Is Jesus Christ Anti-Family?

Well, I recently came across a short article. I do a lot of reading, and this was a short piece, but I have to admit, it angered me. It irritated me. It was entitled, and you can find it on the internet, it's entitled, Jesus the Anti-Family Christ. Yeah, it made my ears go up. What? It's entitled, Jesus the Anti-Family Christ. It was published on xchristian.net, so that can give you an idea of why it is entitled that. The author writes under a Zoononym and claims that God, quote, cares nothing about family, unquote. And that Jesus, quote, the Son of God, little g and little s, is not all that family friendly himself, unquote. Then as proof, the author quotes from Matthew 19 verse 29, which reads, everyone who has left house or brothers or sister or wife or children for my sake will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. Of course, those are the words of Christ. Now, the author says with these words that Jesus meant it literally, that his followers, he said, were to abandon their families. That was his interpretation or her interpretation. The author thereby concludes, quote, Jesus was nothing more than a narcissistic cult leader bent on separating families, unquote.

Now, that quote I thought twice about. Do I read this out loud? Because it just...

But then I remember, well, Jesus was called the Son of Belial and of Satan and things, and calling him a narcissistic cult leader isn't too far from calling him Satan. And of course, this is totally wrong. And these sort of things should anger us and irritate us in the right way with the understanding that this person doesn't understand. Their mind, his or her mind hasn't been opened yet. And so he is wrong. She is wrong for many reasons. And the sad truth is that many, some, I'll be fair, some at least, do believe that Jesus Christ is against family. I found other articles saying similar things. Now, as evidence, they draw attention to statements Jesus made. They are statements in Scripture. Yet, at the same time, they color it with their own tone. They twist it just a little bit to make his word sound more nefarious, more less loving. For example, they say that Jesus told his disciples literally to hate their families. And some of these things will be familiar to us. That Jesus told a follower not to bother with burying his father and another not to bother with telling his family farewell. They say that Jesus came to cause division in families, not peace. And they say that Jesus rejected his own family. Now, of course, these are serious accusations. I take them seriously, and I'm sure you do, too. But to conclude that Jesus is anti-family is contrary to what we find in Scripture, to what we have come to know about God and about Jesus Christ, his son. Scripture reveals that Jesus Christ was not a mere man, not just some motivational speaker or some wise rabbi. He is certainly not a narcissistic cult leader. He was the word who was with God and was God. He was in the beginning with God. He became flesh and dwelled among us. He is the Son of God. God created all things through Jesus Christ.

And we are to be imitators of God as dear children and walk in love as Christ has also loved us and given himself for us. And so we have a duty. We have a duty, then, to uphold God's truth and refute those claims that Christ and hence the Father are anti-family.

God is not against family, but totally for family. Today, we're going to look at Scripture, and we will use Scripture to defend that truth by letting Scripture answer this key question, this key question which also happens to be the title of today's sermon. That question is, is Jesus Christ anti-family? Is Jesus Christ anti-family? To show that Jesus Christ is not anti-family, in case some of you are sitting on the edge of your seats wondering, he is not anti-family by any means, but to begin to refute those accusations, those false things people say, we'll first establish that Christ upheld God's command to honor one's parents, and that he also upheld the sanctity of marriage as God designed and created it to be. You see, marriage and parents are foundational to God's ideal of family, to what God considers his ideal family. So let's turn to Mark chapter 7, Mark 7, verse 9 through 13, to begin.

In these verses, we find Jesus giving a vigorous defense of the fifth commandment, because the Pharisees had contrived a way, in this example, they had contrived a way whereby someone could avoid providing for the needs of one's own parents. They found a way to circumvent the fifth commandment. And so in Mark 7, verse 9, Jesus said to them, the Pharisees, all too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition. For Moses said, Honor your father and your mother, and he who curses father or mother, let him be put to death. God feels strongly about parents, the role of parents and family. Verse 11, But you say, But you say, If a man says to his father or mother, Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban. That means it's reserved. It's dedicated as a gift to God. Then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, making the word of God of no effect through your tradition, which you have handed down, and many such things you do. According to Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary, once a gift was offered under the special declaration of Corban, it could not be withdrawn or taken back. That gift, or offering in that case, was considered totally dedicated for the temple's special use. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia adds, Therefore, a son might be justified in not supporting his old parents simply because he designated his property or part of it as a gift to the temple, and that is Corban. And so Jesus condemned the Pharisees for allowing people to evade God's commandment in order to refuse to help one's parents in their need.

Now, in this case, I would point out to you, it was not Christ who was being anti-family, but selfish and greedy human beings, not Christ. Next, let's turn to Matthew 19.

Matthew 19.3-9.

Here, Jesus defended marriage as a foundation of family, marriage as God designed it to be. And again, we find him taking the Pharisees to task. Matthew 19.3.

The Pharisees also came to him, testing him and saying to him, Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason? You know, pay attention to that phrase. For just any reason.

And he answered and said to them, Have you not read that he who made them at the beginning made them male and female? And said, For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So then they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let not man separate. And they said to him, Well, why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce and to put her away? And Jesus said to them, Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives. But from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality and marries another, commits adultery, and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery. Now divorce is a huge topic. The point of this example is to show that clearly Christ supported marriage as God designed it, as a monogamous union between one man and one woman. I have to stress that nowadays. A monogamous relationship between one man and one woman. Divorce was not to be allowed for just any reason. That's what people preferred back then, and it's what people prefer now. Once more, we see, though, stress this point once more, we see that it is not Jesus Christ who is anti-family, but human beings. Human beings. Now critics will try to paint Christ as a cult leader, a man who was cold and calculating in his disdain for family. But Christ was and is nothing like that, and we know that. You see, Jesus also knew the importance of family.

He knew it personally. It's amazing. Let's be turning Mark 6, verses 2 through 4. It's amazing to me that speaking to people, broadly speaking, outside the Church of God, and not always, but sometimes, how many seem unaware that Jesus himself had parents and siblings. Many people don't seem to be aware of that. But Mark 6, verse 2, we see that he did. And when the Sabbath had come, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many hearing him were astonished. By the way, he's speaking at the synagogue back home where he grew up. And many hearing him were astonished, saying, where did this man get these things? And what wisdom is this that is given to him that such mighty works are performed by his hands? Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us? So they were offended at him. They didn't respect him. Now, my point is to show you that yes, he had family. And if you do the math, we find that Jesus would have had at least six siblings. He came from a large family. He came from a large family.

Now, we also know that Jesus did not have cold disregard for his family. He loved his family very much. Let's notice John 19. John 19, verse 25 through 27. John 19, 25 through 27.

Even while he was dying, Jesus was concerned for his family, and especially his mother.

John 19, 25. Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother and his mother's sister, of course, his aunt. So again, he had an extended family as well. There stood by the cross of Jesus his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing by, he said to his mother, woman, behold your son.

And then he said to the disciple, which we understand was John, he said to the disciple, behold your mother. And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.

You see, being the eldest son of the family, Jesus saw to it that his mother would be provided for. Apparently, as Joseph, his father, had died by this time. And being the oldest son, it was his responsibility to make sure his mother would be cared for. And so he entrusted her to John's care. In notes on the Bible, Albert Barnes states that John seems to have been in better circumstances than the other apostles. Tradition says that Mary continued to live with him in Judea until the time of her death, which occurred about 15 years after the death of Christ. That's the tradition. In this way, we see that Jesus took care of his mother, yes, but he also exemplifies how children should care for the needs of their parents. And we understand that.

And so, again, contrary to what his critics claim, Jesus Christ was not anti-family. But with that being said, Jesus also demonstrated something else. He also demonstrated that one's commitment and loyalty to family has its limits. It has its limits. Because one's greatest loyalty must be towards God. It must be towards God. Now, this concept is not new, but it's a concept that can be neglected. In the Old Testament, this greatest loyalty to God is decreed in Deuteronomy 6, verse 5 through 7. Let's turn there. Deuteronomy 6, verse 5 through 7. And here we read, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and you shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. Now, these words you shall teach them more specifically as addressing the Ten Commandments, God's law. And Moses declared this Deuteronomy 6, verse 5, You shall love the Lord your God. He proclaimed those words after he had presented God's Ten Commandments to Israel. And so we individually and collectively as families we are to give total loyalty to God. Parents are to live and teach their children God's law. They are to live and teach devotion to God. There should not be a difference between the way we live and what we teach, but sometimes there is. In this case, we need to live what we teach. Notice also it was within the home in Mid's family that parents and children together would practice loving God with loyalty. If you ever, I suspect most of us have had kids, grandkids, if you ever notice when you try to teach your children who else is being taught something, you are. You are. It's a holistic thing. When we're teaching our children to love God, we are also having to make sure we are loving God. And our kids can test us and try us in ways that help us to learn more how we need to love God and in more ways how we need to love our children. Parents are also students when they're teaching their children, you see.

And so it is a family had, and it still has, a vital role in teaching that one's greatest loyalty is to God. In Matthew 22, verse 37, we read here that how Jesus Christ reaffirmed this supreme loyalty to God. He called it the first and great commandment. Matthew 22, verse 37.

Matthew 22, verse 37. Jesus said to him, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. Your honor made said strength. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. We understand this to be a summary, a condensing of the Ten Commandments as it is. Now let's turn to Luke chapter 2, verse 46 through 50.

Luke 2, 46 through 50. Again, we're refuting this idea that Jesus is anti-family. He is not. Luke 2, verse 46 through 50. Just wanted to point out here to understanding, to remember that Jesus would have been taught by his parents. He would have been taught by Joseph and Mary as a child how to live according to God's commandments. And from them, he would have learned and understood how his highest loyalty was owed to God. And he understood it. It's revealed in his response to his mother's question when he was just 12 years old. He learned this principle at a very young age. Our children learn it, should be learning it at a young age as well.

Here we read how this is the episode, the time in their lives when the family was returning home from Jerusalem after keeping the Passover and feasting the love and bread. On their way, Joseph and Mary, we recall, discovered that they had left Jesus behind. They didn't do it on purpose. It was inadvertent. And Scripture says that Jesus lingered behind. He lingered behind. But now let's look at verse 46. Now, so it was after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions.

He was learning from them. He was trying to learn more. Verse 47, In all who heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. So when they saw him, his parents were amazed. They were amazed. And his mother said to him, He caused them great concern. You can imagine. I used to freak out when my kids would disappear for a few minutes in Walmart. And they only did that once to me. Right, son? Yes. Okay.

It's kind of neat having your own kid in the audience. Yeah.

Look, your father and I have sought you anxiously. In verse 49, Jesus said to them, Why did you seek me? Why did you seek me? Did you not know that I must be about my father's business?

But they did not understand the statement which he spoke to them. Now, on the surface here, we can see that Christ's loyalty to God and the way he was doing it, in that situation, definitely concerned them. And they did not really understand what he meant at that time. He said, Why did you seek me? Did you not know that I must be about my father's business? Now, these words are the earliest spoken words of Jesus Christ recorded in Scripture. He said these at age 12, is what it says. And so they suggest that at age 12, he understood that he was the Son of God and also that he understood his highest loyalty and obedience were owed to God, his father. That was a loyalty greater than that due to his physical father and mother. And so in that sense, it seems we could say that he truly lived Deuteronomy 6.5 with all his heart, soul, and strength. The same devotion to God is what we are encouraged to have in our hearts and minds, too. And we can imagine, some of us know this from experience, that living such devotion and loyalty to God may at times cause concern among our families and others whom we associate with. Some of us have lived that, and God was calling us maybe years ago now into the church. We had our family members were concerned what we were really doing as well. The point here that is going to be stressed is whatever conflicts arise as to our loyalties and commitments in life, our loyalty to God must come first and foremost. And I'll say that again. Whatever conflicts arise as to our loyalties and commitments in life, our loyalty to God must come first and foremost. As we heard in the sermonette, we are in troubling times, and they're going to become more troublesome. This is an anchor point of faith. Our loyalty to God must remain first and foremost. We will be tried severely in that in times to come. But there's something more to understand here, and it has to do with family.

What did Jesus mean, I must be about my father's business?

Now, we might understand his words to mean his need to prepare himself as he was doing in that time, listening to the teachers in the temple, learning. So that could well mean his need to prepare himself then for the work of salvation, but also he is looking long-term. He was preparing himself for the work of salvation for which God, his father, had sent him to finish. That work was to declare the gospel of the kingdom of God. We see him doing that in Mark 1.15, just to jot down your notes. And he came to establish the way of salvation by laying down his life for all humanity.

Jesus Christ's business was to do the work and finish it, of bringing salvation to humanity. And we can read a nice description of that in Hebrews chapter 2 verse 10. Hebrews 2 verse 10. This in part describes the business he was doing. Hebrews 2 verse 10, we read, for it was fitting for him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. And because Christ loves the Father in humankind, he willingly sacrificed himself in our place. He paid our death penalty because of our sins.

He willingly gave his life so that all, all people, might have the opportunity to receive salvation, eternal life, and to become sons and daughters in the family of God. Of course, the family of God right now is composed of just two beings, the Father and Jesus Christ. Let's turn to Ephesians chapter 1, verse 13 through 14. Ephesians 1, 13 through 14.

When we commit ourselves to follow Christ unto salvation, that's our commitment, when we do that, we choose. We choose to place our trust. We choose to put our total faith, our total loyalty, in God and Christ for the promise of eternal life. Notice here Ephesians 1, verse 13, 14. Paul writing, In him, in Christ, you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of his glory.

And so here we are reminded that the Father gives us his Holy Spirit. It's his power, his life essence. He does that to help us walk in his way, and his Spirit also begets in us a new life, the guarantee of our inheritance as his children. To be revealed at Christ's return. Now let's go back a few pages, Galatians chapter 4, 4 through 7. And so through Christ, God is made available to all humanity the promised sonship into his family. Not everyone knows that now. That God is just, God is righteous. He will make sure that everyone has their opportunity to understand.

Galatians 4, 4 through 7, Paul explains, but when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who are under the law that we might receive the adoption as sons. The Greek word here actually means sonship, the placing as a son. And because you are sons, verse 6, God has sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts, crying out, Abba, Father, therefore you are no longer a slave, no longer a slave to sin, but a son.

And if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. Christ makes it possible. And then if we turn to Galatians 3, maybe a page over, Galatians 3, 26, 29, we see that God's family is composed of those who bear God's Holy Spirit without regard to bloodlines or ancestry. God's family isn't about blood. It's not about, well, it is about blood, but it's not about bloodline. It's not about ancestry, kinship, in that sense. God's family is composed of those who bear God's Holy Spirit without regard to bloodlines or ancestries and who through living faith in Jesus Christ can and do God's will.

And there in verse 26, Paul says, For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free. There is neither male nor female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. Back in that time of the New Testament, centuries before then, and even still today, in some cultures, some families, you see loyalty to one's family, loyalty to one's tribe or nation was one of the most powerful, probably the most powerful influence in a person's life.

It was something you would never turn your back on family. You would never walk away from family. That was your highest loyalty. And like I say, some families, some cultures are of that way today. But God's family is not defined by bloodlines, but by repentance, by faith in Jesus Christ, and by God's Holy Spirit dwelling within an individual. And to receive salvation as the sons of God, well, that should compel us to be and to remain totally loyal, totally faithful to God. And then, and then when Christ returns, we will be resurrected as first fruits to eternal life and be among many sons of glory.

Of course, sons and the Bible is a way of saying descendants. We, it's also says children, sons and daughters, and God's divine family. Let's look at 1 John chapter 3. I find great, a great encouragement and cause to be very humble and reverent towards God in these verses. I hope you do too. 1 John chapter 3 verse 1 through 2. John expresses that awe of gratitude, that awe of devotion that we should have towards God and what he's doing.

John writes, Behold, behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we, that we should be called children of God. Therefore the world does not know us because it did not know him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be. But we know that when he is revealed, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. I hope that encourages you. We'll need to hang on to that very tightly. Jesus Christ was and is, by no means, anti-family. Jesus Christ has always been about his Father's business in preparing the way for humanity to salvation and sonship in the kingdom and family of God. Therefore it is appropriate that those who commit themselves to God practice a loyalty to God that supersedes loyalty to anything else, to anything else, whether it be family or friends or job, tribe, ideology, nation, or race. Our loyalty to God must be first. You see, with the understanding of this need for our highest loyalty be given to God, we can now go back and look at the statements Christ said, those statements I referred to at the very beginning of this sermon. We can go back and understand how those words of Christ should be understood. And with that understanding, this understanding, we can dispel the accusations that Christ's detractors would say. They would twist his words to mean that he is somehow anti-family. You can almost laugh about it because it's such a ludicrous idea, but people believe it. And we must know that we can defend that and say, no, you were wrong. So let's go back to some of these statements. I'm going to ask you to turn to them with me, and we'll read them together. Let's turn back to begin with Luke 9, Luke 9, verse 59 through 62. Luke 9, 59 through 62.

And then Jesus, he said to another, Luke 9, 59, he said to another, follow me. But he said, Lord, let me first go and bury my father. And Jesus said to him, let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God. And another also said, Lord, I will follow you, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house. But Jesus said to him, no one having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. Now, detractors say that Jesus Christ taught his followers to disregard and to ignore their families. That's not true. That's not what he's saying here. Christ's words in verse 62, where he says, no one looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. Those words suggest that he was testing the commitment and the loyalty of these two men, these two men who said they wanted to follow him. Now, for them, at their place in time, to follow Christ and be his disciple, it meant they wouldn't have a place to put their heads at night. That they would be traveling miles and perhaps months and longer away from their families, jobs. It's a different sort of commitment, but that's what he was asking them to do. And they said they wanted to follow, but let's look. And so one man wanted to follow Christ, but he made excuse to bury his father first.

Now, I've thought it through, and you probably have too. I've looked at different sources, and it really seems unlikely that this man's father was at that very moment dead and waiting to be buried. That, no, that would be counterculture for them. That wouldn't be going on. The man more likely wanted to postpone his total commitment until a more convenient time.

Like maybe when this will no longer be an issue in my family, and then I'll have some free time, and I'll be able to follow you then. That's not the way it works.

Jesus urged him to go out and preach the gospel rather than lingering with the dead, spiritually speaking. Jesus was calling him to life. He wanted him to preach the gospel of salvation. This man wanted to stay with the spiritually dead, his family, in that sense, who did not apparently understand that. Now, the second man also wanted to follow Christ, but he made an excuse to say farewell to his family first. It wasn't a convenient time yet. It seems he still wanted to cling to his old life, to his old way of living.

He was still hanging on to that. So what we see here is that neither man was putting faith and loyalty to Jesus and his gospel first in their lives. Their loyalty to kinship and family still held greater influence over them. But Jesus Christ was not teaching his followers to disregard or ignore their families. That's not what he was doing. He was trying to help them to see their need to respect and heed God more. There's a difference. He wanted them to follow God, to listen to their calling to help and serve and preach the gospel. Let's look at Luke 14, a few pages over next. Luke 14 verse 25-26. We see a similar point about respecting, heeding God more. Luke 14 verse 25. Here we read, Now great malditudes went with him, went with Christ, and he turned and said to them, if anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. Naysayers claim that, like some fanatical cult leader, Jesus commanded his disciples literally to hate their families and follow him. Now the word translated as hate is the Greek word miseo, M-I-S-E-O, and it does mean to hate. However, by extension of meaning, it can also mean to love less. And that's how we have understood the scripture to mean. He is asking them to love less. To love less, to love his parents, family members, wife, children less, aligns with what God commands elsewhere in the scripture. Elsewhere in scripture, we're commanded to love our parents. We're commanded to love our brothers, our neighbors, and who else? We're even to love our enemies. So it not makes sense that he means it literally to hate your family.

We are to have greater love for God. Jesus Christ do not teach his disciples to hate their families, but to love God in the way of salvation. To love God in the way of salvation more.

Luke 18, verse 28 through 30. Luke 18, 28 through 30.

Here we read. Luke 18, 28 through 30.

Then Peter said, see, we have left all and followed you. They've given up everything. Follow you. Follow you, Lord Jesus. So he said to them, assuredly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not receive many more times, excuse me, receive many times more in this present time and in the age to come, eternal life.

Detractors here claim that Jesus taught his followers to abandon their families, that he was wanting his followers to neglect parents, wives, and children, all for the sake of the kingdom. Now here Jesus is acknowledging, I think it's fair to say, that to follow him, to be a follower of Christ will mean making sacrifices. We're going to be doing things differently. We're making different choices. Following Christ will mean making sacrifices. It may mean leaving our homes. It may mean parting ways with unbelieving family members. And that's because loyalty to God must take first place. But Christ is not teaching the want and abandonment of one's family. That's not what he's doing. In fact, Paul would later teach—this is from 1 Timothy 5.8, you don't need to turn there—but later Paul would teach this. He'd teach that anyone who does not provide for their relatives and especially for their own household has denied the faith and is worse than unbeliever. How could it be then that Christ is teaching that we should abandon our family so we can follow him and neglect our families? No.

We are not to abandon or neglect our families. We are to love them. We're to provide for them. However, should conflicts arise between loyalty to family or anything else or loyalty to God, God must come first. When we keep God first, the promise here is that we will be blessed now with a large spiritual family and later with the addition of eternal life. It's a wonderful thing to consider. Let's turn next to Matthew 10, 34-37.

Some also contend that Christ came to destroy families. You may have read that. Matthew 10, verse 34-37. Jesus said, Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his brother, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man's enemies will be those of his own household. He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

Now, we need to understand that Jesus Christ did not come with the object and mind of destroying families. That was not his purpose. Again, that would not fit with what we've been reading. However, conflict and division would be a consequence of his gospel for some families. In fact, sword in verse 34 symbolizes discord in conflict that his coming, and certainly that his second coming, would cause. But he did not come with that object in mind. In verses 35 through 36, Jesus was quoting from the prophet Micah.

This comes from Micah 7.6, where Micah prophesied that Judah would face destruction due to its moral corruption, and in such a time family members would turn against one another. There will be certain things going on in families that a follower of Christ cannot abide with.

A follower of Christ might have to divide himself away from his family in those occasions.

Jesus acknowledged that his coming and his gospel message would cause division in some families, because some members of that family would believe him, but others would not.

Discord could arise due to disagreements of belief and faith.

Christ also foretold that some family members would persecute other family members due to their belief. Verse 21-22, Christ understood that his coming and his gospel would divide some families, and he knew what it was like himself. He experienced a degree of conflict and division in his own family. Let's look at Mark 3.21. And again, we may forget this. Jesus experienced conflict and division in his own family, his own human family. Mark 3.21.

Here we read, apparently, certain members of his own family.

Well, they thought he was insane. They thought he'd lost his mind.

Where it says, verse 21, but when his own people, the NIV says family, it can be translated as family, but when his own people, his own family heard about this, what he was doing, they went out to lay hold of him. For they said, he is out of his mind.

Some of us may have been told the same thing when God called us, and we were having differences of opinions with our families. Some of us were accused of being out of our minds. Some of us were accused of joining a cult. You might also jot down John 7, verse 5.

John 7, verse 5. It's interesting here. There we read, it's a simple sentence. You don't need to turn there. It just simply says, for even his brothers did not believe in him. Even his brothers did not believe in him. So yes, Jesus Christ understands what family can be like. He understands what it's like to be doubted and insulted by one's family due to one's higher loyalty to God. Sometimes we love our family, and it can cause conflict because we know we have to love God more. And so despite the trouble in his own family, Jesus remained loyal and faithful to God, and he will help his faithful followers to do the same. Jesus loved his family, but he loved God his father more. Now does this mean that Christ rejected his family? Did he turn his back on them? That's what some believe. Did he teach his followers to do likewise? Well, we're still here in Mark chapter 3. Let's go down to verse 31. It seems this, the second attempt by his family, his mother and brothers to take hold of him, this account we're about to read, it seems this all happened on the same day. So this might have been the second attempt by his family to take him away. Mark 3.31. Then his brothers and his mother came, and standing outside where he was speaking, they sent to him, calling him, and a multitude was sitting around him, and they said to him, look, look, your mother and your brothers are outside seeking you. But he answered them, saying, who is my mother or my brothers? And then he looked around. It's like that long pregnant pause. He looks around. He looked around in a circle at those who sat about him and said, here are my mother and my brothers, for whoever does the will of God is my brother and my sister and my mother. Some think this means Jesus rejected his family, turned his back on him. That's not what he was doing. That's really not what he was doing at all.

But again, Christ was challenging his followers' understanding about family. He was challenging them to expand their concept of a family, from one limited to ties of kinship, to one united in a shared faithfulness and loyalty to God, which means to believe and to do his will. Jesus was not rejecting his family. He was actually pointing to his greater loyalty to his heavenly Father and everyone's need, everyone's need, his followers' need to be loyal to God and so share with him in that family relationship he had with the Father, and thereby they too become members of God's family. He's pointing to that higher loyalty once again, over and over again. He's pointing us to a higher loyalty to God our Father. And so there we have it. There we have it. This is a rebuttal. There are many other scriptures. Others could approach rebutting this concept that Jesus is anti-family in a different way, but this is one way. The way I'm doing it today, a rebuttal from God's scripture to those who would accuse Jesus Christ of being anti-family. But I hope we can see and not worry. We can see that Christ is totally pro-family. He is pro-family. You see, everything Jesus said and did was to the glory of his Father in heaven, and it was to fulfill God's plan of salvation and bringing many sons to glory. That includes you and me. God is pro-family. In fact, God is a family. The present is just Father and Christ the firstborn. Yet ultimately, his family will be joined by multitudes of others. Multitudes. In due time, even Christ's present-day detractors will come to understand that truth. They'll come to understand it. Now, what they choose will be up to them, but they will come to understand this truth because God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2.4.

When it comes to being in God's family, Christ instructs us and sets for us the example. He teaches us and he lived it. He did both. Whenever conflicts arise as to our loyalties, our loyalty to God, to believe and do his will, that loyalty, our loyalty to God, must be first.

When we ask God for help to keep him first in our lives, we can trust God to help us. God will help us. Why? That's what I've been telling you. He will help us because he's pro-family. He's called us. He wants you and me and his family. He's going to do all he can to help us be in his family. Father and Christ, they want us in their family forever. And again, consider this scripture. Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, and you and me. He has bestowed on us that we should be called children of God.