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 

 

Yesterday we read that, after a confrontation with the Pharisees, 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."  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."  Beelzebub was a name given by the Jews indicating Baal, a god worshiped by the Philistines (2 Kings 1:2-16).  Across the Middle and Near East, various peoples worshiped Baal (meaning "Lord"), often at varied shrines with particular dedication names to the god.  In this case, "Beelzebub" is a form of dedication name given in ridicule by the Jews, as it means prince of the "dung heap," or in another sense, lord of "the flies."  For the Jews, these gods in reality were demons, and here this god worshiped in so many places is called ruler of the demons, and they accuse Christ of working through his demonic power.  But Jesus turns the tables with a very perfect expression of the impossibility of demons fighting against themselves, which my study Bible says illustrates the irrational pride and envy of the Pharisees in their opposition to Jesus.  For He is the stronger man, who binds the strong man, Satan.

"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 comments that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit means blasphemy against the divine activity of the Spirit; that is, blasphemy against pure goodness.  He says this because the scribes attribute the gracious miracles, healings, and casting out of demons to Beelzebub, whom they call the ruler of the demons.  The activities of the Holy Spirit were already well known among the Jews from the Old Testament Scriptures, and so this misattribution to forces of evil comes from a willful hardness of heart and a refusal to accept God's mercy.  However, my study Bible adds that the patristic commentary is clear that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is not an "unforgivable sin" and neither does Jesus call it "unforgivable."  According to St. John Chrysostom, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit would be forgivable if a person were to repent of it.  My study Bible explains that Christ 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.  

 

 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."  Christ's relatives, my study Bible comments, have not yet understood His identity and mission.  Hence, further up, we hear that "His own people . . . went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, "He is out of His mind."  Perhaps they are simply fearful that He has by now drawn so much attention to Himself, including hostility from both the religious and state authorities.  But here even His close family comes to speak with Him, His brothers (likely stepbrothers or cousins) and His mother.  The people who surround Him in a circle are those who aspire to be disciples, or learners.  (We can observe this in the story of Martha and Mary, in which Mary joined with those who "sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word"; see Luke 10:38-42.)  Jesus, however, responds by pointing to a spiritual family, based on obedience to the will of God the Father.

Jesus' notion of a spiritual family is important.  If we look back at our lives, we might be surprised to learn that we can perceive a thread running through them based upon the influence of the Holy Spirit at work.  There is a subtlety to this sort of experience through time that more or less defies absolute description, and nevertheless in hindsight we might often find ourselves surprised to perceive that it was there.  The Holy Spirit, and the actions of the Spirit in the world, seem to tie us to things that defy normal anticipation of coincidence or happenstance, making us a part of connection that leads us to deeper insight and to further conviction in our faith.  This, by way of understanding how the Spirit works among us, is a way to see relationship formed, a family based on obedience to the will of God.  Once we begin to take seriously our faith, and to sincerely seek to know the will of God and to follow that calling, we might be shocked to find the difference in our lives between the very secular concepts of friendship and even family relationship, and the particular things that happen in the community of our faith.  This extends even to a growing understanding of prayer, and of that "great cloud of witnesses" about which St. Paul wrote, even to the saints with whom we pray and upon whom we can call for assistance in prayer, just as we would with our fellow believers in our Church whom we know.  In effect, Jesus calls us into family under a relationship with God Our Father in heaven, and from there we derive a sense of relatedness leading to a sense of family.  While our parents and other relations may always hold a particular place in our lives to which a certain respect or honor is due, the depth of the heart to which Christ calls us in faith operates in surprising and transcendent ways, calling upon a loyalty that a secular life can't necessarily understand nor perceive.  It is the depth of Christ's love working in us that may come as surprising, for it defies expectations, and renders us loyal to something not understood in a conventional sense.  Indeed, it is Christ here who calls us into this relationship, and we can even read His words as proclaiming to us that we can join His family, as brother and sister and mother, for all those who seek to do the will of God become one of His family based on that depth of relationship of obedience to God the Father.  For those of us who seek this way of life can be certain of a profound journey in this place of discipleship, like those who sit at His feet in today's reading.  Our reading today begins with the story of those who claim that Christ's power comes from the demons, but we know where this depth of power comes that can defeat even "the strong man" who is also called "the prince" or "ruler of this world" (John 14:30; Ephesians 2:2).  For the reality of God surpasses and transcends all things, even those to whom we feel the closest in life on worldly terms.  Let us also seek God's will and do it.  For it is not simply those who listen, but whoever does the will of God whom Jesus claims as His family.  

He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad

 

 Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw.  And all the multitudes were amazed and said, "Could this be the Son of David?"  Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, "This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons."  But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them:  "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.  If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself.  How then will his kingdom stand?  And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out?  Therefore they shall be your judges.  But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.  Or how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man?  And then he will plunder his house.  He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.

"Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.  Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come."

 

- Matthew 12:22-32 

 

Yesterday we read that when Jesus knew that the Pharisees had begun to plot against Him to destroy Him, He withdrew from there.  And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.  Yet He warned them not to make Him known, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:  "Behold!  My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased!  I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He will declare justice to the Gentiles.  He will not quarrel nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.  A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench, till He sends forth justice to victory; and in His name Gentiles will trust." 

 

 Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw.  And all the multitudes were amazed and said, "Could this be the Son of David?"  Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, "This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons."  But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them:  "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.  If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself.  How then will his kingdom stand?  And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out?  Therefore they shall be your judges.  But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.  Or how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man?  And then he will plunder his house.  He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad."  In chapter 9 of Matthew's Gospel, we have already observed that the Pharisees accused Jesus of casting out demons by the ruler of demons.  Here, they once again make the same charge, in response to the multitudes who begin to wonder if Christ is the Messiah, the Son of David.  This time, however, it is made more explicitly.  Beelzebub, or Baal, my study Bible explains, was the prince of "the dung heap" or lord of "the flies" -- a god worshiped by the Philistines (2 Kings 1:2-16).  This name, Beelzebub, is theorized by some to have been a jeering epithet coined by the Jews for the god Baal.  Here, he is called the ruler of the demons.  My study Bible says that the impossibility of demons fighting against themselves is an illustration of the irrational pride and envy of the Pharisees in their opposition to Jesus.  We can observe for ourselves that all is done in response to the popularity of Jesus among the people, who wonder if He is indeed the Son of David.  But Jesus replies with what is not only a logical refutation of their accusation, but a further statement of His own, challenging them to think about what power and authority is in Him to do such works against the demonic.

 

 "Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.  Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come."  My study Bible comments that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is blasphemy against the divine activity of the Spirit; that is, blasphemy against pure goodness.  It explains that a sin against the Son of Man is more easily forgiven because the Jews did not know much about Christ.  But blasphemy against the Spirit, whose divine activity was known from the Old Testament, will not be forgiven, because it comes from a willful hardness of heart and a refusal to accept God's mercy.  The patristic writers are clear that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is not an "unforgivable sin" -- nor does Jesus call this sin "unforgivable."  St. John Chrysostom says that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit would be forgivable if one were to repent of it.  Jesus makes this declaration, my study Bible comments, knowing that those who blaspheme the Spirit are calling pure, divine goodness "evil," and they are beyond repentance through their own choice.  Let us note, also, that is so saying, Christ declares Himself to be in union with the Holy Spirit, and His works to be expressions of such.

Jesus is subtly but firmly declaring Himself in today's passage.  He is declaring His power and authority to be that which is unified with the Holy Spirit.  He quite explicitly states to the Pharisees, who accuse Him of working through Beelzebub to perform exorcisms, "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you."  He goes on to remind them that One who could do what He does must "enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods" and therefore must have the greater strength to first bind the strong man in order to plunder his house.  (That is, to cast out the demons.)  When Jesus makes the final statement to them, that  "He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad," it is a statement of supreme authority and union with God, the only greater power, or "stronger man" who could cast out Satan.  The only way such a statement could be made is if it rests in that type of absolute authority.  There is no competition with the Spirit, there is no equal rivalry to be had or achieved by a demon or any other power.  Therefore, in responding to the Pharisees and their accusation of working by Beelzebub, Jesus draws a line in the sand and goes one step further:  those who do not gather with Him scatter abroad.  There is no power which can challenge the authority working in Him.  He then goes on to give a warning which clarifies that the false accusations will not result in condemnation merely because Jesus, the Son of Man, suffers or is maligned or criticized.  It is the Spirit which is being maligned in their accusations against the works that have been done (and specifically exorcisms of demons performed), and this is an entirely different thing altogether.  This is not a competition between schools of thought or various approaches to the worship of God.  They are blaspheming the work of God the Spirit, and that is a much more grave thing to do.  The distinction here is quite important, because it sets the ground for their disputes in a much more significant place than merely some sort of rivalry for the people's trust and attention.  This goes beyond a rivalry in terms of worldly authority or influence.  One may not observe the action of the Spirit, one powerful enough to cast out demons and to heal, and simply label it evil without encountering a grave danger oneself of slipping into profound spiritual error and evil.  These are the most learned men of their time, experts in the Scripture, who spend their days debating it, pondering it, studying it.  If they call the work of the Spirit evil, it is a grave sin, for they do so knowingly and not in ignorance.  They are the ones who know better, but it is their envy and zealousness for their own authority and power that has gotten the better of them.  All of this serves to clarify for us an important understanding of the work of God in the world:  we cannot judge by appearances.  God can choose to work through the most unlikely-seeming candidates.  God the Spirit can work through the highly ascetic and impoverished John the Baptist, and God the Spirit can be at work in the ministry of Jesus, the "glutton and wine-bibber" (see Monday's reading).  God the Spirit can be at work through the repentant Matthew the tax collector and author of this Gospel.  God the Spirit can be at work through St. Paul, formerly Saul the most vicious prosecutor of followers of Christ.  In John's Gospel, Jesus says explicitly, "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment" (John 7:24).  Whatever our expectations may be, God has a way of defying them, of pulling us out of our own complacence and limitations and understanding of God.  This includes circumstances as well as people.  It is the power of God that has turned the Cross, the instrument of crucifixion, the most heinous and gruesome punishment meted out to the worst criminals by the Roman Empire, into a symbol of transfiguration and redemption and the power of God's love which can be at work in our own lives.  We cannot limit by our own definition or image what the power of God can do, what the Spirit can and will do.  Jesus has likened the work of the Spirit in human beings, and our capacity to understand or predict it, to the working of the wind.  (In both Greek and Hebrew, the words for wind, breath, and spirit are the same.)  He said, "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.  So is everyone who is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8).  Does the Holy Spirit continue to be at work in our world?  Can the Spirit still work through the unlikeliest of candidates or circumstances?  Do we still run the risk of limiting through our own prejudices and desires for power and nearsightedness our capacity to see the work of God in the world and in people who make us uncomfortable?  Yes, yes, and yes.  Let us remember the danger we encounter when our own passions or self-righteousness or narrow legalistic focus come before a prayerful life and a heart open to the surprising work of God.