Luke

8:19-21

The mission of the Messiah, 1:5-9:50

5. The dawning of the kingdom in the words of Messiah, 8:1-56

ii] Jesus' true family

Jesus' mother and brothers try to see him but are prevented by the crowds. When Jesus is told that they are outside he announces that his family consists of those who hear the word of God and do it. Physical descent is not the basis of relationships in the messianic kingdom, but rather faith. "Those who make the right response to the word of God .... now find themselves to be part of an intimate family community with Jesus himself", Nolland.

In the six episodes which make up The dawning of the kingdom in the words of Messiah, 8:1-56, Luke's focus is on the meaning of the kingdom message. This powerful word carries with it the promise of a kingdom. Yet, to access the promised blessings of the kingdom it is necessary to hear in faith, for only by this means can a person enter the kingdom. So, in this, the second episode, Jesus' true family, Luke continues with the theme introduced in the parable of the sower / soils, namely "responsive hearing", Danker - "the importance of hearing the word of God aright", Marshall. This "responsive hearing", or as Luke puts it hearing and doing / putting into practice (just "doing" in Mk.) entails responding to the word of God in faith, so Marshall.

Luke does not record why Jesus' family want to see him. Conzelmann's view that they wanted to see miracles is unlikely. Mark refers to some friends (family / relations, cf. Bauer) who come to Jesus wanting to extract him from the throng because they thought he was addled (possessed??), 3:21, and this may be linked with the visit of the family in 3:31-35. cf. also John 7:3-5. "At the minimum, the action in Mark is an attempt by the family to protect Jesus", Bock. Fitzmyer suggests that Jesus' words are actually directed to Mary and his brothers, but this seems unlikely. Some have questioned whether the "brothers" are siblings, arguing that they are relatives or even just disciples, given that the word adelfoV is used of "a brother believer." We are not told of how the family reacted, indicating that the importance of the episode rests with Jesus' words and not his family.

parageneto (paraginomai) aor. "came" - came [to him]. Come to be present with. "On one occasion his mother and his brothers paid him a visit", Cassirer.

suntucein (suntugcanw) aor. pas. inf. "[they were not able] to get near [him]" - [they were not able] to reach, meet, come together, contact [to him]. The infinitive is complementary, completing the sense of the verb "able". The "him", autw/, functions as a dative of direct object after the infinitival phrase "not able to get near to him; "reach him". Mark has the family standing outside the house (is the setting in the open?) and sending a message to Jesus inside. Mark's account carries negative connotations, but the way Luke relates the story the family is just trying to get into the house to be with Jesus, but are unable to do so because of the size of the crowd.

dia + acc. "because of [the crowd]" - because of, on account of. "The family was unable to get anywhere near him because the crowd was so densely packed", cf. Junkins.

aphggelh (apaggellw) aor. pas. "someone told" - it was said, announced. The passive used to express how Jesus knew his family had arrived.

autw/ "him" - to him. Dative of direct object.

esthkasin (iJsthmi) perf. "are standing" - have been standing. The perfect expressing a completed action with ongoing consequences. It may be expressing the fact that they have been standing outside waiting for some times.

qelonteV (qelw) "wanting" - wishing. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "have been standing"; "they are standing outside and want to see you."

idein (oJraw) aor. inf. "to see [you]" - The infinitive forms a dependent statement of perception expressing what they want.

Jesus now defines his alternate family, a messianic community with its own membership responsibilities, along with the principles upon which the family is based. The issue of conflict between filial and brotherhood responsibilities can be evidenced in this passage. The issue will be raised again and is one Christians have continually had to wrestle with. Nolland balances the issue nicely; "family bonds are not so much negated as other bonds are affirmed and focused upon."

oJ de apokriqeiV eipen "he replied" - but he answering said. The participle is attendant circumstance producing a formula statement, virtually redundant, so "he said".

mhthr mou kai adelfoi mou "my mother and brothers" - my mother and my brothers. Fitzmyer takes this phrase as a nominative absolute in apposition to the nominative au|toi, "they/these", giving the translation "my mother and my brothers, they are the ones who listen to the word of God and act on it." We are on safer ground if we follow Plummer who points out that the lack of articles would indicate that it is not a nominative absolute construction, such that here it functions as the predicate with au|toi "these" serving as the subject; "these au|toi are eisin (verb to-be) my mother and my brothers, the ones hearing ....."

oiJ .... akouonteV (akouw) pres. part. "who hear [God's word]" - the ones hearing [the word of God]. As noted above, Luke is continuing the theme of the parable of the sower / soils, namely the importance of right-hearing.

poiounteV (poiew) pres. part. "[and] put it into practice" - doing. What does Jesus mean by "doing" the Word of God? Marshall argues that "hearing and doing" is an oft used catch-all phrase in the gospels which simply means "believing", "receive / respond to God's word / will", Bock, a hearing and acting on / keeping the word of God, cf. 6:47, 49. This may well be the case, although the hearing and doing could also be Christ's hearing God's will and obeying it, which hearing and obeying becomes ours in our relationship with Christ; "all those who through him hear and do God's word are his family", Danker. Without a doubt, the basis of our salvation is substitutionary; our being in Christ / identified with Christ achieves both our sinless and righteous state and thus our standing in God's messianic family. On numerous occasions Jesus uses obedience to the law / will of God as a tool to expose sin and thus the need to find in Christ a righteousness that is apart from the law, eg. 10:25-37. Yet, it seems unlikely that Jesus is using this approach here. What seems more likely is that "hearing" and "acting on" the word of God is nothing more than an expression of faith / belief in Christ. Many commentators just leave us with "doing" in terms of "obeying", some without comment, so Creed, Geldenhuys, Nolland, ... others indicate that the "obeying" is the fruit of right-hearing, "the reception of the word of God proves itself in faithfulness and ethics", Bovon, so Evans, Green, Johnson, Stein, Black, Gooding, ... and some go a the stronger "call and discipleship" theme, so Ellis. It's interesting how much damage the children's chorus Trust and obey, for there's no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey, has done to Christian theology!

Luke Introduction

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