Son, Brother, Savior

May 12, 2025 | Read and Think About Mark 3:20-35

Our last 3 readings have been about King David (May 5), Mary the mother of Jesus (May 7), and Joseph (May 9). If Jesus' life could be compared to a family room of a home, these 3 would be like the portraits placed prominently above the mantle. 

Now, the 3 we will look at this week are more like the photo album on the coffee table to me:  quick snapshots that fit together in a larger story.  In particular, today’s reading and the next one show times when Jesus’ family misunderstood him, and even ridiculed him.

In verses 20-21 of Mark’s account today, his family has come to the crowded house where Jesus happens to be.  They have not come to hear him.  They have come because they think He has lost his mind.  They have come to take charge of him.  

By this point, Jesus has done a lot already.  He turned water to wine at a wedding.  He has healed a paralytic, and a man with a crippled hand, among other public miracles.  Even so, as the family members stood outside the house, sending word to Jesus that they were there looking for him, some of them didn’t believe.  They didn’t understand truly at that point who He was or the purpose of His mission.

Haven’t we all been there?