Jesus's mother and brothers come looking for Him while He is responding to the scribes’ slander, but are unable to get into the house where He is because of the crowd. When He is told they are outside, Jesus responds by stating that whoever does the will of God is His true family—His brother, sister, and mother. This redefines family as those who share a spiritual bond through obedience to God, emphasizing the priority of spiritual relationships over biological ties.
In Mark 3:31-35Mark 3:31-35 commentary, commentary Jesus gives a new, spiritual perspective to the idea of family. As or just after Jesus swatted down the scribes and Pharisees’ slander (Mark 3:22-27Mark 3:22-27 commentary) and warned them about blaspheming the Holy Spirit (Mark 3:28-30Mark 3:28-30 commentary), Jesus’s family arrived.
Then His mother and His brothers arrived (v 31a).
Previously, Mark indicated to his readers that when Jesus returned to Capernaum, many people were waiting for Him and crowded inside the house He was visiting to such an extent that Jesus and His disciples could not even eat their homecoming meal (Mark 3:20Mark 3:20 commentary). Mark continued:
“When His own people [Jesus’s family] heard of this, they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, ‘He has lost His senses.’” (Mark 3:21Mark 3:21 commentary)
Jesus had not lost His senses. The reason His family thought He had was because Jesus had left Capernaum, in part, to get away from the Pharisees who were conspiring to destroy Him (Mark 3:6Mark 3:6 commentary). Attracting a crowd would likely notify His enemies and give them an opportunity to harm Jesus. So, Hismother and His brothers set out to find Jesus before the scribes could find Him.
Apparently, the scribes found Jesus first.
Jesus’s Family
Jesus’s mother was Mary. She miraculously conceived Jesus as a virgin, while she was betrothed to Joseph, when the Holy Spirit came upon her (Luke 1:26-35Luke 1:26-35 commentary, commentaryMatthew 1:18-25Matthew 1:18-25 commentary).
Jesus’s brothers were really His half-brothers. They had the same mother, but their father was Joseph. At least some of Jesus’s half-brothers are named in Matthew and Mark: “James and Joseph [or ‘Joses’], and Simon and Judas” (Matthew 13:55Matthew 13:55 commentary, commentaryMark 6:3Mark 6:3 commentary). According to Mark, Jesus also had half-sisters but they are left unnamed in the Gospels (Mark 6:3bMark 6:3b commentary).
Jesus's earthly father, Joseph, is not mentioned in the Scriptures beyond Jesus's childhood (Luke 2:41-51Luke 2:41-51 commentary). It is widely assumed that Joseph died before Jesus began His earthly ministry.
Jesus’s half-brothers did not believe in Him during His earthly ministry (John 7:5John 7:5 commentary).
Soon after His resurrection from the dead, Jesus appeared to His half-brother, James (1 Corinthians 15:71 Corinthians 15:7 commentary). This seems to have had a major impact on James’s faith in Jesus. Jesus’s half-brother James would go on to lead the Christian church in Jerusalem, apparently serving as the lead elder (Acts 15:13Acts 15:13 commentary, 21:1821:18 commentary). He was also the author of the Epistle of James where he describes himself as “a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ” (James 1:1James 1:1 commentary). According to Josephus, James was stoned to death and martyred for his faith.
Jesus’s half-brother Jude was the author of the Epistle of Jude. He too described himself as “a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James” (Jude 1:1Jude 1:1 commentary).
Presumably, James and Jude were with Jesus’s mother and half-brothers when they came “to take custody of Him” (Mark 3:21Mark 3:21 commentary) on this day.
What Happened When Jesus’s Family Arrived
While Jesus was teaching: Then His mother and His brothers arrived, and standing outside they sent word to Him and called Him (v 31).
Jesus’s family was standing outside the building, probably the same house, where Jesus went to eat His meal (Mark 3:20Mark 3:20 commentary). But it was crowded, “and they were unable to get to Him because of the crowd” (Luke 8:19bLuke 8:19b commentary). So, His mother and brotherssent word to Jesus through the crowd and called Him.
The message reached Jesus:
A crowd was sitting around Him, and they said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are outside looking for You.” (v 32)
According to Matthew and Luke’s gospels, their message included a request that His family was:
“…seeking to speak with You” (Matthew 12:47bMatthew 12:47b commentary)
“…wishing to see You.” (Luke 8:20bLuke 8:20b commentary).
Instead of stepping outside to meet His family as they requested, Jesus used this moment as an opportunity to teach an important lesson.
Answering them, He said, “Who are My mother and My brothers?” Looking about at those who were sitting around Him, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers!” (vv 33-34).
Matthew adds that as Jesus said this, He was “stretching out His hand toward His disciples” (Matthew 12:49Matthew 12:49 commentary).
With this gesture and remark, Jesus pointed out that His true family consists of His disciples—those who follow Him, and who are not ashamed of Him as perhaps His half-brothers were (John 7:5John 7:5 commentary). Jesus’s family are as many as those who receive Him (John 1:12-13John 1:12-13 commentary).
Jesus then elaborated, broadening the definition of His family beyond His immediate disciples to include whoever does the will of God.
“For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother” (v 35).
Jesus’s statement as recorded in the three synoptic Gospels reveals how their writers expressed it in such a way as to be best understood by their different audiences.
The Gospel of Matthew, which was likely the first of the four Gospels to be written and was addressed to the Jews, says,
“For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.” (Matthew 12:50Matthew 12:50 commentary)
Matthew did not directly name God as God. Directly naming God as God may have been a stumbling block to Jewish sensibilities. Instead, Matthew described God as “My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 12:50aMatthew 12:50a commentary).
The Gospel of Mark, which was a condensed version of Matthew and addressed to the Romans is more direct—which is a Roman way of speaking. Mark wrote:
For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother (v 35).
Both Matthew and Mark describe the action as doing “the will of God/My Father in Heaven” (Matthew 12:50aMatthew 12:50a commentary, Mark 3:35aMark 3:35a commentary). The Jews were concerned with doing the will of the LORD. And the Romans, whose national virtue was pietas—devotion, duty—highly valued doing the will of the authority.
The Gospel of Luke was the last of the synoptic Gospels to be written. It was addressed to the Greeks. Luke recorded Jesus’s statement for his Greek audience this way:
“My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.” (Luke 8:21Luke 8:21 commentary)
Luke inverts the statement by stating the outcome first, and the process second. Luke also refers to God as God (as Mark does, also writing to Gentiles). But instead of saying whoever does God’s will (like Matthew and Mark), Luke writes that it is “these who hear the word of God and do it” (Luke 8:21Luke 8:21 commentary).
This expression as recorded by Luke would have appealed to the Greeks who prized their independence and bristled at taking orders, but who thought of themselves as listening and considering (hearing) and acting upon (doing) wise words. God’s word is wise. The path to the Good Life is to hear and do it. The will ofGod in heaven is expressed in Hisword—the Bible.
The meaning in all three records of Jesus’s statement is the same in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, even as the synoptic Gospels use different expressions to convey it to their respective audiences (Jews, Romans, Greeks).
Jesus says whoever doesGod’s will and obeys His word are members of His spiritual family.
Jesus may have been indicating that His spiritual family are those who are willing to follow Him and identify with Him—and not those who are not ashamed of Him—as perhaps His half-brothers who did not believe in Him (John 7:5John 7:5 commentary) might have been.
Whoever follows Jesus and doesthe will of God are His family and share intimacy with Jesus. Conversely, those who do not do God’s will do not share the intimacy with Jesus and His Father as cooperative family members.
A family consists of a father, who serves as its head, along with a mother, brothers, and sisters.
In the biblical model, a family lives together, facing and striving to overcome life's trials as a unit. They share their resources, support one another's hopes and dreams, and care for each other.
While Jesus had a family by blood, He taught that He also had a spiritual family. This spiritual family is made up of whoever does the will of God. His message emphasized that anyone who follows the Father, regardless of where they live, is an active member of Jesus's heavenly household.
This teaching provides insight into a later passage where Jesus speaks of the rewards awaiting those who follow Him in obedience:
“Peter began to say to Him, ‘Behold, we have left everything and followed You.’
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, but that he will receive a 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. But many who are first will be last, and the last, first.’” (Mark 10:28-30Mark 10:28-30 commentary)
Jesus’s promise of receiving a "hundred times" in Mark 10:28-30Mark 10:28-30 commentary points to the richness of relationships and community found within the spiritual family of God. When He speaks of gaining “a hundred mothers,” it symbolizes the deep, nurturing care and support believers can experience within the body of Christ. The family of faith transcends biological ties, creating a network of spiritual relationships that offer encouragement, guidance, and love.
When we walk by faith in radical obedience to Christ, we enter into a deep bond of fellowship with other believers—a bond that transcends natural relationships. This fellowship becomes a source of immense blessing and encouragement in our current lives, as we share in mutual love, support, and purpose. It also serves as a foretaste of the eternal community we will experience in the life to come.
In the broadest spiritual sense, Jesus’s family are as many as those who receive Him by faith:
“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12-13John 1:12-13 commentary)
Being born of God through faith is an act of grace that is a blessing associated with the Gift of Eternal Life.
Jesus also desires to grant His glory to all those who suffer as He suffered, by overcoming rejection and loss from the world. We see in Hebrews 2:10Hebrews 2:10 commentary that Jesus desires to bring “many sons to glory.” This refers to Jesus conferring the reward of being a “son” along with Him, signifying those who gain the reward of reigning with Him. This is significant because this is the complete fulfillment of the human design (Hebrews 2:5-9Hebrews 2:5-9 commentary).
Finally, Paul refers to the “church,” by which he means all believers in Jesus, as being the fulfillment of Gensis 2:24, which refers to marriage. Paul infers that human marriages are a reflection of a great mystery, that Jesus will somehow relate to all believers as His bride. It seems that God created the family as a means to instruct humanity in understanding Him, our relationship to Him, as well as our relationship with each other.
Set to dark mode
Mark 3:31-35 meaning
The parallel Gospel accounts for Mark 3:31-35Mark 3:31-35 commentary are Matthew 12:46-50Matthew 12:46-50 commentary and commentary Luke 8:19-21Luke 8:19-21 commentary.
In Mark 3:31-35Mark 3:31-35 commentary, commentary Jesus gives a new, spiritual perspective to the idea of family. As or just after Jesus swatted down the scribes and Pharisees’ slander (Mark 3:22-27Mark 3:22-27 commentary) and warned them about blaspheming the Holy Spirit (Mark 3:28-30Mark 3:28-30 commentary), Jesus’s family arrived.
Then His mother and His brothers arrived (v 31a).
Previously, Mark indicated to his readers that when Jesus returned to Capernaum, many people were waiting for Him and crowded inside the house He was visiting to such an extent that Jesus and His disciples could not even eat their homecoming meal (Mark 3:20Mark 3:20 commentary). Mark continued:
“When His own people [Jesus’s family] heard of this, they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, ‘He has lost His senses.’”
(Mark 3:21Mark 3:21 commentary)
Jesus had not lost His senses. The reason His family thought He had was because Jesus had left Capernaum, in part, to get away from the Pharisees who were conspiring to destroy Him (Mark 3:6Mark 3:6 commentary). Attracting a crowd would likely notify His enemies and give them an opportunity to harm Jesus. So, His mother and His brothers set out to find Jesus before the scribes could find Him.
Apparently, the scribes found Jesus first.
Jesus’s Family
Jesus’s mother was Mary. She miraculously conceived Jesus as a virgin, while she was betrothed to Joseph, when the Holy Spirit came upon her (Luke 1:26-35Luke 1:26-35 commentary, commentary Matthew 1:18-25Matthew 1:18-25 commentary).
Jesus’s brothers were really His half-brothers. They had the same mother, but their father was Joseph. At least some of Jesus’s half-brothers are named in Matthew and Mark: “James and Joseph [or ‘Joses’], and Simon and Judas” (Matthew 13:55Matthew 13:55 commentary, commentary Mark 6:3Mark 6:3 commentary). According to Mark, Jesus also had half-sisters but they are left unnamed in the Gospels (Mark 6:3bMark 6:3b commentary).
Jesus's earthly father, Joseph, is not mentioned in the Scriptures beyond Jesus's childhood (Luke 2:41-51Luke 2:41-51 commentary). It is widely assumed that Joseph died before Jesus began His earthly ministry.
Jesus’s half-brothers did not believe in Him during His earthly ministry (John 7:5John 7:5 commentary).
Soon after His resurrection from the dead, Jesus appeared to His half-brother, James (1 Corinthians 15:71 Corinthians 15:7 commentary). This seems to have had a major impact on James’s faith in Jesus. Jesus’s half-brother James would go on to lead the Christian church in Jerusalem, apparently serving as the lead elder (Acts 15:13Acts 15:13 commentary, 21:1821:18 commentary). He was also the author of the Epistle of James where he describes himself as “a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ” (James 1:1James 1:1 commentary). According to Josephus, James was stoned to death and martyred for his faith.
Jesus’s half-brother Jude was the author of the Epistle of Jude. He too described himself as “a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James” (Jude 1:1Jude 1:1 commentary).
Presumably, James and Jude were with Jesus’s mother and half-brothers when they came “to take custody of Him” (Mark 3:21Mark 3:21 commentary) on this day.
What Happened When Jesus’s Family Arrived
While Jesus was teaching: Then His mother and His brothers arrived, and standing outside they sent word to Him and called Him (v 31).
Jesus’s family was standing outside the building, probably the same house, where Jesus went to eat His meal (Mark 3:20Mark 3:20 commentary). But it was crowded, “and they were unable to get to Him because of the crowd” (Luke 8:19bLuke 8:19b commentary). So, His mother and brothers sent word to Jesus through the crowd and called Him.
The message reached Jesus:
A crowd was sitting around Him, and they said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are outside looking for You.” (v 32)
According to Matthew and Luke’s gospels, their message included a request that His family was:
(Matthew 12:47bMatthew 12:47b commentary)
(Luke 8:20bLuke 8:20b commentary).
Instead of stepping outside to meet His family as they requested, Jesus used this moment as an opportunity to teach an important lesson.
Answering them, He said, “Who are My mother and My brothers?” Looking about at those who were sitting around Him, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers!” (vv 33-34).
Matthew adds that as Jesus said this, He was “stretching out His hand toward His disciples” (Matthew 12:49Matthew 12:49 commentary).
With this gesture and remark, Jesus pointed out that His true family consists of His disciples—those who follow Him, and who are not ashamed of Him as perhaps His half-brothers were (John 7:5John 7:5 commentary). Jesus’s family are as many as those who receive Him (John 1:12-13John 1:12-13 commentary).
Jesus then elaborated, broadening the definition of His family beyond His immediate disciples to include whoever does the will of God.
“For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother” (v 35).
Jesus’s statement as recorded in the three synoptic Gospels reveals how their writers expressed it in such a way as to be best understood by their different audiences.
The Gospel of Matthew, which was likely the first of the four Gospels to be written and was addressed to the Jews, says,
“For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.”
(Matthew 12:50Matthew 12:50 commentary)
Matthew did not directly name God as God. Directly naming God as God may have been a stumbling block to Jewish sensibilities. Instead, Matthew described God as “My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 12:50aMatthew 12:50a commentary).
The Gospel of Mark, which was a condensed version of Matthew and addressed to the Romans is more direct—which is a Roman way of speaking. Mark wrote:
For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother (v 35).
Both Matthew and Mark describe the action as doing “the will of God/My Father in Heaven” (Matthew 12:50aMatthew 12:50a commentary, Mark 3:35aMark 3:35a commentary). The Jews were concerned with doing the will of the LORD. And the Romans, whose national virtue was pietas—devotion, duty—highly valued doing the will of the authority.
The Gospel of Luke was the last of the synoptic Gospels to be written. It was addressed to the Greeks. Luke recorded Jesus’s statement for his Greek audience this way:
“My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.”
(Luke 8:21Luke 8:21 commentary)
Luke inverts the statement by stating the outcome first, and the process second. Luke also refers to God as God (as Mark does, also writing to Gentiles). But instead of saying whoever does God’s will (like Matthew and Mark), Luke writes that it is “these who hear the word of God and do it” (Luke 8:21Luke 8:21 commentary).
This expression as recorded by Luke would have appealed to the Greeks who prized their independence and bristled at taking orders, but who thought of themselves as listening and considering (hearing) and acting upon (doing) wise words. God’s word is wise. The path to the Good Life is to hear and do it. The will of God in heaven is expressed in His word—the Bible.
The meaning in all three records of Jesus’s statement is the same in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, even as the synoptic Gospels use different expressions to convey it to their respective audiences (Jews, Romans, Greeks).
Jesus says whoever does God’s will and obeys His word are members of His spiritual family.
Jesus may have been indicating that His spiritual family are those who are willing to follow Him and identify with Him—and not those who are not ashamed of Him—as perhaps His half-brothers who did not believe in Him (John 7:5John 7:5 commentary) might have been.
Whoever follows Jesus and does the will of God are His family and share intimacy with Jesus. Conversely, those who do not do God’s will do not share the intimacy with Jesus and His Father as cooperative family members.
A family consists of a father, who serves as its head, along with a mother, brothers, and sisters.
In the biblical model, a family lives together, facing and striving to overcome life's trials as a unit. They share their resources, support one another's hopes and dreams, and care for each other.
While Jesus had a family by blood, He taught that He also had a spiritual family. This spiritual family is made up of whoever does the will of God. His message emphasized that anyone who follows the Father, regardless of where they live, is an active member of Jesus's heavenly household.
This teaching provides insight into a later passage where Jesus speaks of the rewards awaiting those who follow Him in obedience:
“Peter began to say to Him, ‘Behold, we have left everything and followed You.’
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, but that he will receive a 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. But many who are first will be last, and the last, first.’”
(Mark 10:28-30Mark 10:28-30 commentary)
Jesus’s promise of receiving a "hundred times" in Mark 10:28-30Mark 10:28-30 commentary points to the richness of relationships and community found within the spiritual family of God. When He speaks of gaining “a hundred mothers,” it symbolizes the deep, nurturing care and support believers can experience within the body of Christ. The family of faith transcends biological ties, creating a network of spiritual relationships that offer encouragement, guidance, and love.
When we walk by faith in radical obedience to Christ, we enter into a deep bond of fellowship with other believers—a bond that transcends natural relationships. This fellowship becomes a source of immense blessing and encouragement in our current lives, as we share in mutual love, support, and purpose. It also serves as a foretaste of the eternal community we will experience in the life to come.
In the broadest spiritual sense, Jesus’s family are as many as those who receive Him by faith:
“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”
(John 1:12-13John 1:12-13 commentary)
Being born of God through faith is an act of grace that is a blessing associated with the Gift of Eternal Life.
Jesus also desires to grant His glory to all those who suffer as He suffered, by overcoming rejection and loss from the world. We see in Hebrews 2:10Hebrews 2:10 commentary that Jesus desires to bring “many sons to glory.” This refers to Jesus conferring the reward of being a “son” along with Him, signifying those who gain the reward of reigning with Him. This is significant because this is the complete fulfillment of the human design (Hebrews 2:5-9Hebrews 2:5-9 commentary).
Finally, Paul refers to the “church,” by which he means all believers in Jesus, as being the fulfillment of Gensis 2:24, which refers to marriage. Paul infers that human marriages are a reflection of a great mystery, that Jesus will somehow relate to all believers as His bride. It seems that God created the family as a means to instruct humanity in understanding Him, our relationship to Him, as well as our relationship with each other.