Jesus' mother and siblings

Jesus' mother and siblings

 

In Mark 3:31-35, “There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him.” And the multitude sat about him, and they said to him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seeking for thee. And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren? And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.』

When Jesus' mother, Mary, and his brothers saw him performing his ministry, they thought he was possessed by a demon. So they came to Jesus, and Jesus emphasized that his family was a spiritual family. The obstacle to living a life of faith is physical identity. Physical identity is the self, and is established as a solid castle in the hearts of believers. Jesus told us to deny this. It is a spiritual war against oneself.

Mark 10:26-30『And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved? And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible. Then Peter began to say to him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed them. And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's, But he shall receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.』

What surprised the disciples was that “Jesus told the rich man to sell everything and give it all to others.” The disciples can be seen superficially accepting it. What this means is that believers should crucify their physical identity and speak well to others about their spiritual identity.

Even when a new temple is built in the believer's heart, the seven physical identities remain. It is like the people who came out of Egypt and entered Canaan and fought against seven tribes. Physical identity appears in seven ways. The seven tribes of Canaan can symbolically express what is located within the physical interior of humans. Things that are firmly established in the hearts of believers include the nature of the body, blood relations, experience and knowledge, thoughts and ideologies, religious spirit, self-righteousness, and the desire to dominate.

First, the nature of the body has an emotional aspect, but the most important aspects are material possessions and sexual satisfaction. The Bible advises us to be extremely careful with these people. The Bible also prescribes not to love the world (material things) and not to commit adultery.

Second, blood relations mean parents, siblings, and children. Your child may become your idol. When believers treat their children like idols, family relationships can break down. This is that serious. Children are a key element in maintaining a family, but if children are treated too much like idols, they can become a factor in the breakdown of the family.

Third, although experience and knowledge have positive aspects in a spiritual life of faith, there are also many negative aspects. Apostle Paul was a persecutor of Christians before he met Jesus. Such a memory must have been the most difficult for Paul when working as an evangelist. Also, high knowledge about the world can be a factor that hinders the word of God. This is because there are parts of the Word of God that cannot be understood by human abilities.

Fourth, ideas and ideologies can be mobilized to deny and suppress religion. Ideology and communist dictatorship were and are still ongoing.

Fifth, religiosity is the desire to seek God. However, this religious belief can also lead to the mistaken idea that one can become a divine being.

Sixth, it is self-righteousness, in which people do good deeds, make their own rules, try not to do illegal things, and try to have a good heart. They further recognize themselves as good beings. So, everyone wants to be noticed, and even when they judge others, they judge themselves based on themselves.

Seventh, the desire to dominate others. People always want to be better than others. So, they get angry when they are inferior to others, and even bully others, fight against them, set traps to trip them up, steal from others, and even kill others. This includes people who are violent, including verbal abuse.

 

Can believers fight against this physical identity and win? No one will be able to completely win a fight against themselves. Peter asks Jesus who can be saved? However, 『And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men(παρὰ ἀνθρώποις) it is impossible, but not with God: for with God(παρὰ τῷ θεῷ) all things are possible.』

Para Andropoise (παρὰ ἀνθρώποις) means not with people, and Para To Deu (παρὰ τῷ θεῷ) means with Christ (God).

This means that believers can do the same if Christ is by their side. Deu without article means Christ. This means that those who have the faith of Emmanuel (parousia) can do it, but those who do not can't. Those who have faith in Immanuel will have God fighting ahead of them. So the spiritual identity that fights against the physical identity is fought with the power of the Holy Spirit.

The gospel revives the spiritual identity of those who are spiritually dead. So the gospel kills the physical identity received from parents. We can see that the gospel is higher than blood relations. This is the same as the things of the kingdom of God being higher than the things of the world. 『There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's,』 This means that for the faith called Immanuel, the Lord and It means a life of companionship. When a believer becomes the Immanuel faith, worldly things become insignificant to him. Immanuel faith is “a faith that obeys the words of Christ (Hologos) in the heart.” It is a move from the physical to the spiritual. “Those who do not believe that the present resurrection and the subsequent second coming of Christ have occurred” cannot win the spiritual war.

In Mark 10:31, “But many that are first shall be last; and the last first.』 The faith that follows Jesus is the Immanuel faith. The disciples left everything and followed Jesus. Even today, saints are followers of the Ho-Logos (Christ). Those who came first are believed to have believed in Jesus and lived a religious life diligently, while those who came later are those who have weak faith. However, the last ones come to realize the faith of Immanuel and enter into the true faith. It is not a matter of who comes first or last, but the one who moves forward with the faith of Immanuel becomes the first.

A person with the Immanuel faith means “a person who is presently united to the death and resurrection of the cross.” That is why believers believe that Christ enters their hearts and is with them. A temple (Holy of Holies) is established in the hearts of believers, and God is present (Parusian) in the temple. So, saints become priests and share the word with God in the temple.