Word to the Wise
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 - Tuesday in the 3rd Week in Ordinary Time
[2 Sam 6:12b-15, 17-19 and 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."
Last Saturday, we learned that Jesus' family was on the way to seize him because they thought he was "out of his mind." Today they arrive and it looks like there is going to be a standoff! One thing is clear from history, Jesus' family does not succeed in stopping his ministry. Instead, they become an occasion for a preaching about priorities! One must remember that in Middle Eastern society, one's family, clan and tribe defined one's identity (and still does, despite "nationalism" - a modern invention). Jesus proposes a new way of being and thinking - discipleship. Yes, there were disciples of various rabbis in his own time, but these did not demand a new identity that placed family, clan and tribe on a secondary level. A new form of kinship is proposed here.
Even if one can make allowances for the rather loose family bonds that characterize much of our Western cultural mores, it is difficult to escape the human condition of being born to a family. God has "hard-wired" the human person to a family. Although some genetic researchers are dabbling in "designer babies," - as if a child can become a consumer item - the fact of a mother, father, siblings, etc. is still a profound one. They form the first school of love, and much of the "success" or "failure" in love in an adult's life is in no small part determined by how their parents loved them! Jesus is not proposing that we abandon family because it is impossible to do that. He proposes a relationship that transcends family and focuses the ability of the person to love beyond family. All one has to do is look at the various personalities among the apostles! Where did Peter get his impulsiveness? Remember the mother of the sons of Zebedee who schemed to get her sons a privileged place! These examples show us that even when we become disciples of Jesus, we bring our family background with us.
Jesus' family must have thought they were about to do the loving thing by "seizing him." Their effort was misguided and amounted to a rejection of his mission and teaching. The Gospel of Mark relentlessly challenges anyone who comes into contact with Jesus to make a decision for or against him. Where do we stand? AMEN