Review
Our discussion of Mark 3:7-19 was dominated by the themes of irony and opposites. We could re-state this by saying that the events narrated in that passage were characterized by a certain degree of ambiguity: a quality that is also highly descriptive of our personal lives as followers of Jesus in this “already-but-not-yet” period “between the Ages.” We’ll find this same ambiguity – mingled with appropriate measures of frustration, adversity, misunderstanding, and disappointment – running through the section that follows.
Labels: Verses 20-22
20 Now Jesus went home, and a crowd gathered so that they were not able to eat. 21 When his family heard this they went out to restrain Him, for they said, “He is out of His mind.” 22 The experts in the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and, “By the ruler of demons he casts out demons.”
Jesus has taken a dramatic and revolutionary step forward by choosing twelve apostles to “be with Him” and join Him in the task of proclaiming the arrival of God’s kingdom – a clear sign of progress in the advancement of His mission. So what is the opposite of that? The answer, of course, is more resistance.
At this juncture the resistance comes from a couple of arkys we’ve encountered before: the family and the religious establishment. In Jesus’ day, these two powers or principalities went hand in hand. They represented two related sub-aspects of an even greater allegiance, an overarching loyalty that could not possibly brook the claims of a powerful rival like Jesus: loyalty to the nation Israel as the People of God.
In this instance, the opposition offered by these two arkys assumes a particular form: labeling. A savvy choice on the part of Christ’s adversaries. A disturbing phenomenon like Jesus is almost impossible to understand, much less control, if you can’t fit it into a recognizable category. As long as it’s permitted to run wild, free, and undefined, you have to face it honestly and deal with it on its own terms. But if you can cram it into a pre-fabricated box of some kind, it becomes fairly easy to dismiss. That’s what’s happening here. Jesus’ family attempts to take Him in hand by calling Him “crazy”. The spiritual authorities claim He’s “in league with the devil.” After that, it’s a done deal. There’s nothing more to say.
This is a timely topic. At present this tactic of name-calling is being employed with great effect by prominent people on both sides of every imaginable aisle. If you’re uncomfortable with what someone stands for, you call him a “terrorist” or a “liberal”. Case closed. If a magazine prints something you don’t like, you label it “left-wing” or “reactionary” and toss it in the trash. No need to do the hard work of reading, listening, thinking, or responding. In the same way, if you find Jesus strange, unsettling, unorthodox, or challenging, don’t bother to ask why. Just say, “He’s nuts.” Just broad-brush Him as a “sorcerer”. That will take care of the problem. Then you can go about your business with a clear conscience.
Facing the Obvious: Verses 23-27
23 So He called them and spoke to them in parables: “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom will not be able to stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan rises against himself and is divided, he is not able to stand and his end has come. 27 But no one is able to enter a strong man’s house and steal his property unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can thoroughly plunder his house.”
Jesus, of course, is not a wacko or a Satanist. He’s the Word of God Incarnate, the Arky above all arkys. And His response to this kind of talk is consistent with His divine nature and character. He cuts through the name-calling by drawing His accusers’ attention to the plain facts. In His own inimitable style, He says, “Don’t you see what’s happening? Evil is in retreat! The darkness is being pushed back! The enemy is on the run! Do you think any of this is his doing? Can’t you tell the difference between good and bad when you see it?”
In other words, Jesus resorts here to an image and an argument He often used in cases of this kind: A tree is known by its fruit.
No Way Out : Verses 28-30
28 “I tell you the truth, people will be forgiven for all sins, even 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 (because they said, “He has an unclean spirit”).
With this we step straight into the age-old question of the “unforgivable sin”: “Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.” Controversial though it may be, Jesus’ pronouncement here really isn’t as difficult to understand as it seems – not if we read it in context. As N. T. Wright explains, “It isn’t that God gets specially angry with one sin in particular. It’s rather that if you decide firmly that the doctor who is offering to perform a life-saving operation on you is in fact a sadistic murderer, you will never give your consent to the operation.”[i] To say it another way, if you kill the goose that lays the golden eggs, you’re out of luck. If you demonize the Redeemer, there’s no one left to redeem you (see Hebrews 6:6; 10:26). You’ve painted yourself into a corner with no way out.
Redefining the Family: Verses 31-35
31 Then Jesus’ mother and his brothers came. Standing outside they sent word to Him, to summon Him. 32 A crowd was sitting around Him and they said to Him, “Look, your mother and your brothers are outside looking for you.” 33 He answered them and said, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And looking at those who were sitting around Him in a circle, He said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
The picture Mark paints for us in this concluding section is poignantly symbolic. The members of Jesus’ natural family, who have now re-entered the scene, stand outside the inner circle of which He forms the Center. Seen in its historical context, this is sufficiently shocking in and of itself. It’s another statement – an appallingly radical statement – about arkys, allegiances, and connections. But Jesus’ blunt comment on this striking tableau makes the claim even more explicit: “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
In recent years there’s been a lot of talk among those who are accustomed to view reality through the lens of the “culture wars” about the dangers of “redefining the family.” Ironically (there’s that word again), this is exactly what Jesus is doing here. Just as the Kingdom of God is distinct from the kingdom of politics, so the Family of God is something completely different from the natural nuclear family. It takes its name and derives its meaning from an entirely different Source.
As we have already seen in Mark’s account of the calling of Simon, Andrew, James, and John, the family, like the nation, the state, the church, the “organization”, the “team”, or any other purely cosmic and sublunary construction, easily becomes “an arky out to govern us”[ii]. That’s precisely what’s happening to Jesus in this little vignette. And He rebuffs the assault with deftness and grace. “In the final analysis,” He says with a smile, “the only connection between people that has any lasting significance at all is the connection they share through their bond of allegiance to Me.” Can you imagine how Mary and the boys must have felt? It’s enough to rile anybody!
Final Thoughts
This
is probably a good place to remind ourselves of Martin Luther’s maxim: “The Christian is a most free lord of all and
subject to none; the Christian is the most dutiful servant of all and subject
to everyone.”[iii] Jesus’ “redefinition of the family” does not
entail the rejection of family ties or the nullification of natural
affection.[iv] It simply re-shifts the focus by directing
our attention to the True Hub of the Wheel.
And it magnifies and enhances all our loves, whether of mother,
father, brother, friend, neighbor, co-worker, or compatriot, by making them
reflections of our love for Him who loved us and gave Himself up for
us.
[i] N. T. Wright, Mark for Everyone, p. 38.
[ii] Vernard Eller, Christian Anarchy, p. 2.
[iii] Martin Luther, The Freedom of the Christian.
[iv] As many cultic groups would have it.
“The only connection between people that has any lasting significance at all is the connection they share through their bond of allegiance to Me.” Thanks, Jim, for pointing us back to Him and our allegiance to Him again. It is so easy, today with the world as it is, to lose sight of that. But I find that I feel more connected to our little band of believers who share my beliefs deeply, than I sometimes do my own “blood” family. Thanks for your leadership, and insights.
Thank you, Sues. Jesus obviously shared your feelings.
Jim! I love your studies. I miss sitting in the room with you. OH MY! You are so lovely. The research, the thinking. You are water to my soul.
Have I known before the connection between blaspheming the Spirit and saying Jesus was aligned with Beelzebub? Maybe, but I had forgotten. Thank you. Scripture makes so much more sense when you assume it is a story and not just a string of verses.
Yes, you’re right! Thank you for your comments. They really mean a lot to me.
Related to the “Arky” of family, here’s one of the more harrowing articles I’ve read recently: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theatlantic.com/amp/article/605536
Thanks for this, Tom. I find it especially interesting because of the contrast it draws between the extended family as a large interconnected clan and the comparatively “detached” nuclear family. As you know, I’ve worked in the “pro-family” sector for more than three decades and I’ve almost never heard that aspect of the issue discussed. — Jim
Thank you, Jim; and I resonate so with Tom’s response.
I’ve long observed that there is a real propensity among American Evangelicals (and others, I’m sure, too) to lift up family as perhaps the one idol that could outstrip their practical allegiance even to God. (I envisioned a book cover with a statue of a family side-by-side, and then the real family members bowing prostrate before it.)
I do see this lived out so often in the church. People’s family (and protecting) seems to be the one exception to any of God’s “rules” (such as the supreme law, loving God and neighbors). In the name of family, we can be remarkably unChristlike and justify all manner of cruelty and abuse. For some that end (preserving the family) can justify just about any means.
It’s no wonder, perhaps, that the same malady for Christians with the idolatry of family often goes hand-in-hand with political control (i.e., Revelation’s Beasts and harlots scenario throughout these Last Days for the past 2,000 years). It all harkens back to the original sin–being our own gods. We would control our own communities and our own families, if only they all would only allow us to.
At the risk of joining too enthusiastically with Tom in beating up a little more on my old Alma Mater as well, it struck me how so many of the Scripture we were fond of quoting with regard to family was actually primarily directed to and about the church (Jesus’ real family). Family was often no more than a metaphor or illustration for the real thing–the body of Christ. Most of what we have in Scripture about family is what’s descriptive in narratives. There’s precious little directly addressing or instructing about family. It’s important, to be sure, and God designed it to be so–but it’s not the holy idol we can want to elevate it to be. (After all, fully-human God the Son–our supreme model and new Adam, never married and never had his own family. And here he rather dismisses them by comparing them to his real objective–God’s people, God’s family, Christ’s followers.)
This is indeed wonderful irony that Jesus would be responding to both of these (family and government) in concert. I love it. Thank you.
As Editor of Focus on the Family Citizen magazine for nearly 20 years, I promoted the “Arky” of the American culture war. When I began to see the fruit of that campaign—alienation and divorce among activist couples—I was horrified. The culture war had demanded all the energy and time of the more activist member of the marriage. I had neglected a fundamental truth: Whatever god/God we serve is a jealous god/God; it/He will not tolerate rivals, not even a spouse. Christ alone is worthy of such devotion, and as Jim puts out, joining others in Christ deepens, not deep-sixes, our relationships.