11Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. 12He says, "I will declare your name to my brothers; in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises." 13And again, "I will put my trust in him."And again he says, "Here am I, and the children God has given me."
I think I tend to struggle with the label because at least in my own cultural context and personal experience, there's something about the relationship of a sibling that seems to remove the majesty or authority that Jesus is due. There's a certain degree of familiarity - but maybe that's exactly the point. It very effectively testifies to the magnitude of grace that has been given to the Christian, that the King of Kings would not be ashamed to call fallen mortals "brother".
I look at my son Daniel's relationship with my daughter Sophia as clues to how their relationship might provide glimpses of the "Jesus as brother" relationship. On Saturday we had dinner over at friends' house, and they had a cat. Daniel and Sophia were following the cat around, with Sophia cautiously crawling a couple of feet away while Daniel sat nearby on the foot of the stairwell. The cat suddenly arched his back and turned, and Sophia pretty much threw herself into Daniel's arms in fear, and hugged him tightly as she looked back at the cat. Daniel, who wasn't afraid, held Sophia tightly and you could almost see a smile on his face. He genuinely cared about Sophia and enjoyed making her feel safe and comfortable. And there was something about the familiarity they had with each other that made her turning to him easy. It's something that a parent loves to see, and is a nice glimpse of what Older Brother love looks like.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment