Mt 12:46-50br />46While [Jesus] was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers appeared outside, wishing to speak with him. 47[Someone told him, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, asking to speak with you.”] 48But he said in reply to the one who told him, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” 49And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. 50For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.”
DOING THE WILL OF THE HEAVENLY FATHER: God’s relation to Israel is based on God’s gracious election and takes the form of the covenant. In later post-exilic times, however, when there was a move to purify the people from pagan elements, there was a tendency to narrow down this special relation to special groups, for instance, those who avoid marriages to non-Jews or those who are strict in their observance of the law and the traditions.
Though he is a Jew in all aspects, Jesus chooses to uphold the will and the designs of the heavenly Father in the new order that he inaugurates. Everyone, Jew or non-Jew, is entitled to God’s love and promises by virtue of one’s relationship with Jesus. And a relationship with him is based not on being a member of his natural family but on doing the will of the Father. It entails the acceptance of the message of Jesus who alone fully reveals the Father’s gracious will.
The New Testament bears this out. Jesus himself, Son though he was, has to learn obedience. He says, “Behold I come to do your will, O God” (Heb 10:5-7). He teaches his disciples to pray: “Your will be done on earth as in heaven” (Mt 6:10). While he agonizes in Gethsemane, he prays: “Not as I will, but as you will” (Mt 26:39). His obedience is the test of his authentic sonship. So it is for his disciples. So it is for Mary, his mother.