Did Peter get his stuff?

[Nurse_Joy]

In Mark 10:30 Jesus tells the disciples they will be repaid in the present time and in the world to come - houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and land.

There must be more here than I am getting, because mothers doesn’t seem to make sense; so also children for someone who doesn’t have a wife.

But the houses and land - is this code for something else?

And please lets not do the “well he had a mother in law…” discussion here.

Thanks

NJoy

 

[Nita]

I see it as a reference to the “family” one will experience within the faith; the fellowship of the saints here on earth and in heaven. The love and help one will experience in this fellowship is greater than that which is received from just the single family one is physically born into (hence all the plurals).

The “houses” and “lands” (physical goods) to me are symbolic of the spiritual goods we’ll receive - sacraments, etc. Can also see it as referring to the actual Church buildings. One of the joys in travelling is to enter a Catholic Church. I don’t know about you, but I always feel “at home” in a Catholic Church no matter where it is.

Nita

 

[Della]

Along with Nita’s fine answer, there’s this to consider. Jesus spoke in the idioms of his day and culture. He often used what we would call hyperbole in order to make his point.

Jesus was conveying to his disciples that following him may call for giving up of all we hold dear: family, property, earthly security, etc. But, the rewards of following him are, in the end, beyond imagining.

The language Jesus used was meant to give his disciples a larger picture than the small world in which they lived–a vision of the coming kingdom and of the wonders those faithful to him would see. He was promising to care for us if we give all to him. And that is what is really important in this passage. Yes?