View source for 154:6 Jesus' Family Arrives

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154:6.1 It was about eight o'clock on this Sunday morning when five members of [[Jesus]]' [[earth]] [[family]] arrived on the scene in [[response]] to the urgent summons of Jude's sister-in-law. Of all his [[family]] in the flesh, only one, Ruth, [[believed]] wholeheartedly and continuously in the [[divinity]] of his [[mission]] on [[earth]]. Jude and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_the_Just James], and even Joseph, still retained much of their [[faith]] in [[Jesus]], but they had [[permitted]] [[pride]] to [[interfere]] with their better [[judgment]] and real [[spiritual]] inclinations. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_(mother_of_Jesus) Mary] was likewise torn between [[love]] and [[fear]], between [[mother]] [[love]] and [[family]] [[pride]]. Though she was harassed by [[doubts]], she could never quite [[forget]] the [https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_122#122:3._GABRIEL.27S_ANNOUNCEMENT_TO_MARY visit of Gabriel] ere [[Jesus]] was [[born]]. The [[Pharisees]] had been [[laboring]] to [[persuade]] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_(mother_of_Jesus) Mary] that [[Jesus]] was beside himself, demented. They urged her to go with her sons and seek to dissuade him from further [[efforts]] at [[public]] [[teaching]]. They [[assured]] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_(mother_of_Jesus) Mary] that soon [[Jesus]]' [[health]] would break, and that only dishonor and [[Shame|disgrace]] could come upon the entire [[family]] as a result of allowing him to go on. And so, when the [[word]] came from Jude's sister-in-law, all five of them started at once for [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zebedee Zebedee]'s house, having been together at [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_(mother_of_Jesus) Mary]'s [[home]], where they had met with the [[Pharisees]] the evening before. They had talked with the [[Jerusalem]] [[leaders]] long into the night, and all were more or less convinced that [[Jesus]] was acting [[strange]]ly, that he had acted strangely for some time. While Ruth could not [[explain]] all of his [[conduct]], she insisted that he had always treated his [[family]] fairly and refused to [[agree]] to the program of trying to dissuade him from further [[work]].

154:6.2 On the way to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zebedee Zebedee]'s house they talked these things over and [[agreed]] among themselves to try to [[persuade]] [[Jesus]] to come [[home]] with them, for, said [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_(mother_of_Jesus) Mary]: " I know I could [[influence]] my son if he would only come [[home]] and [[listen]] to me. " [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_the_Just James] and Jude had heard [[rumors]] concerning the [[plans]] to [[arrest]] [[Jesus]] and take him to [[Jerusalem]] for [[trial]]. They also [[feared]] for their own [[safety]]. As long as [[Jesus]] was a [[popular]] figure in the [[public]] eye, his [[family]] allowed matters to drift along, but now that the people of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capernaum Capernaum] and the [[leaders]] at [[Jerusalem]] had suddenly turned against him, they began keenly to feel the [[pressure]] of the supposed [[disgrace]] of their [[embarrassing]] position.

154:6.3 They had [[expected]] to meet [[Jesus]], take him aside, and urge him to go [[home]] with them. They had thought to [[assure]] him that they would [[forget]] his neglect of them—they would [[forgive]] and [[forget]]—if he would only give up the [[foolishness]] of trying to [[preach]] a new [[religion]] which could bring only trouble to himself and dishonor upon his [[family]]. To all of this Ruth would say only: " I will tell my [[brother]] that I think he is a man of [[God]], and that I hope he would be willing to die before he would allow these [[wicked]] [[Pharisees]] to stop his [[preaching]]. " Joseph promised to keep Ruth quiet while the others [[labored]] with [[Jesus]].

154:6.4 When they reached the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zebedee Zebedee] house, [[Jesus]] was in the very midst of delivering his parting [[Speech|address]] to the [[disciples]]. They sought to gain entrance to the house, but it was crowded to overflowing. Finally they [[established]] themselves on the back porch and had [[word]] passed in to [[Jesus]], from [[person]] to [[person]], so that it finally was whispered to him by [[Simon Peter]], who interrupted his talking for the [[purpose]], and who said: " Behold, your mother and your brothers are outside, and they are very anxious to speak with you. "[https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Gospel_of_mark#Chapter_3] Now it did not occur to his [[mother]] how important was the giving of this parting [[message]] to his followers, neither did she know that his [[Speech|address]] was likely to be terminated any [[moment]] by the arrival of his apprehenders. She really [[thought]], after so long an [[apparent]] estrangement, in view of the [[fact]] that she and his [[brothers]] had shown the [[grace]] actually to come to him, that [[Jesus]] would cease speaking and come to them the [[moment]] he [[received]] word they were waiting.

154:6.5 It was just another of those instances in which his [[earth]] [[family]] could not [[comprehend]] that he must be about [[Universal Father|his Father]]'s business. And so [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_(mother_of_Jesus) Mary] and his [[brothers]] were deeply hurt when, notwithstanding that he paused in his [[speaking]] to [[receive]] the [[message]], instead of his rushing out to greet them, they heard his musical [[voice]] speak with increased volume: " Say to my [[mother]] and my [[brothers]] that they should have no [[fear]] for me. [[The Father]] who sent me into the world will not forsake me; neither shall any harm come upon my [[family]]. Bid them be of [[good]] [[courage]] and put their [[trust]] in [[the Father]] of [[the kingdom]]. But, after all, who is my [[mother]] and who are my [[brothers]]? " And stretching forth his hands toward all of his [[disciples]] assembled in the room, he said: " I have no [[mother]]; I have no [[brothers]]. Behold my mother and behold my brethren! For whosoever [[does the will of my Father]] who is in heaven, the same is my [[mother]], my [[brother]], and my sister. "[https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Gospel_of_Mark#Chapter_3]

154:6.6 And when [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_(mother_of_Jesus) Mary] heard these [[words]], she collapsed in Jude's arms. They carried her out in the [[garden]] to revive her while [[Jesus]] spoke the concluding [[words]] of his parting [[message]]. He would then have gone out to [[Meeting|confer]] with his [[mother]] and his brothers, but a [[messenger]] arrived in haste from [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiberias Tiberias] bringing [[word]] that the officers of the [[Sanhedrin]] were on their way with [[authority]] to [[arrest]] [[Jesus]] and carry him to [[Jerusalem]]. [[Andrew, the Apostle|Andrew]] received this [[message]] and, interrupting [[Jesus]], told it to him.

154:6.7 [[Andrew, the Apostle|Andrew]] did not recall that [[David Zebedee|David]] had posted some twenty-five sentinels about the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zebedee Zebedee] house, and that no one could take them by [[surprise]]; so he asked [[Jesus]] what should be done. [[The Master]] stood there in [[silence]] while his [[mother]], having heard the words, " I have no mother, "[https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Gospel_of_Mark#Chapter_3] was recovering from the [[shock]] in the [[garden]]. It was at just this time that a [[woman]] in the room stood up and [[Statement|exclaimed]], " [[Blessed]] is the [[womb]] that bore you and blessed are the [[breasts]] that nursed you. " [[Jesus]] turned aside a [[moment]] from his [[conversation]] with [[Andrew, the Apostle|Andrew]] to answer this [[woman]] by saying, " No, rather is the one [[blessed]] who hears the [[word]] of [[God]] and [[dares]] to [[obey]] it. "[https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Gospel_of_Luke#Chapter_11]

154:6.8 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_(mother_of_Jesus) Mary] and [[Jesus]]' [[brothers]] [[thought]] that [[Jesus]] did not [[understand]] them, that he had lost interest in them, little [[realizing]] that it was they who failed to [[understand]] [[Jesus]]. Jesus fully understood how [[difficult]] it is for men to break with their [[past]]. He knew how [[human being]]s are swayed by the [[preacher]]'s [[eloquence]], and how the [[conscience]] [[responds]] to [[emotional]] [[appeal]] as the [[mind]] does to [[logic]] and [[reason]], but he also knew how far more [[difficult]] it is to [[persuade]] men to disown the past.

154:6.9 It is forever true that all who may [[think]] they are misunderstood or not [[appreciated]] have in [[Jesus]] a [[sympathizing]] [[friend]] and an [[understanding]] [[counselor]]. He had [[warned]] his [[apostles]] that a man's [[foes]] may be they of his own household,[https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Gospel_of_Luke#Chapter_12] but he had hardly [[realized]] how near this [[prediction]] would come to apply to his own [[experience]]. [[Jesus]] did not [[forsake]] his [[earth]] [[family]] to do his Father's work—they forsook him. Later on, after [[the Master]]'s [https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_187 death] and [https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_189 resurrection], when [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_the_Just James] became [[connected]] with the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Christianity early Christian movement], he [[suffered]] immeasurably as a result of his failure to enjoy this earlier [[association]] with [[Jesus]] and his [[disciples]].

154:6.10 In passing through these [[events]], [[Jesus]] [[chose]] to be [[guided]] by the [[limited]] [[knowledge]] of his [[human]] [[mind]]. He [[desired]] to undergo the [[experience]] with his [[associates]] as a mere man. And it was in the [[human]] [[mind]] of [[Jesus]] to see his [[family]] before he left. He did not [[wish]] to stop in the midst of his [[discourse]] and thus render their first [[meeting]] after so long a [[separation]] such a [[public]] [[Event|affair]]. He had [[intended]] to finish his [[Speech|address]] and then have a [[visit]] with them before leaving, but this [[plan]] was thwarted by the [[conspiracy]] of [[events]] which [[immediately]] followed.

154:6.11 The haste of their flight was augmented by the arrival of a party of [[David Zebedee|David]]'s [[messengers]] at the rear entrance of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zebedee Zebedee] [[home]]. The commotion produced by these men frightened [[the apostles]] into [[thinking]] that these new arrivals might be their apprehenders, and in [[fear]] of [[immediate]] [[arrest]], they hastened through the front entrance to the waiting boat. And all of this [[explains]] why [[Jesus]] did not see his [[family]] waiting on the back porch.

154:6.12 But he did say to [[David Zebedee]] as he entered the boat in hasty flight: " Tell my [[mother]] and my [[brothers]] that I [[appreciate]] their coming, and that I [[intended]] to see them. [[Counsel|Admonish]] them to find no [[offense]] in me but rather to seek for a [[knowledge]] of the will of [[God]] and for [[grace]] and [[courage]] to do that will. "

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[[Category:Paper 154 - Last Days at Capernaum]]
[[Category: Family]]