The Gospel for Tuesday, March 9, 2004
Mark 3:21-35
When his relations heard of this, they set out to take charge of him; they said, ‘He is out of his mind.’ The scribes who had come down from Jerusalem were saying, ‘Beelzebul is in him,’ and, ‘It is through the prince of devils that he drives devils out.’ So he called them to him and spoke to them in parables, ‘How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot last. And if a household is divided against itself, that household can never last. Now if Satan has rebelled against himself and is divided, he cannot last either—it is the end of him. But no one can make his way into a strong man’s house and plunder his property unless he has first tied up the strong man. Only then can he plunder his house. ‘In truth I tell you, all human sins will be forgiven, and all the blasphemies ever uttered; but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, but is guilty of an eternal sin.’ This was because they were saying, ‘There is an unclean spirit in him.’ Now his mother and his brothers arrived and, standing outside, sent in a message asking for him. A crowd was sitting round him at the time the message was passed to him, ‘Look, your mother and brothers and sisters are outside asking for you.’ He replied, ‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ And looking at those sitting in a circle round him, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers. Anyone who does the will of God, that person is my brother and sister and mother.’ -- The New Jerusalem Bible. 1995, c1985. Doubleday: Garden City, N.Y.
A Study
The obvious temptation here is to cluck our tongues and pity "poor Jesus." His family are turning against him, the scribes have come up from Jerusalem to harass him, and now the scribes go over the top: Beelzebul, an unclean spirit, is his source of power, they claim.
Jesus quickly uses cold logic to destroy their assertion. But then he goes on to inform them that they have committed an unforgiveable, eternal sin, by claiming that the Spirit which enables him is unclean. He has only very recently come in from the desert to which the Holy Spirit led him, and where he and the Holy Spirit communed for a long time.
Tucked away in that statement, however, is the blessed assurance that all other human sin is forgiveable.
Back to his family, though. Their eldest brother and her very special firstborn had walked off to visit his cousin John, who was baptising people (including people who were already Jews). After he himself had been baptised by John, Jesus disappeared for forty days or more. This was not his typical, obedient-son behavior. Perhaps something had happened to him. Had he gone mad? Is that why all these people seem so fascinated with him? Is he some sort of side-show act, now?
The lack of support from his family must have grieved Jesus; he was, after all, man and God. When they came to reclaim him (literally, to arrest him!), to take him back home so he could relax a bit and rest up, he was forced to distance himself from them and declare his new family -- anyone who does the will of God.
A Reflection
This is being written during Lent, and we Episcopalians don't say "Hallelujah!" in Lent, because it's just not done. However, hearing Jesus say that all human sins are forgiveable is certainly worth several of those exclamations!
If you've ever been compelled to stand by your spouse when you were uncertain that your spouse had it right, especially if it involves your own family, you know maybe 1% of what Jesus was going through. As a prototypical Jew, honoring his mother was not only his heritage, it was God's LAW. And not one of those laws that is neatly swept aside as He was able to do with the Sabbath.
When word reached Mary of what he said about who his new mother and brothers and sisters were, her heart must have stopped in an icy chill as she recalled him as a 12-year-old saying, "Don't you know I must be about my Father's business?".
This man was very man. He went through as many painful emotions in two or three years as you and I will in our entire lives. Given his sacrificial nature, he may have gone through every human's every painful emotion -- all that ever have been, all that ever will be. He endured more physical pain and agony on one Thursday night and Friday before sundown than you or I can even imagine.
That's the downside. What was the upside in modifying his "family" allegiances? He was joyous in doing the will of the Father. He was finally and fully about his Father's business.
Would that we could obtain such joy.
9:26:03 PM 
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