Jesus’ Family

Meditations of the Gospel of Mark

August 11, 2020

Jesus’ Family

Then he looked at those around him and said, “Look, these are my mother and brothers. Anyone who does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

Mark 3: 34-35

Read: Mark 3: 31-35

We read yesterday that Jesus’ mother and siblings were very concerned about Jesus; they thought he had gone mad. Yet, they continue to try and reach him. There is a lot at stake for them. In their culture, the family was the center of life, and if Jesus had gone mad, it would bring shame and embarrassment on the rest of the family. Mark’s account of Jesus and his family is difficult to grasp in light of how we know his mother responded to the announcement of Jesus’ miraculous conception and what little bit we know of his early childhood. This, to me, is a stunning testament to the rapid rise in Jesus’ fame and growing stature.

Jesus made a statement about his new family that may seem to be a put down in a culture where family ties were as sacred as the sabbath. I don’t see it that way. I hear Jesus saying that even as he is Lord of the sabbath, he is also Lord of the family. When Jesus later says the greatest commandment is to love God with ALL of our heart, mind, soul and strength, he was not just waxing eloquent. He is quite serious. Jesus demands our undivided loyalty.

My Takeaway: In today’s culture, we cultivate many loyalties. We have our family, our church, our denomination, our college, our sports teams, our friends, our county, region, state, and nation, to just name a few. Mark’s Gospel is telling me that Jesus is rightfully at the head of my list, and my loyalty to Jesus better encompass all my other loyalties as well.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Copyright © 2020 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

• Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

• The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.