Word to the Wise
Tuesday, January 27, 2009 - Tuesday in the Third Week in Ordinary Time
[Hebrews 10:1-10 and Mark 3:31-35]"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."
This past Saturday we learned that Jesus' family had decided to "seize him" because they thought "he is out of his mind." In yesterday's gospel passage (which took a back seat to Timothy and Titus) Jesus deals with an accusation that he is possessed by an evil spirit which makes it possible for him to cast out evil spirits - a sort of "takes one to know one" type accusation. After dealing with that in the well-known "house divided" image (which Abraham Lincoln would use in his attack on slavery), Jesus has to confront his family who have now arrived and "are outside asking for you." It appears that this "intervention" is destined to be unsuccessful. Jesus takes the opportunity to set the priorities straight - not just for him and his family but for all relationships to him. Discipleship is the criterion and that is based on whether or not someone is doing the will of God. Personal relationships are often the means by which certain goals are accomplished - not always for the good of all. Political office, business dealings, educational bureaucracy, etc. are often governed by WHO one knows rather than some objective standard. Jesus makes it clear that in his regard only one thing counts: discipleship. That applies from the top down in his relational world - notice that his mother is involved in this! In the Gospel of Mark, this incident serves the wider purpose of the drama in which Jesus is misunderstood and rejected by all kinds of people, even his own family. In yesterday's gospel, the rejection by the scribes from Jerusalem is made clear as well. This rejection will culminate in his death. It is easy from our many centuries' position of faith to say, "If only they had known who he REALLY was...." they would have acted differently. The harder thing is to ask why WE don't do better since we do claim to know who Jesus really is! Does our behavior show it? AMEN
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