Theological Commentary: Click Here
As we move
into Mark 3, we get a taste of the first few themes blending together. In the first story, we see the religious
leaders immediately going out to seek a way to ill Jesus. They know when Jesus is doing. He’s not living up to expectations and He is
winning the eye of the crowd. They need
to do something about Jesus, and they need to do it sooner rather than
later. As people immediately start to
follow Jesus, the religious leaders need to act immediately to maintain the
status quo.
We can
continue to talk about people who don’t react well to Jesus’ ministry because
of expectations. There are two stories
in this chapter that speak about Jesus and His relationship with His
family. First, notice that Jesus’ family
comes to take Him away from public ministry.
They think Him mad. They think
that He is going out of His mind. Their
expectations for Jesus, expectations no doubt based in their own understanding
of what a poor Jewish boy from Galilee should be doing, simply don’t match what
Jesus is actually doing. They think
Jesus has begun to go crazy!
At the end
of the story, they come again for Jesus.
Jesus’ response is very telling.
When people tell Jesus that His mother and brothers have come for Him,
Jesus reverses the expectations back onto them.
Jesus says that His true mother and brothers are those who have listened
to Him and are responding. Jesus makes
it perfectly clear that His expectations are God’s expectations and anyone who
doesn’t match – including family – isn’t really family.
On that
note, we turn to the disciples. These
are people who have followed, they have listened, and they have begun to
imitate Jesus. They are people with whom
Jesus shares His power. He invites them
to go out into the world with power and authority. When we go forth embracing God’s expectations
for our life, He equips us and empowers us to be a part of His will!
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