Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee.

People's New Testament

12:46,47 His mother and his brethren. On the brethren of the Lord, see PNT Mt 13:55. His brethren did not yet believe in him. Compare Mr 3:31-35 Lu 8:19,21.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

47. Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee, &c.-Absorbed in the awful warnings He was pouring forth, He felt this to be an unseasonable interruption, fitted to dissipate the impression made upon the large audience-such an interruption as duty to the nearest relatives did not require Him to give way to. But instead of a direct rebuke, He seizes on the incident to convey a sublime lesson, expressed in a style of inimitable condescension.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

12:46-50 Christ's preaching was plain, easy, and familiar, and suited to his hearers. His mother and brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him, when they should have been standing within, desiring to hear him. Frequently, those who are nearest to the means of knowledge and grace are most negligent. We are apt to neglect that which we think we may have any day, forgetting that to-morrow is not ours. We often meet with hinderances in our work from friends about us, and are taken off by care for the things of this life, from the concerns of our souls. Christ was so intent on his work, that no natural or other duty took him from it. Not that, under pretence of religion, we may be disrespectful to parents, or unkind to relations; but the lesser duty must stand by, while the greater is done. Let us cease from men, and cleave to Christ; let us look upon every Christian, in whatever condition of life, as the brother, sister, or mother of the Lord of glory; let us love, respect, and be kind to them, for his sake, and after his example.