An excited woman cried out, "How fortunate your mother is to have such a son!"
"The person who is truly fortunate is the one who hears and believes the Word of God," answered Jesus quickly.
Jude looked at the woman startled. She had said his mother was fortunate—but to Mary Jesus was a great worry! Remembering why he had come, Jude began to push his way toward Jesus. When finally he could get no farther, he touched the shoulder of a man ahead of him. "Would you tell the Rabbi that his mother and brothers want to see him outside?"
When the man delivered the message to Jesus, the disciples stepped forward and started to clear a path, but Jesus put out his hand and stopped them. He looked around at the faces of the loyal men who had left everything to follow him and at the sick and anxious people sitting on the hard-packed dirt of the courtyard.
"Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" The words were gentle, very different from his tone a moment before. "I tell you, you are my mother and my brothers! Anyone who does the will of God is my brother, my sister, my mother!
"A true missionary of the Kingdom must be willing to give up his own family for my sake and take the people of God's Kingdom for his family. Anyone who thinks more of his own mother, wife, or child, than he does of the Kingdom cannot be my disciple."
"Master, we have given up everything to follow you," said Simon.
"You may have to give even your life, Simon," answered Jesus. "Yet great is your reward in heaven."
Jude pushed his way out of the courtyard. The first thing he said to his mother was, "Jesus seems like another person."
Despair darkened Mary's expression. "Do you mean that what the people are saying about him is true?" she asked.