Whosoever

Whosoever

"For whosoever shall do the will of My Father which is in Heaven, the same is My brother, and sister and mother" (Matthew 12:50).

There is no word in the spiritual vocabulary that holds a sweeter place in the experience of the believer than this word "whosoever" here in this verse.  Another time our Lord used it in a passage that must be known to millions and millions.  It is the only verse in the Bible that many people know, and yet it is sufficient to take a man out of death and into life.  For our Lord said to the Jewish leader who came to Him by night, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

Now, all of the Gospel message of John 3:16 is to be found in anticipation here in this passage spoken on the great day of rejection.  It is true that back in the tenth chapter of Matthew we have the announcement, "Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I also confess before My Father Who is in Heaven" (Matthew 10:32), but the best students of the life of Christ place the occasion on which that announcement was made after the great day which we are studying.

This "whosoever," purely and simply, means you.  No matter what your circumstances or status: God, the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, invites you to full and free salvation.  If you will do the will of the Father, you shall be as His mother and brethren to Him.  And, in order that no one should be confused as to what the will of the Father might be, He has explained it most clearly.  Men came to Him asking, "'What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?'  Jesus answered and said unto them, 'This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him Whom He hath sent'" (John. 6:28-29).  And again, "This is the will of Him that sent Me, that everyone which sees the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life" (John 6: 40).

Dr. Barnhouse sees “whosoever” as a blessing and a command.  The blessing is that whosoever may come and be saved.  But the command requires the whosoever do the will of the Father.  If we have by grace received the blessing, then we are required by grace to fulfill the command.

Further Reading: Matthew 12:46-50