2423AFC060724 – All in the Family
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Genesis 3:12-13 – 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent tricked me, and I ate.”
Psalm 130:3-4 –
3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
Lord, who could stand?
4 But there is forgiveness with you,
so that you may be revered.
2 Corinthians 5:1 – 1 For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
Mark 3:31-35 – 31 Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters* are outside, asking for you.” 33 And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” *adelphoi – brethren
May Peace always be with you and may God bless you, Belovéd! Right off the bat, let me say this has nothing to do with Archie Bunker!
Nobody is going to sing “Those Were The Days.” Today we begin with our Key Verses from the Gospel. We start there because of that phrase “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside.” A great number of people cite that as “proof” that Jesus had siblings, children of his Mother and foster father. It works like this:
The Greek word used for brothers as well as brothers and sisters is “adelphoi.” This Greek word for brother – “brethren” (singular ἀδελφός adelphos; plural ἀδελφοί adelphoi) can be translated as a sibling – male or female. It can also be understood as a brother, whether born of the same two parents or only of the same father or mother or a person who has the same national ancestor, belongs to the same People, or a fellow countryman., and – of course – a member of the same religious community, especially a Christian community. The problem in understanding this arises when one presumes that “brethren” refers only to biological siblings. The counterargument is usually “the word refers to cousins, nephews, other close relatives, and even fellow citizens.” The response to that is that Greek has specific words for each of those relationships, and if it were true that the persons with Jesus’ Mother were not siblings, the writer would have used those specific terms. That is another presumptuous conclusion. Let’s take a still-closer look at Scripture.
Matthew 13:55-56 – 55 Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56 And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all this?” Note the names (without surnames) mentioned here. To help sort this out, let’s look at John 19:25 – Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. In the same part of the Crucifixion narrative in Matthew 27:56 we read – 56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee. The sons of Zebedee, we know, were the men Jesus named “the sons of thunder,” James and John. OK, flip back to Matthew 13, and we can see that among James and Joseph and Simon and Judas, two of them are cousins of Jesus and offspring of the woman The Apostle Matthew calls “the other Mary.” (See Matthew 28:1 and CCC 500) Most non-Catholic commentaries will list some of these chaps as the “half-brother of Jesus.” In addition, in Matthew 23:8[1] we read that Jesus tells the Disciples to avoid the appellation “Rabbi” because they have only One Teacher, and they are all equally brothers and sisters (adelphoi). This “warning” is understood in light of Luke 14:11 – 11 For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. To wrap this up, we need only look at what Jesus himself said in Mark 3:34-35 – 34 And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” Yes, indeed, that is how the Family of God is formed!
Whenever we do the will of God, we are adopted into the Lord’s family, and we discover how sweet it is to call our Teacher, our creator, our Almighty God and cry out “Abba, Father!” (↔ Music Link) Just for a moment, let’s close our eyes softly and sing along with that hymn while considering the intensity of the Apostle Thomas’ declaration “My Lord and my God! And, just as we also inwardly rejoice at being just one of the billions of Jesus’ Brothers or Sisters, let us acknowledge that the Family of God (↔ Music Link) will be The Family Forever (yep, that’s YOLO-F).
Jesus told his followers (including us) that to be a part of the Family of God, we must do the will of God. That has always been hard, because all of us are born under the authority of The Prince of the Air, Satan, who is also the Ruler of Earthly Systems and has dominion over everything Adam was given to subdue for the use of Man because Adam gave away his coregency with God in order to exalt himself. What this means is that some members of the Family of God, some of our own adelphoi, are not under God’s dominion, but Satan’s! Though Baptized and endowed with the Holy Spirit, they countermand the will of God by exalting themselves. These modern-day adelphoi behave in the same ways the Apostle Paul warned about: Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers; every kind of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice, envy, vaunted pride, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness; they are gossips, slanderers, God-haters; insolent, haughty, gluttonous, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious toward parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, and ruthless.
They know God’s decree, that those who practice such things deserve to die – yet they not only do them but even applaud others who practice them. (See Romans 1 and 1 Corinthians 5) To that list we must shamefully add murders of millions of innocents – babies, elders, political enemies, ethnic pogroms, and intentional destruction and failure of stewardship for our only home, Earth. ʻŌmea, that is not how The TRUE Family of God BEHAVES, because such behaviors are not the will of God! They are the will of The Foe of God, and when we act in those ways, we become the prodigal child, the errant brother or sister, that refuses to accept the responsibilities – as well as the immense powers – that come with being adelphoi.
Unless.
Unless we repent and believe and Live the Gospel. How does that help? Well, let’s go back to that passage from Genesis. When Adam was caught out, what did he tell God? “It’s not my fault! It’s this woman you gave me. She’s the culprit here, not me!” Belovéd, does that sound like repentance to you? Me, too. Not even close. Eve’s excuse wasn’t any better. “That sneak of a snake tricked me! I thought that since he was so beautiful he’d help me. Then this oaf, standing right beside me watching, took a bite, too.” Have any of us ever wondered why no one said, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have acted like that.”? And so it was that the first Community of God set in motion all that is going on in this bruised old world of ours. I’d like to ask you to call to mind that L O N G list The Apostle Paul put together in Romans and 1 Corinthians. Does any of that ring a bell with you? I’d guess we would all say “yes, it does.” There’s something important that we must remember about that list. The Apostle Paul is telling us that if our adelphoi in Christ act like that, they are not really our brothers or sisters in Christ.
Check out 1 Corinthians 5:9-11 – 9 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral persons — 10 not at all meaning the immoral of this world, or the greedy and robbers, or idolaters, since you would then need to go out of the world. 11 But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother or sister [adelphos] who is sexually immoral or greedy, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or robber. Do not even eat with such a one. “Are we just supposed to shun people like that, refuse them fellowship with us?” We can partially answer that with 2 Thessalonians 3:14-15 – 14 Take note of those who do not obey what 
we say in this letter; have nothing to do with them, so that they may be ashamed. 15 Do not regard them as enemies, but warn them as believers. [adelphoi].
This flies in the face of the current globalist DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) recommendations for “anything goes” morality – if it feels good, do it. That’s right back in the pocket of exalting self over other. Someone out there is saying I’ve got it backwards. “Being kind to people by letting them be ‘who they truly are’ is elevating them, not us.” Nah, when we give people permission to defy the will of God, we are giving our own hearts and mind permission to do the same. “See? I’m just like you. It’s not our fault. THE DEVIL MADE US DO IT!” That might work for Flip Wilson’s Geraldine, but it’s a no-go in The Family of God. What to do, what to do, what to do?
Psalm 130:3-4 –
3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
Lord, who could stand?
4 But there is forgiveness with you,
so that you may be revered.
You’ve got that right – repent! And believe and Live the Gospel. How about a quick comparison? Let’s recall Absalom, third son of David, killer of David’s first-born son 
Amnon, also tried to claim the throne as leader of a revolt against his father. His name means, “my father is Peace.” For the crimes he committed, he would not repent. He ended up hanging by his hair in a tree so that one of David’s Men of Valor was able to strike him dead. How about another of David’s sons, Solomon? His name means “Peace.” He was the son of David by Bathsheba (one of David’s biggest failings as a husband, king, and father), and the third king of Israel. He was the wisest man that ever lived, but made the very unwise choice of being disobedient. He had 700 wives, 300 concubines, thousands of chariots, charioteers, and horses, and was led to worship other gods to appease his wives. He did not repent. He died in his sins. His father, David, repented and “slept in Peace with his fathers” and in Peace with God. Absolom and Solomon lived lives of unrepentant disobedience. David lived through many battles for good and succumbed to many battles with evil, but he always repented. Because of that, we now have a King on the Throne of David who is King Forever – Jesus, the Christ of God. We are part of The Family of God that Lives in the Eternal Tabernacle, the sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers, nephews and cousins – all the Brethren, the Adelphoi – of the “One God, the Father Almighty, maker of Heaven and Earth, of all things visible and invisible.” We – the adelphoi, the anawim – must not wait for Jesus’ return away from the House of the Lord (God’s family), but rather be in the Presence of the Lord in the land of the living: Psalm 27:13 – 13 I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. ʻŌmea, we joyfully wait and watch, and do that together like ʻohana [family] and as those who gladly do right instead of making excuses to exalt our lives. We cannot be the servant of all if we make ourselves “first come, first served.” Remember, to repent one mist first STOP, and then do a 180 back to God and The Family of God.
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!
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Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
[1] Use this link to see multiple translations of this passage. Thanks!
