Today’s sermon is based on Mark 3:20-35.
[Jesus went home;] 20and the crowd came together again, so that [Jesus and the disciples] could not even eat. 21When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.” 22And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.” 23And he called them to him, and spoke to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. 27But 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.
28“Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; 29but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”—30for they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.”
31Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. 32A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.” 33And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
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Beloved of God, grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus. Amen.
There is so much going on in this gospel reading for today; perhaps it helps to set the scene. We’re in the gospel of Mark now, where everything moves at an almost ridiculous pace. Jesus has been baptized by John and immediately driven into the wilderness where he’s tempted by Satan for 40 days. He then begins his ministry in Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and calling his first disciples, who immediately follow him. In Capernaum, Jesus teaches in the synagogue on the Sabbath and heals a man with an unclean spirit. And with this healing, Jesus’ fame begins to spread.
As soon as Jesus and his disciples leave the synagogue, they enter the house of Simon and Andrew—two of Jesus’ disciples—and there Jesus heals Simon’s mother-in-law. That evening, the whole city gathered around the door, bringing to Jesus all who were sick or possessed with demons.
In the morning, Jesus goes by himself to a deserted place to pray, only to be interrupted by his disciples who come to say, “Everyone is searching for you.” So, Jesus sets out with his disciples to neighboring towns, proclaiming the good news of God throughout Galilee.
When he returns home to Capernaum, so many people gather around him that four people, hoping Jesus might heal their friend, actually climb up on the roof and dig through it in order to lower their paralyzed friend down into the presence of Jesus. Jesus forgives the man’s sins and faces his first noted critics.
Mark describes it this way: Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, “Why does this fellow speak in this way? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” At once Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were discussing these questions among themselves; and he said to them, “Why do you raise such questions in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and take your mat and walk?’ But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic—”I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go to your home.” And he stood up, and immediately took the mat and went out before all of them.
In the very next verse, Jesus calls Levi, a tax collector, to follow him. Jesus sits at dinner in Levi’s house, with many tax collectors and sinners. This time the critics voice their objections aloud. They say to Jesus’ disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” When Jesus heard this, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”
After this, the critical questions just keep coming, now directly to Jesus’ face: “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast but your disciples do not fast? Why are your disciples plucking heads of grain on the Sabbath, doing what is not lawful?” So when Jesus enters the synagogue and encounters a man with a withered hand, his critics are just waiting and watching to see if Jesus will cure on the Sabbath so that they might accuse him. Before they can say anything, Jesus turns the tables and asks them a question: “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. Jesus looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart. Jesus healed the man with the withered hand and the critics went out and immediately conspired against Jesus to destroy him.
Three chapters into the gospel of Mark and there are those who wish to destroy Jesus. God-fearing people. Commandment-keeping people. They wish to destroy Jesus. He is presuming to do what only God can do, forgiving sins. He’s hanging out with the wrong people. He’s boldly re-framing the law regarding the Sabbath. And his critics wish to destroy him.
The crowds, though, keep growing. The need is tremendous. The people flock around Jesus to be healed, to be forgiven, to be set free, to be made whole. The need is so great that Jesus appoints 12 others—his apostles—to proclaim his message, the good news of God, and to cast out demons. This force for healing and wholeness in the world is growing, multiplying…and so is the resistance.
Jesus returns home again; the crowd is so overwhelming that Jesus and his disciples cannot even eat. And then, in a heartbreaking turn, Jesus’ own family comes out to restrain him, to stop him from continuing to speak words of forgiveness, to stop him from associating with the wrong kinds of people, to stop him, presumably, from continuing to anger those in power, those who wish, already, to destroy him.
The critics have stepped up their game. Jesus’ family has heard people saying, “Jesus has gone out of his mind.” So, this is an intervention, of sorts. I have to believe Jesus’ family was genuinely concerned and alarmed. I have to believe they were motivated by love for their son, for their brother. I have to believe they thought they were looking out for his best interests. They wanted to stop him. They intended to save him.
But his intention was to save the world.
Now picture this scene. Jesus is at home surrounded by the crowd looking to him for healing. The critics are there. Jesus has just refuted their claim that it is by the ruler of the demons that Jesus is able to cast out demons. And now, Jesus’ family approaches, but they’re on the outside, calling to him. They’re not attempting to press their way through the crowd; they’re simply standing on the outside calling to Jesus.
And the word comes to Jesus by way of the crowd, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.”
Now, I struggle with what Jesus says next. I imagine myself as his mother or as his sister. I’m not sure they could actually hear Jesus’ response, but they must have felt it…when he didn’t make his way out to them, when he remained committed to the crowd at his feet, when he didn’t step outside to receive their concern for him. How long did they stand there waiting for him? And what did they do throughout the remainder of his time on earth?
Did they believe they lost him? Or did they ultimately come to understand that he had found them? And not just them, but everyone, all the lost sheep, all the groaning creation, all the wounded, weary world FOUND and healed and redeemed by their son, by their brother?
I don’t know. I hope so. Because in that moment, I can only imagine how hard it would have been for them to understand.
Jesus looked not at them, but at the crowd who sat around him. “Here are my mother and my brothers. Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
Ultimately, this doesn’t exclude Jesus’ biological family from being his brother and sister and mother, but it doesn’t give them exclusive rights either. Jesus’ family tree has just grown as large as the whole world. There is room for everyone in its branches.
Today, we celebrated the baptism of beloved Elsie. She’s part of Jesus’ family tree, a sibling of Christ, along with you and me all those who sit at Jesus’ feet and look to him for healing and hope.
The love of God is expansive, ever-widening, all-embracing, reaching out to gather in the world. God so loved the world that God gave Jesus to be not just a son to Mary, not just a brother to his biological siblings, but a brother to us all, a son for all creation.
With Jesus as our brother, we face the inevitable critics who can’t imagine the love of God embodied in a brother who loves so fearlessly…the inevitable critics who would rather preach judgment than forgiveness, who would rather gather with the ones who are appropriate and acceptable, who would live by the letter of the law and not the spirit of the law.
With Jesus as our brother, we forgive those who are weighed down by shame and regret. We gather around tables with the ones who’ve been rejected and deemed unworthy. We recognize that the law of God is intended for freedom and healing love. We become part of a growing, multiplying force for healing and wholeness in the world. And we see that in this family tree, with Jesus as our brother, we are all connected to one another that together we might do the will of God.
We’re not out of our minds. We’re one with the mind of Christ, whose mission is to save and to bless the whole world. Amen.