Meditation: Who do you love and cherish the most? God did
not intend for us to be alone, but to be with others. He gives us many
opportunities for developing relationships with family, friends, neighbours,
and co-workers.
Why did Jesus, on this occasion, seem to ignore his own
relatives when they pressed to see him? His love and respect for his mother and
his relatives was unquestionable. Jesus never lost an opportunity to teach his
disciples a spiritual lesson and truth about the kingdom of God. On this
occasion when many gathered to hear Jesus he pointed to another higher reality
of relationships, namely our relationship with God and with those who belong to
God.
What is the essence of being a Christian? It is certainly
more than doctrine, precepts, and commandments. It is first and foremost a
relationship a relationship of trust, affection, commitment, loyalty,
faithfulness, kindness, thoughtfulness, compassion, mercy, helpfulness,
encouragement, support, strength, protection, and so many other qualities that
bind people together in mutual love and unity. God offers us the greatest of
relationships union of heart, mind, and spirit with himself, the very author
and source of love (1 John 4:8,16). God's love never fails, never forgets,
never compromises, never lies, never lets us down nor disappoints us. His love
is consistent, unwavering, unconditional, and unstopable. Nothing can deter him
from ever leaving us, ignoring us, or treating us unkindly. He will love us no
matter what. It is his nature to love. That is why he created us – to be united with him and to share in his love and unity of
persons (1 John 3:1). God is a trinity of persons –
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – and a
community of love. That is why Jesus challenged his followers and even his own
earthly relatives to recognize that God is the true source of all
relationships.
God wants all of our relationships to be rooted in his love.
Jesus is God's love incarnate – God's love
made visible in human flesh (1 John 4:9-10). That is why Jesus describes
himself as the good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep and the
shepherd who seeks out the sheep who have strayed and lost their way. God is
like the father who yearns for his prodigal son to return home and then throws
a great party for his son when he has a change of heart and comes back (Luke
15:11-32). Jesus offered up his life on the cross for our sake, so that we
could be forgiven and restored to unity and friendship with God. It is through
Jesus that we become the adopted children of God –
his own sons and daughters. That is why Jesus told his disciples that they
would have many new friends and family relationships in his kingdom. Whoever
does the will of God is a friend of God and a member of his family – his sons and daughters who have been ransomed by the precious
blood of Christ.
An early Christian martyr once said that "a Christian's
only relatives are the saints" – namely
those who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ and adopted as sons and
daughters of God. Those who have been baptized into Jesus Christ and who live
as his disciples enter into a new family, a family of "saints" here
on earth and in heaven. Jesus changes the order of relationships and shows that
true kinship is not just a matter of flesh and blood. Our adoption as sons and
daughters of God transforms all of our relationships and requires a new order
of loyalty to God first and to his kingdom of righteousness and peace. Do you
want to grow in love and friendship? Allow God's Holy Spirit to transform your
heart, mind, and will to enable you to love freely and generously as he loves.
"Heavenly Father, you are the source of all true
friendship and love. In all my relationships, may your love be my constant
guide for choosing what is good and for rejecting what is contrary to your
will."
The following reflection is courtesy of Presentation
Ministries (c) 2013. Their website is located at presentationministries.com
WHERE THERE'S GOD'S
WILL, THERE'S THE WAY
"I have come to do Your will." —Hebrews 10:9
Jesus' relatives "came to take charge of Him, saying,
'He is out of His mind' " (Mk 3:21). Because His relatives thought He was
crazy, you might think Jesus would "mind His manners." Jesus,
however, was not one to succumb to pressure in even the slightest way. Jesus
then said something He knew would make Him look crazy. When told that His
mother, brothers, and sisters were outside, Jesus asked the "crazy"
question: "Who are My mother and My brothers?" (Mk 3:33) Imagine
someone telling you your wife was on the phone. What if you said: "Who is
my wife?" Wouldn't it make people doubt your sanity, especially if you
were already being described as insane? Obviously, Jesus didn't care how He
sounded or what people thought. Jesus' concern was not to protect Himself or
please people; His total concern was to do the will of His Father (see Mk
3:35). To do the Father's will was Jesus' food (Jn 4:34). He delighted to do
the Father's will (see Ps 40:9). When God's will became bitterly painful, Jesus
did it anyway. He said and lived: "Not My will, but Thy (the Father's)
will be done" (Mt 26:39, our transl.). Jesus did the Father's will, even
to death on the cross (see Phil 2:8).
Prayer: Father, I decide to do Your will, especially in the
situations where I am tempted to be self-willed.
Promise: "By this 'will,' we have been sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." —Heb 10:10
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