What could it have meant to the apostles, if they would say to have faith in the Son of God? To start with, it was not really a term first century Jews were familiar with. Even Jesus seems to have preferred the term ‘son of man,’ which does not have to mean anything more than ‘I am just a human being like all of you.’ Clearly, neither Jesus nor his followers were thinking of a demi-god like Heracles, spawn from an adulterous affair between Zeus and the mortal Alcmene, the wife of Amphitryon – who raised him as his son.

Jesus appeals to God as his true Father

But the idea of Jesus as the son of God goes back to Jesus personally, as we can see in the story you just read. It is a very short story, and we can easily miss it. But it is also an extraordinary story, as it is the only story that tells us about a time that Mary opposed Jesus’ mission. When John the Baptist expressed his doubts, Jesus bitterly reminded the people that he had been called ‘a glutton and a drunkard’ (Luke 7:34). That was no light accusation, for it is used in a very specific way in Law of Moses. It is the term used by parents to denounce a rebellious son. It refers to a period in time that Jesus struggled between his responsibilities as Mary’s oldest son to care for his family and as the man identified by John the Baptist and anointed by the spirit to advance the kingdom of God. When Jesus continued John’s preaching and when people were healed under his touch, he drew crowds that stopped him and his friends from eating, let alone working. He also drew the criticism of the authorities who mocked his healings as fake or occult. This was extra painful for Jesus as he experienced these healings not as the result of his own plans or ambitions, but as the effect of holy spirit that revealed to him what he was called to do.

With great empathy, Mark places the story of the Jerusalem authorities within the context of a conflict between Jesus and his family, more precisely with his mother and brothers who were living with him in Capernaum (his sisters were left married in Nazareth). The immediate trigger for them is the fact that Jesus is (again) late for supper. And right there, during the acrimonious discussion about Jesus’s motive and inspiration, they arrive at the scene to stop what they saw as his madness. So now Jesus was not only challenged by the religious leaders and the Herodian authorities, but also by his mentor John the Baptist and by his own family. According to the Fifth Commandment (‘honour your father and mother’), Jesus would have to yield to his mother, and the people of Capernaum were supposed to come to her assistance if he remained stubborn.

And now Jesus does something that must have made his audience feel deeply uncomfortable: he leaves his mother and brother standing outside. His basic point is this: they are wrong. For God is his father. Exploring the passage from Deuteronomy 21, the Talmud explains that the obligation only applies if both parents testify that the son is rebellious and refuses to listen. But the healings of the spirit are God’s testimony that Jesus is doing his will. Furthermore, their behaviour places them outside the will of the father and therefore outside the ‘household’ of God. This is why Jesus leaves them standing outside. Looking the people around him in the eye, Jesus takes the time for the message to sink in. God’s fatherhood is a reality here today. God is the father of all, and all who do his will belong to his household. The criterion is not biological but behavioral.

Jesus comes as the heir of the Father

Matthew 21 recounts a continuation of this discussion in the last week of Jesus’s life, when he knows that he is likely to die. He has just entered the city of Jerusalem with his supporters hailing him as the Messiah, the son of David. In the temple precinct, he has turned over the tables of the money changers and driven out the salesmen of sacrificial sheep and doves who both had paid good money to the high priestly families for the right to do business there. “The temple of God should be a house of prayer,” he cried out. The people loved it, but the temple authorities were not amused. Now, as he is teaching a large crowd in the temple, they step forward and confront him “Who gave you the authority to behave like this?”

Instead of giving a straight answer Jesus asks them why they rejected the message of John the Baptist. They are afraid to give a straight answer as there is still massive popular support for John who was beheaded a year earlier by Herod Antipas. Then he talks about two sons of a father: one son says “I will, sir,” but does not do the will of the father. Another son says “I will not,” and shames his father. Both children don’t do the will of the father. But when John the Baptist came, tax collectors and prostitutes repented while priests and elders continued to sin.

It reminds me of the parable of the prodigal son: both sons are in need of redemption. So who comes for them? Jesus reminds them of the story of the vineyard, once told by the prophet Isaiah. The vineyard is Israel, the vines are the families of Israel. God is the owner who expects them to bring forth his beautiful sons and daughters. But the leaders of Israel behave as if they own the place and don’t allow the people to grow and bear fruit for God. They keep them in servitude. They kill the prophets who protest against them, like they killed John the Baptist. And now, he says, the father sends his son, to call his brothers and sisters to take up their rightful place as sons and daughters and live a life of fruitfulness. So what do the authorities do? “This is the heir,” they say, “come, let’s kill him and take the inheritance.” “So what would the owner do?,” Jesus asks the crowd, and they raise their voices against the temple authorities: “He will bring their rule to an end.”

The mission of the Son

It is astounding to see that Jesus sets himself apart from the prophets, who came as servants. He comes as the Son of the Father. The idea is offensive, both to Jews and Muslims and some have suggested that Christians should let go of the idea. Perhaps you too think it is a primitive concept. And, of course, you are right to say so if he would be portrayed as another Heracles or Perseus. But that was not how it started and I hope you can also see that the fatherhood of God is at the core of the teaching of Jesus. It became his mission: to share his experience of God as a father. God is a Father and he does not want us as his servants but as his children. Servants are excused when they take a calculated approach with their masters, but the Father wants a relationship based on love, shared responsibility and a shared heritage.

For Jesus, people are already children of God, but they have forgotten it. They behave like slaves and masters. As a child, Jesus had felt God’s fatherly presence. As a fatherless adolescent Jesus had turned to God for guidance. When baptised by John, God’s fatherhood became a spiritual reality: “You are my son, I love you. I see you and am pleased with you.” From there on, Jesus went out as the Son of God to redeem his brothers and sisters who were living as servants under the yoke of others. For the apostles, like Paul in Galatians 4:17, following Jesus became a transforming experience. It filled them with the spirit of Jesus and made them cry out to God from their deepest being as “Abba, Father:”

What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elements of the world. But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive the position of a son. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.

His friends trusted Jesus to be God’s envoy, because they saw how he brought God’s kingdom among them. They believed him to be the Messiah (even when he did not conform to their expectations), because they recognized he was filled with God’s holy spirit. If they put their faith in him as the Son, it is because he was their brother who showed them how to trust God as a loving father.

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Suggestions for dialogue

A moderator can explain the dialogue steps and invite people to contribute:

• Check in with yourself. Share with each other how you are in this moment. Then take a moment again to seek stillness, humility and openness. 
• First round: Share something from the text or image(s) that stood out to you and that you would like to explore with the group, briefly indicating the thoughts and feelings that it evoked within you. Listen to the others do the same: what resonates with you? Responses in this round should be limited to questions for clarification.
• Second round: Name one or two things that resonated with you from the things that others just shared. 
• Third round: Having heard the group, the moderator names the main topics for exploration. The moderator may also propose a common thread that emerged in several topics. The exploration normally starts with asking the person(s) who brought up the topic to expand on it.
• Leave room for silence and contemplation. 
• Check out by sharing what you take home from this dialogue.

These suggestions are an adaptation of the Estuary protocol. Look for more at https://www.estuaryhub.com