Telling the Truth – Mark 3:20-35

A text – Mark 3:20-35
3:20 and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat.
3:21 When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for they were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.”
3:22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.”
3:23 And he called them to him, and spoke to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan?
3:24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
3:25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.
3:26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come.
3:27 But 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.
3:28 “Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter;
3:29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”–
3:30 for they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.”
3:31 Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him.
3:32 A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.”
3:33 And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?”
3:34 And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!
3:35 Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”

A reflection:

Jesus is hemmed in by a crowd consisting of three groups. His family want to take him away to safety, saying Jesus isn’t in his right mind as a way of excusing his new and strange behavior, casting our demons and healing people and raising a ruckus in synagogue. The general crowds of followers want more and more from him, of course. And the third group hemming him in is the scribes, the well-read scholars of Jewish law and holy books. They pronounce him “Satanic.” They want to cast him in the worst light so that people avoid him. That way he won’t be such a threat to the status quo that they depend on.  But Jesus has a reply to their pronouncement.

He says God will forgive many blasphemies and sins, but the one blasphemy God will not forgive is calling something that is God-sent “Satanic.” They are looking right at the only Son of God and are not even the littlest bit open to the idea that he is in fact the Son of God. They have been good students, good learners their whole lives, and thus they should be open, but they will not permit that idea. They label him unclean, from the devil. This, Jesus says, is the unforgivable blasphemy.

At that very same moment, his family sends word to come away with them, but if he gives in to their request, he will only feed the story the family has spread that he is out of his mind. So he claims his followers as his family, those who will labor with him in his ministry. Jesus is not anti-family. We know that he takes care of his mother, and that his brother James joins the disciples after the Resurrection. But here Jesus expands the notion of family to all people who do the will of God, even us.

Jesus’s attempts to get the scribes as well as the crowds and his family to think in new ways about God are not yet bearing fruit – in fact, they are raising the stakes.  But Jesus is simply telling the truth, trying to kick open some doors and let in the light of God’s truth and love and mercy. Some won’t forgive him for that. But how else do you get someone out of a building he doesn’t know is on fire? By telling him the truth.

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you, Jesus, for being our most precious gift from God. Thank you for risking everything on our behalf. Help us to remember how you suffered when you told the truth. Help us to be truly grateful for your loving work. Amen.