Family values

‘… Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother..’ (Mark 3:35)

Mark 3:20-35 (Year B: Trinity+1)

The public ministry of Jesus is in full swing.  After Jesus heals on the Sabbath; draws large crowds; and appoints twelve apostles or disciples he ‘entered a house’.  His own ‘family’ believed that he was ‘out of his mind’ while the ‘teachers of the law’ were convinced, worse still, that he was possessed by the devil. At least his family showed some compassion by only conceding that Jesus had gone mad as opposed to bad!  What follows is a somewhat confrontational exchange where Jesus spells out some home truths by countering his religious detractors in the strongest possible terms. Not alone that, but he puts his own family in the picture by declaring openly that he is founding a much broader family rooted in God’s love and will.

It is to be noted that the word ‘family’ used in this translation is open to interpretation with scholars and translators differing on how to apply the Greek  term in this context and some opting for ‘friends’ over ‘family’. (Scholars will always differ! In any case, the scriptures (fortunately) were not written in 21^st century English!). It is reasonable to conclude that the family of Jesus was unusual in its make up and origins. An orthodox creedal understanding of the birth of Jesus confirms such a view.

One can imagine how scandalous all of this sounded to a respectable, pious, traditional, familial and ethnic 1^st century Jewish milieu. Not only did Jesus declare a new extended family but he seemed to put no boundaries on it by declaring openly in verse 35:

Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.

Note the word ‘whoever’.

This saying was not just for the religiously pure, the in-house group, ‘one’s own kind’ etc. but it was for ‘whoever does God’s will’. This echoed in the audiences hearing and reading Matthew’s gospel years later in the very different setting of expulsion, conflict and scattering. Such a daring and radical declaration by Jesus should not be taken as callousness towards his immediate family (however widely or narrowly that might be interpreted).

That we are all sisters and brothers to one another in the household of God’s family does not undermine the principle of care and responsibility among blood relatives and other close ties. The Gospel of John tells us that, when dying, Jesus was concerned that his own mother would be looked after by the disciple John. Families do matter and we are bound by a covenant of love throughout our lives. Jesus, according to the gospel of John, ensured that ‘widows and orphans’ were taken care of by treating his beloved disciple John as if he were a son of Mary and Mary as a mother to this son.  They would mind each other after Jesus’ death and resurrection. However, the radical call of Jesus to follow him and to be channels of his grace and mercy means that, in a certain sense, our ‘family circle’ is larger than we might have thought at the outset.

But, what do we make of the accusation that Jesus was more than mad but bad per the religious authorities of the time? Jesus did not mince his words by taking them on face to face. He declared a new reign of God and an outpouring of grace through the Holy Spirit. This was no shady religion founded on double-speak and divided by competing parties. Rather, it was the purest of religion in establishing the reign of God’s will which is freedom for captives and care for each other in a new family. This is real community. This is real church.  Everything else is false religion.