November 20, 2022
Gospel – January 28, 2020 – Mark 3:31-35
The mother of Jesus and his brothers arrived at the house.
Standing outside, they sent word to Jesus and called him.
A crowd seated around him told him,
“Your mother and your brothers and your sisters
are outside asking for you.”
But he said to them in reply,
“Who are my mother and my brothers?”
And looking around at those seated in the circle he said,
“Here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does the will of God
is my brother and sister and mother.”
Today Jesus sounds like he may be rejecting his mother and family. He isn’t going to meet them – in fact he leaves them on the outskirts of this huge crowd. When they call for him to come out to them reaches him – he doesn’t ignore it but rather treats it as not important.
We know he loved his mother so he isn’t rejecting her. What I believe is happening is he is introducing the idea that blood isn’t what makes the family. At the time, the Jews were all about blood – tracing their heritage back through the ages.
Jesus is saying there is a new idea of family. A spiritual family – those who are listening to him preach and doing the will of God. We call it today – “brothers and sisters in Christ – but that wasn’t the case then. This is the first time he spoke of a spiritual family.
At least that’s what I heard Him say…
What I Heard Him Say 