Doubting Doubt
(Table of Contents - Click This Link)
The Process
Step
3 – He is Beside Himself (cont.)
2. The Event
You will recall
that in verses 20 and 21 (Mark 3) it says
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.” (NIV)
There are a few elements in this short passage that require
examination. These are
- the event, that
is, Jesus’ family arriving to take control of Jesus on the occasion of a large
gathering of people,
- the timing of
their action,
- the claim made by
Jesus’ family and finally,
- to use Pastor X’s
words, “What about Mary?”
The event.
Under ordinary circumstances the action taken by Jesus’ family might not
be all that unusual for the average family, if we read this with the perception
that Jesus’ family simply thought that Jesus was just going around making zany
statements in public and generally just stirring up a commotion, such that He
was making Himself a neighborhood embarrassment.
Indeed, for some reason, the common and traditional way that this
section is taught practically inclines us to think of it in that way and not in
any other way.
But we need to be cognizant of the fact that for us to blindly accept
what Pastor X called “the common view” is for us to be making several
assumptions. For example, were they
really motivated by the thought that Jesus was making Himself an annoying and
embarrassing nuisance? Perhaps it is
possible. But surely, it must be such an
unlikely probability that we would be unwise to jump at that as our first
choice for explanation. After all, the
stir of commotion was not due to just any general, non-specific outlandishness
from Jesus or because folks thought He was something of an interesting person.
No, there was something that the crowds wanted from Jesus. Healing would be on the top of my list of
guesses, especially when we consider the charge by the scribes that Jesus was
driving out demons by the prince of demons (v. 22). So did His family show up to take control of
Him because He was healing people? I
must say, it is hard for me to imagine how anyone could have an objection to
allowing Jesus to heal people. And if
humanitarian benevolence wasn’t enough to warm His family’s hearts there must have
been the prospect for financial gain.
Just like people today, there must have been those wealthy people now
and then who came to Him and said, “I’ll pay you anything! Just name your price!”
No, it is just too absurd to think that His family felt it was necessary
to stop Jesus from healing people.
Besides, at the crowded gathering described here we are not told that
any healings were taking place, though verse 22 hints that there could have
been.
Yes, this crowd wanted something from Jesus. Picturing the scene in our mind’s eye, we see
that they are all sitting around Him in a circle. He is the center of attention; no one else
even compares. Jesus has something for
these people. He has words more precious
than gold. They can’t get enough.
Did Jesus’ family come for Him because Jesus said such amazing and
marvelous things to people? To take
Jesus away on those grounds is unthinkable, even absurd.
Did they come because they worried about Him in a crowd? Even if Jesus’ family were averse to crowds,
that is not sufficient motive, and besides, they could have just said they came
for Jesus because they were worried He would be injured in the crowds.
Why did Jesus’ family come for Him?
They said it was because He was out of His mind. But take another look at that crowd. Jesus’ fame attracted friend and foe
alike. These foes we read about at this
gathering were scribes and they weren’t just some local small-town scribes who
happened to be in the neighborhood when Jesus and His disciples came home. These scribes took the trouble to make the
trip from Jerusalem. These scribes were
capable of causing real trouble for Jesus.
This was good motivation for Jesus’ family to come and take Him away,
even if they did have to make up excuses for why they were doing it.
And what a timely excuse it was, and in front of just the right people,
too. But we will come back to this with
greater detail shortly. For now, the
claim I am making is that Jesus’ family’s primary concern was not for His
mental health, it was not a concern that He was making a public spectacle of
Himself, it was not an aversion either to healing the sick or to giving
magnificent public discourse and teaching and it was not even a disdain for
crowds. Jesus’ family’s primary concern
was a safety issue.
But wait. Can I really make that
assertion dogmatically? After all, the
traditional teaching by the church, the “common view,” is that everyone in
Jesus’ family, even His own mother was unquestionably and undeniably claiming
that He was out of His mind and the reason that they did so was because: they really thought He was out of His mind!
This is virtually the universal traditional teaching by the church as I
have been saying and it is being declared dogmatically, the very thing that I
said that I was objecting to. So
shouldn’t I be playing by my own rules?
Well, let’s see. I read in 1
Thessalonians 5:21,
… test all things …
That’s what I’m doing. And I think a lot more people should be doing it as well. But this examination is far from over. We now move on to the next element of the Mark 3:20-21 passage that needs to be considered.
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