3rd Sunday after Pentecost
Genesis 3:8-15; Psalm 130; 2 Corinthians 4:13—5:1; Mark 3:20-35
Mark 3:20-35
[Jesus went home;] 20and the crowd came together again, so that [Jesus and the disciples] could not even eat. 21When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.” 22And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.” 23And Jesus called them to him, and spoke to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24If a dominion is divided against itself, that dominion cannot stand. 25And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26And if Satan has risen up against Satan and is divided, Satan cannot stand, but is coming to an end. 27But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered.
28Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; 29but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”—30for they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.”
31Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. 32A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.” 33And Jesus replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
. . .
The Unconforming House
Grace to you, beloved of God, and peace from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
This is one of the moments I am just grateful that Jesus is Jesus, and you and me are just you and me. I say this because none of us can do what he does. We have established that already. He is the Lord of everything.
This scene is pure ministry chaos to me.
If you are keeping track of the gospel of Mark, Jesus has awed everyone with his teaching. At the same time, he healed a couple of people and allowed his disciples to feed themselves on the Sabbath. On top of it, he had sat with tax collectors and sinners and declared he had come to them and not to the ones who declared themselves righteous, such as the scribes who conspired with those loyal to the vassal king Herod to destroy him.
I suspect Jesus and the disciples may have left them behind, plotting and complaining, and went to work. We find them on this scene doing what they were sent to do. So much was the longing for hope that they seemed completely immersed in the healing and nourishing of the people.
In the midst of this work—which seems to have become more than a little intense—Jesus’ family comes into the scene. Whatever they heard about what he was doing was nonconforming enough for them to think he had gone unhinged and out of his mind. Therefore, they set on foot to restrain him. Next, the buddy scribes come all the way out of Jerusalem to pest Jesus for his lack of compliance. Their strategy seems to simply demonize his work of restoration.
The family issue is more profound. Jesus may put a pin to that to address later. Fortunately, the grumpy scribes are often easy to deal with; they always seem to lack wisdom and vision, so Jesus puts them to their places by pretty much saying, stop. You are not making any sense. If I am the devil, how am I working against my own interests by driving away evil spirits? Maybe you are the ones working on satan’s behalf by trying to sabotage me, bind me, and separate me from my people. Get lost.
The family returns. Jesus seems to be inside, sitting down with those he was called to, as usual, and the family is outside demanding allegiance from him. That has to be the tough part. His siblings are there. Mary might be there. Even others associated with Joseph. In the kingdom of this world, he was the elder son. If Joseph was no longer alive, Jesus was charged with caring for them. That gotta hit the guts. This sort of pain may be one of those things that God in human form came to the world to experience on our behalf.
I would not blame Jesus for going with them. Would you blame Jesus for going with them? Except the Son of God did not belong to anyone. He belonged to everyone willing to listen and walk with him. They, too, were invited to stay and be nourished in body and spirit. Even the scribes were.
What is impressive is that none of this anxiety and pressure seem to affect Jesus. The mission of non-conformity with the ways of the world and reconciliation of everyone and everything remains on task. This should not be surprising. Jesus is our Messiah, the Christ, after all. Quite the opposite, he manages to flip the situation and comes up with a great piece of wisdom, even for those like us listening to this story that happened so many ages ago.
The unconforming house where all sinners become possessed by the holy spirit, are transformed into saints, and are sent to restore justice and peace in the world will not be able to stand without, repentance, forgiveness, grace, and humble allegiance to the love of Christ. It will not stand because it stopped to be his people.
Beloved of God, it does take enormous strength of heart to love and serve everyone like Jesus does. Yet, he belongs to everybody who belongs to him. Jesus needs everyone, and everyone born of water and spirit needs him; otherwise, the house cannot stand. Jesus needs everyone, and everyone born of water and spirit needs him so the joy of the beginning may be complete again. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Bridging Faith 