Jesus as Our Brother

Posted by Tia Ciferno and filed in Encouragement for Daily Living

Jesus as Our Brother

Matthew 12:50 Anyone who does the will of my Father in Heaven is My brother and sister and mother.

It was the mid seventies and I was so excited to be heading to middle school with my brothers, Greg and Sean. We were all a year apart and finally we were all in the same school…in 6 th, 7 th and 8 th grade. It was a crisp September morning and I had dressed in my new school shoes and plaid uniform skirt with great anticipation. I loved the start of the new school year.

While we walked, Greg began to tell us about a “new” way to get to the middle school. He said if we would follow the railroad tracks we could cut our walk in half. We agreed to try it and soon we were jumping from railroad tie to railroad tie in our good school clothes.

After a few minutes I spotted a bridge ahead and my heart raced. As we came closer we realized it was a train trestle which crossed tracks about a hundred feet below. Greg and Sean ran ahead of me and began to jump over the large gaps between the rails, racing across the bridge. My journey was slower since I was so afraid of heights. At first I felt very brave, watching only the rails and placing my shiny black shoe on each one. But as I reached the middle of the trestle, I began to look through the gaps to the ground so far below. I panicked and froze. I sat down on a rail, clung on to the rough wood and cried.

Greg shouted encouragements from the other side, but it wasn’t enough to get me up and going. I was paralyzed with fear. So he walked confidently towards me. As he came close he reached out, took my hand and held me tightly as we slowly crossed together.

How precious is the love and help of a brother. Hebrews 2: 9 says that Jesus and the ones He makes holy “have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them His brothers and sisters…”

Scripture then goes on to say that the Son “did not come to help angels; He came to help the descendants of Abraham. Therefore it was necessary for Him to be made in every respect like us, His brothers and sisters, so that He could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people. Since He Himself has gone through suffering and testing, He is able to help us when we are being tested.”

The word “help” is in these passages three times. How many of us need help today? How many of us are frozen on the tracks of life somehow? Jesus has experienced life here, as a brother in the family experiences the same home as his siblings. He is our “Older Brother”, sent from the Father, not only to rescue us from Hell by His sacrifice, but also to help us in every moment of our lives.

The Hebrew word for “to help” is more literally translated “to take hold of.”

Scott Grant puts it this way. “Jesus, our Brother, invades enemy territory and takes us by the hand to lead us out of danger. Our big brother is not only proud of us; He comes to rescue us. And when He does so, He grabs hold of us and takes us by the hand!”

I need Jesus to take hold of my hand today. We all do. And He is eager to do that. He humbled Himself and joined our human family so He could bring us into His Family, and so that He could identify with all of our human struggles and then bring us the Help that only an Omnipotent God can bring.

So do the sons of men rejoice,
The Prince of Peace proclaim,
With Heaven’s host lift up our voice,
And shout Immanuel’s Name;
Our knees and hearts to Him we bow
Of our flesh, and of our bone,
See-Jesus is our Brother now,
And God is all our own!