Brother and Sisterhood in Jesus Christ, Son of God

BROTHER AND SISTERHOOD IN JESUS CHRIST, SON OF GOD 

A Reflection on Fraternity based on Sacred Scripture 

“For it was not the angels that he took to himself; he took to himself the line of Abraham.” 

 (Hebrews 2:16) 

Brothers and Sisters in Adam 

The words “brothers” and “sisters” occur extensively in the Old and New Testaments with different meanings. In the Old Testament, the words are used almost exclusively to those who were born from the same stock, though the term is sometimes also extended to the next of kin. The word “father”, on the other hand, though predominantly applied to the parent, also appears in several instances as extended to a praiseworthy and virtuous figure who has passed on a spiritual heritage to those who follow him, in the language of the Bible, “begetting them spiritually”. In the Old Testament, all human beings are thus brothers and sisters in Adam, as far as human nature is concerned, but in the New Testament, Gentiles join Jews in being made “brothers and sisters in Christ.” Together they become children of Abraham through their faith in Jesus Christ, heirs of the promise of eternal life through the covenant God established with Abraham and his seed in perpetuity. 

Brother and Sisterhood in Jesus Christ 

The central theme in the whole Bible is the redemption of humanity from the fall. God does not abandon the human race. To save fallen humanity, who are all God’s own sons and daughters created in His image and likeness, who had sadly lost the experience of living within His Kingdom by sin, God sends His Only Son, begotten from Him before the ages began. This Son is God from God, Light from Light and True God from True God, who took a nature of flesh by the power of the Holy Spirit from the Virgin Mary, who was betrothed to Joseph, descendant of David. Assuming a flesh like ours, the Son of God bore the sins of humanity and died on a tree. After three days, God raised Him from the dead. In the person of the Risen Christ, thus God united the seed of Abraham in a unique way to the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit, which was poured out on both Jews and Gentiles, thus extending the blessing promised to the seed of Abraham to all the nations of the world through faith in the Name of Jesus. (Romans 1:1-7) In Jesus Christ, thus a new principle of being sons and daughters is initiated, which comes about as a result of the promise of God to the patriarch Abraham that he would become the father of many nations. 

Abraham, the Father of Nations 

In Jesus Christ, God thus fulfils His promise to Abraham that he would initiate a fatherhood which transcends divisions of language, nation and ethnicity. Among the descendants of Abraham, a precious fraternity is born, which holds out healing for the divisions among nations. It is in this fraternity that the nations can once again be united as brothers and sisters. Divisions can be healed definitively only if the root of the problem is addressed. The root of divisions among human beings is the sin of pride, the breaking away from the communion of the Triune God and consequently from each other. It is not by chance that the Triune God undertakes several visits to Abraham, in whom He finds the man in whom a new race can be built up, a race of brothers and sisters who become heirs of everlasting blessings. He has come to the help of Israel his servant, mindful of his faithful love —according to the promise he made to our ancestors—of his mercy to Abraham and to his descendants for ever. (Mary of Nazareth, Luke 1:54-55) 

Becoming sons and daughters of Abraham 

For men and women of the world today who explore the meaning of fraternity, the figure of the Patriarch Abraham deserves special study. In Abraham we find the man of renunciation who renounces his father’s house to worship the One True God (Genesis 12:1-6), the man of reconciliation and peace who prefers the way of peace rather than feud (Genesis 13), the man of faithful love and courage who does not hesitate to come to the help of his kin (Genesis 14), the man of faith who believed God’s word that his descendants would be as the stars of Heaven (Genesis 15:1-6), the man of silence and obedience who is silent in the face of sensitive conflict (Genesis 16), the man of prayer and perfection with whom God establishes a covenant (Genesis 17), the man of intercession and perseverance who intercedes for sinners (Genesis 18), the man who was a pilgrim and wanderer who migrates in search of livelihood (Genesis 20) and finally the man of superhuman faith and detachment who does not withhold his own dear son from God (Genesis 22). 

Having proved him in every way and made him perfect, God guarantees His blessings to Abraham and his seed, those descendants of his who imitate the faith of their father in faith. Abraham follows God, leaving behind his own people and his father’s house, which signifies the leaving behind of the ties of one’s own flesh and blood. Having the faith and the generosity of heart to follow God’s call, Abraham is led through trials of faith which ultimately reaches their climax in his willingness to sacrifice his only son. Abraham trusts that God can even raise the dead. With this experience, Abraham is transformed from a man belonging to the natural order to the perfect man, sanctified by faith and obedience. God Himself reveals to Moses that he will be called the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob – this is to be His Name for all time. 

A brother and sisterhood that lasts forever 

Within the posterity of Abraham, blessings are promised of a brother and sisterhood which lasts forever. To understand the depths of the meaning of the word “fraternity”, it is essential that we first explore the meaning of being begotten, because fraternity begins with being begotten from the same principle. Sonship in the understanding of Holy Scripture is presented to us on many levels. There is first of all the sonship on the level of the creature. This sonship deals with tracing our common origin to the Creator, whom all creation can acknowledge as their “Father” as He is their origin and source. It was in this sense that St. Francis called every creature his brother and sister, including the Sun, the Moon, the elements of nature and even bodily death, which for him was but the door which opened an entry into life. 

The Good News of Jesus, however, preached to “every creature under Heaven” invites us to explore the mystery of sonship on the highest level proposed by God, which is His mysterious plan to bring all creation together under Christ, with Him as the Head (Ephesians 1:9-14). As part of this plan, the creature is to find its rightful place in Christ, who is the first-born of all creation (Colossians 1:15). Throughout the New Testament, Jesus, the first-born of God the Father, is called “Lord”, that privileged title which shows His supremacy in all the created order (Philippians 2:9-11). Human persons, created in God’s own image and likeness, are to occupy a privileged place in the Lord Jesus Christ as part of His Body the Church, which is to be without spot or stain (Ephesians 1:17-23). For this reason, human beings are to renounce all that is not conformed to Christ and instead, to resemble Him in the closest manner possible according to the pattern proposed by His Gospel. 

As part of God’s plan to bring all humanity together under Christ, human beings are now to live in a manner closely resembling “the Son”. As the Scripture says, “He took our flesh so that He should be the firstborn among many brothers” (Romans 8:29-30; Hebrews 2:10-18). Thus we find that in the Lord Jesus, God calls the creature to grow into a sonship which reflects the image and likeness of the Creator, Who is Love. Jesus in the opening words of His Holy Gospel, calls out to humanity: “The time is fulfilled. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the Gospel.” (Mark 1:15) With these words, the Lord invites all his listeners to change their minds and to believe the Good News that God invites all the created order back into sonship in their respective order, and thus to the beautiful relationship which existed in the paradise of Eden when all creatures lived in fraternity. 

A pattern for brother and sisterhood 

A life according to the pattern of the Gospels calls every human being to rediscover a life according to the Beatitudes, each according to his or her own capability. The life of the Beatitudes is the life of the blessedness of the children of God. 

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. 

Blessed are the meek, they shall inherit the earth. 

Blessed are those who mourn, they shall be comforted. 

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice, they shall have their fill. 

Blessed are the merciful, they shall receive mercy. 

Blessed are the pure in heart, they shall see God. 

Blessed are the peacemakers, they shall be called children of God. 

Blessed are those who are persecuted in the cause of uprightness, the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

Blessed are you when people abuse you, persecute you and utter all kinds of calumny against you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in Heaven. For this is how they persecuted the prophets before you.” (Matthew 5:1-12) 

Jesus commands us to “love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us” so that we may be “children of our Father in Heaven.” (Matthew 5:44) Jesus teaches that the characteristic of God’s children is that they persist in goodness despite the evil they experience, just as God, their Heavenly Father, causes “His Sun to rise on the bad and the good, and sends down rain to fall on the upright and wicked alike.” (Matthew 5:45) 

St. Francis of Assisi was a marvellous example of this manner of living the Gospel of the Lord, living in perfect fraternity with every creature. The Prayer of Peace, popularly associated with the Saint, reflects the characteristic returning of good for evil which the Saint was famous for: 

“Make me an instrument of your peace. 

Where there is hatred, let me sow love. 

Where there is injury, pardon; 

Where there is doubt, faith; 

Where there is despair, hope. 

Where there is darkness, light

And where there is sadness, joy. 

Grant, Divine Master, 

That I many not so much seek 

To be consoled as to console, 

To be understood and to understand 

And to be loved as to love. 

For it is in giving that we receive, 

And in pardoning that we are pardoned 

And in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.” 

The Way of Brother and Sisterhood in Love 

Praying and living the prayer for peace is a simple way in which ordinary people can be transformed into the children of God. This time and age calls us to a renewed thirst and discovery of the way of Francis, the way of brotherhood through the cleansing waters of rebirth in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Spirit of God, by which first human beings are made into the seed of Abraham and then can be brothers and sisters, one and all, with each other and consequently with the whole of creation. 

Another powerful expression of fraternity in the Christian Tradition is in the prayer taught by the Lord Jesus: “Our Father who art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, On earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, And forgive us our sins, As we forgive those who sin against us. Do not bring us to the test, But deliver us from evil.” (Matthew 6:9-13; Luke 11:2-4) The words of the Prayer of Jesus are uttered in the first person plural: “Our Father”, “Our Daily Bread”, “Forgive us our sins”, “we forgive those who sin against us”. The prayer is prayed in communion with brothers and sisters who are ready to pray for one another, for the whole human family, even for one’s enemies, just as the love of Christ extended not only towards His friends, but to his enemies, his executioners and to the whole human race. 

PRAYER AND REFLECTION 

“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, make us love you and the whole human race as much as you loved us; grant us that Love which overflowed from the Father into your Heart, and into the hearts of your saints.” 

 For the love of Christ overwhelms us when we consider that if one man died for all, then all have died; 15 his purpose in dying for all humanity was that those who live should live not any more for themselves, but for him who died and was raised to life. 16 From now onwards, then, we will not consider anyone by human standards: even if we were once familiar with Christ according to human standards, we do not know him in that way any longer. 17 So for anyone who is in Christ, there is a new creation: the old order is gone and a new being is there to see. (The Apostle Paul, 2 Corinthians 5:14-17)

I give you a new commandment: love one another; you must love one another just as I have loved you. 35 It is by your love for one another, that everyone will recognise you as my disciples. (Our Lord Jesus Christ, John 13:34-35) 

 I have made your name known to them and will continue to make it known, so that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and so that I may be in them. (Our Lord Jesus Christ, John 17:26) 

 May the Lord increase and enrich your love for each other and for all, so that it matches ours for you. (The Apostle Paul, 1 Thessalonians 3:12)