RHM Bible Studies

Mornin' kinfolks! In my mind today, I am sitting cross-legged on the floor near Jesus and listening to Him speak His Word to me. This is the scene of my Bible study - Jesus has a crowd sitting around Him when His mother Mary and his brothers arrived outside the house He is in. They were very concerned about the well being of Jesus and sought to care for Him, but with all the people gathered there, they stood outside and had someone go in to tell Jesus to come out to them. I can imagine "Hey, dude - like your mom and brothers are outside looking for you!" Jesus had an interesting reply. He said "Who are my mother and my brothers?" "Here are my brother and sister and mother." "Whoever does God's will is my brother, sister and mother." These words of Jesus could have been looked at as flippant, arrogant and self-serving statements. The Truth in the matter is that Jesus, in looking around at all the people, decided to use the occasion as a teachable moment to help the people around Him to understand that each of them were like family to Him. Each one of them who chose to follow Him in doing the Father's will were children of His Father and part of one big eternal family. The story does not tell us if Jesus shared this thought with those around Him and then went out to talk with His earthly mother and brothers, but we do know He cared. Scripture tell us that one of the things near to His heart as He hung on the cross was the care of His mother and He saw her heavy heart as she was losing her son to death. He saw John, His disciple whom He loved next to her and He said "Dear woman, here is your son" and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." The text says from that time on, the disciple took her into his home. This word "Dear" is an indicator that this woman was very special to the heart of Jesus and He looked after her well being. He honored her. The second thought that stands out to me in this passage is that the people around Jesus were teachable. They wanted to learn from Jesus and they took the time to sit at His feet to do so. They were willing to listen and consider something new, not be stuck in a rut! They were on their way to hearing and believing in the new covenant of Christ and becoming new creations - set free from sin and death by the blood Jesus would be shedding on the cross for each of them and us, too, His family members! Jesus knew if He could win their hearts, no longer would they be slaves to the old Law that said they would have to work out their acceptance by God by living out a set of rules. God's will was that they would have freedom in Christ and be accepted into His great eternal family. Whoohoo! I don't know about you, but that freedom feels good to this chick and Jesus has my heart! Oh, and one more bonus - I'm thankful to be a part of such a great family of God! Love to you all! ~Sheila~ Mk 3:31-35; Jn 19:25-27; Lk 22:20; Ro 10; 2 Pe 3:9

Labels: Acceptance, Family, Freedom, New, Teachable, Work