Luke 8:21

CONSANGUINITY OF THE HOLY GHOST

Mat 12:46-50; Mar 3:31-35; & Luk 8:19; Luk 8:21; Luk 11:27-28. “And it came to pass while He was speaking these things, a certain woman, lifting up her voice from the crowd, said to Him, Blessed is the womb having born Thee, and the breast which Thou didst suck. And He said, Truly, blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it.” This is simply the gushing ejaculation of a woman in the crowd, so carried away with admiration of His mighty works and wonderful preaching that she is electrified with the conception of the glorious honor appertaining to the woman who enjoyed the privilege and the blessing of motherhood, thus giving the world such a Son. Matthew: “And He, speaking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers are standing without, seeking to speak to Him. And responding, He said to the one having spoken to Him, Who is My mother and who are My brothers? Reaching forth His hand toward His disciples [Mark says they were all sitting down around Him in a circle], said, Behold, My mother and My brothers. For whosoever may do the will of My Father who is in the heavens, the same is My brother, My sister, and My mother.” Luke says, “My mother and My brothers are those who hear the Word of God and do it.” His reputed father, Joseph, is not mentioned here in connection with the family, neither have we a single word in reference to him since Jesus accompanied them to the temple when He was twelve years old. There is not doubt but he died during the ensuing eighteen years. We hear of Jesus having sisters living in Nazareth; doubtless married. Questions arise in reference to these brothers of Jesus — four in number, James, Judas, Simon, and Joses — the Roman Catholics, conservatively to their Mariolatry, claiming that they were the sons of Joseph by a former marriage; and the Protestants, certainly with more plausibility, that they were the uterine brothers of Jesus, and of course younger than Himself, as we have not an intimation that Joseph had a former marriage, and especially from the fact that we always find them in company with Mary, which looks much like she was their mother. Jesus then being thirty-two years old, if they were children of Joseph by a former marriage, it would put them up considerably in bachelorhood, and not seem very plausible that they would have been giving a stepmother so much attention. There is no doubt but they, thinking that He was wearing Himself out, wanted to prevail on Him to relax labor, and go home with them, and take a good rest, which was incompatible with the urgency of His important ministry. We see here, His natural relatives go into eclipse when contrasted with the spiritual. So we all find, as we become more spiritual, our physical consanguinity sinks into deeper eclipse; not that we love our natural relatives less, but the consanguinity of the Holy Ghost is so much sweeter and richer than that of this world, that we find our affections absorbed and literally captured by the saints of God, admiring and appreciating them in proportion to their approximation to that Perfect Man, the fairest among ten thousand and altogether lovely.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

8:21 those who hear God’s word and obey it: Jesus was not rejecting his family but announcing that spiritual relationships—being part of God’s family—supersede family ties.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Luk 8:21. [Μήτηρ μου, my mother) See Luk 8:2.—V. g.—ἀδελφοί μου, my brethren) Luk 8:1, at the end.—V. g.]—οὗτοι, these) Used demonstratively.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luk 8:21 . Lk. omits the graphic touches looking around, and stretching out His hands towards His disciples, concerned only to report the memorable word. οἱ τὸν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ , those hearing and doing the word of God . The expression here is somewhat conventional and secondary as compared with Mt. and Mk. Cf. chap. Luk 6:47 , and λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ , Luk 8:11 .

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(21) My mother and my brethren.—The answer agrees very closely with that in the other Gospels. But note the use of “the word of God,” instead of “the will of God” in St. Mark, and “the will of my Father” in St. Matthew, as throwing light on the meaning of the former phrase, and showing its fulness and width of meaning.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

21. are these] The word implies the “looking round at those sitting in a circle about Him” of Mar_3:34, and the “stretching forth His hand towards His disciples” of Mat_12:49. “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you,” Joh_15:14 (comp. Luk_2:49; Joh_2:4; Joh_14:21; Heb_2:11). His earthly relatives needed the lesson that they must recognise in Him a Being who stood far above all relationships

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Now it came to pass on a certain day,.... The same day at even, as Mark says, Mar 4:35 in which he delivered the parables of the sower, and of the seed cast into the ground, and of the grain of mustard seed:

that he went into a ship with his disciples; they following him into it, Mat 8:23

and he said unto them, let us go over unto the other side of the lake; of Gennesaret, or sea of Galilee:

and they launched forth; into the sea; they set sail, and proceeded: this clause is omitted in the Syriac and Persic versions.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

21 And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it.

Ver. 21. See Mat 12:46; Mar 3:31.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

There is no tie of affinity and friendship so proper, and so becoming man, as that made by faith in Christ, and strengthened by charity. (Tirinus)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

See Poole on "Luk 8:20"

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the Word of God, and do it. The Master used the opportunity to send home into the hearts of the many listeners the stern, grave lesson that there was something more solemn even than family ties, and that these, holy and binding though they were, must not be allowed to stand in the way of plain, unmistakable duty.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

21. μήτηρ μου. Not ἡ μήτηρ. ‘Mother and brethren to me are those who,’ &c.

οὗτοί εἰσιν. The demonstrative implies the “looking round at those sitting in a circle about Him” of Mar 3:34, and the “stretching forth His hand towards His disciples” of Mat 12:49. “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you” (Joh 15:14; comp. Luk 2:49; Joh 2:4; Joh 14:21; Heb 2:11). His earthly relatives needed the lesson that they must recognise in Him a Being who stood far above all relationships “after the flesh” (2Co 5:16). Even disciples must “hate” father and mother in comparison with Christ (comp. Deu 33:9).

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

21. μήτηρ μου καὶ ἀδελφοί μου. Note the absence of the article in all three accounts. This is the predicate, and οὖτοι, κ.τ.λ., is the subject. And the meaning is not are “My actual mother or brethren,” which would be ἡ μήτηρ μου καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοί μου, but “Mother to Me and brethren to Me,” i.e. equal to such, equally dear, Mt. and Mk. have the singular here: οὖτος or αὐτός μου ἀδελφὸς καὶ ἀδελφὴ καὶ μήτηρ ἐστίν. We cannot infer from καὶ ἀδελφή that His sisters were present: they had settled at Nazareth (Mat 13:56; Mar 6:3). The texts of Mar 3:32, which represent the multitude as telling Jesus that His sisters are with His Mother and brethren, are probably the result of this inference. A D and some Latin authorities insert “and Thy sisters”; א B C G K L and most Versions omit the words. Christ’s reply is not a denial of the claims of family ties, nor does it necessarily imply any censure on His Mother and brethren. It asserts that there are far stronger and higher claims. Family ties at the best are temporal; spiritual ties are eternal. Moreover, the closest blood-relationship to the Messiah constitutes no claim to admission into the Kingdom of God. No one becomes a child of God in virtue of human parentage (Joh 1:13). Jesus does not say πατήρ μου, not merely because Joseph was not present, but because in the spiritual sense that relationship to Christ is filled by God alone. See on ver. 11.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.