“So his brothers said to him, ‘Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing.'” John 7:3
May 19, 2023
There are families and then there are families. There are siblings and there are siblings. These are not riddles but statements that reflect spiritual realities. In the fall of the year before His crucifixion in March/April, Jesus was urged by his brothers, actually half-brothers, to leave Galilee and go to Jerusalem and Judea, the heart and center of the nation of Israel. The advice from Jesus’ unbelieving brothers was to go where there would be greater publicity with an element of sarcasm, “go to Jerusalem and lose disciples there too.” We, also, may have family members who have not placed their faith in Jesus Christ. It is a truth that those who are brothers and sisters in Christ are often closer than one’s natural family (Mk. 3:35). The opinions and advice from unbelieving family members, like that of Jesus’ own brothers, are distorted through the lens of unbelief. But there is hope. Though our family members may tragically misunderstand who Jesus really was, they can come to Christ as Jesus’ brothers eventually did (Acts 1:14, 1 Cor. 15:7). Keep on praying and living the Christ-like life before your family.
H
“When Christ reveals Himself there is satisfaction in the slenderest portion, and without Christ there is emptiness in the greatest fulness.” Alexander Grosse