Jesus' Brothers Get It Wrong Series

WHAT JESUS’ BROTHERS GOT WRONG

Let’s start with what Jesus’ brothers got wrong.

I drew our attention to verse 5 a moment ago.

Jesus’ brothers didn’t believe in him. What does that mean?

I think Jesus’ brothers knew he could work miracles. I expect they’d witnesses a few. They believed he could do that. But they didn’t believe IN HIM.

Many people at that time imagined that Jesus was a kind of messiah who would liberate them from the Romans. BUT THEY DIDN’T GRASP THAT HE WAS SON OF GOD, THE ANOINTED ONE, WHOSE MISSION WAS NOT TO LIBERATE JEWS FROM THE ROMANS BUT TO LIBERATE HUMANKIND FROM THE TYRANNY OF SIN. Perhaps Jesus’ brothers thought the same.

If Jesus was simply a human messiah then it would be fine for his brothers to offer him advice. But if he was the Son of God then he didn’t need their advice.

Let’s apply that to ourselves. If WE believe in Jesus, if WE believe he is Son of God, then we MUST believe he knows what he’s doing. It would be plain silly to tell the Son of God, ‘Jesus, I think you need a new strategy.’ We have to fit into what he’s doing. HE doesn’t fit into what WE think he should do! If we believe that Jesus is leading us on a particular path, we should follow it. If Jesus is Son of God, he knows what he’s doing!

On Thursday evening some of us watched a movie called ‘Blue Miracle.’ The film is based on the true story of a Mexican orphanage. In 2014, part of Mexico was hit by a hurricane, including the orphanage. Somehow, God led the orphanage to enter one of the world’s biggest fishing tournaments. The director of the orphanage, a man named Omar Venegas, spent 43 minutes reeling in a 385 lb blue marlin – the biggest fish caught during the tournament – and the team won about $250,000. All the money went to the orphanage. Omar Venegas is a Christian. He said afterwards: ‘We won the Bisbee’s Marlin World Tournament … my first time fishing a marlin. First time in a famous tournament and First Place, let me tell you ONLY GOD does this miracle. God, the only God, creator of all that exists today. He decided to bless Casa Hogar Cabo A.C. with this huge prize!’

In the film, it seemed very strange to Omar Venegas to enter a fishing tournament. But that WAS God’s plan.

Jesus’ brothers had a view of what Jesus should do. He should go down to Jerusalem. But that WASN’T God’s plan, or at least, not for then.

Simon Peter had a view of what Jesus should NOT do. He shouldn’t go to the cross. But that WAS God’s plan.

But NONE of us know Jesus perfectly. We have our views of what he’s like and what he does and doesn’t do, but to some extent, we’ll miss the mark.

Jesus isn’t in the business of conforming to our ideas of what he is like or what he should do. Just as in the case of the Mexican orphanage, he will surprise us. We’ll wonder what’s going on. When that happens, we need to be like Omar Venegas and trust him. We need to say, ‘You’re the boss. You’re the Lord. WE don’t need to tell YOU what to do. We need to listen to what YOU tell US to do.’

Let’s move on now to what Jesus got right.