Saturday, January 25, 2014 - Would Jesus point to you as a member of his family? Why?

To read the texts click on the texts: 2 Sam 1:1-4,11-12,17,19,23-27; Mk 3:20-21

This text is part of a larger text, which ends at 3:35. It is about the family of Jesus. In 3:20-21 (our text for today) the family of Jesus is introduced in a negative manner. They think that Jesus has gone out of his mind and want to restrain him. One possible reason why his family would have thought that he was “out of his mind” was because he was working miracles and this could have been seen as associated with magic and such persons could either be banned or even executed. His family thus come to take him away by force. 

This episode is followed by the Beelzebul controversy (3:22-30) in which Jesus is accused of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebul, by the scribes who come from Jerusalem. Mark then forms a "sandwich construction" by taking up in 3:31-35 a text concerning the family of Jesus. Here, however, Jesus makes clear that his true family are not those related to him by blood only, but by the will of God.

There are times when because we do not understand the actions of another person, we may tend to condemn them or look down on them or sometimes label them. We need to realise that because of our lack of understanding we may need to be open rather than closed and judgemental.