Stress Test Devotional April 27
April 27, 2024
MARK 3:13-19, 31-35 | 13 He went up the mountain and called to him those whom he wanted, and they came to him. 14 And he appointed twelve to be with him and to be sent out to preach 15 and to have authority to cast out demons. 16 So he appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter), 17 James son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder), 18 and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, 19 and Judas Iscariot, who handed him over.
31 Then his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside asking for you.” 33 And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
Sociologists tell us that families are both necessary and problematic. The relatedness, similarity, and intimacy of family bonds is crucial for psychological and personal development. But it easily imprints on our minds an instinctive clannishness, a mentality of us and them, like and unlike, familiar and other.
But with Jesus comes the beginning of a radically new family. This family, embodied imperfectly by the first disciples and by the church, draws together people who are unrelated biologically, socially, culturally, and racially. This is a new human phenomenon. From Pentecost on, regular families are called to nurture and build communities of faith that are larger and much more inclusive, crossing the boundaries that usually separate people.
How does your family relate to God’s new kingdom family?
Read our passages. Notice that earthly and kingdom families can come into conflict!
