Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother

 And they went into a house.  Then the multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread.  But when His own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, "He is out of His mind."  And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, "He has Beelzebub," and, "By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons."  So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables:  "How can Satan cast out Satan?  If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.  And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.  And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end.  No one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man.  And then he will plunder his house.

"Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation" -- because they said, "He has an unclean spirit."

Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him.  And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, "Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You."  But He answered them, saying, "Who is My mother, or My brothers?"  And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers!  For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother." 

- Mark 3:19b-35

 But Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea.  And a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judea and Jerusalem and Idumea and beyond the Jordan, and those from Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard how many things He was doing, came to Him.  So He told His disciples that a small boat should be kept ready for Him because of the multitude, lest they should crush Him.  For He healed many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about Him to touch Him.  And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, "You are the Son of God."  But He sternly warned them that they should not make Him known.  And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted.  And they came to Him.  Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons:  Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter; James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, "Sons of Thunder"; Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananite; and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.

 And they went into a house.  Then the multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread.  But when His own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, "He is out of His mind."   We can now see what a stir Jesus is making, for while there are people wildly seeking Him out for the healings they have heard about, there is also trouble, and He has opponents.  His family apparently hears rumors, that people are saying, "He is out of His mind."  Earlier, we have heard Him refer to Himself as Son of Man, a messianic title from Daniel 7 (see Saturday's reading).  He is also openly contradiction the religious leadership, and speaking with authority, although He does not have a recognizable earthly authority, such as a famous rabbi as a teacher, and neither is He part of the established religious authority Himself.  Clearly the religious authorities hold great power, and we are told, for example, in John's Gospel, that the people don't speak openly midst controversy about Jesus for fear of them (John 7:10-13).  In this light, we understand the fear of Christ's family members, and their concern to lay hold of Him.  Let us also recall that by this time the Pharisees are plotting with the Herodians to destroy Him (3:6).

And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, "He has Beelzebub," and, "By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons."  Fitting in tandem with claims that Jesus is out of His mind, the scribes claim that He has a demon, and that by the ruler of the demons He casts out demons.  Beelzebub is a title for the god Baal, worshipped by the Philistines.  This is the prince of "the dung heap" or lord of "the flies" -- possibly a corruption used by the Jews in order to slur the title used by the Philistines (2 Kings 1:2-16).  Here this god is called ruler of the demons, and the accusation is that Jesus uses demonic power to perform His exorcisms.

So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables:  "How can Satan cast out Satan?  If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.  And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.  And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end.  No one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man."  And then he will plunder his house.  Jesus uses perfect logic to demolish the accusations leveled against Him, when He asks, "How can Satan cast out Satan?"   He also emphasizes the understanding that spiritual battle is a part of life in this world, although unseen by us, and that He plays a role in that battle, His power so effective that He is the stronger man, who can bind the "strong man" of this world, Satan, and plunder his house.  My study bible says that the impossibility of demons fighting against themselves illustrates the irrational pride and envy of the religious leaders in opposition to Jesus.

"Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation" -- because they said, "He has an unclean spirit."   My study bible explains that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit means blasphemy against the divine activity of God (the Holy Spirit), and is blasphemy against pure goodness.  Those who accuse Him of casting out demons by the power of demons know full well the work of the Holy Spirit from the Old Testament.  Such an accusation expresses a willful hardness of heart, and a refusal to accept God's mercy.  My study bible also adds that the Patristic Fathers are clear that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is not an "unforgivable sin" and neither does Jesus call it "unforgivable."  St. John Chrysostom says that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit would be forgivable if a person were to repent of it.  My study bible adds that Jesus makes this declaration knowing that those who blaspheme the Spirit are calling pure, divine goodness "evil," and that they are beyond repentance by their own choice.  Hence, this is a stark warning by Jesus.

Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him.  And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, "Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You."  But He answered them, saying, "Who is My mother, or My brothers?"  And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers!  For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother."   My study bible remarks that Christ's relatives have not yet understood His identity and mission (see above, as well, the earlier verses in today's reading).  Jesus points to a spiritual family, based on obedience to the will of God.

Around what do we group our identity, our loyalty, our leadership in life?  How do we find an understanding of what it means to be part of a group, or what we define as our group?  In life there are all kinds of ways to consider what it is that we belong to in terms of identity:  family, neighborhood, school, clubs, church denomination, etc.  But Christ points to something that transcends everything else:  the will of  God.  He points to a family that is first of all, before all else, grouped around a loyalty to and love of God.  Above all, we could say, those people to whom He points around Himself, the people whom He names "My brother and My sister and mother" are those people who seek the will of God, who care about finding what God wants of them, who seek as best they can to love God.  None of us is perfect in the sense that we all know the will of God as something absolute or in its fullest sense.  Only God can know God fully and completely in terms of God's real existence.  It must be a given that to do the will of God is to do so to the best of one's ability, and in accordance with faith.  But to love God -- and especially to trust in God -- is the true root of what it means to have faith, and to seek that will for ourselves.  If we turn to God simply in times of trouble or need, well that is one thing, and it may truly be a gateway to a deeper and greater faith.  But the kind of faith that Jesus speaks about in today's reading, that really creates family, is one that seeks out God, and seeks to find and do what is pleasing to God, within the context of a communion of love.  It is an obedience that rests upon trust, for trust is the root of the word for faith.  It is all about acting upon a belief that it is God who holds our best interest at heart, and a community or family that is created out of that basic start, that foundation of identity.  The stories contained in today's reading emphasize the element of choice at work in this, because there is a clear contrast between what Jesus offers and the criticism of the religious leaders.  There is a clear contrast also fully stated by Christ when He suggests that evil would not cast out evil, and He leaves open the conclusion that therefore He must be an opponent to the demons, and a stronger one at that, one capable of overcoming the "strong man" of this world.  It is an image that suggests that Christ is One who comes to claim a kingdom and to take it away from a usurper, a usurper who may hold sway in our world but who is nevertheless an enemy that needs to be cast out through the presence of the Kingdom and its power which comes more potently into the world through Christ's ministry.  When Jesus claims family in this community of believers, He is also telling us about the nature of this Kingdom and this power, that it is rooted in love with God as Father.  But for today, let us consider and ask ourselves what it means to seek to do the will of God.  How do we know God's will, really?  How do we cultivate a deeper communion with God, a kind of discernment that helps us to understand where God wants us to go with our lives?  How do we seek that will?  Knowing that we are not perfect, but rather meant to grow, we start with our prayer lives.  We cultivate time together with God, so to speak, the same as we would with any person with whom we sought a closer and more intimate, knowing relationship.  We might find worship services and all the varied opportunities in the Church will help to shore up our desire to find God more deeply.  For myself, there is nowhere more powerful than during a worship service to find my forgiveness for those who've harmed me.  We also read Scripture to seek its hints and glimmering of meanings held out to us in prayerful consideration.  It is inexplicable how levels of meaning come to us when and where we need them.  Most of all we may go into the heart, where we stand before God, and truly ask ourselves what we put before God, and where God may be asking us to open up more deeply to spiritual understanding -- to the things we need to claim, and to the things we need to put aside.  Let us consider what it is to be and to have a brother, a sister, a mother in the context of this faith and the will of God -- for in so doing we will learn how Christ wishes us to be a part of this family.  We may even learn more deeply what mother, brother, and sister can become in the image of God's love.