Mark 3:31-35
The family was the cornerstone of first-century Jewish society. Families not only lived together, they worked together and pooled their resources in order to survive a world that was much harsher than it is today. We forget about the difficulties that agrarian societies faced compared to our world. Our world is dominated by abundant food, superior building technologies, computers, automobiles and thousands of modern conveniences. Their world consisted of day-to-day threats from common diseases and environmental changes that are little more than inconveniences to us today. And for this reason, first-century Israel relied on a cohesive, well-ordered family structure in order to maintain political stability and to survive.
Beyond the bare physical necessities, the Law of God demanded obedience and the honoring one’s parents. Parents were to be revered and cherished. Children and relatives were to be loved and respected. To forsake one’s family was not only considered a deep insult to the family, it threatened the social and religious fabric of Jewish society.
When Jesus’ family came to collect him, they thought he was mad. They worried that the religious authorities would intervene and cause trouble not only for Jesus, but for them. Though his mother had known him all his life, and his brothers and sisters had known him all of theirs, none of them had believed him. It would be later that Mary would come and believe those things the angel had told her about Jesus at his birth. So they came to take him home and out of the public eye that they believed was not only casting Jesus’ reputation in a less favorable light, but theirs as well.
Waiting outside the crowd, the family sent someone in to get him. But Jesus not only refused them, he said: “Here are my mother and my brothers!” Despite the shock and offense his family likely took at him, his reply was appropriate. He was the Godman after all who was doing the work of his Father. To Jesus, his Father’s will took precedence over everything.
What Jesus was saying to his mothers, brothers and hearers was that those who did as he did were his true relatives. Those who would love him more than their families and placed his needs above theirs were truly his just as he was theirs.
The Kingdom of God is not filled with souls born of flesh and blood. The Kingdom is a realm of the Spirit and as such it is realm filled with people born by the Spirit. Those who believe in Jesus, place him above everything else in their heart. His people are a people who are filled with Spirit to do the Father’s will.
There is no religious structure, social custom or national tradition that has the authority to keep us from following Christ. In fact, Jesus asks us to leave them all for him. Traditions and customs have their place for the sake of honoring loved one’s and respecting others, but they can never come between us and Christ, if our faith be real, right and true.
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