Who is my mother and who are my brothers?

5. And arriving at the house,  they found such a large crowd  of people gathered there that they could not even eat their meal. When his family learned of this, they came to take charge of him because they said that he had lost his mind.

Therefore, when his mother and brothers arrived,  they remained  outside and asked for him to be called. Now the people were seated around him and someone said to him, “Your mother and brothers are outside calling for you.”

But he answered them, “Who is my mother and who are my brothers?” And looking at those who were seated around him, he said, “These are my mother and my brothers, for whoever does God’s will is my brother, my sister and my mother.” (Mk. 3:20,21, 31-35; Mt. 12:46-50)

6. Some of the words used by Jesus seem strange and appear to belie his goodness and inalterable benevolence toward everyone. Disbelievers never cease to use this as a weapon, stating that he contradicted himself. The undeniable fact, however, is that  his doctrine has as its essential foundation and cornerstone the law of love and charity. Thus, he could not destroy on one hand what he established on the other, and we must therefore draw the unbending conclusion that, if some of his maxims are in contradiction with that basic principle, it is because the words attributed to him have been either wrongly conveyed, wrongly understood or were not his at all.

7. It is understandably a cause for wonder that, in this circumstance, Jesus displays such indifference toward his family and in a certain way denies his own mother.

Regarding his brothers, it  is said that  they never held him in much esteem; being little-advanced spirits, they did not understand his mission; in their opinion, his behavior was bizarre and his teachings did not touch them, since he did not have one disciple from amongst them. It seems that to a certain extent they might even have shared the prejudices of his enemies. The fact of the matter is that they welcomed him more as a stranger than as a brother whenever he met with his family, and John states specifically that “they did not believe in him.” (Jn. 7:5)

As for his mother, no one could question her tenderness toward her son. However, one must also agree that she too seemed not to have had a very precise idea about Jesus’ mission, as she was never known to follow his teachings or give testimony regarding him as did John the Baptist; maternal solicitude was the sentiment that predominated in her. As far as Jesus is concerned, to believe that he denied his mother would be to show ignorance of his character: such an idea could not have animated the one who said, “Honor your father and your mother.” Hence, it is necessary to look for another meaning for his words, which were nearly always shrouded in the veil of allegory.

Jesus never wasted an opportunity to give a lesson; therefore, he took advantage of his family’s arrival to establish the difference between corporeal kinship and spirit kinship.