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Family Sunday: Relationships Redefined in
Jesus
Mark 3:31-35
Whoever does the will of
God is my brother and sister and mother (Mark 3:35).
We live at a very dangerous time when practically
everything is defined by and through religion. In this predicament,
human life is in a precarious state of existence today since
religions differ in their precepts, dogmas and doctrines and as a
result they become exclusive of each other. Religions, along with
many other factors, divide life into tiny cubicles within which human
beings are suffocated to
death.
Jesus frees us from the clutches of this slavery by redefining every
area of life. Value of life and nothing else forms the basis of this
redefinition he imparts.One significant area he redefines and thus
transforms our perceptions is the area of human relationships.
In the text for today, Jesus clearly gives a new definition to the
relationships within the family. Normally, the family relationships
are very much closed since the parameters employed to define them are
all too human and sentimental. Here Jesus employs a hitherto unheard
of criterion to define family. He says, " .... whoever does
God's will is my brother and sister and mother."
For Jesus, life is rooted in God the Father and he understands
nothing outside of his relationship with the Father. Hence his words
above. Even family relationships which are generally very personal
and protected are understood on this ground by him. The limitations
of human love prevents us from accepting others who are not
biologically related to us as part of our own family.
This new perspective on family drafted for us by Jesus provides a
great release from our own selfish and putrified understanding of
family. The one binding force that keeps us all together is surely
the relationship that we keep with God and nothing biological. This
is the profound truth that this text imparts to us.
PRAYER
Lord our God who is nothing but love, teach us
to go beyond our own horizons of love which precludes the vision of
others as our own, Amen.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
What am I in Christ will enrich what I am
in the family.
Christian Education Forum, Diocese of NAE of the Mar
Thoma Church
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