The Superior Claims of His Father's Work

An interesting story about the Savior recorded by Matthew reads as follows, “While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him. Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother” (Matthew 12:46-50). At first reading it might seem that Jesus was being disrespectful to his family—they wanted to talk to Him, but He did not seem to be in a hurry to grant their request. So how do we understand this story?

               Elder Talmage summarized the incident this way: “The superior claims of His Father’s work caused Him to let all minor matters wait. We are not justified in construing these remarks as evidence of disrespect, far less of filial and family disloyalty. Devotion, similar in kind at least, was expected by Him of the apostles, who were called to devote without reserve their time and talents to the ministry.” This was a time when he needed to focus on teaching the people, and He chose to wait to see His family—there is no indication that He didn’t eventually meet with them. But other times He clearly served His mother directly, such as at the marriage feast in Cana when He provided wine or when on the cross He sought to put her in the care of John. As Elder Talmage also pointed out, this event reminds us of the incident at Jerusalem when He was twelve years old. His parents left to go back to Nazareth, but “the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it.” When they finally found Him, Jesus explained Himself in these words: “How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” To Him, what the Father wanted was always first priority, in all situations. And in this case that meant staying in Jerusalem to teach the people. But Luke’s subsequent description is also very telling: “And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them” (Luke 2:49-51). He still honored His mortal guardians and were subject to them, but He put His Father in Heaven first in all things. This is surely an important lesson for us—the Lord’s will should always be our highest priority, even if that means we are not in some instances immediately available for our family.

               I believe that there is a related lesson in this story that Jesus was teaching about doing the will of God. He used this request to see His family to give a message about what it means to be in the family of God: “For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.” When we put the Father first, when we do His will, we become the children of God and are in His spiritual family. Of course we are all spirit children of the Father because He created our spirits, but the scriptures also speak of becoming a part of His family by following Him. For example Jesus taught, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (John 1:12). To truly become His sons and daughters—in the sense that we become like Him—we must believe on Him and do His will. Jesus wanted to invite the crowd that day to put the Father’s will first in their lives, and He showed He too was willing to do so. He would later declare, “He that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him” (John 8:29). That must be our primary goal in life as well—no matter what competing priorities demand our time, what matters most is that we do always those things that please Him.