Jesus Names His True Family in a Crowded HouseBible World
3:32Mark 3:32
And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee.
This moment came just after Jesus for the second time healed a possessed man who was blind and dumb, and after the Pharisees repeated the charge that He casts out devils through the prince of devils. The multitude sat about Him and told Him that His mother and His brethren were outside seeking for Him. Those who sought Him were His mother Mary with His brethren, the sons of Joseph, who were far from sympathy with His work.
Reports had reached them that He spent entire nights in prayer and spent the day thronged by great companies without time so much as to eat, that friends thought incessant labor was wearing Him out and some feared His reason was becoming unsettled. His attitude toward the Pharisees could not be accounted for, His bold statements alarmed them and His denunciation of the scribes and Pharisees made them indignant, His words and works created tumult, and the Pharisees charged Him with casting out devils through the power of Satan. These things filled them with astonishment and dismay and a keen sense of reproach because of their relation to Him. They decided He must be persuaded or constrained to cease this manner of labor, and the brothers induced Mary to unite with them, thinking that through His love for her they might prevail upon Him to be more prudent.
Although His family thus sought Him while He was surrounded by people, His commitment to His mission kept them from drawing Him away from His work. Their request gave Him the occasion to raise the question of who His true brethren are. He taught that spiritual kinship with Him is not determined by family descent, but that those who do the will of God are His brother and sister and mother. By this teaching He identifies Himself with believers and comforts them by showing how He regards them, especially those who serve Him with self-denial and self-sacrifice rather than living for themselves.
This moment came just after Jesus for the second time healed a possessed man who was blind and dumb, and after the Pharisees repeated the charge that He casts out devils through the prince of devils. The multitude sat about Him and told Him that His mother and His brethren were outside seeking for Him. Those who sought Him were His mother Mary with His brethren, the sons of Joseph, who were far from sympathy with His work.
Reports had reached them that He spent entire nights in prayer and spent the day thronged by great companies without time so much as to eat, that friends thought incessant labor was wearing Him out and some feared His reason was becoming unsettled. His attitude toward the Pharisees could not be accounted for, His bold statements alarmed them and His denunciation of the scribes and Pharisees made them indignant, His words and works created tumult, and the Pharisees charged Him with casting out devils through the power of Satan. These things filled them with astonishment and dismay and a keen sense of reproach because of their relation to Him. They decided He must be persuaded or constrained to cease this manner of labor, and the brothers induced Mary to unite with them, thinking that through His love for her they might prevail upon Him to be more prudent.
Although His family thus sought Him while He was surrounded by people, His commitment to His mission kept them from drawing Him away from His work. Their request gave Him the occasion to raise the question of who His true brethren are. He taught that spiritual kinship with Him is not determined by family descent, but that those who do the will of God are His brother and sister and mother. By this teaching He identifies Himself with believers and comforts them by showing how He regards them, especially those who serve Him with self-denial and self-sacrifice rather than living for themselves.