Bible Strands
Matthew 12:49
Pointing to His disciples, He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus responds to the crowd that interrupted Him to report His biological family was waiting outside, answering His own prior question about who constitutes His true family. He directs His attention to the disciples gathered around Him.
The words — The phrase ἐκτείνας τὴν χεῖρα (ekteinas tēn cheira) literally means "having stretched out the hand," recording the physical gesture Jesus used to identify the group He was addressing.
The thread — This identification of disciples as His spiritual family appears in Mark 3:34 and establishes a consistent biblical pattern where covenant relationship supersedes biological lineage.
Why it lands — The text states that proximity to Jesus is determined by doing the Father’s will, requiring a reader to evaluate their own alignment with God’s commands rather than relying on external or inherited status.
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 he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!
Cross-references
- Mark 3:34 Looking at those seated in a circle around Him, He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers!
- Matthew 28:7 Then go quickly and tell His disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him.’ See, I have told you.”
- John 17:8 For I have given them the words You gave Me, and they have received them. They knew with certainty that I came from You, and they believed that You sent Me.
- John 17:20 I am not asking on behalf of them alone, but also on behalf of those who will believe in Me through their message,
- John 20:17 “Do not cling to Me,” Jesus said, “for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go and tell My brothers, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God.’”