HOFC Sermon Archive: Gospel of Mark Part 21: The True Family of Jesus

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SERMON TIMELINE

1. Introduction

2. John the Baptist

3. The Baptism of Jesus

4. Temptation of Jesus

5. The Preaching Ministry of Jesus I

6. The Preaching Ministry of Jesus II

7. The First Disciples

8. A Teacher with Authority

9. At the Home of Simon and Andrew

10. Jesus Cleanses Leper

11. Jesus Heals the Paralytic

12. Jesus and the Tax Collector

13. Jesus Questioned About Fasting

14. Of Wine and Wineskins

15. Jesus, Lord of the Sabbath & Resurrection Sunday 2025

16. Hard Hearts and Hard Thoughts

17. Three Responses to Jesus

18. Jesus Appoints the Apostles

19. The Family of Jesus

20. The Unforgivable Sin

21. The True Family of Jesus

Today is Sunday. June 8^th, 2025

INTRODUCTION

A couple of weeks ago we spoke about the family of Jesus. His mother, adoptive father, and half-brothers and sisters.

Jesus had traveled around Galilee preaching and teaching in synagogues, healing and casting out evil spirits. Along the way, He began calling some by name to follow Him. But His family were not always believers.

We see Jesus appoint the twelve as apostles. When His family heard of this, we read Mark 3:21 “And when His own kinsmen heard this, they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, “He has lost His senses.”

They thought Jesus was out of His mind. And they set out to “take custody of Him.”

Last week we read about the unforgivable sin, and this week we will read about the TRUE family of Jesus as defined by Jesus Himself, in response to His family thinking He was out of His mind, and coming to take custody of Him.

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE

Mark 3:31-35

“Then His mother and His brothers *arrived, and standing outside they sent word to Him, calling Him. 32 And a crowd was sitting around Him, and they *said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are outside looking for You.”

33 And answering them, He *said, “Who are My mother and My brothers?”

34 And looking about at those who were sitting around Him, He *said, “Behold My mother and My brothers!

35 For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother.”

I. JESUS IDENTIFIES HIS TRUE FAMILY

a. And it’s not His physical family

i. Not His mother Mary, or step-father Joseph

ii. It wasn’t His brothers James, Joses, Judas, or Simon

1. Mark 6:3

iii. Nor His sisters

b. Even at the age of 12, Jesus knew His true Father

“And His parents would go to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. 42 And when He became twelve years old, they went up there according to the custom of the Feast; 43 and as they were returning, after finishing the days of the Feast, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. But His parents did not know. 44 But supposing Him to be in the caravan, they went a day’s journey, and they began searching for Him among their relatives and acquaintances. 45 When they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem searching for Him. 46 And it happened that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard Him were astounded at His understanding and His answers. 48 When they saw Him, they were astonished, and His mother said to Him, “Child, why have You treated us this way? Behold, Your father and I have been anxiously searching for You.” 49 And He said to them, “Why is it that you were searching for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?” 50 But they did not understand the statement which He had spoken to them.” Luke 2:41-50

i. We see from scripture Jesus did value His physical family. But did not view them as His TRUE family.

c. Who is in the TRUE family of Jesus?

i. Mark 3:35 “For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother.”

ii. His disciples, as Jesus identified in today’s text.

Don’t forget Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, in Your name did we not prophesy, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name do many miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’”

1. Look closely at the verse.

2. Not everyone who says “Lord, Lord”

a. But he who DOES the WILL of the Father

b. So it’s not about what you “claim” to be

c. Rather, it’s about obedience to the Father

3. And it’s not about what “work” you may do “in His Name,” for many will say “in your name, in your name, in your name”

a. And Jesus will say to them, you used my name, and my name is powerful, but I never knew you because “you practice lawlessness,” depart from me.

b. For these people who “appear” religious but reject God, what is another way to say lawlessness?

1 John 3:4 “Everyone who does sin also does lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.”

i. It also refers to the antichrist.

2 Thessalonians 2:7-10 “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. 8 And then that lawless one will be revealed—whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming— 9 whose coming is in accord with the working of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, 10 and with all the deception of unrighteousness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.”

ii. Remember the message earlier in Mark when I said the church needs to stop focusing on signs and wonders, assuming that is the power of God?

iii. It is not.

Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

Romans 9:17 also tells us that God shows His power through judgment and mercy.

iv. The antichrist will deceive many with power, signs and false wonders. So don’t make that your focus.

v. Do what Jesus said throughout His ministry…REPENT and put your trust in the GOSPEL.

Jesus says those who “do” the will of the Father are included in the TRUE family of Jesus. Those obedient to the Will of the Father are “known” by Jesus, and will be the only ones who enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

True to the entirety of scripture, always revealing the juxtaposition of flesh and spirit, the TRUE family of Jesus is a spiritual one.

II. THE BLESSING OF A SPIRITUAL FAMILY

a. Divine in nature

i. God as our Father

1. Hears our prayers Matthew 6:6

2. Provides our essential needs Matthew 6:11; Matthew 6:30-33; Matthew 7:11

3. Forgives our sins Matthew 6:12

4. God as our Father delivers us from the evil one Matthew 6:13

ii. Jesus as our Brother

Hebrews 2:11-12 “For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of One; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brothers, 12 saying,

“I will recount Your name to My brothers, In the midst of the assembly I will sing Your praise.”

1. Our perfect High Priest Hebrews 2:17-18; Hebrews 4:14-16

2. Who exists to make intercession for us Hebrews 7:25; Romans 8:34

iii. The Holy Spirit as our Helper and Strength

1. Who also makes intercession for us Romans 8:26-27

2. Who enables us to LIVE the Christian life! Romans 8:12-13

3. The Holy Spirit, who places a child-like love in our hearts for God

“For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry out, “Abba! Father!” Romans 8:15

Just a few blessings made possible by the Divine members of Jesus’ family!

b. Immense family size!

Mark 10:28-30 “28 Peter began to say to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You.” 29 Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, 30 except one who will receive one hundred times as much now in the present age—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life.”

1. A hundredfold family members

ii. The members of EVERY church congregation!

1. 1 Timothy 5:1-2

iii. The WHOLE FAMILY of believers in heaven and on earth!

Ephesians 3:14-15 “14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,”

Every Christian living, dead, and yet to be born, is a member of the true family of Jesus!

c. Eternal

i. Physical family ties are severed by death Romans 7:2; 1 Corinthians 7:39; Mark 12:24-25

ii. But the true family of Jesus is a spiritual one, and we can look forward to an eternal inheritance

1. Romans 8:16-17

2. Revelation 21:1-7

The true family of Jesus is the ONLY ONE that will endure throughout eternity!

CONCLUSION

The true family of Jesus is a Spiritual one, involving the Deity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, as well as countless souls!

1 John 3:1 tells us that becoming an accepted member of the true family of Jesus is made possible by the love of God. A glorious result of God’s wonderful plan of redemption in Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1:3-14

The TRUE family of Jesus is available to ALL!

All who are willing to REPENT and TRUST IN THE GOSPEL, as Jesus said.

All who are willing to to receive Jesus through faith and baptism as stated in John 1:12; Galatians 3:26-27

Who will then be “BORN AGAIN” of water and Spirit! John 3:3-5

Becoming the TRUE family of Jesus through OBEDIENCE to the WILL OF GOD. Mark 3:35

John 3:7 “You must be born again.”

NEXT WEEK: “Part 22: The Parable of the Four Soils”

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