NOTES for Mat 12:46-50

In this episode Jesus may at first seem hard-hearted. Indeed, it is strange to see a preacher so absorbed in spreading his teaching that a crowd of followers becomes more precious to him than his relatives, to the point that he is ready to exchange his own Mother and brothers for them. Any demagogic orator would look unattractive in such a situation. Yet a careful examination of the Gospel account forces us to admit that Christ's words contain no rejection of either His Mother or His brothers. For He called those who do the will of the Heavenly Father His brothers and mother. Was it not Mary who opened Herself to God with the greatest possible fullness? Did She not become the Mother of Christ precisely because She fulfilled the will of the Heavenly Father? The case of the brothers, who did not possess Mary's spiritual experience and did not immediately recognize Jesus as the Christ, is somewhat different. But the time will come when they will see and accept what is still difficult for them to accept. Then they will become brothers not only by kinship.