You Are Christ’s Sister or Brother

Mark 3:20-35
20 Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. 21 When his family[a] heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”
22 And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.”
23 So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. 27 In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house. 28 Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.”
30 He said this because they were saying, “He has an impure spirit.”
31 Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. 32 A 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.
34 Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

Family has played a major role in everyone’s life throughout history. When God created the world, he looked around and saw that everything was good, except for one thing: Adam was alone. So, God created Eve out of Adam’s own body, and thus the first family was born. They were to be one flesh, a family unit, working together, serving and loving God, and loving one another.
Families are essential. They are the building blocks of communities, and communities are the building blocks of nations.
As many of us have experienced, family relationships have massive weight and influence on our lives. Back in the time of Jesus, the Jewish family had extra added spiritual significance. The Jewish family was the local expression of the larger, Jewish nation. Jewish families were the local expression of the wider Jewish family of God. You were who you were in God’s kingdom because of your family. So, as a family member, you weren’t supposed to abandon or disrespect your family. That’s one of the reasons why the Parable of the Prodigal Son was so shocking. The prodigal son disrespected his father.
One of the practices that gave Israelites their identity was the annual family meal at Passover. Once the lamb had been slain in the Temple, the family would gather and eat together in remembrance of their exodus from Egypt. Jesus, not only redefines that family Passover meal around himself in the Eucharist, he also redefines those whom he calls his family.
His family is not drawn along blood lines or ancestry but is drawn in terms of our actions and faith. He says, “Whoever does God’s will is my sister and brother.” Thus, He include gentiles in God’s family.
This morning’s reading starts with verses 20-21
“20 Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. 21 When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.””
Jesus was teaching as he normally did, and, as usual, a crowd gathers. It appears that the crowd was so large that Jesus and his disciples weren’t able to eat. Maybe there was no food, or perhaps there was no room because it was standing room only.
There are two interpretations of what Jesus’ family members were thinking. The first is that Jesus’ family was concerned about his health. He was constantly mobbed by crowds to the point of hindering his basic necessities, like eating. And as we know, crowds can be unruly. People have died as a result of being trampled to death by crowds, at concerts and Black Friday sales. So, Jesus’ family wanted to rescue him.
It’s embarrassing to have it recorded that Jesus’ mother and brothers tried to stop his work because they thought he was crazy. If you or I were writing Jesus’ story, we probably wouldn’t write this. But talking about him being crazy is one of the things that gives credibility to the gospel writers’ faithfulness to what happened, even if it was embarrassing.
Also, Jesus’ family was probably concerned about their reputation. In their estimation Jesus was acting in a fanatical and even insane way. Insane people were shielded from public view since they were a source of shame for the family.
Then there are the religious leaders.
Listen to how terrible the religious leaders were and how they slandered Jesus. Verse 22 says, “And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, ‘He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.’”
Jesus’ ministry had got the attention of the big wigs in Jerusalem. Those religious leaders had apparently been sent by the Sanhedrim, to watch him, and to undermine his influence if they could. They never denied Jesus’ power and the fact that he performed miracles. They couldn’t because everyone witnessed the miracles. So, they tried to discredit him by claiming he did miracles using demonic power. They claimed that Jesus was demon possessed. Their official judgment was “He’s not right, [he is] possessed by Beelzebul.”
This is sad because some of the most prominent miracles that Jesus performed were driving out evil spirits. The religious leaders could have celebrated it, because a tormented person was freed and healed and Satan’s dominion was reduced. But they didn’t do that. They condemned Jesus. Beelzebul (or Baal-zebul) was the name of a Philistine god. “Baal-Zebub,” means “lord of flies. It was a derogatory term used by the authorities to ridicule and show contempt for Jesus.
So how did Jesus respond? Listen to verses 23-26. “…Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables:
How can Satan drive out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come.
He said this because they had said, “He has an impure spirit.”” Notice that Jesus doesn’t dismiss the existence of Satan, and a real kingdom of evil. He replied by showing how foolish the accusation was. If he cast out demons by demonic power, Satan would be working against himself.
A while later, Jesus’ family returned. Verse 31 says, “Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him.” Mark draws a contrast between the family standing outside and the crowd, including the disciples, sitting around Jesus inside the house. Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.” “Who are my mother and my brothers?” Jesus asked. 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.”
Jesus’ disciples were among those seated in a circle around him. Despite all their failures, Jesus acknowledged them as doing God’s will, and thus he considered them as his true family. Mark’s Gentile readers and modern Christians are being told that our relationship with God is not a matter of genetics, but of obedience to God’s will. Of course, Jesus wasn’t teaching that blood relationships have no value, only that they must be subordinate to spiritual relationships. Even so, his teaching was radical. It seemed to threaten the family, the most important human institution.
In conclusion, we see how Jesus’ physical family viewed Him incorrectly. They looked at him humanistically. They thought he was doing too much and over-extending himself. They thought he was too fanatical and out of his mind.
They also didn’t want to look bad and have their family name tarnished. Their concerns were pretty self-centered.
The religious leaders also viewed Jesus incorrectly, but their view was more malicious. They were trying to save their position and keep their power and influence because they were jealous and worried about Jesus’ popularity.
Each of these groups, is very self-centered and concerned about their own agenda. In contrast, the family of God is concerned with obeying God and doing his will. Jesus never acted outside of God’s will. He always submitted to the Holy Spirit and the will of his Father. Remember how He taught the disciples to pray in the Lord’s prayer? It starts, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” [Mt 6:9-10]. Another example of Jesus obeying God’s will is when he prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” [Mt 26:39]
All of us are here in church today partly because of our desire to do God’s will. So Jesus would say you and I are His sisters and brother. What is it like to think of yourself as Jesus’ sister or brother. You truly are. What’s that like?
Look around you at Jesus’ other brothers and sisters sitting here in this sanctuary. Yes, look around you. Turn around and look. What is that like to see yourself surrounded by members of Jesus’ family? Pretty powerful, right?
Let us pray. Holy God, Holy Unity. We thank you that your Holy Spirit enables us to do your will. We thank you that Jesus would claim each of us as his sister or brother. Amen.