Bible Strands
Luke 8:20
He was told, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see You.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus is teaching a crowd when a messenger informs Him that His mother and brothers are standing outside seeking to see Him.
The words — ἀπηγγέλη (apēngelē) means "it was told," and λέγοντες (legontes) means "saying," indicating the family's presence was relayed by an intermediary rather than announced directly by them.
The thread — The interruption and Jesus' response appear in Luke 8:19–21, while Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3 list His brothers by name without recording a request, and John 7:3 alone records His brothers urging Him to go to Judea.
Why it lands — The text reports a physical interruption before Jesus redefines kinship around hearing and obeying God's word. It asks a reader to evaluate whether their primary loyalty rests on biological ties or on active compliance with divine instruction.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
And it was told him by certain which said, Thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to see thee.
Cross-references
- Matthew 13:55 “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t His mother’s name Mary, and aren’t His brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas?
- Mark 6:3 Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? Aren’t His sisters here with us as well?” And they took offense at Him.
- John 7:3 So Jesus’ brothers said to Him, “Leave here and go to Judea, so that Your disciples there may see the works You are doing.
- Acts 1:14 With one accord they all continued in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.
- 1 Corinthians 9:5 Have we no right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas?
- Galatians 1:19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother.