Thursday

Related Verses
Matt. 12:49-50
49 And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, Behold, My mother and My brothers!
50 For whoever does the will of My Father who is in the heavens, he is My brother and sister and mother.

Matt. 11:28-30
28 Come to Me all who toil and are burdened, and I will give you rest.
29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.

Matt. 6:10
10 Your kingdom come; Your will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth.

Matt. 7:21
21 Not every one who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but he who does the will of My Father who is in the heavens.

Rom. 11:20, 22, 24
20 Rightly said: they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be high-minded, but fear;
22 Behold then the kindness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but on you, the kindness of God, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off.
24 For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree and were grafted contrary to nature into the cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree!

Related Reading
As the Lord Jesus was speaking to the crowds, His mother and His brothers stood outside, seeking to speak to Him, and someone said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to You” (Matt. 12:46-47)…The Lord said, “Who is My mother, and who are My brothers?” (v. 48). And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold, My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father who is in the heavens, he is My brother and sister and mother” (vv. 49-50). This indicates that the heavenly King forsook His relationship in the flesh with the Jews. In this chapter the Jews’ rejection of Christ, having reached its climax, caused Christ to forsake them fully. At this point, the break between them and Christ began, and they were severed from Christ (Rom. 11:17, 19-20). After breaking with the Jews, Christ turned to the Gentiles. Thenceforth, His relationship with His followers was not in the flesh but in the spirit. Whoever does the will of His Father is a brother who helps Him, a sister who sympathizes with Him, and a mother who tenderly loves Him. (Life-study of Matthew, p. 405) 

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In Matthew 12:46-50 we see a great turn, even a dispensational turn. From this point onward, Jesus’ relationship with people was not based upon the natural birth but upon the spiritual birth. Whoever does the will of the Father who is in the heavens is a relative of Jesus. In other words, at the end of chapter 12, the Lord indicated strongly that He had given up the entire race of Israel. After that, His relationship with people was to be based upon something spiritual. All those who do the will of the Father are His relatives. Hallelujah, we are not only Christ’s relatives but His members! We are His members not by our natural blood or natural birth but by our spiritual birth in our spirit. He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit (1 Cor. 6:17). Now we are not only His brothers and sisters; we are one spirit with Him, one Body in Him, and one new man in Him. 

At the end of Matthew 12 the Lord Jesus made a clear declaration to the whole universe that He was through with Israel according to the natural blood. Thus, Romans 11 says that Israel was cut off. This cutting off took place at the end of Matthew 12. Romans 11 also says that the Gentiles have been grafted in. This also took place at the end of Matthew 12. 

In Matthew 7:21 the Lord did not say “your Father” but “My Father.” Here the Lord seemed to be saying, “I, the Son of Man and the Son of God, have been doing the will of My Father. You also are sons of God and My brothers. Therefore, you must be My companions and take the same way that I take. Now you are not to do the will of your Father but the will of My Father. You are My brothers, My companions, and My partners. You and I are walking the same way and doing the same will. You are living with Me according to the will of My Father.” In this last section of the constitution, it is no longer a negative matter of dealing with our temper, lust, self, flesh, and anxiety. It is absolutely a positive matter of doing the will of the Father who is in the heavens…In order to do the will of the Father, we need to walk on the constricted way. In the teachings of the worldly philosophers, there is neither the divine life and divine nature nor the divine way. But here the ultimate issue of the constitution of the kingdom of the heavens is the will of the heavenly Father. This means that we have a heavenly Father and that we are the Father’s sons…Our Father has a will to accomplish, but we can accomplish it only by His life. We need to live in the life of the heavenly Father and also by that life. This kind of living is for the doing of the Father’s will. (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 405-406, 284-285) 

Further Reading: Life-study of Matthew, msg. 34