Luke 8:21
“Jesus Defines His True Family”Luke 8:19–21
Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain
Bible text: King James Version with Strong's numbers · Public domain
Bible text: Berean Standard Bible · Public domain
Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain
Bible text: World English Bible, Messianic edition · Public domain
Bible text: Geneva Bible (1599) · Public domain
Bible text: Young's Literal Translation · Public domain
- ὁho[the]G3588T-NSMDefinite article Nominative Singular Masculine
- δὲdeButG1161CONJConjunction
- ἀποκριθεὶςapokritheisansweringG611V-AOP-NSMVerb Aorist Passive Deponent Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
- εἶπενeipenHe saidG2036V-2AAI-3SVerb 2nd Aorist Active Indicative 3rd Singular
- πρὸςprostoG4314PREPPreposition
- αὐτούς·autousthemG846P-APMPersonal pronoun Accusative Plural Masculine
- μήτηρmētērMotherG3384N-NSFNoun Nominative Singular Feminine
- μουmouof MineG3165P-1GSPersonal pronoun Genitive 1st Singular
- καὶkaiandG2532CONJConjunction
- ἀδελφοίadelphoibrothersG80N-NPMNoun Nominative Plural Masculine
- μουmouof mineG3165P-1GSPersonal pronoun Genitive 1st Singular
- οὗτοίhoutoithoseG3778D-NPMDemonstrative pronoun Nominative Plural Masculine
- εἰσινeisinareG1510V-PAI-3PVerb Present Active Indicative 3rd Plural
- οἱhoiwhoG3588T-NPMDefinite article Nominative Plural Masculine
- τὸνtontheG3588T-ASMDefinite article Accusative Singular Masculine
- λόγονlogonwordG3056N-ASMNoun Accusative Singular Masculine
- τοῦtou[the]G3588T-GSMDefinite article Genitive Singular Masculine
- θεοῦtheouof GodG2316N-GSM-TNoun Genitive Singular Masculine Title
- ἀκούοντεςakouontesare hearingG191V-PAP-NPMVerb Present Active Participle Nominative Plural Masculine
- καὶkaiandG2532CONJConjunction
- ποιοῦντεςpoiountesdoingG4160V-PAP-NPMVerb Present Active Participle Nominative Plural Masculine
- αὐτόνautonitG846P-ASMPersonal pronoun Accusative Singular Masculine
English is a literal word-by-word gloss of the Greek, not the KJV's wording. Why?
This is the original text the KJV's translators worked from — each Greek word with its own literal English meaning in this verse, prepared by scholars at Tyndale House, Cambridge. The KJV translates whole sentences, not word by word, so its wording differs: one Greek word can become several English words, and the KJV may choose “charity” where the gloss reads “love”. Both are faithful — they answer different questions. For the KJV's own rendering, switch to the KJV text.
Words in [ ] are added by the English.
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Public-domain commentary
Matthew Henry
From his Commentary on the Whole Bible. Henry wrote on whole passages, and this entry covers Luke 8:4–21. He set out his notes in a four-level outline, kept here as he numbered it.
The former paragraph began with an account of Christ's industry in preaching (Luke 8:1); this begins with an account of the people's industry in hearing, Luke 8:4. He went into every city, to preach; so they, one would think, should have contented themselves to hear him when he came to their own city (we know those that would); but there were those here that came to him out of every city, would not stay till he came to them, nor think that they had enough when he left them, but met him when he was coming towards them, and followed him when he was going from them. Nor did he excuse himself from going to the cities with this, that there were some from the cities that came to him; for, though there were, yet the most had not zeal enough to bring them to him, and therefore such is his wonderful condescension that he will go to them; for he is found of those that sought him not, Isaiah 65:1.
Here was, it seems, a vast concourse, much people were gathered together, abundance of fish to cast their net among; and he was as ready and willing to teach as they were to be taught. Now in these verses we have,
I.Necessary and excellent rules and cautions for hearing the word, in the parable of the sower and the explanation and application of it, all which we had twice before more largely. When Christ had put forth this parable,
1.The disciples were inquisitive concerning the meaning of it, Luke 8:9. They asked him, What might this parable be? Note, We should covet earnestly to know the true intent, and full extent, of the word we hear, that we may be neither mistaken nor defective in our knowledge.
2.Christ made them sensible of what great advantage it was to them that they had opportunity of acquainting themselves with the mystery and meaning of his word, which others had not: Unto you it is given, Luke 8:10. Note, Those who would receive instruction from Christ must know and consider what a privilege it is to be instructed by him, what a distinguishing privilege to be led into the light, such a light, when others are left in darkness, such a darkness. Happy are we, and for ever indebted to free grace, if the same thing that is a parable to others, with which they are only amused, is a plain truth to us, by which we are enlightened and governed, and into the mould of which we are delivered.
Now from the parable itself, and the explication of it, observe,
(1.)The heart of man is as soil to the seed of God's word; it is capable of receiving it, and bringing forth the fruits of it; but, unless that seed be sown in it, it will bring forth nothing valuable. Or care therefore must be to bring the seed and the soil together. To what purpose have we the seed in the scripture, if it be not sown? And to what purpose have we the soil in our own hearts, if it be not sown with that seed?
(2.)The success of the seeding is very much according to the nature and temper of the soil, and as that is, or is not, disposed to receive the seed. The word of God is to us, as we are, a savour of life unto life, or of death unto death.
(3.)The devil is a subtle and spiteful enemy, that makes it his business to hinder our profiting by the word of God. He takes the word out of the hearts of careless hearers, lest they should believe and be saved, Luke 8:12. This is added here to teach us,
[1.]That we cannot be saved unless we believe. The word of the gospel will not be a saving word to us, unless it be mixed with faith.
[2.]That therefore the devil does all he can to keep us from believing, to make us not believe the word when we read and hear it; or, if we heed it for the present, to make us forget it again, and let it slip (Hebrews 2:1); or, if we remember it, to create prejudices in our minds against it, or divert our minds from it to something else; and all is lest we should believe and be saved, lest we should believe and rejoice, while he believes and trembles.
(4.)Where the word of God is heard carelessly there is commonly a contempt put upon it too. It is added here in the parable that the seed which fell by the way-side was trodden down, Luke 8:5. They that wilfully shut their ears against the word do in effect trample it under their feet; they despise the commandment of the Lord.
(5.)Those on whom the word makes some impressions, but they are not deep and durable ones, will show their hypocrisy in a time of trial; as the seed sown upon the rock, where it gains no root, Luke 8:13. These for awhile believe a little while; their profession promises something, but in time of temptation they fall away from their good beginnings. Whether the temptation arises from the smiles or the frowns, of the world, they are easily overcome by it.
(6.)The pleasures of this life are as dangerous and mischievous thorns to choke the good seed of the word as any other. This is added here (Luke 8:14), which was not in the other evangelists. Those that are not entangled in the cares of this life, nor inveigled with the deceitfulness of riches, but boast that they are dead to them, may yet be kept from heaven by an affected indolence, and the love of ease and pleasure. The delights of sense may ruin the soul, even lawful delights, indulged, and too much delighted in.
(7.)It is not enough that the fruit be brought forth, but it must be brought to perfection, it must be fully ripened. If it be not, it is as if there was no fruit at all brought forth; for that which in Matthew and Mark is said to be unfruitful is the same that here is said to bring forth none to perfection. For factum non dicitur quod non perseverat - perseverance is necessary to the perfection of a work.
(8.)The good ground, which brings forth good fruit, is an honest and good heart, well disposed to receive instruction and commandment (Luke 8:15); a heart free from sinful pollutions, and firmly fixed for God and duty, an upright heart, a tender heart, and a heart that trembles at the word, is an honest and good heart, which, having heard the word, understands it (so it is in Matthew), receives it (so it is in Mark), and keeps it (so it is here), as the soil not only receives, but keeps, the seed; and the stomach not only receives, but keeps, the food or physic.
(9.)Where the word is well kept there is fruit brought forth with patience. This also is added here. There must be both bearing patience and waiting patience; patience to suffer the tribulation and persecution which may arise because of the word; patience to continue to the end in well-doing.
(10.)In consideration of all this, we ought to take heed how we hear (Luke 8:18); take heed of those things that will hinder our profiting by the word we hear, watch over our hearts in hearing, and take heed lest they betray us; take heed lest we hear carelessly and slightly, lest, upon any account, we entertain prejudice against the word we hear; and take heed to the frame of our spirits after we have heard the word, lest we lose what we have gained.
II.Needful instructions given to those that are appointed to preach the word, and to those also that have heard it.
1.Those that have received the gift must minister the same. Ministers that have the dispensing of the gospel committed to them, people that have profited by the word and are thereby qualified to profit others, must look upon themselves as lighted candles: ministers must in solemn authoritative preaching, and people in brotherly familiar discourse, diffuse their light, for a candle must not be covered with a vessel nor put under a bed, Luke 8:16. Ministers and Christians are to be lights in the world, holding forth the word of life. Their light must shine before men; they must not only be good, but do good.
2.We must expect that what is now done in secret, and from unseen springs, will shortly be manifested and made known, Luke 8:17. What is committed to you in secret should be made manifest by you; for your Master did not give you talents to be buried, but to be traded with. Let that which is now hid be made known; for, if it be not manifested by you, it will be manifested against you, will be produced in evidence of your treachery.
3.The gifts we have will either be continued to us, or taken from us, according as we do, or do not, make use of them for the glory of God and the edification of our brethren: Whosoever hath, to him shall be given, Luke 8:18. He that hath gifts, and does good with them, shall have more; he that buries his talent shall lose it. From him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath, so it is in Mark; that which he seemeth to have, so it is in Luke. Note, The grace that is lost was but seeming grace, was never true. Men do but seem to have what they do not use, and shows of religion will be lost and forfeited. They went out from us, because they were not of us, 1 John 2:19. Let us see to it that we have grace in sincerity, the root of the matter found in us; that is a good part which shall never be taken away from those that have it.
III.Great encouragement given to those that prove themselves faithful hearers of the word, by being doers of the work, in a particular instance of Christ's respect to his disciples, in preferring them even before his nearest relations (Luke 8:19-21), which passage of story we had twice before. Observe,
1.What crowding there was after Christ. There was no coming near for the throng of people that attended him, who, though they were crowded very so much, would not be crowded out from his congregation.
2.Some of his nearest kindred were least solicitous to hear him preach. Instead of getting within, as they might easily have done if they had come in time, desiring to hear him, they stood without, desiring to see him; and, probably, out of a foolish fear, lest he should spend himself with too much speaking, designing nothing but to interrupt him, and oblige him to break off.
3.Jesus Christ would rather be busy at his work than conversing with his friends. He would not leave his preaching, to speak with his mother and his brethren, for it was his meat and drink to be so employed.
4.Christ is pleased to own those as his nearest and dearest relations that hear the word of God and do it; they are to him more than his mother and brethren.
Historical interpretation
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'" Now He had in precisely similar terms rejected His mother or His brethren, whilst preferring those who heard and obeyed God. His mother, however, was not here present with Him.
Our Lord had left His kinsfolk according to the flesh, and was occupied in His Father's teaching. But when they began to feel His absence, they came unto Him, as it is said, Then came unto him his mother and his brethren. When you hear of our Lord's brethren you must include also the notions of piety and grace. For no one in regard of His divine nature is the brother of the Saviour, (for He is the Only-begotten,) but He has, by the grace of piety, made us partakers in His flesh and His blood, and He who is by nature God has become our brother.
His brethren thought that when He heard of their presence He would send away the people, from respect to His mother's name, and from His affection towards her, as it follows, And it was told him, Thy mother and thy brethren stand without.
Intimacy with the Lord is not explained in terms of kinship according to the flesh, but it is achieved by cheerful willingness in doing the will of God.
The moral teacher who gives himself an example to others, when about to enjoin upon others, that he who has not left father and mother, is not worthy of the Son of God, first submits Himself to this precept, not that He denies the claims of filial piety, (for it is His own sentence, He that knoweth not his father and mother shall die the death,) but because He knows that He is more bound to obey His Father's mysteries than the feelings of His mother. Nor however are His parents harshly rejected, but the bonds of the mind are shown to be more sacred than those of the body. Therefore in this place He does not disown His mother, (as some heretics say, eagerly catching at His speech,) since she is also acknowledged from the cross; but the law of heavenly ordinances is preferred to earthly affection.
In a mystical sense he ought not to stand without, who was seeking Christ. Hence also that saying, Come unto him, and be enlightened (Ps. 34:6. Vulg.). For if they stand without, not even parents themselves are acknowledged; and perhaps for our example they are not. How are we acknowledged by Him if we stand without? That meaning also is not unreasonable, because by the figure of parents He points to the Jews of whom Christ was born, (Rom. 9:5.) and thought the Church to be preferred to the synagogue.
(Hom. 44. in Matt.) Think what it was, when the whole people stood by, and were hanging upon His mouth, (for His teaching had already begun,) to withdraw Him away from them. Our Lord accordingly answers as it were rebuking them, as it follows, And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are they which hear the word of God, and do it, &c.
(Hom. 41. in Matt.) Now He does not say this by way of reproof to His mother, but to greatly assist her, for if He was anxious for others to beget in them a just opinion of Himself, much more was He for His mother. And He had not raised her to such a height if she were always to expect to be honoured by Him as a son, and never to consider Him as her Lord.
The present lesson teaches us that obedience and listening to God are the causes of every blessing. Some entered and spoke respectfully about Christ's holy mother and his brothers. He answered in these words, "My mother and my brothers are they who hear the word of God and do it."Now do not let any one imagine that Christ scorned the honor due to his mother or contemptuously disregarded the love owed to his brothers. He spoke the law by Moses and clearly said, "Honor your father and your mother, that it may be well with you." How, I ask, could he have rejected the love due to brothers, who even commanded us to love not merely our brothers but also those who are enemies to us? He says, "Love your enemies." What does Christ want to teach? His object is to exalt highly his love toward those who are willing to bow the neck to his commands. I will explain the way he does this. The greatest honors and the most complete affection are what we all owe to our mothers and brothers. If he says that they who hear his word and do it are his mother and brothers, is it not plain to every one that he bestows on those who follow him a love thorough and worthy of their acceptance? He would make them readily embrace the desire of yielding themselves to his words and of submitting their mind to his yoke, by means of a complete obedience.
But since he who does the will of the Father is called sister and brother of the Lord, on account of both sexes who are gathered to the faith, this is not surprising; yet it is greatly to be wondered how one is also called mother. For he deigned to call his faithful disciples brothers, saying: Go, announce to my brothers. Therefore, he who could become a brother of the Lord by coming to faith—it must be asked how he can also be a mother? But we should know that one who is a brother and sister of Christ by believing becomes a mother by preaching. For one gives birth to the Lord, as it were, when one has poured him into the heart of the hearer. And one becomes his mother if through one's voice the love of the Lord is begotten in the mind of one's neighbor.
To confirm this matter fittingly for us, blessed Felicity is present, whose birthday we celebrate today, who by believing became a handmaid of Christ, and by preaching was made a mother of Christ. For she feared to leave her seven sons, as is read in the more accurate accounts of her deeds, alive in the flesh after her, just as carnal parents usually fear to send their dead children before them. For when she was seized in the labor of persecution, she strengthened the hearts of her sons by preaching the love of the heavenly fatherland, and she brought forth in spirit those whom she had borne in the flesh, so that by preaching she might bear to God those whom she had borne in the flesh to the world.
But those who are said to be our Lord's brethren according to the flesh, you must not imagine to be the children of the blessed Mary, the mother of God, as Helvidius thinks, nor the children of Joseph by another wife, as some say, but rather believe to be their kinsfolk.
They then who hear the word of God and do it, are called the mother of our Lord, because they daily in their actions or words bring Him forth as it were in their inmost hearts; they also are His brethren where they do the will of His Father, Who is in heaven.
For they cannot enter within when He is teaching whose words they refuse to understand spiritually. But the multitude went before and entered into the house, because when the Jews rejected Christ the Gentiles flocked to Him. But those who stand without, wishing to see Christ, are they, who not seeking a spiritual sense in the law, have placed themselves without to guard the letter of it, and as it were rather compel Christ to go out, to teach them earthly things, than consent to enter in themselves to learn spiritual things.
He answered and said to them: My mother and my brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it. The whole perfection of heavenly life is comprised in these two things, namely, to hear the word of God and to do it. Hence the Lord above, expounding the parable of the sower, said that they who receive the word only by hearing are the bad ground; but the good ground are those who with a good and excellent heart retain the word which they hear and bring forth fruit with patience. Those who are called the mother of the Lord, because they daily give birth to Him either by example or by word in the minds of others, are also his brothers when they also do the will of His Father who is in heaven.
But some take this to mean that certain men, hating Christ's teaching, and mocking at Him for His doctrine, said, Thy mother and thy brethren stand without wishing to see thee; as if thereby to show His meanness of birth. And He therefore knowing their hearts gave them this answer, that meanness of birth harms not, but if a man, though of low birth, hear the word of God, He reckons him as His kinsman. Because however hearing only saves no one, but rather condemns, He adds, and doeth it; for it becomes us both to hear and to do. But by the word of God He means His own teaching, for all the words which He Himself spake were from His Father.
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This verse
Jesus answers that his mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it, and so opens his family to all who receive and obey God’s word.
“And he answered and said unto them,”
Jesus answers the ones who brought the message, and the crowd around him hears it too, so the answer becomes teaching for all of them.
“My mother and my brethren are these”
“These” points to the people with him, the listeners gathered around him.
“which hear the word of God,”
The hearing that receives God’s message, the good ground of the parable just before (Luke 8:15).
“and do it.”
Hearing is completed by doing. Those who carry out what they hear are the ones Jesus calls his family.
Passage studyLuke 8:19–21
Jesus Defines His True Family
Summary
Jesus has spent this chapter teaching about how people hear the word of God, and now his mother and brothers arrive. The crowd around him is so thick that they are left at its edge, so others pass the news along: his mother and brothers are standing outside and want to see him. Jesus answers in a single sentence: “My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it.” These three verses show how many people pressed in to hear him, and they show the family Jesus gathers. It is made up of everyone who hears God’s word and lives by it, whatever their birth or standing.
Jesus names his true family
Verse 21 is the heart of the passage. Jesus takes the closest words of kinship, mother (mḗtēr) and brother (adelphós), and gives them to the people who hear the word of God and do it. The bond that makes someone his mother or his brother is the bond of God’s word, received and obeyed.
The family was the foundation of life for the people listening. The Hebrew word for a family or clan, mishpachah, stood for a person’s identity, standing and security, and bloodlines and family honour mattered greatly. For a teacher to give the names mother and brothers to the listeners around him would have startled them. Jesus is forming a household on a different footing, and he opens it to anyone who receives God’s word and obeys it, whatever their lineage or place in society. Belonging in the kingdom of God (Luke 17:20–21) rests on how a person answers God. John says the same of all who receive Christ, that they become children of God by faith (John 1:12–13).
Matthew and Mark give Jesus’ words in terms of doing God’s will. Matthew writes, “For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother” (Matthew 12:50), and Mark, “For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother” (Mark 3:35). Luke’s wording ties the saying to the hearing of the word that runs through his chapter.
What it means to hear the word of God and do it
The verb for hear, akoúō, covers hearing in several senses: giving someone audience, sound reaching the ear, and understanding what is said. Here it is the hearing that takes the message in, the kind Jesus has just described. The word, lógos, comes from légō, “to speak”, and means something said, together with the thought behind it. “The word of God” is God’s own message, the word Jesus has been teaching the crowd, and it calls for a response. The verb for do, poiéō, means to make or do in a very wide range of uses, and here it is the carrying out of what has been heard.
Jesus’ saying gathers up all that came before it in Luke 8. In the parable of the sower (Luke 8:4–15) the seed falls on four kinds of ground. When he explains it, the good ground stands for those who “hear the word, and keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience” (Luke 8:15). The parable of the lamp on a stand follows, with its stress on hearing well and acting on what is heard (Luke 8:16–18). So when his family arrives, Jesus uses the moment to say plainly who the good ground is to him: they are his mother and his brothers.
Hearing that leads to doing runs through the rest of Scripture. James writes, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22). Jesus closes the Sermon on the Mount with the wise and foolish builders (Matthew 7:24–27), and his final instructions to his disciples carry the same call. A faith that hears God’s word in this way lets it shape a person’s decisions, relationships and priorities, and the fruit “with patience” of verse 15 shows that this doing goes on over a whole life.
The crowd that kept his family outside
Verse 19 sets the scene. Mary and Jesus’ brothers come to him, “and could not come at him for the press.” The press is the crowd, óchlos, the throng or multitude that so often surrounded Jesus, eager to hear his teaching and to see his miracles. People came to him from every region, and the crowds were often so dense that it was hard to move. A few verses later the people throng him as the woman with the issue of blood reaches out to touch him (Luke 8:43–48). “Could not” joins ou, the plain word for “not”, to dýnamai, to be able. So many had come to Jesus that even his mother and brothers had to wait at the edge, and the scene shows both how widely he drew people and how much his public work asked of him. Matthew and Mark tell of the same visit (Matthew 12:46–50, Mark 3:31–35).
In verse 20 the news reaches him through others. “It was told him” is apangéllō, to report or tell, and Luke leaves the messengers unnamed. They were people in the crowd near enough to Jesus to pass the message on. His family “stand without”, éxō, an adverb of place meaning out or outside, at the outer edge of the gathering. They were “desiring”, thélō, which means to will, wish or desire, “to see thee”, from eídō, to see. Their wish was to meet him face to face.
Why did his mother and brothers want to see him?
Luke records only that they wanted to see him, and he keeps our attention on Jesus’ answer. Mark tells of a time earlier in his account, when the crowds were so great that people were saying Jesus was out of his mind, and those close to him came out because of it (Mark 3:20–21). That points to concern for him. His family may have come to step in and bring him home, or simply to see how he was.
Who were Jesus’ brethren?
The word adelphós means a brother, literally or figuratively, and a near one or a more distant one. The Gospels speak of Jesus’ brothers and sisters in more than one place (Mark 6:3), and Matthew names the brothers as James, Joses, Simon and Judas (Matthew 13:55). Believers differ on who they were. Many hold that they were sons of Mary and Joseph born after Jesus, his half-brothers. Others take adelphós here in its wider sense of close kin, holding that Mary had no other children.
His brothers held back from believing in him at first (John 7:5). Later some of them came to faith, and James became a leader of the church in Jerusalem, speaking at its council (Acts 15:13).
Does Jesus turn away his own family?
Jesus widens the word family to take in everyone who hears and does God’s word, and he goes on honouring the mother who bore him. From the cross he entrusted her to the care of John (John 19:26–27). What he teaches here is the order of loyalties. Honouring and loving our families is God’s command, and God’s will comes first, so that where the two pull in different directions, the disciple follows God. Jesus says the same in his hard words about family in Luke 14:26. His answer in verse 21 adds to his earthly family a far larger one, and it takes nothing away from Mary or his brothers.
Christ, the firstborn among many brethren
Jesus himself heard the word of God and did it perfectly. At his baptism the Father said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17), and he kept to his Father’s will all the way to his death on the cross (Philippians 2:8). He is the pattern of what a true brother in God’s family is.
He also makes the way into that family. Through his saving work, people who were far from God are adopted as God’s children (Ephesians 1:5), and Paul writes that believers are “children of God by faith in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26). God’s Spirit leads them as his children and makes them heirs together with Christ (Romans 8:14–17), and by the Spirit they are able to hear God’s word with understanding and do his will. Christ is the “firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29) and the head of the church, which is his body (Ephesians 1:22–23). Those who belong to him are fellowcitizens with the saints and members of God’s household (Ephesians 2:19–20), a family united by the Spirit across every human line.
A household gathered by God’s word
The crowd that kept Mary and her sons at the edge was full of people who could become Jesus’ own family that very day, by hearing and doing what he taught. Access to him rests on receiving his word, and that is open to anyone, of any birth or standing. People are still drawn to him as the crowds were then, looking for truth, healing and hope, and he still names as his own all who hear and obey.
So the passage gives us a family that lasts. Earthly families remain God’s precious gift, and the bond between those who share faith in Christ is a lasting kinship of its own, with fellow believers as brothers and sisters to one another. What Jesus looks for in his family is what the good ground gives: to hear the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
Luke 8:19
“Then came to him his mother and his brethren,”
Mary and Jesus’ brothers come together, the family he grew up with, wanting to speak with him.
“and could not come at him”
They were unable to get near him. “Come at” is the KJV’s way of saying “reach”.
“for the press.”
The press is the crowd, óchlos, so thick around Jesus that his own family is held back by it.
Luke 8:20
“And it was told him by certain which said,”
Unnamed people near Jesus pass the message on, so the news reaches him in front of everyone.
“Thy mother and thy brethren stand without,”
They are standing outside the crowd, at its edge, while Jesus teaches within it.
“desiring to see thee.”
They want to see him in person. Luke gives no reason for the visit.
Luke 8:21 This verse
“And he answered and said unto them,”
Jesus answers the ones who brought the message, and the crowd around him hears it too, so the answer becomes teaching for all of them.
“My mother and my brethren are these”
“These” points to the people with him, the listeners gathered around him.
“which hear the word of God,”
The hearing that receives God’s message, the good ground of the parable just before (Luke 8:15).
“and do it.”
Hearing is completed by doing. Those who carry out what they hear are the ones Jesus calls his family.
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