone who is lonely, reconciling after a quarrel, standing up for someone weaker, allowing yourself something good. In these very acts, the family of God becomes visible.

The scene in Mark shows us two groups: outside – Jesus’ family, uncertain, doubting, fearful; inside – the people listening, open, trusting him. And the question is: where do I stand? Sometimes outside, sometimes inside. But with Jesus, no one is ever completely outside. The door is open. Everyone may enter. You do not have to be perfect – only willing to turn to him, to accept his love, and to pass it on.

Whoever enters, whoever says “yes” to Jesus, receives a new identity: not just a visitor on a church bench. But: brother. Sister. Mother. Child of God.

What is important here is to realize: I am a child of God not because I said “yes” to him, but because he said “yes” to me even before I was born. He loves me as I am. Just as a father and mother already love their unborn child, even before it has done or said anything to earn that love, so too our heavenly Father loves us unconditionally. I may choose to turn away from his love, but he never turns away from me, no matter what comes, no matter what I do, no matter how I decide. That, dear congregation, is true love! That is God’s family.

Loved. Accepted. Needed. And this family is greater, wider, and more colourful than we could ever imagine.

And so Jesus’ question comes to us as well: “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?”

Do you want to belong? Do you want to live God’s will – with love, with courage, with joy, and sometimes with a healthy dose of boldness?

Not through ancestry. Not through achievement. But simply through being. Through love.

Jesus looks at you – today, right now – and says: “You are my brother. You are my sister. You belong to my family.” And here the sermon text, I believe, also ties into our weekly verse: You are a child of God, so live as a child of God and treat everyone as a child of God – with love, honesty, and sincerity. And in doing so, I honor even my least brother.

“Whoever does the will of God is my brother, my sister, and my mother.”

And the peace of God be with you, now and always, from this time forth and forevermore. Amen.