In a story sandwiched within another story, Saint Mark (3:20-35) narrates the arrival and concern of members of the family of Jesus within the report of a confrontation between Jesus and scribes from Jerusalem. The blasphemy of the scribes in imputing that the work of Jesus is by the evil spirit parallels the misunderstanding by His relatives of Jesus’ mission. Real kinship with Jesus is characterized by acceptance of the will of God.
God’s spirit and power in Jesus misunderstood
Returning back from his teaching forays probably to Capernaum, which he has made his home, Jesus is followed by some relatives concerned about Him. They must have heard of the claims Jesus has been making together with the wonders He has been performing, and how He has been offending powerful people and attracting the unruly crowds to Himself. He must be out of His mind not playing by the established rules and being confrontational with the religious leaders. These relatives, out of fear, have decided to do some damage control and take charge of Him with force if need be. Clearly, they lack faith in the authenticity of Jesus’ claims and in the source of His wonders.
Also on the heels of Jesus and coming from the important people in Jerusalem are the scribes who have an expert explanation for His extraordinary power to cast out demons. Jesus must have been doing so “by the prince of demons” who works through Him; He is inhabited by Beelzebul, the spirit of evil. Jesus counters by pointing out the absurdity of their accusation: Satan will not engage in self-defeat by expelling his own minions. A house or a kingdom would not be able to endure if it is divided against itself; it would collapse from within.
The power of Jesus is evidently not from the prince of evil; in fact, Jesus is the one more powerful than Satan. Jesus overcomes and ties him up (Mark 1:7), and plunders his property and releases his captives (Luke 4:18).
New kinship
BY imputing the presence of God’s Spirit in Jesus to be the presence of the evil one, the religious leaders have committed an unforgiveable blasphemy against the Almighty, an everlasting sin in the hardness of their heart, cutting them off from any fellowship with Jesus.
On the other hand, Jesus’ blood relatives who are embarrassed about Him and lack faith are literally standing “outside” and apart from the people “sitting around” Jesus and listening to Him inside the house. The mother of Jesus is said to be with His brothers who have come to take control of Him; she has joined the group obviously to make sure that her son would not be mishandled by His overzealous cousins.
In this situation of traditional religious and family ties not measuring up to the experience of the divine in his person, Jesus starts a new family and fellowship. Those people who prefer to stand outside the house instead of stepping inside to listen to Jesus’ teaching and engaging in the work of the kingdom of God, they are not Jesus’ family or kin. Their bond with Him is not the accident of blood, but their shared commitment to and cooperation with the will of God. Belonging to Jesus are those who do the will of God as He does it.
Alálaong bagá, God’s power is necessary for any man or woman to become a faithful follower of Jesus. We are recreated by the power of God in Jesus. However, this divine power in Jesus can be terribly misunderstood and resisted, or it can empower us to gather around Him, listening to His words and being transformed by them to be a new people with a new identity and destiny as Jesus’ “kapamilya” in doing the will of God.
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