Kinship with Christ
Gospel Reflection for Tuesday, January 27th, 2026 - Mark 3:31-35
In today’s Gospel we find Jesus with people sitting in a circle around Him as He is teaching, when His mother and brothers arrive.
I could get into the minutiae of what “brothers” means here by explaining the Greek word adelphos1 but I won’t. Instead, I want to focus on what Jesus is doing.
As we have come to expect from Jesus, He is taking the chance to explain a deeper and more full understanding of the Kingdom of God to all who would listen. As the crowd tells Him that His mother and family are asking for Him, Jesus replies “Who are my mother and my brothers?” not because He has rejected them but because He is about to explain the spiritual reality of family in the Kingdom and through Himself.
You see, all who do the will of God, are called family to Christ. Like the crowd sitting before Jesus, all who listen to the Word made flesh, who allow His words to transform their hearts, minds and souls, who reorder their lives towards Him are called His family.
So friends, as we reflect on today’s Gospel, “doing the will of God” is something much more immediate and embodied. It looks like staying. Like sitting at Jesus’ feet. Like listening long enough for His words to take root and begin to reshape the way we see ourselves and the world. The ones Jesus calls family are not those who claim Him, but those who remain open to being formed by Him.
I invite you to reflect on the reality that kinship with Christ is more than proximity to Him but instead the willingness to be transformed by Him, His words, and His life.
The mother of Jesus and his brothers arrived at the house.
Standing outside, they sent word to Jesus and called him.
A crowd seated around him told him,
"Your mother and your brothers and your sisters
are outside asking for you."
But he said to them in reply,
"Who are my mother and my brothers?"
And looking around at those seated in the circle he said,
"Here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does the will of God
is my brother and sister and mother."
Beautiful.
Thanks Mandy