When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.” – Mark 3:21

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 29, 2017): Mark 3

Family seems to have a loose connotation in our culture. Family is not just who we are related to, or at least that appears to be the case. We extend the idea of family to close friends who we gather around us. Someone is considered to be like a brother or a sister in certain situations. We become the ones that are on their midnight call list when everything goes wrong. I have to admit that one of my favorite nicknames is “PUG,” although not many call me that anymore. PUG stands for Pastor Uncle Garry. Trust me; it is the best of both worlds.

We have a couple of struggles with this verse in Mark. The first surrounds the idea of family. Some commentators think that this is better translated as friends or associates. Part of the problem is that if we accept Mark’s chronology here, then his mother and brothers, the ones in Jesus life who could be most legalistically called family, arrive in verse 31. So that is not who Mark is talking about here.

But the second problem surrounds the accusation that Jesus was “out of his mind.” Often those who believe that the “family” in verse 21 means Jesus mother and brothers, charge that his “family” was not in step with Jesus ministry. They did not understand what it was that Jesus was doing and so they were not sympathetic with his activities. As one put it, they were “mean” (which I interpret as possessing a spirit of opposition to Jesus). We know this to be true of at least one of Jesus brothers; James. James would not see Jesus as Savior until after his death and resurrection. Only then would he accept Jesus as Messiah and eventually rise to lead the Christian Church in Jerusalem.

But if this verse means friends or associates, then they were likely to have been drawn to Jesus because of that very activity. If that is the case, then the stance taken here is likely one of protection. Jesus wanted to help everyone, but in his human state (we believe that Jesus was “fully human” although we often struggle with what exactly that means) he needed to be cared for and protected. The often cited “sex scene” in Jesus Christ Superstar (and no, there is no “sex” in the “scene”) is a good example of that kind of care. Mary Magdalene and the disciples rescue Jesus from a moment where his human endurance is tested by an overwhelming need to care for the sick, and they put him to bed (alone) while Mary sings “I Don’t Know How to Love Him.” There were times when his friends felt that they had to look after the needs of the one that they followed because even before his death on the cross, Jesus inclination seemed to be that he would give everything for them.

Personally, I think that the best interpretation here is friends that felt a sincere desire to care for and protect Jesus. But that family is the best translation of verse 21 because it ties in directly with how this passage ends.  “Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother” (Mark 3:34-35).

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Luke 6