Who Is My Mother? Series

We have been going through a series called The Story. It is God’s story as told through the people, places, and events in the Bible. Today, because it is Mother’s Day and we are short on time, I decided rather than to focus on some lengthy passages in the Old Testament, I just simply want to look at a passage in the New Testament out of the book of Matthew 12:46. If you would like to follow along, you can open your Bibles there. Before we start, I wanted to ask a quick question. How many of you have ever heard of the book or read the book to your children called “Are you my mother?”? It is a very popular book by P.D. Eastman. The book’s plot is quite simple. It is the idea that you have this little hatchling whose mother decides that before the baby is hatched she is going to go out and seek some food for the baby. While she is gone, the little baby bird hatches and falls to the ground. That little baby bird all of a sudden finds himself very confused because he doesn’t know who his mother is, and he doesn’t know where to find her. So he begins this journey to look for his mother. On the way, he runs into a kitten and a hen and a dog and a cow. He asks the different characters “Are you my mother?” and they all reply no we are not your mother. He continues on the journey and he comes across an old abandoned car and an airplane and a boat, and he asks them “Are you my mother?” They all say no. Out of frustration, he finds this bulldozer and he climbs on the bulldozer and asks “Are you my mother?” It says “Snort”. He says you aren’t my mother. You are a snort. About that time, the bird gets a little nervous, and he begins to get worried about where he is going to end up. What happens is the bulldozer takes the little bird and gently plops him back in the nest just in time as his mother is returning to the nest. It is a great story, but I don’t know really what it has to do with today’s sermon other than that is the story that came to mind when I began to think about today’s sermon. I realized it is a story about a bird that is quite confused about who his mother is. When I thought about the passage out of Matthew, I realized it is a story where Jesus seems a little bit confused about who his mother is. It is a confusion that eventually opens the door to a better understanding of motherhood and really all our family ties.

A little bit of background before we jump into this. Jesus is probably later on in his ministry and he is out there teaching about the kingdom of God as he does so well. He is talking about this wonderful kingdom out there that is in some sense a future promise, but it is also a present reality. It is something that can begin to be experienced right now. This is a very good message for the people. It is a message of liberation. It is especially helpful for the people who are feeling the oppression of the Roman government or feeling the oppression from the religious elite who were trying to control them with the various attitudes and requirements. At this particular point in the story, Jesus is out there doing what he does well. He is out there teaching and preaching. Apparently what happens is a group of his family show up at the place where he is teaching. It could have been a house of some sort. They show up and begin to talk to him. It says “While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brother stood outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak with you.’” We don’t know exactly why the mother and the brothers were out there seeking him out, but we suspect that maybe at this time in the ministry they were getting a little bit nervous about him because he is out there preaching words that are getting people upset and angry. Some suspect this might be some sort of an intervention of sorts. Maybe they are trying to protect Jesus. Jesus doesn’t respond in the way you would expect when someone says your mother and brothers are standing outside wanting to speak with you. This is Jesus’ reply. He says “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” This is a very odd response and somewhat sarcastic. It is odd in the sense that it is unlike the little bird who has reason to be confused about his mother. Jesus really had no reason to be confused about his mother. He knew who his mother was. He knew who his brothers were. It was a bit of an odd answer. Really it was somewhat sarcastic too because, I don’t know about you, but if I was at my friend’s Mark’s house that I used to play with when I grew up and somebody said your mom is outside wanting to see you, and I said well who is my mother, that would not have gone too well. It didn’t go too well with those people at the time. The Jewish people thought that family was very, very important. They knew family was important. They thought that the Fifth Commandment that says thou shall honor your father and mother was probably one of the most important commandments.