Church Fathers Commentary Luke 8:19-21

"And there came to him his mother and brethren, and they could not come at him for the crowd. And it was told him, Thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to see thee. But he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these that hear the word of God, and do it." — Luke 8:19-21 (ASV)

Titus of Bostra: Our Lord had left His relatives according to the flesh and was occupied with His Father’s teaching. But when they began to feel His absence, they came to Him, as it is said, Then came to him his mother and his brethren. When you hear of our Lord’s brethren, you must also include the concepts of piety and grace. For no one is the brother of the Savior in regard to His divine nature (for He is the Only-begotten), but by the grace of piety, He has made us partakers of His flesh and His blood, and He who is by nature God has become our brother.

The Venerable Bede: But those who are said to be our Lord’s brethren according to the flesh, you must not imagine them 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 should rather believe them to be their relatives.

Titus of Bostra: His brethren thought that when He heard of their presence, He would send away the people out of respect for His mother’s name and from His affection for her, as it follows: And it was told him, Your mother and your brethren stand without.

St. John Chrysostom: Think what it was, when the whole crowd stood by and were hanging on His every word (for His teaching had already begun), to pull Him away from them. Our Lord accordingly answers as if rebuking them, as it follows: And he answered and said to them, My mother and my brethren are they which hear the word of God, and do it.

St. Ambrose of Milan: The moral teacher who sets an example for others, when about to instruct them that he who has not left father and mother is not worthy of the Son of God, first submits Himself to this precept. This is not because He denies the claims of filial piety (for it is His own decree, He that knows not his father and mother shall die the death), but because He knows He is more bound to obey His Father’s mysteries than to yield to the feelings of His mother.

However, His parents are not harshly rejected; rather, the bonds of the mind are shown to be more sacred than those of the body. Therefore, in this passage He does not disown His mother (as some heretics say, eagerly seizing upon His words), since she is also acknowledged from the cross. Instead, the law of heavenly ordinances is preferred to earthly affection.

The Venerable Bede: Therefore, those who hear the word of God and do it are called the mother of our Lord, because daily, in their actions or words, they, as it were, bring Him forth in their innermost hearts. They are also His brethren when they do the will of His Father, who is in heaven.

St. John Chrysostom: Now, He does not say this to rebuke His mother, but to greatly help her. For if He was anxious for others to form a right opinion of Himself, He was much more anxious for His mother. He would not have elevated her to such a height if she were to always expect to be honored by Him as a son, and never to consider Him as her Lord.

Theophylact of Ohrid: Some interpret this to mean that certain men, hating Christ’s teaching and mocking Him for it, said, “Your mother and your brethren stand outside, wishing to see you,” as if to point out His lowly birth. And He, therefore, knowing their hearts, gave them this answer: that lowly birth does no harm, but if a man, though of humble origin, hears the word of God, He considers him His kinsman.

However, because hearing alone saves no one, but rather condemns, He adds, and do it. For it is fitting for us both to hear and to do. By “the word of God,” He means His own teaching, for all the words He Himself spoke were from His Father.

St. Ambrose of Milan: In a mystical sense, one who is seeking Christ ought not to stand outside. Hence also that saying, Come to him, and be enlightened. For if they stand outside, not even parents themselves are acknowledged; and perhaps for our sake, they are not. How are we acknowledged by Him if we stand outside? This interpretation is also reasonable, because through the figure of the parents, He points to the Jews from whom Christ was born, and considers the Church to be preferred to the synagogue.

The Venerable Bede: For they cannot enter while He is teaching, because they refuse to understand His words spiritually. But the crowd went ahead and entered the house, because when the Jews rejected Christ, the Gentiles flocked to Him.

Those who stand outside, wishing to see Christ, are the ones who, not seeking a spiritual sense in the law, have positioned themselves outside to guard its literal meaning. They, as it were, compel Christ to come out to teach them earthly things, rather than consenting to enter in themselves to learn spiritual things.