Matthew is describing Heaven’s kingdom in this part of his narrative. Tonight, we get to conclude Jesus’s doctrinal explanation in this section of Matthew’s Gospel. Next week we will begin working through Jesus’s parables, which illustrate everything we have seen Jesus explicitly teaching through this section. Most recently, Jesus has called a certain group of Pharisees sons of snakes and an evil, adulterous generation. Against that backdrop, what it means to be in the lineage of wickedness, Jesus now describes what it means to be in God’s lineage—to be His mother or sister or brother. Which family are you a part of?

Matthew 12:46-50

While He was still speaking to the crowds, behold, His mother and brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him.

Someone said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to You.”

But Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?”

And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.”

The setting (v. 46-47)

While He was still speaking to the crowds, behold, His mother and brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him.
Someone said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to You.”

Matthew sets up the scene beginning with “While He was still speaking…” He indicates that we should keep in mind everything Jesus has been talking about in his dialogue with the Pharisees and scribes. From chapter 4 onward, Jesus’s preaching ministry has been marked by a condemnation of legalism and exaltation of salvation by grace alone. He has promised rest to those who simply come to Him and learn from Him about who He is and what He is doing.

When Jesus’s mother and brothers come and wish to speak to Him, He takes the opportunity to teach something else about the kingdom of Heaven. We don’t know what Jesus’s mother and brothers desire to talk to Him about; we do see that Jesus is concerned about His everlasting family.

Whereas, many times we prioritize our worldly families, relationships, and selves, Christ’s example shows that there is a deeper and higher family connection than what we have on this earth. What is the family of God?

Jesus’s true family (v. 48-50)

But Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?”
And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.”

The Pharisees, scribes, and Jesus’s disciples are all present. Jesus has been dialoging with the Pharisees and scribes. To add injury to insult, Jesus acknowledges His disciples, whom the Pharisees have criticized, as His family and not the Pharisees or scribes. Matthew is juxtaposing the spiritual lineage of wickedness (click here to see a fuller explanation) and the spiritual lineage of heaven. Jesus has already revealed those in the spiritual lineage of wickedness to be self-willed, self-working, and self-righteous—they seek signs, confirmation, and validation. They cannot speak what is good because they have not been stolen from the darkness by Christ, first known by Christ, or adopted by Christ. 

Contrary to the self-willed legalism of those in the lineage of wickedness, Christ’s family, those in His lineage, are apparent by their fruits—that they do the Father’s will. If we read verses 46-50 out of their literary context, we are in danger of reading Jesus’s words as a call to legalistic works—If we do God’s will, then we are part of God’s family. This interpretation contradicts every previous point of the story. That’s why it’s important for us to walk through the story from beginning to end, not pluck passages from their contexts from meeting to meeting. Jesus has taught that root produces fruit (7:15-20; 12:33-37). The language Jesus uses in this passage indicates that doing God’s will accompanies adoption and does not cause adoption. Jesus describes correlation, here, not causation. So, it cannot be correctly stated from this passage that our performance or our works bring us into Christ’s family.

If root produces fruit, what does it mean for a person to do the Father’s will and so prove he or she is in Christ’s forever family? Matthew has already answered this question in Christ’s sermon on the mount.

Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.

Many will say to Me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?” 

And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness” (Matthew 7:21-23).

Jesus is teaching the same thing here in Matthew 12 that he did in His sermon on the mount. It is those who rely on their own righteousness who will not enter the kingdom of heaven—the Pharisees and scribes do so because they are in the lineage of wickedness. It is those who do the will of the Father who will enter. Throughout the sermon on the mount, Jesus instructed His disciples to seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness. This is the opposite of seeking one’s own righteousness. Whatever Jesus means by doing the will of God, we know that He cannot mean in any way that we have to somehow work for our salvation or that our works contribute to salvation at all. Salvation is through faith alone apart from works—this is the point Jesus has been making.

There is another text in which Jesus is described as giving an exact definition of what He means by God’s will concerning salvation. So, instead of guessing what this means, let’s ask Jesus. He answers in John 6:40-44,

“For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”

Therefore the Jews were grumbling about Him, because He said, “I am the bread that came down out of heaven.”

They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, ‘I have come down out of heaven’?”

Jesus answered and said to them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.”

The will of the Father is that the people He has chosen for Himself and has brought to Christ will behold the Son, believe in Him, and have eternal life. Christ will raise His people up on the last day. According to Jesus, the Father’s will is not that people would will to follow Him according to their own righteousness. That sort of message is contradictory to the Gospel and to Jesus’s message throughout His preaching ministry. God’s will is that we are subject to His will in salvation and that His righteousness is made known. This has been Jesus’s consistent message throughout His preaching ministry. Those who are part of Christ’s family, then, show themselves by the surrender and repentance that follow regeneration—which is God’s gift by His own will through spiritual new birth or adoption.

If our lives are works or performance based, we are in the spiritual lineage of wickedness. If our lives are repentant in response to God’s saving grace by His will alone, we are in the spiritual lineage of heaven. This is the most prominent point Jesus will illustrate in His parables concerning the kingdom of heaven. Without this basic component, the Gospel is nonsensical and falls prey to incoherence. We cannot hold both that salvation is by grace and by any work of our own to any degree.

For those Christ is stealing form the darkness (Cf. v. 39), they are part of God’s forever family. What are the implications for those who are part of God’s family? Notice, Jesus refers to us as His mothers, sisters, and brothers—not as His children. In another place, Paul recognizes Jesus as the firstborn of creation (Colossians 1:15). In another place Paul recognizes Christians as coheirs with Him in glory (Romans 8:17). In fact, Romans 8:12-17 sums up Jesus’s teaching about our positions in the kingdom of heaven nicely.

So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh—for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.

Those who are in the lineage of heaven by God’s choosing and working are sons of the Father and coheirs with Christ, the Son. With Christ, we inherit the Father’s glory. Notice—it’s the Father’s glory and not ours. What a beautiful realization it is—we get to bask in the Father’s glory with Christ, our Lord and our brother through adoption. Like a child adopted by parents on this earth, we have full rights as children in our Father’s family. There is nothing we can do to disinherit God’s glory because we are coheirs with Christ by His work, not heirs by our identities or performance. Praise the Lord!

I’m so glad I’m a part of the Family of God,
I’ve been washed in the fountain, cleansed by His blood!
Joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this sod,
For I’m part of the family,
The Family of God (The Gaithers, “The Family of God,” 1970)

What we have discovered about the Kingdom of Heaven:

Kingdom of Heaven	Kingdom of This World
Kingdom of priests	Kingdom of consumers
Kingdom of prestige even for the least	Kingdom of comparison and contrast Kingdom of judgment even for the greatest
Exists throughout time—even before Christ’s incarnation
A people not a physical location	Defined by visible structures and conquests
Kingdom of suffering in the midst of this world	Kingdom of force
Able to hear and understand Christ’s teaching	Unable to hear and understand Christ’s teaching
Kingdom of wisdom	Kingdom of faultfinding
Kingdom of repentance	Kingdom of pride
Chosen and built by God’s will alone	Rejected by God’s will alone
Kingdom of rest	Kingdom of merit
Kingdom of liberty	Kingdom of restriction
Kingdom of willing purity	Kingdom of unwilling rule-keeping
Kingdom of healing	Kingdom of using people
Kingdom whereby all human life is absolutely sacred	Kingdom whereby rules, programs, and organizations are elevated above  human worth
Kingdom of sincerity in learning	Kingdom of dogma
Kingdom of satisfaction and enjoyment	Kingdom of bondage and decay
A people forgiven of every imaginable sin	A people not forgiven because they are not regenerate
A people seeking to know God through His word	A people seeking signs, wonders, and outward performance
Coheirs with Christ in the Father’s glory	Not coheirs with Christ

Questions:

1. What is the family of God?
2. How does one become part of God’s family?
3. What implications work out for members of God’s family?