THE DISCIPLES VIEWED AS A FAMILY
[p. 100] THE DISCIPLES VIEWED AS A FAMILY
Matthew 12: 46 - 50; Matthew 13:1-9; Matthew 13:24-30; Matthew 13:36-43
JT Matthew has been in mind in view of sowing. What is to be said today is intended to centre in the verses read in chapter 12. This passage contemplates a new and basic centre for the opening up of certain features of the truth in Matthew leading on to chapter 16 in which we find the assembly spoken of. The passage read in chapter 12 refers to the disciples as with the Lord. Here it is said, “Stretching out his hand to his disciples, he said, Behold my mother and my brethren; for whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in the heavens, he is my brother, and sister, and mother”. That is to say the disciples are viewed as a family — the Lord in the midst of them. The statements imply that they are no longer of Judaism but of Christ, later to be called Christians. So the three synoptic gospels treat of this particular section and contemplate the disciples as a household, at least in principle — attached to the Lord as their centre, and He treats them as representing the family thought which was, and is now, the main characteristic of Christianity. I thought additionally that the Lord’s supper may be regarded as connected with this family, although not here. But in chapter 26 we are told that it is the Lord’s disciples who are treated as the centre of the service of God in Christianity. The old system had a temple and in the court of it sacrifices were offered, but now it is a new order of things and the synoptic gospels treat the Lord’s disciples as His family among whom He institutes His supper, growing out of the passover.
It is thought well to mention these things because of the great importance of the Lord’s supper as connected with the family; we are to understand it in [p. 101] this way — it is His supper. Paul enlarges on this in detail in connection with Christianity in Corinthians. It is thought well that we should have this before us because the results of the sowing here are intended to displace Judaism, and a new crop for God is now in mind — the Lord is seen as sowing in view of it.
Then the parable developed in verse 36 refers not to grains of seed, but persons sown — sons of the kingdom. These are sown by the Lord and the devil is imitating Him, hence the situation around us related to Christianity is mainly spurious, the devil having affected it. It is hoped the Lord will help us to be extricated from these matters and to be sons of the kingdom.
Ques Are we to understand the sowing in the first parable refers to sowing of the word, and the sowing in the second parable to sowing of persons; and would the disciples as spoken of in chapter 12 actually be the fruit of the sowing in chapter 13?
JT They could be regarded in that light, but the nations are also in mind. In chapter 13 it is said, “And that same day Jesus went out from the house and sat down by the sea”, meaning the nations are in mind, too. “And great crowds were gathered together to him, so that going on board ship himself he sat down, and the whole crowd stood on the shore. And he spoke to them many things in parables, saying, Behold, the sower went out to sow”. Now in verse 36 we are told that He dismissed the crowds, “Having dismissed the crowds, he went into the house”. This is another house. The first verse would be the Jewish house, but verse 36 would be the Christian house. That is what I understand.
What I would like the brethren to see particularly is the position of the persons called the sons of the kingdom. They are viewed as so many persons already formed in kingdom principles and able to carry on for the Lord in view of the final gathering,
as it is said, “Then the righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He that has ears, let him hear”. I apprehend the Lord has now a situation, or had from the outset, in which He has persons sown — set in certain positions on the earth in which they can be used. They are not babes but sons of the kingdom — a great thought.
HPW Does that mean these sons of the kingdom are practical exponents of the principles of the kingdom itself?
JT That is what I thought.
HPW Righteousness, peace and joy. Are those the principles?
JT That is what the kingdom is said to be composed of. “Righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit”. It seems to me that this being understood the Lord will have more here as men definitely set according to His own dispositions of them for the maintenance of His interests. They are full grown men.
NKM Why does the Lord allude to Himself here as Son of man?
JT That term is very much used — about eighty-one times in the New Testament, implying that Judaism is set aside. It is a universal thought. So it is that Stephen said he saw “the Son of man standing at the right hand of God”, at the time that God was about to set Israel aside because of Stephen’s death.
WW Is it consequent on His rejection by Israel that He takes up this title?
JT That is what I understand. The time had come for it and the Lord has given up Judaism. “Lo, we turn to the nations” (Acts 13: 46), Paul says. The salvation of God is sent to them and they will receive it.
I should not like that we should get away from the precious thought of the family position which is [p. 103] basic. I would like the brethren to take on a little more this lowly position the Lord takes in the midst of a few, and the way He indicates to them what they are to Him. “Stretching out his hand to his disciples, he said, Behold my mother and my brethren”; meaning that it is the family although not going so far as the doctrine of the family. “For whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in the heavens, he is my brother, and sister, and mother”. We have family relationships and we are to enjoy them. They are to work out in feelings of affection for the Lord and for each other in the maintenance of the kingdom.
Ques Does all that supersede the natural claim?
JT That is what the word means, the natural claim of His mother — she was standing there. “While he was yet speaking to the crowds, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, seeking to speak to him. Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren are standing without, seeking to speak to thee”. That one inside had some sympathy with what was outside and very little sympathy with the Lord — he is intimating that the Lord should go out to them, whereas He is in His own circle.
HPW Are you thinking of what this circle is to the heart of Christ personally?
JT I am. He must have found much joy in what there was there.
H.P.W. And still does?
JT When we meet each other our eyes indicate our secret feelings about things. We can know all about what goes on in the world from the newspapers, but we have our secrets. “The secret of Jehovah is with them that fear him” (Psalm 25: 14), and we have an understanding between each other because we know something of the mysteries [p. 104] of the kingdom.
NKM Do you link that more with the thought of brethren?
JT The general term ‘brethren’ would cover it — One is our Instructor; Matthew 23: 8.
Ques Is that why the succession of parables comes in chapter 13, that this secret should be kept in its own relation?
JT The next parable would be to conceal the truth from the natural mind, but at the same time to help those who have faith to understand. What the Lord says in a later verse helps as to that. “Jesus says to them, Have ye understood all these things? They say to him, Yea, Lord. And he said to them, For this reason every scribe discipled to the kingdom of the heavens is like a man that is a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old”. That is where the precious secret lies, and the Lord does not question that they had understood. It was an understanding time — the truth was gaining among them. The Lord was here that they all might understand. “Have ye understood all these things?” And He accepted the answer. So much is assumed in our Bible readings. We talk about something else directly after the meeting and forget what is spoken of by the Spirit. That is why the Lord is saying, “Have ye understood all these things?” They said, “Yea, Lord. And he said to them, For this reason every scribe ...” — a scribe is a man who knows things and is accurate — “discipled to the kingdom of the heavens is like a man that is a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old”. These two verses are intended to help us at our Bible readings so that we carry away understanding of what is said.
Ques Would “things new and old” refer to the Old Testament and the New Testament?
JT [p. 105] Yes.
MC When the apostle Paul speaks of “Jerusalem above ... our mother” (Galatians 4: 26), does that support what you are saying about “my mother and my brethren”
JT Just so. If you are thinking of the type — Sarah, she was the true mother, Hagar had no place at all. So that Jerusalem above is our mother, that is the assembly. The assembly is not above yet, but it is in principle, anticipatively above and viewed abstractly in that sense. Hence the position of mother — the family position.
JPH What does the mother stand for amongst the saints?
JT It is the feminine thought, according to the reading of the word ‘mother’. We have the idea of a mother in Israel, and the thought of ‘fathers’. Things have to be worked out primarily according to what they are and then seek to get the spiritual understanding and whole great thought about them. The free woman is our mother, meaning that our liberty through the gospel makes us free with one another, with the Lord and with the Spirit. Thus Christianity is amongst us. We have the motherly spirit with us.
Ques Is there any link between what you are saying and what the Lord says from the cross when He sees His mother, “Woman, behold thy son” and “Behold thy mother”, John 19: 26, 27?
JT Anyone who went into John’s house, and apparently he had a house, would see that the Lord’s mother was John’s mother — John would regard her as such. The Lord had put both of them in their places. There never was anything of the kind before. There is nothing said in Scripture to anyone as to that save to John the evangelist. He was “the disciple whom Jesus loved” and the Lord intended that that should come into Christianity in that sense. There should be the thought of mother and son, younger men treating older women as their mothers,
[p. 106] and even when speaking to young sisters to be careful about it — “with all purity”.
Ques Were these features secured in the remnant in the end of Malachi, “They that feared Jehovah spoke often one to another; and Jehovah observed it, and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared Jehovah, and that thought upon his name”, Malachi 3: 16?
JT There you get Elijah. “Remember the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, the statutes and ordinances. Behold, I send unto you Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and terrible day of Jehovah. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers”. What you say about the remnant has no doubt come out in that way. This is Elijah that was to come. There will be great ministry by someone turning the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers.
Rem Did not Elijah say “That this people may know ... that thou hast turned their heart”?
JT Very good.
Rem What you are saying is over against the spirit of lawlessness which is increasing.
JT Quite so. There is a motherly influence among the brethren, and a fatherly influence. The apostle said, “Ye ... have ... not many fathers” — you may have men who speak well and yet fail to influence the young in a fatherly way. Paul was a father to the Corinthians, anyway.
Rem All this seems to open up with the understanding. Doing the “will of my Father” — there is no family liberty apart from that.
JT Quite so.
JPH Is it your thought that these relationships known amongst the brethren help the saints in every department of the truth, including the spreading of [p. 107] the truth as in the first part of chapter 13? It is to be noticed how many times a brother comes in throughout the Scriptures gradually helping the truth forward. For instance, Genesis 24, and Barnabas in the Acts fetching Saul.
JT Yes. And young women are spoken of — what influence they are to have. The brothers are to regard them in purity; older women as mothers; and a widow who has been such is to be put on the list — the assembly’s money is regarded as so precious but she has earned it, she is qualified to receive help.
JCE Did you make some reference to this bearing on the Supper — this great feature of sowing?
JT I only mentioned it and did not intend to enlarge on the Supper beyond that it is a family matter. The Lord’s supper is mentioned immediately as the Spirit of God comes down. It is not mentioned before in the Acts but it is mentioned in chapter 2 twice, to call attention to the fact that it is a family matter. Other things were carried on in the temple, but the Lord’s supper was never connected with the temple — the family thought is bound up with it. There is not much said beyond that the early converts persevered in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles, in breaking of bread and prayers.”Then we are told later ‘’breaking bread in the house”, which would indicate that the temple was not used for it. In 1 Corinthians it is clear that the apostle alludes to the breaking of bread as in the meeting place — in places where brethren meet. He calls attention to what they were doing and that they should be doing it in their houses, but the Lord’s supper was to be in a place where the brethren meet, not in the houses of the saints.
Ques Would Acts 20 — the matter of Eutychus, disclose the family feature?
JT He is called a boy. Paul descended when the thing happened, a very sorrowful happening,
[p. 108] the procedure of the meeting must have been stayed for a time. He enfolded the boy in his arms and said, “His life is in him”, as if to indicate that in spite of what happened it was a living situation — a place where the assembly was gathered, and the child was living. Afterward they went up and the breaking of bread ensued and conversation followed. Then Paul and his company went away, and the others were not a little comforted. They brought away the boy alive.
Ques Would Joseph be a true brother? He had his father’s interests at heart concerning the younger brother.
JT Quite so. He entered into what his father felt. We have now come to the point of the Lord’s supper, but it is only to bring out the basic thought in Matthew — the assembly gospel — which is in this verse we read in which the Lord speaks of brother and sister and mother — the family situation. Not yet as Hebrews says — the Lord is not ashamed to call us brethren, but what we are in everyday circumstances.
HPW Would you say that the features of mother and brother really spring out of true discipleship?
JT Quite so.
HPW I was thinking as to whether we realise these features, in the secret of our own souls, following Him and imbibing His teaching.
JT Yes. The use the Lord intended to make of John comes to me. He says to Peter, “If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou me”. Paul’s doctrine is contemplated only the family is linked up with it. The Lord had great confidence in John, “The disciple whom Jesus loved”, but at the outset of the ministry he was always second to Peter, “Peter and John”, Acts 3 and 4. Peter was official and authoritative and John ready to leave things, but thoroughly in them. In writing his [p. 109] gospel the Lord must have given him a knowledge of all that love would need in carrying on in view of the last days. The greatest things are the smallest things.
HPW I was really thinking, you said a little time back about God having secrets and mysteries of the kingdom, and the Lord teaching them. That was not so much to the disciples as to us — these are the people who have great secrets, and are now carrying on things. Is that how the thing is really developed?
JT The Lord has His favourites. In Gethsemane He disposed of what He had, put one here and one there — a time of pressure. Pressure is coming on now and it is a question as to whether we are holding ourselves available so that the Lord may get the most from us. There is much needed, not only preaching and teaching. There is the mother and sister and brother — these are all now to be maintained as the family in a practical way.
HPW So you become an exponent of what you have learnt from the Lord, and you are useable in that way.
JT Quite so. In John 1, John the baptist was serving and he stood, and his disciples heard him speak and followed Jesus. That is the beginning of things according to John’s gospel — Jesus is the centre. They said, “Where abidest thou?” He inquired of them what they sought, to bring out what they were thinking of. The Lord said, “What seek ye? And they said to him, Rabbi, ... where abidest thou? He says to them, Come and see. They went therefore, and saw where he abode; and they abode with him that day. It was about the tenth hour”. Where the Lord abode there they stayed. So the narrative goes on to Nathanael and greater things — in chapter 2 to marriage — all practical things and the Lord Himself had part in them, He was not above it. He made wine for them when they needed it. So John would lead us on practical, and [p. 110] yet the very highest, lines, so that we are ready for service.
FAW John has family feelings and is a true son of the kingdom, and he could be entirely above things at Patmos.
JT That is good. The Lord would take account of him as in prison. He was one whose place was in a certain position, according to the Lord’s disposition — what the Lord would wish. That is what we get here, those that do the will of God — we belong to that family.
Rem You are not thinking of special gift at the moment. It is those who do the will of the Father who would be marked by liberty. There is special gift but that is not a family matter.
JT The Lord says, “she hath done what she could”. There is so much to be done and the Lord is looking for us to do things. “The Lord began to do and to teach”. Doing first, then teaching.
Rem He made a certain promise to Peter in calling him, but as far as I know He did not promise John anything. He promises Peter that He will make him fisher of men, but John He simply calls to follow Him.
JT To John He gave full wages, that would be love, I am sure.
Ques Do we arrive at the family thought in Martha, Mary and Lazarus?
JT We do. A Jewish family, though. The real family link is in John 13. The Lord went up from Bethany according to Luke, but according to Acts 1 from the mount of Olives. But in John 13 it is the family thought in Christianity, so that it has part with Christ. “Having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end” — so we have part with Him. Hence He washes our feet and puts us to wash one another’s feet. Christianity is worked out from chapter 6 to the end of chapter 17 where [p. 111] the Lord is with His Father. He lifts up His eyes to heaven and says “Father”. That beautiful chapter has the Christian family in mind.
Ques How are we sustained in this? Is it by prayer and supplication?
JT It is the Spirit — the other Comforter. The whole system in fact is sustained by the Christ. He has gone to be with the Father, and the Spirit has come here so that the position is held in that sense and filled out in the assembly. The assembly is used by the Lord as His own.
Rem The family thought underlies the service of Aquila and Priscilla in connection with Apollos. They “took him to them”.
JT If they had a house or lodgings they would take him there. It was an important matter because he was to be a great servant. If we apply the idea of sowing to Apollos we can see how important it was to get him right, that he should be accurate in his use of Scripture — to know “the way of God more exactly”.
Rem Apollos was accurate, but they taught him more accurately. We can get more and more accurate in the truth.
JT We are apt to get things loosely.
Rem “Strive diligently to present thyself approved to God, a workman that has not to be ashamed, cutting in a straight line the word of truth”, 2 Timothy 2: 15.
JT That is very important — the truth should be spoken of accurately.
HPW Does accuracy of speaking come from accuracy of mind? As our minds come under the sway of the Holy Spirit we should walk in the Spirit and even think in the Spirit.
JT Quite so.
Rem God says to Moses, “I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say”.
JT God has made man’s mouth and He has made it to be accurate.
Ques Is accuracy in hearing necessary?
JT Yes, it is.
Ques Is the principle of the school of Tyrannus in Ephesus helpful in this connection — on the line of accuracy?
JT I would think so.
Ques What would be the Lord’s object in this parable of the sower? He says at the end, “He that hath ears, let him hear”. Is it that we should take heed to what we hear so that we should not be like grain on rocky places?
JT That applies to every one of us.
HPW There is a touching allusion to the Holy Spirit, “When he is come, the Spirit of truth, he shall guide you into all the truth: for he shall not speak from himself; but whatsoever he shall hear he shall speak; and he will announce to you what is coming”. We need really to have our thoughts controlled by the Holy Spirit.
JT Yes. There is no doubt that the method of ministering to one another which the Lord has supported for so many years is this method of Bible readings. Whether they had it at the beginning exactly as we have it is uncertain, but the principle was there. The method in Troas is to be noted because the word is changed. After Eutychus fell and was raised, or resuscitated, life was there, and they went up and broke bread and talked. There could be no doubt that the apostle would have much to say about the Supper. We are not told what he said at all, but he conversed at length. The ministry has been used of God, and it helps us to understand, and hence the need of hearing aright. “Take heed how ye hear”. We should be able to judge what was said after a meeting. We should have church ears. The ears of the assembly are spoken of, they should [p. 113] be ears that hear aright. Hence the importance of hearing and speaking rightly.
Ques Had Luke that in view when he commenced his gospel? “Most excellent Theophilus, that thou mightest know the certainty of those things”.
JT That is right. “Eye-witnesses of and attendants on the Word”. Hence we have the understanding in the end of John’s gospel. The Lord did not say that that disciple “does not die”. There is a sense in which the disciple continues but not literally.
Rem Lydia was one whose heart the Lord opened to attend to the words spoken by Paul.
JT Yes. As if he were the chief speaker.
Ques Would verse 36 help on this line?
JT It is to bring in this side. He left the Jewish house. “Jesus went out from the house and sat down by the sea”. That was the position. Then we have the parables. There was a private side to the position as there is always. What is said publicly may require careful sifting out privately. Aquila and Priscilla took Apollos to them; they would treat the matter as private. They would be careful not to expose him because he was manifestly a great vessel. So we should be careful as to what we hear, and to talk, if necessary, privately to one another about certain doctrines or phases of the truth or principles that are not clear generally, so that we may avoid differences of opinion.