EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/16/2026
9:59 PM
My
Worship Time Focus:
PT. 1 “A True
Hearer Listens Obediently”
Bible
Reading & Meditation
Reference: Luke 8:19-20
Message of the verses: “And His mother and brothers came to
Him, and they were unable to get to Him because of the crowd. And it was reported to Him, “Your mother and
Your brothers are standing outside, wishing to see you.” But He answered and said to them, “My mother
and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.”
I am happy to look at these verses
because they have always been somewhat of a mystery to me as to why Jesus said
what He said about His mother and brothers.
MacArthur writes “Both Matthew
(12:46-50) and Mark (3:31-35) place this event involving Jesus’ mother and
brothers earlier in His ministry, before the parable of the soils.”
Matthew (12:46-50)
46 ¶ While he was still speaking to the people,
behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him.
47 48
But he replied to the man who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are
my brothers?” 49 And stretching out his
hand toward his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers!
50 For whoever does the will of my
Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."
Mark (3:31-35)
31 ¶ And his mother and his brothers came, and
standing outside they sent to him and called him. 32 And a crowd was sitting around him, and they
said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.” 33 And he answered them, “Who are my mother and
my brothers?” 34 And looking about at
those who sat around him, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers!
35 For whoever does the will of God, he
is my brother and sister and mother."
“Luke
places it here because it fits the theme of this section of his gospel, the
importance of properly hearing the word.
“As they usually are in the New
Testament, Jesus’ brothers are associated with His mother, Mary
(Matt. 13:55; John 2:12; Acts 1:14).”
(Matt. 13:55; John 2:12; Acts 1:14)
“55 Is this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother
called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?”
“12 ¶ After this he went down to Capernaum, with
his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few
days.”
“14 All these with one accord were devoting
themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and
his brothers.”
“Contrary
to the Roman Catholic dogma of Mary’s perpetual virginity, these are Jesus’
half-brothers, the biological children of Joseph and Mary. The belief that Mary remained a virgin after
giving birth to Jesus is foreign to the New Testament and the apostolic era,
first appearing in the apocryphal literature of the second century. To
avoid the obvious implication of the texts that speak of Jesus’ brothers
(and sisters; Matt. 13:56), Catholics have argued that these were Joseph’s
children from a prior marriage and hence Jesus’ step brothers. “There is no evidence, however f such a
marriage. Further, if that were the case
one of those older brothers would have been Joseph’s heir and hence the
rightful king of Israel, not Jesus (Alfred Plummer, A Critical and Exegetical
Commentary on the Gospel According to St. Luke, The International Critical
Commentary [Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1922], 224). All historical evidence points to both Joseph
and Mary being young teenagers when they married, making a previous marriage
and family nonsense.
“Others have argued that these were
Jesus’ cousins, not His brothers. But adelphos
(‘brother’) is never used in the New Testament in the sense of ‘cousin.’ In
fact, the New Testament writers had a word available that specifically means ‘cousin’
(anepsios), and when Paul referred to Barnabas’s cousin Mark he used
that word (Col. 4:10).”
(Col. 4:10)
“10 Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, and
Mark the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you have received instructions—if
he comes to you, welcome him),”
“Further
evidence that these were Jesus’ actual brothers comes from Psalm 69). In this messianic psalm Messiah says in verse
8, ‘I have become estranged from my brothers and an alien to my mother’s sons.’ Here ‘brothers’ cannot mean ‘cousins,’ or ‘step
brothers,’ since the term refers to Messiah’s mother’s sons.”
“The clear implication of such
passages as Matthew 1:18 (‘before they came together’), 25 (‘kept her a virgin
until she gave birth to a Son’) and Luke 2:7 (‘she gave birth to her firstborn
son’)is that Mary and Joseph had norma sexual relations and produced children
after Jesus’ birth.
“Having arrived at the place where Jesus
was teaching, Mary and His brothers were unable to get to Him because of the
crowd. They had to [send] word to Him and [call] Him’ (Mark 3:31). Their request to speak with Jesus (Matt.
12:46) was passed through the crowd (v. 47) and it was reported to Him, ‘Your
mother and Your brothers are standing outside, wishing to see You.’
(Mark 3:31)
31 ¶ And his mother and his brothers came, and
standing outside they sent to him and called him.”
(Matt. 12:46)
“46 ¶ While he was still speaking to the people,
behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him.”
(Mark
3:20-21)
“Mark
3:20-21) reveals that they were concerned about the massive crowds that
followed Jesus everywhere, and fearful of the rising hostility of the Jewish
religious leaders.”
“20 Then he went home, and the crowd gathered
again, so that they could not even eat. 21
And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were
saying, “He is out of his mind.”
“Having
erroneously concluded that Jesus had taken leave of His senses (Mark 3:21),
Mary and His brothers had come to rescue Him.
That Joseph does not appear here or anywhere in the New Testament after
the incident in the temple (Luke 2:41-50) suggests that he was dead by this
time.”
(Luke 2:41-50)
“41 ¶ Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year
at the Feast of the Passover. 42 And
when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. 43 And when the feast was ended, as they were
returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know
it, 44 but supposing him to be in the
group they went a day’s journey, but then they began to search for him among
their relatives and acquaintances, 45
and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching
for him. 46 After three days they found
him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking
them questions. 47 And all who heard him
were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 And when his parents saw him, they were
astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so?
Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.”
49 And he said to them, “Why were you
looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” 50 And they did not understand the saying that
he spoke to them.”
“Jesus’
assigning Mary into the care of the apostle John at the cross (John 19:27)
further confirms that Joseph was dead.”
(John 19:27)
“27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your
mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.”
9/16/2026
11:19 PM
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