The ties that bind us are the ties that blind us!

Luke 8:19-21

Jesus' mother and brothers came to him, but were unable to join him because of the crowd. Someone said to Jesus, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside and want to see you.” Jesus said to them all, “My mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”

Food for thought!

It is not difficult to see that, at least during his lifetime, Jesus' family were not always forthcoming with him. Mk.3:21 tells us how his kinsmen came and tried to restrain him because they believed him to be mad. In Matt.10:36 Jesus warns his followers that a man's foes may well be those of his own household. Well, he was speaking out of hard and bitter experience.

Whether we want to admit it or not, we are dependent on our families for our well-being; our families are very important for our growth; we owe them our childhood and much of our adulthood. However, those we know best and those who know us most, like our families, can be our greatest challenge. This was the case with Jesus. His mother and brethren came and stood outside desiring to speak to him; unlike everybody else what was listening to Jesus that day, Jesus' family was outside when they too should have been standing inside, desiring to listen to him. Yes, a prophet is not one for his own people. Jesus said. He was teaching others, not his own people. They were literally saying to Jesus, "Stop it, and come out; stop talking and come to listen to us".

Obviously this attitude was just too much for Jesus, and he had to confront it head on: "Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?" He asked. And he answered: “My mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” Jesus wanted and wants to teach us a lesson. Obedience to God is more important than obedience to men, even when these men are our relations. (Acts 5:29).

Another lesson is that many times, our greatest distraction in doing God's will, and in embracing new opportunities are our relations and friends. The tendency not to upset our dearest people many times make us forsake God's inspirations. This is why the burden of what we know always limits us in embracing new opportunities. The old is the enemy of the new. THE TIES THAT BIND US ARE THE TIES THAT BLIND US. (Andrew Hargadon).

There is in this passage a great and practical truth. It may very well be that we find ourselves closer to people who are not related to us than we do to our own family and relatives. The deepest relationship of life is not always a blood relationship; it is the relationship of mind to mind and heart to heart (like husband and wife). It is when people have common aims, common principles, common interests, a common goal that they become really and truly kin. That is why Jesus said what he said: “My mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”