Q: In Matthew 12:47, as Jesus is teaching the people, Mary his mother, along with his brothers, stand outside, wanting to speak with him. But when Jesus is informed that they are there, he does not finish speaking to go to them. Instead, he asks the crowd, Who is my mother? Who are my brothers? This seems disrespectful toward his family.
A: I may cover this objection more thoroughly in comments on the Gospel of Mark, where the pertinent text is paralleled (in Mark 3:31-35). A short answer: the visit was not particularly urgent, and Jesus was in the middle of a sermon. Suppose a heart transplant-surgeon was in the middle of performing a heart-transplant, and suddenly his mother and brothers show up. They want to see him. The surgeon knows that they want to talk with him about his decision to be a surgeon. So what should the surgeon do: walk out of the operating room the instant his family shows up? No; whatever his family-obligations are, they are superceded by the urgency of his task. Same story here in the text. It was not disrespectful of Jesus to use the occasion of His familys visit as an opportunity to deliver a 20-second lesson about spiritual brotherhood.
Yours in Christ,
Waterrock
A: I may cover this objection more thoroughly in comments on the Gospel of Mark, where the pertinent text is paralleled (in Mark 3:31-35). A short answer: the visit was not particularly urgent, and Jesus was in the middle of a sermon. Suppose a heart transplant-surgeon was in the middle of performing a heart-transplant, and suddenly his mother and brothers show up. They want to see him. The surgeon knows that they want to talk with him about his decision to be a surgeon. So what should the surgeon do: walk out of the operating room the instant his family shows up? No; whatever his family-obligations are, they are superceded by the urgency of his task. Same story here in the text. It was not disrespectful of Jesus to use the occasion of His familys visit as an opportunity to deliver a 20-second lesson about spiritual brotherhood.
Yours in Christ,
Waterrock
