Matthew 5: 2 — Who is Jesus? Part V — Brother

… and he began to teach them.

Summary: The word “brother” carries a special meaning. A brother is different than a father. Understanding this difference helps us understand who Jesus is. 

If our relationship with our human fathers is unique, so is our relationship with our mothers and siblings. The good father provides a sense that there are boundaries to how we behave. The boundaries may vary from father to father, but all good fathers provide this context even if they are not aware that they are doing it.

Our mothers are different. They all are. Regardless of whether our relationship with Mom is good, bad, or indifferent, we find her filling a different role than Dad. Mothers provide nurture in a way that fathers cannot. 

Brothers and sisters are special. There is a unique familiarity that comes with being a sibling and having grown up in the same household. Siblings know each other at their best, their funniest, and their worst.

My wife and I raised two boys, and the oldest refined his comedic art form to perfection. When they were young, we would sit at the dinner table eating and talking, and seemingly with no forethought, he would say something funny. What made it doubly amusing was that his timing was always exactly synchronized to his brother’s drink intake: Younger brother takes a drink of milk. The older brother cracks a joke. Younger brother snorts milk through his nose.

Every time.

Amazing!

You know he had to have been waiting for the right moment, and wait he did. No one else could have done what he did, or would want to.

There were other moments, too, that were not as funny. It was the same when I was young. I have three younger brothers, and when everyone is in a good mood, they are great company. When somebody wants to take a dig at someone else, nobody knows how to do it better than a brother.

Jesus’ brothers and sisters were no different.

John records Jesus’ brother mocking his ministry (John 7:1-5). It is almost as if he is saying, “Hey, Big Shot, people who want to be a Super Star don’t hang out in a backwater place like Galilee. Get your butt over to Judea where people can see you!”

Another time, Jesus was in a house that was so crowded that he could barely move. His family came to get him, saying that Jesus was “out of his mind.” (Mark 3:20-21)  His own family!!

It is the people closest to us who know us the best, and no one knows us better than our family. 

Jesus is family.

“He [Jesus] replied to him, ‘Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?’ Pointing to his disciples, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.’” (Matthew 12:48-50)

He knows our innermost secrets, and yet he still loves us. This is a unique relationship. Jesus is our brother.

Application: Take Jesus at his word and look to him as a brother.   

Food for Thought: How does knowing Jesus is your brother instead of your father change the way you look at him?