Who can be part of Jesus’ family?

Today’s Gospel (Matthew 12: 46-50) may seem quite strange as we see the two distinct groups –  Jesus’s immediate blood family with his mother, standing outside anxious to have a word with him, and the second group Jesus has around him, the disciples and the people in the crowd.

This Gospel is about being part of Jesus’s family and, in effect, what Jesus is teaching is that there is no barrier to belonging to his family – anyone can be part of Jesus’s family. Fr Paul says, we hear this in the words of Jesus ‘Those who do the will of God…’, so anyone who does the will of God can be part of Jesus’s family.

This passages brings Chapter 12 to an end and, as you are aware, over the last week or so, Matthew has emphasised the authority of Jesus and also the rejection of Jesus by the Pharisees. We now move onto Chapter 13, in which Matthew shares images of the growth of the kingdom and the difficulties that can happen with that growth.

For our prayer and reflection, Fr Paul invites us to return to being part of God family and simply reflect on ‘How do I do the will of God in my life now?