David Bahn – Reflections

Mark 3:20-21, 31-34

Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. ²¹ And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”

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³¹ And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. ³² And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.” ³³ And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” ³⁴ And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! ³⁵ For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

If Jesus’ mother and brothers were wrong about his mental balance, they were wrong in their interpretation of the facts, not in their care for their son and brother. They are not to be faulted because they care about Jesus’ wellbeing – if they are to be faulted at all. While it is completely wrong to conclude that Jesus was out of his mind, it is not wrong to care for his emotional and physical health. After all, Jesus was not even eating during this particularly busy and pressure-filled time.

Just because someone is so committed to his calling that he misses a meal or is inundated with people and ministry that doesn’t mean he is mentally balanced. Nor, however, does it mean that this should be a way of life. In this case it seems as though Jesus’ life is quite well-balanced – albeit with both a crunch time flurry of activity as well as an apparently less-frenzied teaching time with people seated around him (v 32).

Jesus uses the whole encounter to teach about and model love. While love does care for misguided brothers and sisters, love is guided to the paths of God’s blessing and guidance. When people try to co-opt Jesus by means of his family, Jesus points to those who do the will of the Father as his true family. Jesus was not dismissing his family. He was enlarging it. And the picture of spending time with people seated is one of family life: spending time together.

This was Jesus’ default ministry mode: being with people. He came to be with his own. He lived among the people. He was regularly in peoples’ homes. The mantra of systems thinker and writer Edwin Friedman is, “Define yourself. Stay connected.” Jesus was connected with people at every turn even as he was clearly self-defined. By that means Jesus offered the best and truest love. He gave himself to the people in his life.

Whenever we claim our true identity as sons and daughters of God, and sisters and brothers of Christ, and when we connect with people, spending time with them and giving ourselves to them our love will be well-guided. Such is our calling. Such is Jesus’ example. He will let neither the tyranny of the urgent nor the anxiety of others distract him from this lifestyle. And neither should we.