By Rev. Dr. Michael H. Koplitz

Mark 3:31 (NAS95S)   Then His mother and His brothers arrived, and standing outside they sent word to Him and called Him. 32 A crowd was sitting around Him, and they said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are outside looking for You.” 33 Answering them, He said, “Who are My mother and My brothers?” 34 Looking at those who were sitting around Him, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers! 35 “For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother.”

The old saying that “blood is thicker than water” is upended in this narrative to become water is thicker than blood. Water refers to the initiation rite of baptism. At that ceremony, the person being baptized with water becomes a member of the Christian family. The idea is to leave the old self behind to become a new person and a member of a new family. Yeshua was able to leave His family behind Him, although eventually the family joined Him. Yeshua was ready to give up the most valuable thing He possessed so that He could follow the LORD.

How did Yeshua give up his most treasured thing? It was not a material possession but the relationship with His family. He certainly treasured his parents, siblings, and extended family members, but his mission from the LORD required Him to make a decision. Follow the LORD or remain a part of his earthly family. He chose the LORD. Are you ready and willing to make a sacrifice of that magnitude for the LORD?

Following Yeshua means giving up the ways of the world for a new way of life that pleases the LORD. In the narrative, Yeshua is not asking you to give up your material possessions. The book of Acts has stories that suggest that, in order to belong to the family of Yeshua, you must be ready to give your money and possessions to the church. However, that is not what Yeshua said! That is what the church says because it gains power over people to dictate their lives.

Yeshua knew that when you join His new family, you must be willing to live a life according to the Torah. Why the Torah? This question is what Christians ask today. Yeshua said that He came to fulfill the Torah and the Prophets so we can also fulfill the Torah when we walk as He walked. In fact, John’s Gospel calls Yeshua the Word of the Lord, which is the Torah and the writings of the prophets. The Gospels are a fantastic guide about how to live by the Mitzvot of the Torah. Mitzvot is Hebrew for blessings. Think about the Laws of the Torah being Mitzvot instead of Laws. You will receive the LORD’s blessings when you follow the Mitzvot and Yeshua tells us how. Yeshua wants us to have a blessed life on Earth because a blessed life comes from following the ways of the LORD.

Following the Mitzvot, according to Yeshua, will cause a sacrifice. For Yeshua, He sacrificed His family of origin. He did not possess money or anything of materialistic value. His only earthly possession was His family. He gave up that possession so he could follow the mission the LORD had placed upon Him. If you are a true disciple of Yeshua, then you must try to live by the Mitzvot of the Torah in the way that Yeshua instructs. That will cause some sacrifice. 

Being Jewish by birth, my becoming a follower of Yeshua did not go over well with my family of origin. For some time, I had no connection to them, but over a long period that changed. In the same way, Yeshua’s family accepted what He was doing. Some of my family of origin has accepted who I am and what I believe to be the truth. It was a sacrifice that was necessary and one that I would make again if given the chance. 

My sacrifice was a prioritization of values when I chose Yeshua and the LORD over all other things. Yeshua does not ask us to give up anything. That is a choice that a disciple must make. Suppose a behavior or attitude contradicts the Mitzvot of the Torah. In that case, you would want to change it because of your faith and devotion to Yeshua. To follow Yeshua means to follow His way of living. 

Water is used during a baptism to initiate a person into the family of Yeshua. The blood bonds of family are broken as a result of the initiation and the connection to the new family becomes the stronger bond. It must be maintained so you can stay connected to Yeshua. Your family of origin is essential, but it becomes an obligation to try to get those family members to accept Yeshua as the Messiah and thus they become a part of your new family in Christ. Yeshua did not abandon His family of origin. Instead, He instructed and convinced them to become a part of His new family. As a disciple, it is your job to bring your family of origin to Him. 

Water that is baptismal water is more vital than blood!

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