A Different Kind of Love

In my last post, I talked about how Jesus is accessible to everyone, although not everyone hears Him equally. This is sort of related to that subject matter.

As anyone who's even acquainted with Christian theology can tell you, God's love is eternal, and always there, even if you can't feel it. And often times, when you're at your lowest points, or even when you're just scared or sad, God's love is what you need, and you can't feel it. It kind of really sucks, right?

So I have nightmares every night. Sometimes I wake up screaming. Two nights ago this happened multiple times, and so, naturally, last night I was scared to go to sleep. I could hear God telling me that He was there, but I couldn't feel it. And there's this thing I sometimes do, when I need the comfort only He can give. I imagine Jesus standing somewhere, not really right in front of me but sort of in my head, and imagine myself hugging him. And I know that sounds ridiculous (although imagining things is a relaxation technique called Guided Meditation, and since God's love is real it shouldn't sound weird), and that's why I think it's something that so hard to get to. Human stuff gets in the way. You think it's stupid. You think you can't just imagine comfort. You think if you're imagining it, it can't possibly be something real. You think that it would be strange if God used the imagining capabilities he gave you to be capable of feeling him there. This is what happens:

Accessing Jesus

I have the English Standard Version of the Bible. This version had headlines that separate parts of the chapter by what happens. I'm reading Luke, partly because I want to read the Gospels and partly because I'm taking a Luke/Acts class next semester and I might as well read the one I'm going to be studying.

Anyway, there's this little blurb in chapter 8, which my Bible calls "Jesus' Mother and Brothers." (I really hope this was published before grammar rules said it was supposed to be Jesus's) It's verses 19-21, and since it's so short I'm going to type it out here:

Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. And he was told, "Your mother and brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you." But he answered them, "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it."

It might just be me. But was anyone else bothered by Jesus's reaction? I mean, one of the Ten Commandments is to honor one's father and mother. Clearly, Jesus is basically renouncing his mother and his brothers. He's forsaking his family. So whenever I'd read it, I'd always frown a little, and then keep reading, hoping to forget about this odd little part of Luke. But then last night I was thinking about it, trying to figure out what Jesus meant with his response, and why it was the right answer.