GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 3:21
Beside Himself
Leaving his job on the police force in a major city in New York, John, an alias, moved with his wife and eight children to Springfield, Missouri, to attend Bible college and prepare for the ministry. John’s family approved of his decision, but his wife’s family had trouble accepting his willingness to leave a secure job and move halfway across the country to become a minister. Both John and his wife found jobs in the new city. He worked full-time and carried a full schedule of classes for four years. He made it through college and went on to a successful ministerial career.
Jesus faced a somewhat similar situation. He left what was likely an established, profitable business, which he had carried on after his father died. It’s easy to imagine that Jesus’ brothers and perhaps relatives were also employed in the business. He began proclaiming a message that was in contrast with the established guardians of orthodoxy—a sure way to encounter trouble. He gathered around him a gaggle of strange associates—fishermen, a tax collector, a fanatical nationalist, and other undistinguished helpers. He threw away the security of a job and home to wander about talking about Yahweh and his Kingdom. He was safe in Nazareth, and safety would be a major concern for nearly everyone. He also showed himself indifferent to the opinions of society. He didn’t care much about what men, even the highly educated and moral guardians, said about him. For most people, the voice of their neighbor is louder than the voice of God. His family was probably concerned about what friends, relatives, and customers would say about a son who had “gone off the rails.” A son who was so swarmed with people and surrounded by opponents that he didn’t even have time to eat a meal. St. Mark said, “And when his family heard, they went out to seize him, for they were saying that he is out of his mind.” (3:21) St. John said, “For not even his brothers believed in him.” (7:5)
Ignatius of Loyola left a Spanish noble family to follow Jesus. John Calvin left a comfortable family to follow Jesus. Dwight L. Moody left a profitable shoe distribution business to follow Jesus. All these people endured the questioning of family and friends to follow Jesus. Not everyone abandons home, job, family, and friends to follow Jesus, but they must be driven by the same desire to please the Father.
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