St Matthew, Chapter 12, verses: 46 - 50, Family Relationships.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Jesus and His brethren). 

In the midst of his prophecy concerning the Pharisees, Christ is interrupted and  someone said to him, "Behold, thy mother and thy brethren are standing outside, seeking thee."    For while he was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brethren were standing outside, seeking to speak to him.   

Christ uses every opportunity to teach.  He uses every opportunity to open eyes and to challenge minds to understand truths.   He has finished taking to task the Pharisees and now he uses this opportunity concerning his relatives to demonstrate that we are all children of God.  We are all family.  We are all brothers and sisters and mothers, belonging to Christ and to God.  For this must have been a shocking expression to the people standing about him that he would not stop what he was doing, give precedence to his family, mother and brothers, to speak with them.  But Christ seized upon the moment to challenge the minds of the people to think beyond the flesh.  He challenged the crowd to expand their minds, their thoughts, their feelings, their understanding of who they were and the family they belonged to.

Christ asked the man who told him of his relatives,  '' Who is my mother and who are my brethren?"   This was a question that must have shocked the man and the crowd for they knew Mary and the relatives of Christ.  Some had spoken with Mary.  Some knew where she was from.  Some knew his brothers.  So for Christ to ask this question must have shocked the crowd that he would not know who they were or that he would ask who they were.  But Christ wanted to teach.  He wanted to inform.  He wanted the people to know who they were and the family they were a part of.

And stretching forth his hand towards his disciples, he said, "Behold my mother and my brethren!"  And this demonstration must have been even more proof that something was wrong.  For Christ had, in the eyes of the crowd, forsaken his natural mother and brothers for the disciples.  He had called and spoken of them as though they gave birth to him, which could imply such dishonor to his natural mother.  But Christ was a teacher.  Christ was a healer.  Christ was the Messiah and he had to shock the people to wake them up from their dream world that they may know who they were and know their heavenly family. 

Christ did not bring dishonor to Mary.  He did not bring slight to his brothers.  But, what he did do is to help the people put in perspective their relationship to each other.  For we are all brothers and sisters and mothers of each other.  For Christ then told the crowd,  "For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother."   For who gives birth to Christ?  Who is related to Christ?  Who is the sister of Christ?  He who carries the spirit of Christ within him and does the will of the Father in heaven and on earth is the mother and brother, and sister of Christ.


And Christ taught.  He showed the people that he should spend no less time with those who are his natural mother and brothers than with those who are his spiritual brothers and sisters and mothers.  For spiritual mothers give birth to the spirit of Christ in their children when they do the will of God.  And spiritual brothers carry the message of Christ within them and spread the good news of the kingdom of heaven.  And spiritual sisters marry and love those who need the love of Christ in their lives that they may in turn bring forth the eternal life of Christ in others.


We all are brothers and sisters and mothers of Christ when we do God's will.  Are you a mother of Christ?  Are you a brother of Christ?  Are you a sister of Christ?  The will of God is the tie that binds us all in one heavenly family.   Do you belong to the family?  

St Matthew, Chapter 10, verse:25b, Teacher, Pupil relationship.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Disciple not above his teacher) Part 3.   

Christ has told his disciples that no pupil is above his teacher.  He has said this to illistrate to his disciples the structure of pupil teacher relationship.  If the pupil is below his teacher and the students of the evil one are who they encounter in their solo journey then they should not worry.  They should not be afraid.  For the disciple is not above his teacher and the servant is not above his master.   The servants of Beelzebub, want to serve their master so they seek to do greater evil.  They seek to kill, to destroy, and to sactter.  But the students are not their masters only like him.

Christ tells his disciples,  "If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more those of his household!"   If the master of the household is evil, how much more can the servants of the houshold be.  The servants are not above the master.  Even though they are evil, having been trained or taken on the mindset of the master, they are not above him.  They are like him but not above him.  And the same is true of the disciples.  They are not above their teacher who is Christ, even though they strive to be like him in all ways.  Christ wants his disciples to know who they are facing and how they are to defeat them.  Their battle will not be with the master but with the disciples of the evil one.

They have been trained in preparation for thier journey into the towns and villages.  They have been trained to do battle with the dark forces that have taken over the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  They will encounter evil.  They will encounter darkness.  They will cast out demons.  They will evict evil spirits.  They will cause death to abandon its claim.  They will heal the sick.  But of all the things that they do, they will face only the disciples of the evil master.  And all are servants of the master and not above him but only like him in evil. 

So today, we the disciples of Christ, seek to be like him.  We seek to cast out demons.  We seek to heal the sick.  We seek to cause the lame to walk and the blind to see, based upon the powers that Christ will give us through the Holy Spirit.  We become followers of Christ.  If you do not follow Christ you follow the evil one.  If you do not follow Christ you are a disciple of the devil.  There is no middle ground. 

We are led to believe that we are independent agents.  We live in this world and we seek to be the best that we can be.  We live our lives according to the principals and morals handed down to us by our society.  IF we do not follow the commandments given by Christ then we follow the commandments of the devil.  Those commandments may not be evident to us because they are hidden.  They are disguised to prevent us from knowing that they are evil.  They are hidden in the way we live, the way we speak, the way we think, and the things that we do in the name of our independence.  Society tells us that we can live a life of luxury and passion.  We can have it and eat it at the same time.  There are no boundaries.  Go for it.  Do what you feel.  Be all that you can be.  These are the slogans that we live by.  And they are the slogans that lead us to become disciples of evil.  Are you a follower of Christ or a follower of the devil?  If you are not one then you are the other.