And looking around on those who sat about him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother, and sister, and mother.”
Mark 3:34-35
In today’s Gospel we reflect on the words of Jesus about doing the will of God.
Whilst preaching, His mother Mary and some of His brethren came to see Him.
The people around told Him of their presence and He corrected their opinion of who was His family.
To Jesus His family were not just those whom He was related to physically by His human nature, but also those He was related to spiritually, by His Divine nature.
And so when He says those who do the will of God are His brother, sister, and mother, the LORD is calling us to a deeper understanding of the role of obedience to God’s will as the sacrifice we have to offer to fully enter into His family.
The example of Mary
Looking at the life of Mary, we ponder what role did she play in obeying God?
A lot of theologians and early Church Fathers acknowledge Mary as the new Eve.
Taking a look through scriptures we see that Eve disobeyed the will of God and followed the deception of the devil and also suggested the path of sin to her husband, Adam.
Mary on the contrary, obeyed completely the will of God, hearkening and surrendering her will to His, at the message of His angel, Gabriel.
She said, ” I am the LORD’s servant, be it unto me according to Your word”.
Despite the challenges of rejection from her betrothed, Joseph, she made the decision to obey God.
By doing so, Mary opened the path to obedience for Joseph and most importantly paved the way for the fulfilment of Jesus’ obedience to the will of His Father.
Rather than a belittling of His mother’s role, for Jesus Who is God Most Holy is incapable of sin, Jesus was exacting the reason why her role as mother to Him was established.
Today let us ponder like Mary and all the hearers of Jesus’ words, “what is the Lord saying to me, and how can I do God’s will?”
Prayer
God Most High, we come before You today with our sacrifice of praise.
We thank and bless Your Holy Name for Your wondrous victory in our lives always.
Thank You for opening up our hearts to the message of Your Word.
Today, Jesus Your Son calls us to a deeper understanding of the purpose that obedience to Your Will accomplished in the life of Mary and the saints.
We too Holy Father want to be completely obedient to You.
Teach us Father and bless our intentions Holy Father.
Above all, give us a humble, willing heart to say “yes” to Your purpose in all things that You may be eternally glorified through Jesus Christ Your Son, our LORD.
Amen!
Always & Forever,
To The Lamb,
With all my ❤
28 Jan 2020