He is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. (Hebrews 2:11)
What’s in your newspaper today? Wars and uprisings? Murders and robberies? Celebrity marriages, divorces, and remarriages? “Bad news” seems to sell so much better than “good news,” doesn’t it? Well, let’s look at some good news instead: Jesus is your brother!
It’s easy to forget that Jesus is completely human and that he shares kinship with us. In fact, he is willing—indeed, happy—to be so closely connected with us. As today’s reading tells us, the One who makes us holy and we ourselves have the same origin (Hebrews 2:11). We are of the same stock. Yes, he is our brother!
Jesus knows our struggles. Not just because he’s God and he knows everything but because he shared our humanity (Hebrews 4:15). He knows firsthand our human limitations. He knows the tiredness and weakness and incessant whispering of the devil that we all face. He knows our grief, our fear, and our reluctance to do what the Father asks sometimes. None of these pulled him down, but he is our brother, full of compassion for us, even when we do fall.
As your brother, Jesus wants to strengthen you. He wants to speak truth to you. He wants to teach and encourage and protect you; to walk right with you through everything you face in life. What’s more, he is not ashamed to be called your brother. Rather, he is proud to have you. He loves you, understands you, and is deeply concerned for you. And more than anything, Jesus wants to pour the love, confidence, joy, and peace that are in his heart into your heart so that you can stand strong in this world, just as he did.
It may be hard to believe such good news, but genuine news has a way of surprising us. Just ask him to teach you. Sit quietly, and let him show you what it means that he is your brother. He may speak to you through Scripture, in a song, in a quiet voice in your heart, or through something a friend said to you yesterday. Write down whatever you sense him saying, and take it with you all day. After all, it’s the best news you could ever hear!
“Jesus, I want to know you as my brother. Open my eyes and my heart so that I can experience that closeness with you today.”
Psalm 8:2, 5-9; Mark 1:21-28