For whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.
All Commentaries on Matthew 12:50 Go To Matthew 12
John Chrysostom
AD 407
Wherefore if they desire to be such, let them come this way. And when the woman again cried out, saying, Blessed is the womb that bare You, He said not, She is not my mother, but, If she wishes to be blessed, let her do the will of my Father. For such a one is both brother, and sister, and mother.
Oh honor! Oh virtue! Unto what a height does she lead up him that follows after her! How many women have blessed that holy Virgin, and her womb, and prayed that they might become such mothers, and give up all! What then is there to hinder? For behold, He has marked out a spacious road for us; and it is granted not to women only, but to men also, to be of this rank, or rather of one yet far higher. For this makes one His mother much more, than those pangs did. So that if that were a subject for blessing, much more this, inasmuch as it is also more real. Do not therefore merely desire, but also in the way that leads you to your desire walk thou with much diligence.
