In Luke 8:19–21, Jesus’ mother and brothers show up while He’s teaching, but instead of stopping, He says, “My family are those who hear God’s word and do it.” He isn’t rejecting His mom—He proved His love for her at the cross—but He’s redefining family to include everyone who belongs to Him. Luke keeps showing us this theme: Jesus expanding the circle, pulling in women, outsiders, and those on the margins. That means in Christ, we’re family—not because of DNA, race, denomination, or nationality, but because we share the same Savior. And like any family, we may fuss, but we’re still kin in Christ. If you share my Jesus, then you’re my family.
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Good morning. It’s good to be with you on this Wednesday morning. I love Wednesdays in the fall. I’m looking forward to Wednesday Night Live here at Saint Matthew’s tonight, because I’ll be resuming my Bible study — and I love to teach Bible study.
It’s funny — I’ve been teaching Bible study here forever. I love teaching on Wednesday nights. But my wife, Holly, never comes to Bible study. Somebody once asked her, “Why don’t you go to Andy’s Bible study?” And her response was, “I’ve been listening to him chase rabbits for over twenty years. I just wish he’d catch one of them.”
So, if you want to watch me chase rabbits for an hour tonight in the Madison area, we’d love to have you for Bible study. It’s a good time. Wednesday Night Live is a lot of fun. If you’re looking for a good place to plug in on Wednesdays for children, youth, and adult activities, we’d love to see you.
Speaking of Bible study, let’s jump back into Luke’s gospel this morning. Today we’re going to read three short verses — short, but very important.
Luke 8:19–21
Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. He was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.” But he said to them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”
You may have heard preachers say — I know I’ve said it before — that one thing Jesus is always doing is expanding the circle, expanding the table, expanding who’s invited in. This is a perfect example of that.
Here’s Jesus, teaching and preaching. We’ve already seen so much in this chapter: the women accompanying him, the parable of the sower, yesterday’s lesson about the lamp under a jar. And now, in the middle of it all, his mama and his brothers show up.
Naturally, you’d expect Jesus to say, “Okay, everybody, hold on. My mom and brothers are here. Let’s wrap up for the day, and I’ll see y’all tomorrow.” That’s what most of us would do, right?
But instead, Jesus says: “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”
Now, let’s be clear about what He’s not saying. Jesus isn’t rejecting His mother or His brothers. How do we know? Look at the cross. One of the last things Jesus does before He dies is to make sure His mother is cared for. He tells John, “This is your mother.” That’s love. So Jesus isn’t dismissing His family here.
What He is doing is redefining and expanding what “family” means. Family isn’t just biology. It isn’t just DNA. It isn’t just who you happen to be related to. Family, in Jesus’ kingdom, is defined by those who hear the word of God and live it out.
In Luke’s gospel, this theme keeps showing up. We’ve seen women playing a vital role in His ministry. We’ve seen the faith of a centurion. We’ve seen widows lifted up. Over and over again, Luke shows Jesus on the side of the underdog, always pulling in those on the margins. He’s always expanding the table, always welcoming, always including.
So yes — honor your father and mother. That’s one of the Ten Commandments. But Jesus shows us family is bigger than that.
That means, as Christians, we are family to each other. The early church understood this as radical. There’s a quote from Tertullian where he notes that before they became Christians, people hated each other across races and backgrounds — but in Christ, they now loved one another.
I think about that every time I do a baptism. One of the vows we ask is: “Do you accept the freedom and power God gives you to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves?” And also: “Do you confess Jesus Christ as your Savior, put your whole trust in His grace, and promise to serve Him as your Lord, in union with the church which Christ has opened to people of all ages, nations, and races?”
That’s family. Not limited by biology, race, denomination, nationality, or any of the ways the world tries to divide us. Family is anyone who belongs to Jesus — anyone who hears His word and does it.
So, if you share my Jesus, then we are family. Even if we don’t always agree. Even if we have theological differences. I tell my Sunday school class all the time: Methodists and Presbyterians, for example, may debate free will versus God’s sovereignty, but those are family conversations. We may not see things the same way, but if we share the same Savior, we’re kin.
And let’s be honest — family isn’t always easy. Nobody loves like family, and nobody fusses like family either. That’s true in our biological families, and it’s true in the church. But still, in Christ, we are family.
So I love this picture of Jesus. He doesn’t shrink the definition of family. He widens it. He still loves His mama — don’t miss that. But He shows us that God’s family is bigger than just blood relatives. It includes all who hear the word and do it.
So if you share my Jesus, friend, then you’re my family.
Thanks for being with us today. Tomorrow, we’ll pick up with Luke 8:22. Have a great day.
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