A devotional thought presented originally to Swift Current Men’s Prayer Breakfast, Thursday 09 October 2014. Presented to the River Street Cafe, 08 April 2016
Read Mark 3:20-22; 31-35.
Jesus is portrayed here as almost
a workaholic. He is working late and he takes his work home; his work right now
is casting out demons and he has a lot of work to do. It is dinnertime. He
comes to a house to eat but there are so many people that he just keeps
working: he and his disciples don’t even take time for a meal.
His family is worried about him. They are
no doubt worried because he’s not eating anything. He is not taking enough time
for himself. He is not taking time to relax. He is just working without a
break. Is it any wonder that his mother and brothers, throw up their hands when
they hear all of this and say, Verse 21,“He is out of his mind” – “he’s crazy!”
Jesus’ family decide it is time to take
charge and make him rest. (The Greek word here KRATESAI is the same one
used when the authorities ARREST someone. This is what his family is
doing.) They are so concerned about him that if Jesus won’t take care of
himself, they will take charge of him because, as they understand it, “he is
out of his mind” (V.21).
“He is demon possessed,” the teachers of
the Law say. “He is [even] possessed by Beelzebub…the prince of demons,” So
this is interesting. Both Jesus’ family and the religious experts agree that
Jesus is not acting normally here. He is out of his mind; he is demon-possessed.
And again, in this crazy scene, we can probably understand what they are each
saying to some degree, can’t we?
Jesus understands and he answers both the
teachers and his biological family. The interesting part is that even though
the Pharisees and Jesus’ family’s motives may be quite different, both are
attempting to interfere with the work of God. Mark directly compares the
actions of Jesus’ family who love him to those of his enemies who will be
looking to destroy him. He shows here that they are both doing the same thing:
they are getting in the way of the work of God. Thus Jesus rebukes the
Pharisees and he denies his own mother and brothers.
[1] Based on the sermon by Captain Michael Ramsay, Mark 3:20-35: The
Family of God. Presented to Nipawin and Tisdale Salvation Army on February
17, 2008. On-line:
http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2008/02/mark-320-35-family-of-god.html
Posts
