31Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. 32A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”

33“Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked.

34Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

Mark 3:31-35

A couple of weeks ago, I drove up to Ipswich for a family gathering to celebrate the sixtieth wedding anniversary of my grandparents.  It was a really wonderful evening, and great to catch up not just with my grandparents, but also my parents, aunts, uncles and cousins.  I reflected on how tremendously lucky I am to have been blessed with such a wonderful family.  All of them have shaped me into the person I am today, especially my parents, who have, and continue, to love, support and nurture me.  My brother and sister, too, who sadly could not make the party, have also played an important role in making me who I am.

Today’s passage is very much about family.  In it, there are a couple of particularly interesting points, which I shall try and pick out.  First of all, we can see something of the relationship between Jesus and his earthly family.  Secondly, we can gain some insight into the relationship Jesus says that all believers can enjoy with him.

At the beginning of this passage, Jesus’ mother and brothers are trying to find him.  We encountered his family in our last article – they were trying to find Jesus to seize him because they thought that he was out of his mind.  They had every reason to wonder what their beloved son and brother was up to; he had had a relatively normal childhood and early adulthood and now, as he hit his 30s, he was suddenly driving out demons, healing the sick, and preaching to anyone who would listen.  I suspect that his family would have been genuinely concerned for Jesus’ mental state, and wanted to draw him away from the crowds to talk to him and to support him.  No doubt Mary was remembering back to the unique conception and birth of her firstborn son, and wondering if this strange behaviour was in some way the fulfillment of her son’s destiny.  I wonder if his brothers would have understood up to this point that Jesus was in some way special?

When told that his mother and brothers have turned up and are looking for him, Jesus seems to reject them; some people no doubt interpret this passage as demonstrating that we should isolate ourselves from our families in order to focus on serving God.  This could not be further from the truth, however.  Jesus maintained a very positive relationship with his family.  We see in Acts 1:14 just how much his family loved him, and how they committed themselves to following him; we’re told that the apostles devoted themselves to prayer, “together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.”  Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians that, after his resurrection, Jesus appeared to his brother James.  One of the last things that Jesus did as he was dying on the cross was to think of his mother as he asks the apostle John to look after her (John 19:26-27).  More than that, John tells us that Jesus loved his mother (John 19:26).  It quickly becomes clear, then, that Jesus was not rejecting his earthly family.  He recognized the importance of family, loved his own, and valued the support and love that they showed him.

Why, then, does Jesus seem to denigrate the relationship he has with his family?  Far from denigrating his family at the expense of believers, he actually seems to be elevating the position of the believers to that of a beloved family.  He sweeps his hand around the circle of people listening to him and tells them that they are his family.  He states that “whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

Throughout the Bible, the importance of doing God’s will is made clear.  In the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6) which we recite so often, we are asking that God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  In John 7:17, Jesus tells us that by striving to do God’s will, we will know if Jesus is truly from God: “if anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether his teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on God’s authority.”  In 1 Peter 4, we are told that we should all be striving to live for the will of God.

Here, though, in our current passage, Jesus makes it absolutely clear to us the real benefit of living to do God’s will; by doing so, we are considered to be Jesus’ brother or sister or mother.  That close relationship that I have with my earthly family is the same kind of relationship I can have with Jesus – if I do his will.

So do I treat Jesus as a close member of my family?  How do I interact with my family?  Well, I call them up when I’m stressed or worried.  I certainly do that with Jesus, bringing my problems to him in prayer.  I also share my joy and happiness with my family; I suspect that I may be a little slow to do that with Jesus.  I would do anything to help a family member.  Would I do the same for Jesus? Do I do the same for Jesus?  That’s a slightly tougher proposition, and one I shall give some thought to in the coming days.

Of course, it works both ways.  As well as Jesus being loved and respected by his family, he also loved and respected them back, modeling for us what family should be like.  Do I always honour my family the same way as Jesus honoured his?  Do I always think of them before I think of myself?  Hmmm.  Again, food for thought.

It’s a real privilege to be able to regard Jesus as a brother.  I am certainly going to try to think of him more in this way in the coming weeks.

And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebub! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.”

Mark 3:22

One of my former pupils is a very talented musician.  Along with a couple of friends, he started a band, who between them produced some very distinctive music.  My pupil bought a CD with some of his songs into school for me one day, in the hope that I would play them on my radio show.  I took the CD home and listened carefully to the four tracks he had recorded, and I thought they were outstanding.

The band played a number of club nights in London.  One day, a record company executive who had heard great things about this youthful band, attended one of their gigs, wanting to see for himself what all the hype was about.  The next thing I knew, they had been signed, and had released their first album to critical acclaim.  They’re even favourites of Radio 1!

You know you’re starting to get a bit of a reputation when the big wigs come down to see you.  Jesus had clearly been getting quite a reputation.  He had been preaching and teaching in and around Galilee, yet he had come to the reputation of the religious leaders in Jerusalem.  They travelled all the way to Capernaum to see Jesus for themselves – a journey of a not inconsiderable 120 miles.  When they finally get to see Jesus, they are amazed at what they see; they had expected him to be a fraud, and yet even they are surprised by what he is doing.  They quickly jump to conclusions, however; rather than watching carefully what Jesus is doing, and listening carefully to all that he says, they simply accuse him of being an agent for the Devil.  Their acceptance that he was doing things that could be explained away are interesting for us as Christians, however, since it is actually evidence to support the Gospel’s claims about Jesus.

Clearly there was something special about Jesus.  Clearly he was doing amazing things.  In which case, it is extremely important that we watch and listen to him carefully and decide for ourselves exactly what his true identity.  Was he in fact the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God, as he claimed to be?  In which case, did he really die for me?  These are incredibly important questions that everyone needs to consider – Christians and non-Christians alike.  As Christians, we must ensure that our faith is built on realistic evidence.  For non-Christians, it is equally important that if you are to continue in your non-faith, that you have looked carefully at the evidence and ruled Jesus as the Christ out based on the evidence available.  For all of us, Jesus’ true identity is a matter of life and death.

Getting on Together

These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder); Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Mark 3:16-19

The university that I attended is renowned for the diversity of its students.  We had a great number of students from overseas; I was fortunate enough to befriend people from Spain, Finland, Poland, the USA, Canada, China, and even Yorkshire.  And that was just in the Christian Union!  At CU we had people whose parents were multi-millionaire businessmen, police officers, lawyers, shop workers, postmen and more besides.  We were a very diverse lot indeed.  Had we met anywhere else, we would probably not have been friends.  We were, however, and that was due in no small part to a mutual love for Christ, and an awareness that he loved all of us too.

What strikes me when reading through this list of Jesus’ twelve apostles is the diversity of the people he picked to serve him.  Particularly noticeable is the fact that a Zealot numbered amongst Jesus’ closest followers, and also Matthew, a tax collector.  We’ve met Matthew before in Mark’s gospel, and have seen how he was regarded as a traitor to his people, since he collected taxes for the Romans, the occupying forces.  Yet Simon the Zealot was also amongst the apostles; Zealots were vocal, and often violent revolutionaries who wanted to overthrow the Romans.  One would not expect Simon and Matthew to get on particularly well, and yet they lived and worked together serving Jesus.  They were able to put aside their differences because they shared a love of Christ, and an awareness that he loved them too.

Jesus’ apostles were a diverse band of people, yet he called them all and he loved them all.  There is not a “Christian-type.”  Jesus calls us all to share in his love for us, no matter who we are, where we are from, or what we do.  He also shows us that it is possible to put our differences aside and love each other.

Let’s try and be a little more loving in the days ahead.

He appointed twelve—designating them apostles—that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.

Mark 3:14-15

Here at Crossring, we have a clear mission; we want to build a community around scripture.  We want to encourage people to write articles reflecting on scripture, and to discuss them.  We want to provide scripturally focused sketches for our visitors to use in churches and youth groups.  In order to do this, we have a team of people who work together to fulfil specific areas within our ministry.  We recognise that it would be impossible for any one – or even two – of us to create this website together, so we have a clear division of labour.  In this way, we hope to be able to grow and develop the website in a way that would not otherwise be possible.

Teams are vital for success.  It is so much easier to achieve anything if you work with other people.  Even Jesus recognised this.  He was the Son of God and could have achieved absolutely anything, but instead he recognised that a team would be useful if his earthly ministry was going to have the success he wanted.  For this reason, we see in this verse that Jesus appointed twelve people, called by name, in order to support him in his ministry.  He wanted these twelve men to go out and preach the gospel; twelve preachers is surely better than one.  He also tasked them with driving out demons.  Interestingly, however, he also has another reason for calling the twelve apostles; like all humans, Jesus needed company, and gathered these men around him to be with him, to be his friends and his confidantes.

Jesus calls us all to be with him.  He wants a friendship with each and every one of us.  He is waiting for us to respond to his call.  He might call you to teach or to drive out demons, but he might not; he might have other things in mind for you.  Do reflect today, though, whether you have responded to Jesus’ call of friendship, and consider what role Jesus has given you in his team.

Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed. When they heard all he was doing, many people came to him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, and the regions across the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon.

Mark 3:7-8

Celebrity seems to be a major feature of western society these days; so many children want to grow up to be famous, with no idea of what they’re going to be famous for.  Here in Britain we have a strange relationship with our celebrities.  On the one hand, we worship them like twenty-first century Gods, following every detail of their lives.  As soon as they put a foot wrong, though, or become too famous, or too rich, we delight in tearing them down again.

When I was working in London, David Blaine shut himself in a Perspex box just down the river from my school.  Blaine had been used to the adoration of American fans, yet when he reached England, people were more interested in jeering at him and throwing things at his box.  All very peculiar!

Jesus quickly became a celebrity.  Here we are, only up to the third chapter of Mark’s fast-moving gospel, and we see him being followed by huge crowds of people who had come to see this incredible man.  News of Jesus’ teaching, his healing, and his miracles had spread far and wide, and people were traveling great distances to see him for themselves.  Here was someone who seemed to deserve his celebrity; he was doing impressive things!

Jesus certainly created quite a stir in the first century AD, yet his fame has spread for more than 2,000 years, so that people are still eager to listen to what he has to say, and to learn more about his miracles.  Are you amongst that number?  Are you desperate to meet Jesus for yourself?  Keep with us on the Mark Marathon – we’ll encounter Jesus together!

Healing on the Sabbath

Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent.

Mark 3:4

My route to work takes me along several small country lanes.  At one point, there is a very difficult crossroads; all the roads passing through it are very busy, and often it can take a while to cross.  Tempers can get a little frayed sometimes, as people are generally in a rush to get to work.  One day last week, I encountered a large, black BMW.  The driver was getting extremely angry, and sounded his horn whenever anyone in front of him let a car through the crossroads.  I then followed him down the road leading to my school, and he drove practically fixed to the bumper of the car in front, desperately looking for an opportunity to overtake.

Also last week, I was driving down a fairly busy road, and a large white van was driving, some would say fairly recklessly.  As it approached, however, rather than getting angry, people pulled over and let it pass.  Why?  Because it was an ambulance.  Both vehicles, the black BMW and the ambulance were driving over the speed limit, and yet one was considered to be permissible.

In our current Mark Marathon passage, Jesus once again gets in trouble with the Pharisees, this time for healing a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath, which the Pharisees considered to be work.  Jesus, however, rebukes them.  He is doing good on the Sabbath, yet they are complaining that he is breaking the law.  He questions whether it would be better as far as Jewish law was concerned for someone to harm another person.  Jesus has the ability to heal this man.  If he does not, because he observes the Sabbath in the way the Pharisees expect him to, he would effectively harm the man, since he would be destined to live for the rest of his days with his withered hand.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 5 that he has not come to abolish the law, but to fulfil it.  He is the reason for the law.  He shows us here that our priority should be to display the love of God to all those around us.  He shows his love to this man by healing him, even if in the eyes of the Pharisees he is a law breaker.

Let us try and display the love of Christ to all those we meet today.

The Lord of the Sabbath

So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.

Mark 2:28

Power is a funny thing.  As someone who works in middle management, I sometimes feel that I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place.  I have to take responsibility for my department, but at the same time there are occasions when senior management want me to do things differently.  Equally, sometimes I have what I consider to be good ideas, but when I put them forward, they usually get rejected, since I am thinking beyond the level of my authority.  The one who has the authority in my school is the Headmaster.  You could say that he is the Lord of our school.  He can implement any idea he wants, and run the school pretty much how he wants.

In our Mark Marathon article, Jesus is criticized for allowing his disciples to pick grain on the Sabbath.  His response is that he, the Son of Man, is Lord even of the Sabbath.  He has authority over the Sabbath.  This would stand to reason, since he was there when God the Father created Heaven and Earth.  He was there when God created the Sabbath.  Who is better placed to judge what is and isn’t allowed on the Sabbath than Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath?

As we go through Mark’s Gospel together, we will discover that Jesus has authority over all manner of things, precisely because of his unique position as a member of the Trinity of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.  The question is – is he your Lord?  Do you show him respect?  Do you pay him homage?