Luke 8:19-21

Luke chapter 8, reading verses 19 to 21 for our text and study this morning. So reads God’s word. Then came to him his mother and his brethren and could not come at him for the press. and it was told him by certain which said, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to see thee. And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God and do it. God blessed to us His sacred and holy word this morning. Pastor Earl Kelly of the First Baptist Church of Holy Springs, Mississippi, was preaching one Sunday morning on the Second Coming of Christ, when suddenly in the middle of his sermon, a large light bulb above the pulpit dropped and crashed on the floor in front of the pulpit. Kelly, without skipping a beat, never missed the moment. He told his worshipers that Christ’s coming will be just as sudden, unexpected, and devastating for those who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord seizes the moment to bring home a spiritual truth in our text this morning when he’s interrupted. And we find he doesn’t miss a beat either when it comes to the spiritual principle that’s the most important thing. Christ here was preaching at a house. We read that his family was outside, so we assume he’s in a house. We also assume from Matthew’s Gospel that he’s in Copernium, or the outskirts of Copernium, near Copernium at this particular time. When Mary’s mother, and some of his brothers here, he did have a number of brothers, physical brothers. The word brotherhood can also refer to some type of relative. We don’t know if it includes both or what, but regardless of that case, some of his relatives came with his mother and they came all the way from Nazareth to see him. The multiple people that was in the house, or around close to the house at least, that could hear Christ, was so great that they, they couldn’t even get close enough to get his attention. And so they couldn’t come near to him. They couldn’t speak to him. And a message somehow was conveyed up through the crowd to the Lord who was speaking in the front. Matthew’s Gospel says that the message got to him while he was speaking to the people. And the message was thy brother, or thy mother and thy brethren stand without. the house desiring to see that. Now we’re going to see how Christ responds to this and who it is that truly makes up his family. I want to talk about Christ’s true family from this passage this morning. I’ll begin by saying this. You find Christ interrupted in his preaching by his mother and his brother here in verses 19 and 20. then came to him his mother and his brother and could not come at him for the press and it was told him by certain which said thy mother and thy brother and thy brother stand without desiring to see thee. Parallel passage tells us while he yet talked with the people. So this was an interruption. And I want to make that clear that he’s speaking and he’s interrupted by some kind of message that’s brought to you by somebody, hey, your mother and your brothers are outside. They want to speak to you. Why his mother and his brother came is not specified here in our text. But we know one of the reasons may have been to persuade him to stop and break off what he was doing. Because in Mark 320, we read in the multitude, who come together again so that they could not so much as eat bread. And when his friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him and they said, he’s beside himself. Perhaps they thought he was, would totally exhaust himself. That he would break down under this constant ministry that he’s engaged in. Perhaps they were worried that he would offend the Pharisees and be thrown out of the synagogue and that would affect them. We don’t know exactly what. why they came. But whatever the case, it seems here that his family meant to interrupt him while he is doing the work of the ministry. We should always realize that the devil is the sworn enemy to the true preaching of the gospel of Christ, and he is behind all the affairs and all the efforts to hinderer its proclamation. Here Satan is trying Christ to see if he would prefer his natural family to his spiritual family, if he would prefer his natural family to the work of the ministry of the gospel of Christ. Satan is always working. He wants to silence faithful preaching. He may try to do it by the scribes and the Pharisees. He may try to do it by a demonic person. He may do it by his family, as the case may be in this case. We should be aware of Satan’s agenda. We should expect him to try to disrupt the proclamation of the Word of God whenever it takes place. And he can use all kinds of subtle means to do so. If you’ve ever read the autobiography of C.H.H. Spurgeon, Charles had the, Spurgeon from London. Early on in his ministry, he had such masses of people that were flocking to him that New Park Street pulpit could not handle. That church could not handle the masses. And so what they decided to do was to look for a larger capacity place, and so they rented the Surrey Gardens music. hall that could accommodate huge crowds. The first time he spoke there, he had in attendance between 10,000 and 12,000 people standing room only. It’s hard for us to imagine that. But soon we see that Satan was active and he planned to interrupt the service. Now Spurgeon led the gathering through a number of, um, um, songs. He read scripture and gave a brief summary and exposition of the scripture he read. And then he had planned to have prayer. And as he began his prayer, then he was going to have the sermon after he had this prayer. But the prayer was the prayer was the signal for those who were going to interrupt the service. He had some bad actors that came. to do mischief. And so they waited until everything was quiet and everyone was listening to the prayer of Spurgeon. And they chose this time to spring their trap. And a large number of people in this crowd yelled out fire at one time. And all of a sudden it created total panic, disorder, flight, terror, and even death. Because hundreds of people rushed toward the exits at one time, seven people got trampled to death. Others got injured severely when this occurred. Spurgeon was so shaken by this incident. He could not preach for weeks afterwards. You learn that Satan here is tirelessly at work to interfere with the preaching of the word of God. Secondly, you learn those nearest in relation to a faithful preacher may be the most negligent to hear him. Christ’s family stood without the house. And the question we would ask is, why weren’t they at the house? Why weren’t they there to hear him preach? While they often had the privilege of speaking to Christ privately, why is it that they didn’t come to hear him publicly? They don’t seem to be very eager with regard to hearing him publicly speak. Frequently, those who are the closest to the minister are negligent to hear his preaching because the preacher is not given the honor and respect that he should if he’s a faithful minister. Jesus said this in Matthew 1357. A prophet is not without honor save in his own country and in any. his own house. How sad it is to have the word nigh unto you that you could hear the word of God. You have access the faithful preaching, but you don’t take advantage of it. Matthew Henry in his commentary says this is a common proverb. He says, the nearer the church, the further from God. This is more common than you might think because we find that a preacher’s family and close relatives often resent him. And they won’t come to hear and preach. In Christ’s family, you discover this sad fact in John 7, 5, for neither did his brother believe in him. They didn’t believe in him. They didn’t have faith in Christ. And this is an indication of why they didn’t come to hear and preach. Relatives often despise the preacher and the family. He’s offensive. to them. And therefore the last thing they want to do is come to hear and preach. I have relatives that the only time they’ve heard me preach as at a funeral for one of the family members, that’s the only time they would darken the door of the church, come in to hear, come to the assembly to hear the order to go. So you learn that the nearest in relationship to a faithful preacher maybe there’s no negligent to hear him preach. You learn something else, or even the godly may prove to be an impediment to the word of God. Now we have Mary, his mother included. While his brothers, we know, didn’t believe. Mary is a believer. In fact, the scripture says Mary, the mother of Christ, was a godly woman, highly favored by the Lord, and the Lord was born. with her. Luke 128. We saw that earlier. She too wanted to speak to Christ and see him, possibly to get him to retire from the madness of these crowds, worried maybe about the welfare of her son. Mary being Christ’s mother, often is guilty of trying to tell him what to do. You recall at the wedding of Cana, her motherly insomely. Her motherly instincts kicked in. Mary went to Jesus urging him to do something when the banquet, the feast ran out of wine. You got to do something. And he had to say, woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine are not yet come. He sort of does the miracle on the sly. He does it sort of quietly. His disciples thought, understood what happened. And the people that had the water jars and they realize what happened, but other people didn’t understand it, and he didn’t publicize it. But Mary seems at times to be working across purposes at what Christ intends to do. Such is the case here. It was Christ’s prerogative, not as mother, to do everything wise and well and in its proper season. When Christ was 12 years old, you remember. remember that the family went up to Jerusalem for the Passover feast. We read about it in Luke chapter 2, and he stays behind afterwards. And then his parents think that he’s with all the other relatives just mixed in and they make this group Exodus back to Nazareth. But at the end of the day, the day’s journey, they don’t find him. And so they go back to Jerusalem looking for it. Three days later, they find him in the temple. And he’s sitting there. there in the midst of the doctors of law, questioning them and hearing what they have to say and so forth. And when she gets an opportunity, his mother says to him, son, why hast thou dealt with us this way? Behold thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing, Luke 248. And what does Christ said to her? Christ says, how is it that you sought me? Wish you not that I must be about my father’s business? business. Don’t you understand that? And the scripture says that his mother kept these sayings in her heart. She pondered them over. It would have been well if she remembered that lesson, kept pondering them over when we came to this situation, because we have a very similar type of circumstance. She shouldn’t have interrupted Christ when he was about his father’s business. many who are sincere believers, even good intentioned, may prove to be a hindrance to the cause of Christ. You remember Peter, when our Lord disclosed that when he went up to Jerusalem, that he’s going to die, he’s going to be betrayed, that he’s going to be turned over to the Gentiles, he’s going to be put to death, crucified, and he’s going to die in what does Peter say? This is good Lord, our redemption is going to be. to come through this. No. Peter says to him, takes him aside, and he rebukes him and says, be it far from thee, Lord, this shall not be unto thee. Can you imagine that? Now, Peter is one of the many sincere Christians. He’s a disciple of Christ. He’s been chosen to be an apostle of the Lord. And here he is, he’s actually hindering the great word. He’s a disciple. He’s a disciple of Christ. He’s been chosen to be an apostle of the Lord. of Christ he’s going to die on the cross. And this is what everybody needs to hear, is this. Thou savorst not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. Mary needed to hear that. And so did Peter need to hear that. Sometimes believers need to hear that. We’re thinking too much from a human perspective. We’re not looking at things from the divine perspective and the work of the Lord going forward. Sometimes believers are just too earthly minded. They fail to grasp what is actually pleasing to the Lord. So don’t be guilty of being worldly minded. Be spiritually minded. Be spiritually wise. So you find Christ interrupted in his preaching by his mother and his brother. That’s the first thing we see. Now the second thing we see is this. You find how Christ responded to this interruption in his preaching in verse 21. And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God and do it. Now as we look at this passage, this verse, you learn here not to regard your family and your relatives so much that it interferes with your service to God. In other words, even though you love your relatives and your family, they have to take second place to the service of God. God’s service comes first. Christ here is completely focused upon the work. He refuses to be interrupted. He does not stop. He starts to speak about who are his true mother and brother. Now, he does this in order to put the emphasis again on what’s important. And it’s not the physical relationship. It’s the spiritual relationship that’s important. Now, the Lord wasn’t disrespectful of his mother. He wasn’t unkind to his brothers or his relatives here. He just keeps everything in its proper perspective. Lesser duties. Those things about speaking to your mother and your brother take second place to the preaching, the proclamation of the Word of God. Everything that comes into competition that with your duty to the Lord must take second place. Remember what the church is told in Psalm 45. Hark and O daughter and consider in climb thine ear. Forget also thine own people and thy father’s house. Psalm 4510. We sing that song. We sing that part. What does that mean? It means. When we’re worshipping Christ, when we’re serving Christ, when we’re married to Christ, the physical relationship has to take a second place, into the point even of forgetting it, necessary. Look with me at Luke 14. What Jesus says in verse 26 of this chapter. Jesus says this. If any man come to me and hate not his father and his mother and wife and children and brethren and sisters, yea, in his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. Here he means that coming to him is of top priority, and it may mean forsaking family. It may mean realizing that you can’t love your life more than serving me. That’s what he’s trying to say. That it may mean the rejection at times or at least the putting off a father and mother. And so we see this. And so we see this in scripture. Being his disciple was the key factor. God’s work in God’s kingdom must be kept first in your life if you’re a disciple of the Lord. Christ provides an example how zeal for God and for God’s house, the church, we find here, consumed him. Ate him up. When a person is zealous for God’s glory and the good of souls, there may be times when you may feel neglected. But it’s only because Christ must come first. God’s kingdom must come first. So you learn not to allow your regard for your family and relatives to interfere with your service to God. Notice something else here. You learn not to give Mary an exalted place. Christ’s teaching here does not exactly exalt Mary, does it? In fact, we would say that it basically is telling her that she’s wrong to interrupt him. It shows how his disciples, and I mean all his disciples, all believers, are on an equal footing with her. Mary must have felt the sting of Christ’s teaching here. The Lord does not regard her as special and unique in his kingdom. No, she has to be only included in the group that hear the word of God and do it. Along with everybody else, all other believers. How contrary this is to the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church. Christ does not heed Mary’s call here. Your mother’s outside? She wants to talk to you. Too bad. I’m busy about the Lord’s business. My father’s business. He doesn’t heed her. Don’t tell me that if we pray to Mary oh, that gives the end to Christ. This passage shows it doesn’t. Jesus doesn’t give Mary an exalted place. All believers are equal to her. That’s what we see. The Roman Catholic Church devised a new doctrine in 1854, which was declared by Pope Pius the 9th, the Immaculate Conception. And that teaches that the Blessed Mary is from the first instance of her conception, preserved free from all stand of original sin. Supposedly. In other words, they want to say that Mary is born miraculously just like Christ. Putting her on an equal level with Jesus Christ. She doesn’t have a fallen nature, we’re told. You never find this teaching in the Bible. Look at our text. It’s a rebuke of Mary’s interference in Christ’s work. She’s wrong to interfere. Nor is Mary able to interfere with Christ, influence Christ here to make Him heed her. He’s far from taking commands from her. Friends, Mary is just like us. She’s a sinful human being just like you and I are. She’s no different than all the rest of Christ’s disciples. She is admit such. Recall her song in Luke 147 when she speaks of the need of a Savior. She calls God her Savior. Christ is her Savior. The exaltation of Mary to the place of Great Intercessor and Co-redeemer is blasphemous doctrine that takes away from the glory that’s due under our Savior alone. It detracts from the great work of Jesus Christ as a very wicked and perverse doctrine. So you learn not to give Mary an exalted place here. The third thing here is you learn that a physical relationship does not bestow saving benefits. Our Lord alludes to the fact that many of his brother and here or relatives did not believe on him or obey his word. Nothing but personal faith and submission to Christ can avail for the safety of your soul. John’s gospel tells you, neither did Christ’s brother and believe in him in John 7.5, so the physical relationship did not, in and of itself, convey grace. Without faith, Christ’s relatives, could not be saved. This is a basic truth. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. and thy house. Your house is saved in the same way you are. You read that passage. We read that the family believed on him too. Not just the jailer. He that believeeth not shall be damned. My friend’s grace is not automatically conveyed. It is always sovereignly bestowed by the Lord. In Abraham, family, Grace was granted the Isaac, but not the Ishmael. And Jacob’s family, it was granted to Jacob, but not the Esau. And David’s family, it was granted to Solomon, but not Absalon. Now, we always say there’s a great advantage to being in a family, let’s say, that proclaims God’s word. You have Bible to study, you have prayer time together, because you’re being exposed to the Word of God. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God, and God often uses that means to draw people to themselves. And so what a privilege it is to be in a family where the Word of God is set before your eyes and promote it. We don’t want to minimize that. But at the same time we will say this, that salvation ultimately is in God’s hands. and he saves whom he pleases. And he often uses that association. Thus, you are called upon to repent of your sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as the only safe means of knowing where you stand with regard to eternal matters. You are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. Relations 3.26. You learn of the physical relationship does not bestow saving benefits. Fourthly, you learn the high honor bestowed upon Christ’s disciples here. The description of Christ’s disciples is this. Those, these which hear the Word of God and do it. The true Christian, the true disciple, is said to be one who is obedient to the Word of God. You hear the call of God, you repent, and you believe. You hear the call of God. You hear God’s command to cease to do evil and learn to do well, and you obey it. You hear put off concerning the former conversation or behavior of the old man which is corrupt according to deceitful lust, and put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness, and you obey it. You hear God’s call, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for justification. You cast aside any righteousness, any righteousness, any hope of righteousness that you have on your own and you throw it away and you trust in Christ for the salvation that the gospel proclaims. you hear the call of God to be holy as he is holy and you obey it. you mortify the deeds of the body, you walk after the spirit because God commands it and you obey it. this is what true Christianity is really all about. This is what Christ says his true disciples do. Ask yourself, does this describe me? Am I one who fits the description of someone when they see what God’s word says is it trying to implement? Not that we’re perfect at it, but is this our goal? Is this our focus to obey Christ? So we have the description of Christ’s disciples. And we see the dignity of Christ’s disciples here in verse 21 also because they’re classified as his mother and his brother. Those who leave the world, those who perhaps have to turn their backs upon their own physical families, find Christ’s doctrine very near and dear to them because it says you’re in my family. You’re in the family of God. Jesus says his disciples are his true family. He’s not ashamed. and you call us, brother. Since you are born of God, Christ will fully perform the kind offices of a kinsman redeemer for you. The near relative that steps in and buys you back from slavery. And that’s what he did for us, spiritually speaking. What an honor to be so nearly related to the king of kings and the Lord of Lord. Jesus is one who sticketh closer than a brother, a physical brother to us. All obedient Christians are Christ’s brothers. We have his name, we bear his image, we share his nature, and we are in his family. We learn from this how you are to regard those who hear the word of God and obey it. They’re in the same family as we were. They’re brothers and sisters in the Lord. We should regard the lowest Christian as a brother or sister in the Lord. Remember what Christ said in Matthew 2540, and as much have you done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, you’ve done it under me. You’ve done it unto me. So you learn the honor bestowed upon Christ’s disciples. Well, Pastor Kelly, the first Baptist Church, there in Mississippi, had that accident where the light bulb falls and shatters and sort of disrupts this, everybody, he never skips a beat. Goes right into, well, look how this reminds us of what’s going to happen when Christ does come. Christ here doesn’t skip a beat. When he hears that his mother and his brother and her outside, he doesn’t stop teaching, he still goes it teaches. He just grabs a hold of that idea and carries it forth and gives a spiritual meaning to it. Friends, let us appreciate our Savior here. He’s always thinking spiritually. He’s always thinking what’s best for his audience to hear. And he’ll put first the kingdom of God above everything else. Let us close with prayer this morning.