And the multitude sat about him; and they say to him: Behold thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee.
και εκαθητο οχλος περι αυτον ειπον δε αυτω ιδου η μητηρ σου και οι αδελφοι σου και αι αδελφαι σου εξω ζητουσιν σε
7 Church Fathers comment on this verse · 8 commentaries
The Lord's siblings, driven by jealousy, sought to bring Him under control, perceiving Him as violent and possessed by demons. Meanwhile, His mother, perhaps motivated by a desire to protect His honor, attempted to interrupt His teaching, thereby demonstrating to the onlookers that the One they marveled at was accessible and could be redirected from His mission.
As He gestured toward His disciples, He expressed that no one is truly His relative unless they fulfill the will of His Father. In doing so, He humbly included Mary, even though she embodied the Father's will. The greatest and divine Teacher, when His mother's name was mentioned in a personal context, diminished the significance of earthly ties in favor of spiritual kinship, revealing this sacred connection to His followers. Thus, the Blessed Virgin Mary rediscovered her relationship with all the saints. Show gratitude; honor your mother, reciprocating the physical with the spiritual and the temporal with the eternal.
Where do brothers originate? The relatives of Mary, regardless of how closely they are related, are considered the brothers of the Lord. What supports this assertion? It is grounded in Scripture. For instance, Abraham's brother is named Lot, who is the child of his brother (see Gen. 13:8; 14:14). When you read, you will discover that Abraham was Lot's paternal uncle (refer to Gen. 12:5), yet they are referred to as brothers. Why is that, if not due to their familial bond? Similarly, Jacob's maternal uncle was Laban the Syrian; Laban was his mother's brother, Rebekah, the wife of Isaac (see Gen. 28:2). As you explore the Scriptures, you will understand that a maternal uncle and the son of a sister can be regarded as brothers (see Gen. 29:12-15).
Recognizing this principle will help you see that all of Mary's relatives are brothers of Christ. However, it is important to note that those disciples were truly His brothers, for even relatives would not hold that title unless they were His followers, nor would they be considered brothers if they did not acknowledge Him as their Master. On one occasion, when it was reported that His mother and brothers were standing outside while He was speaking with His disciples, He asked, ‘Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?’ Then, He pointed to His disciples, declaring, ‘These are My brothers. Whoever does the will of My Father is My brother and sister and mother’ (cf. Matthew 12:46-50). It follows then that Mary is indeed His mother, as she carried out the will of the Father. The Lord exalted her for fulfilling this divine will, rather than merely for the physical act of giving birth. Listen closely, dear friends! Furthermore, when the amazed crowd witnessed the Lord performing miracles and uncovering what lay hidden beneath the surface, some awestruck individuals proclaimed, ‘Blessed is the womb that bore Him’ (Luke 11:27). But He replied, ‘Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it’ (Lk. 11:28). In essence, He was conveying that even His Mother, whom you proclaim as fortunate, finds her true happiness in adhering to the word of God, not solely because she bore the Word made flesh (Jn. 1:14), but because she lived in accordance with the will of the very Word of God through whom she was created and who dwelt in her. Let not individuals take joy in mere physical descendants; rather, let them rejoice in their spiritual union with God.
After the Lord had unveiled the schemes of the Pharisees and made evident the wickedness of their hearts, they informed Him that His mother and brothers were seeking to see Him but were unable to reach Him due to the throng of people. The Pharisees themselves suggested that He was out of His mind (Mk. 3:21). In an attempt to divert attention from their own malice and to demonstrate to the crowd the inconsistency of acknowledging Jesus as the Messiah, they pointed to His family, highlighting the humble circumstances of His upbringing and the disbelief lingering among some of His relatives. They orchestrated a plan for His family to visit Him. The blessed Virgin approached out of deep maternal affection for her Son, particularly after a period of being apart from Him.
Her brothers accompanied her with the intention of bringing Him back home. However, the Lord thwarted this cunning plan of His adversaries. "What is it to Me that you point to mother and brethren? The Son of Man has a mother and brothers. Yet for the Messiah, these listeners and believers—those who receive and internalize the word of life—are the ones who truly constitute His mother and brothers."
The arrival of Christ’s mother and siblings occurred within the context described by Hebrews, Matthew, and Mark. Before the news of their visit reached Him, it circulated among the crowd surrounding Him, shared from one person to another. Upon hearing this news, an emotionally responsive and passionate woman, who may have been childless or discontent with her children, couldn’t help but exclaim, “Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you!” This outburst took place following Jesus’ rebuttal against the Pharisees, who accused Him of casting out demons by Beelzebub’s power, as recounted in Luke 11:27-28.
In response to those who sought a miracle from Him, after learning of His mother and brothers’ arrival, Christ redirected attention to His devoted disciples, acknowledging them as His true mother and brothers—indicating a deeper spiritual connection with them compared to His biological family, provided they too were faithful followers.
His mother and those identified as His brothers approached Jesus. At this moment, His mother and these brothers, who intended to bring Him back, were unable to reach Him due to the throng surrounding Him. They remained outside the house, seeking to converse with Jesus regarding their concerns. In response to this request, someone informed Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, wishing to speak with You” (Matthew 12:47). The Evangelist John noted that Jesus' so-called brothers did not have faith in Him (John 7:5); Christ was aware of their lack of belief and understood the reason for their visit, thus He declined their wish to speak with Him.
However, His mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, held a different perspective; she believed in Him as the Son of God and sought Him not to deter Him from fulfilling the will of His Father, but rather to ascertain if He was truly in the peril about which His brothers were concerned.
In response to those who brought to His attention that His mother and brothers were waiting for Him, refer to the closely related narrative found in Matthew 12:46-50.
They approached Him, believing He was in peril, prompted by the accusations from His adversaries who claimed He was acting out of anger or under the influence of the prince of demons. A person informed the Lord, ‘Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside, wanting to speak with You,’ while the message of Jesus had not yet been fully delivered. If He had yielded to His relatives’ wishes, it would have jeopardized God's mission, not just because of the premature halt to His teaching, but also due to the potential for His foes to exploit this interruption to spread rumors of His madness. However, Christ made it known that He was ‘not only the son of His mother, but also the Lord’ (St.
John Chrysostom), as if to declare: ‘Why would you divert Me from fulfilling My Father's will in Heaven for the desires of My earthly mother? Who are My mother and My brethren?’ By gesturing towards His disciples, He continued, ‘Here are My mother and My brethren; whoever does the will of My Father in Heaven is My brother, sister, and mother,’ or as stated by Luke the Evangelist, ‘My mother and My brethren are those who hear the word of God and act on it’ (8:21). In these statements, the Lord did not distance His earthly mother from the joy of both hearing and acting on God's word, acknowledging that she had listened to and followed it more faithfully than many. Instead, consistent with her own humility and desire to shy away from human praise, He lifted up and inspired all who hear and obey the word of God. As Blessed Theophylact observes, while not renouncing natural familial ties, He enriched it with a kinship rooted in virtue.
Greek text, 23 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS