Hebrews 2:11 Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.

Part of knowing God is in knowing Jesus as Big Brother. From that standpoint, the famous line from George Orwell’s 1984, “Big Brother is watching you,” is both true and good, rather than ominous as it is usually taken. A major purpose of Christ being born as a human baby and living a fully human life was accessibility. Apart from that, God would always seem unapproachable, too entirely “Other” for us to have any real hope of knowing Him. Too many people have never had a really intimate conversation with their physical father, much less their Heavenly Father, but big brothers are a different matter. However, Jesus being our Brother doesn’t change the fact that He is Lord, just as this verse says. It is significant that the two of Jesus’ half-brothers who left letters as part of the New Testament, James and Jude, don’t claim their kinship to Him through Mary, but rather speak of Him as Lord. They were on equal footing in that respect with every other believer, and had they not believed, they would have been cut off. It is indeed a miracle of grace that Christ isn’t ashamed to call us His brothers, as it says in the verses right after this one, and we must not take that grace lightly. We should be enormously grateful that the Lord of the universe would stoop to call us His brothers, and live out our thanks in obedience.

Once again I have the enormous advantage of having had this truth expressed to me from my childhood. There have been times when I have taken it for granted and times when I have directly violated it, but I have still known it was true. However, I minister to people who, for the most part, have trouble wrapping their minds around the idea that God could possibly be so accessible to them. I am preaching on “Knowing God” this coming Sunday, but this isn’t something that will penetrate with one message! It is easy to tell who is starting to grasp this, because their faith is different from those who don’t. When we really see God as Father and Christ as Brother and Lord, then our hearts are opened to receive faith and so much more.

Father, You know better than I do that I don’t have wisdom or strength to get this through to people. I ask for the anointing of Your Spirit, not just as I speak on Sunday but every time I interact with someone to share the good news of Your grace. May Your words through me strip away the lies and confusion that cover their spiritual eyes, so that they may indeed know Your truth and be set free to receive the birthright that You have prepared for them in Christ. May we together rejoice to be Your people indeed, doing Your will in full and joyful obedience, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!