Mary Magdalene’s encounter with Jesus, on the morning of his resurrection, displays the emotion that Mary felt in those moments. She was crying, distraught over the disappearance of Jesus’ body. However, when Jesus called her name, she knew it was him and clung to him, so much so that Jesus asked her to stop, because she had more important business. That business was to announce Jesus’ resurrection to his brothers, the disciples, and tell them he was going to his Father and their Father and to his God and their God. The way Jesus phrased Mary’s commission demonstrated his connection with the disciples. He didn’t refer to them as “disciples”, but as “brothers”. He didn’t refer to God only as his Father and God, but also their Father and God. This is a confirmation of what Jesus had said earlier in John 15 when he told the disciples that he did not call them servants, but his friends, here he goes even further and refers to them as his brothers.
Jesus’ words reveal the uniqueness of Christianity. In no other belief system is God viewed as His followers’ brother or Father. Jesus identified himself as the disciples’ brother and identified God as their Father. Jesus’ words reveal that Christianity isn’t so much a religion, as it is a brotherhood. Jesus implied this when he taught the disciples in Matthew 23:8-12 that they were to view each other as brothers. They were not to refer to each other as “Father”, “Rabbi”, or “Teacher”. Jesus said this in response to how the Scribes and Pharisees acted. Being a brotherhood, there is no place in Christianity for one individual to rise above another, just as in a family it is inappropriate for one sibling to rise above another. In Christianity no classes exist, there is no priestly class, as there was in the Old Testament, because according to the New Testament, all followers of Jesus are priests. No one has an advantage more than another with God. No one has more access to God than another. All followers of Jesus are priests, meaning all have equal advantage, all have equal access. Jesus gave us the example. If Jesus identified himself as his disciples’ brother, then how much more should Christians see one another as brothers and sisters.
“When we have the possibility of referring to someone as ‘Father’, we are placed in a unique and privileged position. How we refer to someone reveals the closeness of our relationship with them. The more formal the name, the more distant the relationship and vice versa.” (Outrageous Prayer, page 22)
https://www.amazon.com/Outrageous-Prayer-Praying-Jesus-Prayed- ebook/dp/B09RW88FZC
David Freitag 