A new set of challenges for family values

“…Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:35)

1 Samuel 8: 4-11, 12-15, 16-20, 11: 14-15

Psalm 138

2 Corinthians 4:13-5: 1

Mark 3:20-35

 New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

(Year B: First Sunday after Trinity, 6^th June 2021)

Returning, this Sunday, to the Gospel of Saint Mark, we hear that the public ministry of Jesus is in full swing.  After Jesus heals on the Sabbath, he draws large crowds and he appoints twelve apostles or his first disciples. That must have been a joyful and a tough time for those called as they let go, to some extent, of their natural families.  Jesus’ own ‘family’ were concerned about what people were saying about him, namely, that he was ‘out of his mind’ while the ‘teachers of the law’ were convinced, worse still, that he was possessed by the devil. Was the family of Jesus primarily concerned about Jesus’ safety or did they, too, believe that Jesus was out of his mind?

What emerges in Mark’s account is a 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’. Similarly, there is dispute over whether or not Jesus had blood brothers or sisters.  (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. Indeed, an orthodox credal 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 the will of God 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 the 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).

Monday take-aways

We have a duty to one another as members of our own natural families as well as the family founded by Jesus. The two go hand in hand.

Where Jesus is concerned there are no cliques or in-groups. Membership is open to everyone and the only rule is the rule of self-sacrificing love. To do this is do the will of God and in that way we are sisters, brothers and mothers to Jesus – and to one another.

Finally, we should not worry unduly about what other people think about us. The important thing is to do what is right, tell the truth and stand up for human rights and dignity.