Mark 3:20 Then Jesus entered a house, and again a
crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. 21
When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they
said, "He is out of his mind." 22 And the teachers of the law
who came down from Jerusalem said, "He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the
prince of demons he is driving out demons." 23 So Jesus called them
over to him and began to speak to them in parables: "How can Satan drive
out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom
cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot
stand. 26 And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand;
his end has come. 27 In fact, no one can enter a strong man's house
without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man's house. 28
Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven all their sins and all the
blasphemies they utter. 29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy
Spirit will never be forgiven, but is guilty of an eternal sin." 30
He said this because they were saying, "He has an evil spirit." 31
Then Jesus' mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in
to call him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him,
"Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you." 33
"Who are my mother and my brothers?" he asked. 34 Then he
looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, "Here are my
mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God's will is my brother and
sister and mother."
"He's off his meds...." you can almost hear
that oft-used phrase of our time being used by Jesus' well-intentioned family
members in vs 21. There are a zillion questions just in that one little verse.
For instance, considering that this passage forms the typical "Markan
sandwich" [a literary device detected over and over again within the
Gospel of Mark whereby the writer introduces item A, gets diverted for a bit
with item B, and then returns to item A] it is easy to **assume that the named
family members (mother/brothers) who appear in vs 32 are the same family
members mentioned in vs 21. OR, maybe not. Perhaps a group of uncles and
cousins arrive first in vs 21, only to be followed by later-arriving mother and
brothers in vs 32. The second unanswered question about vs 21 is whether or not
they really mean it. It's one thing for your family to think that you're off
your rocker. It's an entirely different matter when your family thinks you've
gone too far; you've angered some *very powerful people; and you're about a millimeter
away from the point of no return. At such times, out of fear, love, and
desperation....those who care for us most are likely to say anything--anything,
like... "he's off his meds"...."he doesn't know what he's
saying/doing"...."he's out of his mind"....all with the
hoped-for result that they can say come along back home Jesus, it's time for a
nice cup of hot cocoa and your favorite tv show. Leave the nice men from
Jerusalem alone.
Since Mark doesn't really say much more on the matter
it's difficult to know the precise motivations (and identities) of the family
in vs 21. My preferred understanding, though, is that they were well
intentioned and had Jesus' best interest (to say nothing of the family
reputation) at heart.
Regardless, that introduces the wider point.... the point
that in this Markan sandwich **TWO** alternative narratives are presented to
the reader as to how the previous actions of Jesus may be understood (the whole
of chapter 2, plus previous verses of chapter 3; healings, exorcisms, teaching,
and especially reinterpreting the sanctity of the Sabbath). It *could be that
this Jesus guy is just a nut-job... someone who's delusional about his own
sense of importance and who's managed to take in an unsuspecting country
bumpkin public. *OR it could be that he's not delusional, but is, rather,
skilled in the dark arts and has summoned magic (forbidden) for the purposes of
making a name for himself (in order to fleece an unsuspecting bumpkin public).
Either way, it's fair to say that Jesus' motivations are
being misundertsood.... and I find that misunderstanding to be SYMPTOMATIC of
just how fallen we/this world really is. When you're so delusional that you
think you can jump off a skyscraper and fly, THAT'S PRETTY DELUSIONAL. When
you're so sick that you don't realize you're sick, THAT'S PRETTY SICK. One of
the recurring themes of ALL of the Gospels is that we here have fallen SO FAR
away from God... that we didn't recognize him or his work when he took on flesh
and got close to us. He came to his own,
but his own received him not, as it says in John's Gospel. Probably the
greatest irony of all is that in the Gospels the people who are the most
religious are also the most 'blind' to God's presence among them in Jesus.
This passage is full of application and challenge for us
even 2,000 years later. Does our religion hinder or facilitate our ability to
recognize Christ's presence and activity in the world? To what degree do we
make 'excuses' for Jesus? [are we 'apologetic' and/or timid about our call to
stand with the neglected/marginalized/despised of our day?]. Would it be more
comfortable for us if we could just gently guide Jesus back home to a nice cup of
hot cocoa and some Giligan's Island re-runs so that he'd be quiet and stop
bugging us? After all, from what he says, those who are truly closest to him
aren't those who have a religious pedigree OR those who can claim a blood
relation, but rather, those who actually reach out and **DO the sort of things
he's doing. (vs 35 Whoever does God's
will is my brother and sister and mother).
Cheers,
TM
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