Brothers Because of Easter

This week at our Department Heads meeting we read through the death and resurrection of Jesus in the Gospel of John. Something was really striking to me, and Stu later mentioned it in his Easter sermon. It takes place when Jesus, after being raised, reveals himself to Mary. He says to her, "Stop clinging to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, 'I ascend to my Father and your Father, and my God and your God.'"
I had read this passage many times, but I was struck by the fact that in John's account, Jesus tells Mary to go to his brothers. In other Gospels he tells her to tell his disciples. In John's account, though, he uses the term "brothers" to refer to his disciples. On top of that, he reinforces the statement by saying that he was going to ascend to his Father, who also happened to be their Father. If he is Jesus' Father, and he is the disciples' Father, then that makes them all brothers. That is just basic family theory. :)
It is possible to respond to this and say, "Well, in one place he says disciples, and in another he says brothers. No big deal."That might be true if not for the fact that Jesus' brotherhood with humanity is not something only mentioned here in passing. Hebrews 2:11 says,

"For both he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason he is not ashamed to call them brethren."

And then in 2:17 the writer says,

"Therefore, he had to be made like his brethren in all things, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people."

We call Jesus Christ our Lord, our King, and our Savior. But do we dare to call him our older brother? It just seems irreverent. "Make Jesus your buddy. In fact, he is your older brother." Well, it might be irreverent if we had made this up. But the writer of Hebrews says that Jesus is not ashamed to call those who are sanctified through him brothers (inclusive of sisters also, of course).
I am not going to act like some expert on brothers. In fact, while I am an older brother, I don't have an older brother. However, I do have an older sister and a younger brother. While we are all different in many ways, the thing that strikes me most when I think about Ami or Chris is that we are all the same. No matter how different in personality, demeanor, or anything else, there is a great sameness that pulls us all together. It is powerful. Why does it exist? Because we all come from the same parents. We are forever identified with one another.
This just blows my mind, and reminds me that I don't really tend to get what it means that Jesus is fully human. I like to think, "Yes, he is human and divine, but he is more divine than human." This is simply not true. He is fully both, and to deny either is to deny who he is. In fact, when you read the New Testament, you might be able to argue that the writers were more defensive of his humanity than they were defensive of his deity (this was probably because the attacks at the time were specifically against his humanity; Gnosticism, etc.).
The great hymn says, "God our Father, Christ our Brother." Do we really embrace this? Jesus Christ, our brother. That is not meant to exalt us. It is meant to exalt him. He has shown such humility and sacrificial love that he has eternally identified himself with us as our brother. What could be closer than a brother?
All praise and honor and glory to Jesus! He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. And he is our brother, our friend.