Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Jesus and Beelzebub - Jesus' Mother and Brothers

Genesis 42:1-17
1 Corinthians 5:1-8
March 2, 2010

Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, He is out of his mind. And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, He is possessed by Beelzebub! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons. So Jesus called them and spoke to them in parables: How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. In fact, no-one can enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can rob his house. I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin. He said this because they were saying, He has an evil spirit.

Then Jesus' mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you. Who are my mother and my brothers? he asked. Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother.
-Mark 3:20-35

The first and last sections of our reading deal with Jesus’ family. Between the two is Jesus’ controversy with the scribes who accuse Him of being possessed by and being an instrument of the devil. His family considers Him crazy and the scribes consider Him “possessed.” After dealing with the scribes, we are taken back to His family which comes for Him. Jesus explains that His family is not one of blood relationship but those who do the will of the Father. Both family and religious leaders misunderstand Jesus. To accuse Jesus of having an evil spirit is to commit the unpardonable sin. It is a sin of failing to see in Jesus the presence of the Holy Spirit who gives him power and authority to cast out demons. Those who do God’s will have a spirit akin to His.

God sets the solitary in families. In this passage se wee that Jesus had two families. The one based on physical relationships, did not understand nor appreciate Him. His mother, brothers, and sisters thought that He was out of His mind and came to take Him home. They were embarrassed and ashamed of Him. Jesus’ other family had a spiritual relationship. He is son and brother to all who do the will of God. Only if we do God’s will can we claim that Jesus is our elder brother. [1]

O Lord, mercifully hear our prayer and stretch forth the right hand of Thy majesty to defend us from them that rise up against us; through Jesus Christ our Lord.[2]

[1] Lectionary Preaching Workbook Series B John Brokhoff © 1981 CSS Publishing, Lima, OH
[2] Collect for Invocavit Sunday The Lutheran Hymnal © 1940 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis

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