GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 3:33
Who is My Mother and Brothers
Human relationships can become complicated. There are disciplines devoted to helping people sort through their family, marriage, or employment relationships. One of the first laws was that a man should leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. (Gen. 2:24) Sometimes that change is difficult. A new bride or groom realizes that they aren’t ready to break the familial bond and decides to return to the safety and security of home. The percentage of children who return to their home following their college careers has been increasing, with 37% according to one 2016 study.
St. Mark said that Jesus’ family heard about his demanding ministry—huge crowds to be taught, the sick to be healed, disciples to be trained, and increased hostility from the guardians of orthodoxy, so they came to take him home, away from the danger. They found him, surrounded by a crowd so large that they could not get near him, so they sent a message to him—apparently interrupting his lesson. “And answering, he said to them, ‘Who are my mother and brothers?’” (Mark 3:33)
Jesus’ question sounds callous, but he expressed a new phase in his life. It is easy to imagine Jesus playing childhood games with his siblings and friends, sleeping in the same humble bed, eating meals together, or working beside them in their father’s business. That was then. His life had taken a major new direction. It’s not necessary to think that Jesus denied the natural connection with his mother and brothers, but they were part of his previous life. Unlike the college graduate who returns home, Jesus was walking a new path expressed in his question, “Who is my mother and brothers?” This was not a rejection of his mother or siblings. One of the last things Jesus did on the cross was to place his mother in the care of one of his disciples. (John 19:26-27) What new relationships have you developed as a follower of Christ?
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