They had had many family meetings and discussions about him and what to do with him. Many of the things that he had done throughout the course of his public ministry had brought embarrassment and shame to the family. As if the memory of his birth itself wasn’t already enough to remind them of a past shame.

They finally decided that it was now time to go where he was teaching his disciples, bring him back home, and knock some sense into him. And in addition to that, they had a responsibility to save the reputation of the family (or whatever was left of it). So they went outside the place where Jesus was seated with his disciples and sent one of his disciples in to call him out.

They had no desire to even enter the building to listen to what Jesus was preaching; they would all be nonsensical claims after all. As it was, they were already embarrassed enough to face the public. They certainly had no desire to be seen with those people who were crazy enough to follow their son/brother. Furthermore, they didn’t have to enter. After all, as his family, they commanded the primary right to his attention; they had a higher position than his ministry.

But to the horror of his listeners, he answered his messenger: “Who are my mother and my brothers? Here are my mother and my brothers". He refused to go out to meet with his family. He pointed to those who were seated around him, who had responded to his call to be with him. There were now spiritual ties between him and them that were far closer than blood ties.