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.

The first thing I came up with was that Jesus isn't Man. The Ten Commandments were part of the Hebrews' covenant to God, and obviously, He's not the man-part of the covenant. Of course, that still doesn't explain Jesus, who came as both Man and God, being so rude.

And then it occurred to me. When you have a family, you put them first, right? And when Mary and her sons came wanting to see Jesus, they were expecting special access to Him. When they didn't get it, they even sent someone to tell Jesus, even though Jesus, all-knowing as He is, would have already known, right? But by denying Mary and her sons access to Him, he was showing everyone (and us) that no one has special access to Jesus/God. Not even Mary, his mother. Everyone has the same kind of access. He listens to everyone equally. Of course, that doesn't mean that everyone hears Him equally, either.

And the last part -- that His mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it -- reminds me of what I read in Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. Those two things -- those who hear God and act according to His will -- are key components of being a Christian. So who gets special access to Jesus's words/help/etc.? Christians! Because we're Jesus's family!

That's all! :)




... Although as a side note, I wonder what this says about certain denominations praying to Mary. Certainly this passage shows that Mary didn't have special access to God. And we can always talk to Him. So why do people ask Mary to talk to Jesus for them (or something?)? My friend Tyler, who's a Lutheran, says that praying to Mary, and saints (and I think Lutherans believe that everyone's a sort of saint), can't hurt, and it's sort of like asking people on Earth praying for you. But I still can't help but point out that there's a difference between asking your family to pray for you and asking someone dead who may or may not hear you to pray for you. If you talk to dead saints, isn't it basically the same distance that prayer travels to Jesus?