Luke 8:19-21
Chapter 8
19
The mother of Jesus and relatives came to him, but they couldn’t reach him because of the crowd.
20
Someone told him:
“Your mother and your brothers are standing outside and want to see you.”
21
Then Jesus answered:
“My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”
Commentaries
The Mother and Brothers of Jesus.
In the parallel passage (Mk 3:31-35), we can see more clearly that Mary also needs to make a profound discernment to follow Jesus. Her prominence among the followers is not guaranteed by her kinship but by her faithfulness to God’s will, which makes us participants in the universal brotherhood established by Jesus and his Gospel. Let us remember that, from the accounts of Jesus’ childhood, Luke portrays Mary as the ideal listener of the Word who hears and meditates in her heart (cf. 1:29; 2:19, 51).