What Does Jesus Say About Not Letting Family Get In The Way Of Following Him

Day 13

What Does Jesus Say About Not Letting Family Get In The Way Of Following Him. 

Text: Matthew 10:35-38, Matthew 12 : 46-50. 

 

Life Lessons And Applications      

1. Verse 35. 

“For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’;” Matthew‬ 10‬:35‬ NKJV‬‬

This statement  is the gateway to what Jesus said and what He meant.  Jesus’s intention was not to make His hearers believe that His real intention and purpose was to come and cause a friction, discord for contention of any sort but rather that not everyone will agree with the effect of His words, teachings, instructions and influence on people, on family and on the society. 

But as believers we know different. Jesus’s intention is pure genuine and all to do the right thing for everyone.

Not even all your loved ones and family members will likely agree with your faith, convictions, profession and your Christian lifestyle, you have chosen to live. 

Some will oppose you; others will not support your choice of lifestyle; some will distance themselves from you and others may even outrightly reject your way of life. 

You may choose to be gentle, caring and not vengeful and they may conclude you are simply carrying your faith too far and see you as being “too soft”. 

As a believer, you need not worry too much about such experiences. Jesus implies here that this will be the effect of your faith and believe in Him and God. I perceive you might even experience much more of such experiences during your Christian life. Some family members and loved ones may not take you seriously, may not listen to you and may even disrespect you but know and understand that you need not make much fuss about it because Jesus says this will be the effect. 

 

1. Verse 48. 

”But He answered and said to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?”” Matthew‬ 12‬:48‬ NKJV‬‬.

 

This statement is also the gateway to what Jesus said and meant in this context. I must admit that the words Jesus spoke at this point  sounds a bit harsh and could be embarrassing, and to be made in the public too. 

Well, if you know Jesus enough, embarrassing people is far from His mindset.  

He was not advocating or promoting an unreasonable disregard or disrespect for parents, siblings, family or loved ones. Far from it. 

Jesus was, and He still is, a very caring person. 1 Peter 5:8.

On the contrary, the lesson Jesus was teaching  is the principle of priority. In this case Jesus was pointing their attention to two priorities. A greater priority and a lesser priority.  

The Lord was teaching them, and He is still teaching us His followers today, who we should rightly allocate a greater attention to in our Christian lives.  

Scriptures is scanty on the context of what preceded this statement by Jesus, but we can compare scriptures and make certain safe deductions.  Mark. 3:20 and John 7:1-5.

In this text it looks like Jesus’s family members have made up their mind to go after Him and immediately intervene and stop Jesus from further embarrassing Himself and the family and so forth.

To Jesus, that was teaching moment when He was told His mom and brothers sought to interrupt His teaching and have a word with Him. 

So Jesus brought up the issue of God’s will. He knew He needed to make them know what place to accord the will of God in their lives. This is the lesson Jesus is teaching all believer’s today. 

Let’s have a second consideration on how much and where exactly we place and put the will of God in our lives. 

And when we say the will of God, it simply means where believers place and position the interests of God in believer’s lives. At that moment when His family members were seeking to have a word with Jesus, He made His mother, His brothers and everyone within earshot  realize that what would have been more appropriate and beneficial to them all and, to you and I by extension,  is to give greater attention to what God was saying to the people rather than find ways to question God’s words, or distance from what God is saying or has said. 

All believers must make God’s word regarding their  lives to be the utmost consideration in all issues they face and experience. Deuteronomy 8:2-3 and Matthew 4:4. 

 

1. The third lesson is a buildup on the second lesson.  What to learn from these two texts is actively put God fist in all things. 

This is actually the fundamental message of what Jesus was saying on both occasions. God must be first in your life. Proverbs 3:5-5.

You need to remind yourself as Jesus pointed to them that God prefers to be first in your life as God was first in Jesus’s life. God wants you to put Him first and ahead, and all God can do for you because that way, what you love and care about your family can be first in His love, mercies, and faithfulness.  Putting God first makes God put you first in His agenda. James 4:8a. 

You have to realize that whenever God makes a demand of you and from you, essentially, it’s not for His benefits but it’s exclusively for your benefits. 

Jesus was not a heartless person nor an emotionless person, but He was rather a reasonable person. 

I know this will be hard to understand and receive, but you should always do what is best for your family and loved ones rather than what you feel emotionally is good for them. 

As you can see in John 19:26-27, Jesus took care of His mother when He knew He wasn’t going to be around anymore physically to show her the love she needed. 

As Jesus pointed out, there is a greater family, God’s family, that takes first place in God’s mind, and guess what, you and your family are included in that greater family. 

Having said this, of course, balance is needed to fully understand and apply this principle of God first in our lives. I am sure probably after these  encounters with Jesus saying that His family members must have come to terms with what Jesus said, taught and stood for. See how His brother James, introduced himself to other believers in Jams 1:1a.

Bring your family up to speed with your convictions, with your faith, and with your Christian lifestyle. Help them to know you love them, but loving God first is loving them better. It’s not a question of who is preferred over who rather it’s about making God love you and love them as well. 

 

Lesson Of The Day.

Matthew 6:33

God takes care of what and who you  care about better than you can do, if you let Him care for them. And the way you let Him care for those you care for is by making Him the first in your life. 

Shalom!