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"Who is My mother, and who are My brothers? Pointing to 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" (12: 48-50, N.I.V.).
We should note that He does not refer to Joseph as His father for that would not have
been true. He had no human father. His Father was "in heaven".
It may be that here Mary was getting concerned about the Lord's health and wanted to
take Him home for rest and refreshment. Mark tells us that the multitude surrounding
Him made it impossible to eat, and some of His brothers actually thought the strain was
so great that He was "beside Himself" (Mark 3: 20, 21) and they tried to detain Him.
But the Lord the same day went out of the house and sat beside the lake (Matt. 13: 1).
Chapter 13: which follows is one of great importance and the correct interpretation
cannot be made unless we remember the context in which it is placed. The 12th chapter
records a climax, recording the rejection of Christ in a three-fold capacity. He was
greater than the Temple with its priesthood (12: 6), greater than Jonah the prophet (41),
and greater than king Solomon (42), and as Prophet, Priest and King He was set aside by
the leaders of Israel and this in spite of His mighty works which proved His Messiahship
(chapter 11:).
From this point the Lord begins to veil His teaching in parables, which was evidently
something new in His ministry for His disciples came and asked Him why He was
speaking in parables (13: 10).
To anyone who adopts the popular idea about parables, the Lord's reply must be
puzzling indeed. He had sometimes used stories as illustrations, but none of them were
called parables. They are often regarded as simple anecdotes for beginners in the
Christian way, but a practical acquaintance with them gives a very different view. The
Lord Jesus quotes from Psa. 68: 2 in Matt. 13: 35. The Psalm commences with the
words:
"Give ear, O My people, to my law:
Incline your ears to the words of My mouth.
I will open My mouth in a parable:
I will utter dark sayings of old."
"Dark sayings" are hardly an expression of simple truth, and the Psalm with its history
of Israel from Moses to David does not merely record external events, but gives the inner
reasons of their failures which were so often unperceived. Parables deal with the deep
ways of God with His people, much of which are veiled from those who are uninstructed,
or who oppose the truth.
Linked with the word "parable" in Matt. 13: is the word "mystery" or secret. It is
important to realize that this word does not denote something that is mysterious or
puzzling, but a fact that has been kept secret. The word is from mustes, one initiated,
coming from mueo, to close or shut, and thus hide. The mystery religions of the East had
various secrets and signs, as secret societies do today. We have in this chapter the secrets