Jesus’ Inner Circle—Matthew 12:46-50

While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. But he replied to the man who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

Politicians throughout history, and in our own times, have played favorites. They have indulged in nepotism, giving jobs and pardons to their own people. They have also allowed unqualified and dishonest friends to have undue influence over them and their decisions.

Jesus, by contrast, is a king who keeps his inner circle clear of everyone who doesn’t belong. That doesn’t mean his inner circle is made up of people with great records or perfect characters. But it means this: Jesus brings repentant sinners, and no one else, into his inner circle.

To understand this passage, we first have to know some biblical background about honoring parents. The Fifth Commandment says, “Honor your father and your mother. The book of Proverbs says that a wise man will heed his father and mother’s instruction. Jesus himself reaffirmed the Fifth Commandment, and he criticized his opponents for allowing people to take resources they should have used to care for their aging parents and dedicate them to the temple instead. The Bible, and Jesus himself, taught that it was important, and required, to honor one’s parents.

Against that backdrop, Jesus makes this starting statement, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

Jesus isn’t denying his obligations to his family. But he has to fulfill his calling as the king chosen by God, and in order to do this, he can’t let his mother and brothers (who, at this time, were not among his followers) to claim positions in his inner circle. That inner circle is reserved for those who do the will of his Father in heaven. This doesn’t refer to perfect people, but to people who are genuinely repentant, like the Ninevites in the previous passage who “repented at the preaching of Jonah,” or the Queen of the South who came from the ends of the earth to see the wisdom of Solomon.

For us who believe in Jesus, this is a wonderful statement. It means that we are part of his family, and therefore we are children of God. Although we don’t have the kind of natural claim on Jesus that Mary and Jesus’ brothers did, and although, apart from Jesus, we don’t have any claim on God, nevertheless, because of Jesus, we are adopted into God’s everlasting family.

Fast-forward a bit in the story. This special relationship between Jesus and his disciples must have made it all the more painful for him when they abandoned him to suffer alone. Yet he died on the cross for them, and his ultimate trust was never in this inner circle of friends, but in God himself. And God came through for him by raising him from the dead. Our elder brother now lives forever, never to die again, and he doesn’t hold our sins against us, but secures our relationship to our heavenly Father.

How should we live in response? A few thoughts:

1. Don’t throw off your natural family. One of Jesus' last acts before his death was to commit his mother to the care of one of his disciples.

2. But do make fellow believers your inner circle. Better yet, make it your goal to be a part of Jesus’ inner circle. The closer you get to him, the closer you will get to those who do the will of his Father.

3. Don’t put your ultimate trust in your Christian friends. They will sometimes fail you, like Jesus’ disciples failed him.

4. Put your ultimate trust in God our Father, who didn’t fail Jesus, and won’t fail you.

Pastor Nate Jeffries