The Bible is a family history. Genesis is the story of Adam and his family. The Old Testament is the story of Abraham's family; the New Testament, of Jesus' family. Jesus spent the night before he died with his brothers, at the supper table. He was not working late at the office.
Jesus came as a "brother" to Israel - in the Aramaic of the day, he was part of their family, a relation. The word "brother" was used for all male kin, not just the sons of your mother or father. Jesus is the hope of his family. He is the answer to our family of origin problems.
In the Book of Matthew we begin with Jesus' Hebrew genealogy. In the book of Luke the genealogy of Jesus is extended back to Adam. Jesus is kin to each of us, our "brother," and his love and justice extend to all mankind. We are his family. We are not mere numbers, we are not "strangers" to him. He expresses his care for us as his deeply loved brothers, mothers and sisters.
Our hearts are comforted by knowing that He loves us with the unconditional love, mingled with absolute honesty, that is the very best that good families offer. It is no accident that a society who denies Jesus, who denies God, becomes uprooted, bleak, despairing, and suicidal. We have lost our family. We have lost the bedrock of love and acceptance that we were meant to have.
Jesus was accused of spending too much time at weddings and feasts, eating and drinking. He spent a lot of time with family and friends, being happy together. Jesus had this to say about his family:
“Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.”He did not exclude or deny his biological family by this statement. Rather, He included in his family "whoever does the will of my heavenly Father." We see this most especially at the cross, when he joined John and Mary together as son and mother.
Remember that when Jesus speaks, it is not just an assertion of fact. Jesus' words are acts of power. By His word all was created. When he says we are his family if we do the will of God, it is not just "as if," or figurative, language. We are by His word made His family.
Christmas is the day we begin again our worship of Jesus, who came to us as a new-born baby, to show us a new life. We are all welcome to participate in his new and perfect life, because He loves us. We are His sisters and brothers.
We all have our "family of origin" issues, as the psychologists tell us. Jesus is the healing of our family of origin issues. He is our "family of destination." And our destination is a wedding banquet.
Family of Destination. I love it. Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteAnd Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your lovely family!
DeleteJesus' words are acts of power. By His word all was created. When he says we are his family if we do the will of God, it is not just "as if,"...
ReplyDeleteThat fact changes everything! My present, my past, my eternity. Hope.
My hope is built on nothing less. . .
DeleteGood thoughts indeed and we can add the unique mystery of the New Testament revelation that God Himself who is a unity also is a trinity family. SRF
ReplyDeleteInteresting that our society believes that family is a human construct that we can manipulate as we will, all to good effect.
DeleteHow very wrong.