When Following Jesus Clashes with Family and Expectations

See, some of the most painful moments that we face are when making the right choice, when we're convinced that we're making a right choice, when that right choice collides with the expectations of those who are closest to us. And rather than getting on board, they get in the way. Or when those who should know better, and we expect to be on the same side as us, work against us. That can be true in life, and it is painful. It can also be true as we try to follow Jesus. [00:03:47] (34 seconds)  #RightChoiceResistance

Given how the passage developed, it seems like Jesus and His disciples are meeting those needs. It is going on and on. There's more and more needs to the point where they can't even seem to sit down for a meal. Now, this could turn unhealthy. It could turn unhealthy. And the passage hints that that might be part of why His family comes to get Him. That might be concerning His family. Listen to me. This passage is not a permission slip to let exhaustion and burnout drive you or let need be the thing that drives you to exhaustion and burnout. [00:11:24] (40 seconds)  #FamilyVsPurpose

As an itinerant preacher, maybe He's failing at those responsibilities. Maybe they want to bring Him back in line with how things ought to be culturally. Either way, they attempt to leverage the familial bond to change Jesus' path. But what they seem to fail to take into account is the fruit. They seem to fail to consider the fruit of Jesus doing something different than what they were expecting or acting in a way different than how they thought He should act. God's blessing and God's favor are clearly evident in everything that Jesus is doing. [00:14:49] (35 seconds)  #NeverAloneInPurpose

``Maybe they've worked and have been reasonable in the past, but maybe now they are clashing. There is no that's just the way we are or that's just the way we've always done it that justifies going against God's good will and purpose, stifling good fruit or producing bad fruit. Traditions have expiration dates. Expectations deserve to be evaluated. It is not a good enough reason to cut off good fruit, which is what Jesus' family, it's on its way to try to achieve. [00:16:06] (36 seconds)

At some point, they become so committed to their position that they value it more than the truth of what's right in front of their eyes. It all builds up to this point where they see freedom coming. And they are unwilling to admit that they might be wrong. And that this, what Jesus is doing, might worth being aligned with. And so they call it evil. This is a conscious decision to call what they know is good as evil and to call demonic what is the fruit of God's Spirit. [00:18:54] (34 seconds)

When you've set your mind, when you've set your heart, when you've set your will so strongly against God, what Jesus is saying is that there's a good chance that there's no coming back from this. That there's nothing you could see, nothing you could hear, nothing that could be presented to you that would turn you back. And if you're so committed to that, you won't get to enjoy what God's blessings give if you consistently deny that it's good. [00:19:28] (30 seconds)

And so the call to us, let me just say, it is not, you don't blaspheme by accident. You don't blaspheme by accident. But there's a call to us here. The call to us is to examine where we might be getting to the point of obstinately resisting the clearly good work of God or the clear call of God on our lives. Because if we become committed to resisting it, at some point, we may turn from simply resisting it to calling it evil. [00:19:59] (31 seconds)

What we have here is a painful collision and a confronting, a comforting word. Jesus's family forces a choice. See, they stand outside and call to him. They are literally saying, remove yourself from the work of God to come to us and do what we want you to do. In his response, Jesus establishes at least two things that are helpful for us. The first is that it's okay to say no. It's okay to set boundaries with loved ones when their demands pull us away from God's goodwill and purpose for our lives. [00:21:34] (37 seconds)

Jesus says no. He isn't saying family doesn't matter. He's not washing his hands of them. Mary is at the cross with him. He makes sure she is cared for. One of Jesus's brothers is one of the leaders of the early church. Clearly, he's not turning away from them. But he is saying if the demands will pull you away from God's will, the right choice is to say yes to God's will and to set boundaries on those demands. [00:22:39] (22 seconds)

The second thing that we can gather from this is this. We are never alone in saying yes to God's goodwill and purpose, especially when it is costly. This, what Jesus does here, is costly for him culturally. Very costly, right? There's this command. Have you heard it? Honor your father and your mother. One of the Ten Commandments. There would be people who could justifiably say Jesus is violating that. He's not, but they could justifiably say that. It is costly for him. And yet he is not alone because he looks around and he sees that he has people with him. [00:23:01] (37 seconds)