Access To Jesus

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   This past Sunday, I was preaching from the Gospel of Mark about Jesus' mother and brothers coming to retrieve Him and bring Him home (Mark 3:31-35). I was struck by two things. First, the response of the crowd seemed to indicate, understandably, that Jesus' family had some more influence with Him than the rest of them did. The fact that they told Jesus His mother and brothers were present seems to indicate that they thought Jesus would stop what He was doing and at least see what they wanted. Second, and most surprisingly, was Jesus' response. Jesus barely acknowledges His family's presence. He asks, "Who are My mother and My brothers?" Then He provides the answer to His own question, "Looking at those who were sitting around Hin, He said, 'Behold My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother.'"

   It is not uncommon for us to look to other people or other things to give us access to Jesus. One of my great concerns about Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox theology is effort to claim certain people have closer access to God the Father or God the Son than the rest of us do. Even as Protestants, we do the same thing. How many of us ask someone to pray for us because, subconsciously, we think they have a greater chance of being heard than we do? Or how many of us think that we have some more privileged relationship with God by virtue of our association with someone else? How many people think that God blesses us more because we live in the United States than in Peru or Pakistan, for example?

   However, our access to the Father does not come on the basis of our own merits or the merits of any other human. Hebrews 10:19-22 says, "Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed pure."