brother

My wife was sitting next to me last night as we both wrote on posts using our matching Surface Pro 4’s. They’ve become a bit dated but then so have we. She clicked on one of her favorite singers, Collin Ray, and we both stopped our typing to listen to Collin sing “Hymn of Joy,” sometimes called “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee” by Henry van Dyke. It was breathtaking.

One verse, in particular, jumped out at me. Here it is:

Thou art giving and forgivingever 
blessing, ever blest
well-spring of the joy of living
ocean-depth of happy rest
Thou the Father, Christ our Brother—
all who live in love are Thine
Teach us how to love each other
lift us to the Joy Divine

I’ve watched how my fraternal twin sons interact, and it’s a real source of joy for me. Even before they were born they “played” together. You could see the movements in my wife’s belly. It’s not often that I think of Jesus as my brother, but He is. Hebrews 2:11 says, “Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.”

Jesus is above all and seated at the right hand of the Father. That’s my brother. When I pray, my brother hears and advocates for me. I find a lot of comfort in that.