The Extended Family

Part One: The Fame of Jesus Spreads     Mark 3:7-19

Last week’s post, Jesus Gets Mad, ended with the plot by the Pharisees and Herodians to kill Jesus (Mark 3:6). Jesus’ response to the threat, according to Mark 3:7, is to retreat from public view. He isn’t backing down; he is leaving in order to ease the tension in Capernaum. It is not yet time for him to die.

The crowds still find Jesus though. Mark tells us that they came from the south: Judea, Jerusalem, and Idumea; they came from the east: “across the Jordan,” and they came from the north: Tyre and Sidon (v. 8). And we are talking large crowds—you can’t think of a lakeside picnic; you’ve got to picture a rock concert with security guards enlisted to keep people off the stage.  The crowd was literally pushing forward as people reached out to touch Jesus (v. 10). He tells the disciples to ready a boat for him so that he can avoid being mauled (v. 9). If you’ve ever been to a large concert-like event, you know the feeling.

In the midst of this chaos, he is telling the evil spirits to remain quiet when they call out his identity (vv. 11-12). He is trying to keep things under control, but to no avail. So Jesus does something surprising. He heads out for a wilderness planning retreat, where he hires some staff! (v. 13) Jesus appoints a team of people to work with him, and through the twelve men listed in Mark 7:16-19, he expands his ministry.

Consider This: What does Jesus’ need for helpers to manage and expand his ministry tell us about the way we should be doing ministry in the twenty-first century church?

And what an eclectic bunch of characters he chooses. Simon, whom Jesus nicknamed Peter or “The Rock,” is an outspoken fisherman who doesn’t know when to shut his mouth. James and John, two brothers so ready for a fight that Jesus nicknamed them “Sons of Thunder.” After Andrew, Philip, and Bartholomew in the line up comes the savvy tax-collector and outcast of religious society, Matthew. We know little about the second James or Thaddeus, but we do know that the second Simon belonged to a political party of zealots seeking to overthrow the Roman government. And, of course, the presence of Judas Iscariot is a reminder that leaders can fail in significant ways. Yet, God uses even failure for good and to further his plan. 

There are a couple of important lessons in this section.

1) The church grows because leaders who are passionate followers of Christ are empowered.

2) The church must embrace the diversity that exists within the church community in order to maximize kingdom potential.

It is very important for the church to understand that we cannot achieve our mission through one super pastor working really hard 24/7! But a bunch of different people, with all their foibles, working together can spread the Word throughout their neighborhood and the world.

Consider This: What skills and passions do you bring to your church community? Are you using them as effectively as you can to further Christ’s kingdom?

Part Two: The Expanding Family of Jesus     Mark 3:20-35

The scenes that follow are related to the new developments in Jesus’ ministry. Mark 3:20-35 forms a single story with two scenes woven together. First we see Jesus’ family preparing to hit the road and find him. They’re convinced he’s out of his mind (v. 21). He must be since simple carpenters do not incite the religious community to violence, find themselves followed by crowds, or form a band of brothers to work on their behalf. The fame is going to his head and he’s forming a cult! We’d better go retrieve him and put a stop to this! It is evident that they don’t realize who Jesus actually is yet.

While the family gets ready, the scene shifts. A group of religious experts, sent from Jerusalem to check out this celebrity, reach their conclusion—Jesus must be demon possessed (v. 22). They don’t deny the miracles; they deny that Jesus is sent from God and is performing those miracles through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus responds with common sense. “How can Satan drive out Satan?” he asks (v. 24). And why would the devil want to do that anyway? Fighting against himself would bring his kingdom to an end. Then Jesus explains what’s really going on through parable. “In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house.”  Jesus is the God-man, here to defeat Satan—the strong man in the parable—and take back the world that belongs to him.

Consider This: C.S. Lewis said that the Jesus of the gospels is either liar, lunatic, or lord. Which category do you place him in? How would you defend your opinion/conviction?

Picture the scene as we reach verse 31: Jesus is teaching in a crowded house with his motley crew of followers nearby. The religious leaders are standing at the back of the room scorning him. Then his mom shows up. And his brothers. They think he’s crazy. The religious leaders think he’s possessed. This is one powerful story of rejection, which makes what happens next all the more poignant and important.

Someone interrupts Jesus to tell him that his family has arrived (v. 31). He looks around the room at his disciples and those listening and he says, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother” (v. 35).

To understand how attention grabbing this statement was, you have to recognize how close knit families were in the first century. Family was everything! The theological point is summed up by James Edwards in his Commentary on Mark: “Jesus redefines family. Without spite Jesus alerts his natural family that blood relationships cannot claim privilege. At the same time, the statement indicates that those who sit around him and do God’s will are his family.”

There are a couple of ways that we can apply Jesus’ words to our lives.

1) We should affirm and enjoy the blessing of family as a God-created gift.

2) We should affirm and enjoy the blessing of our extended family (the church) as a God-created gift.

This passage does not cast aspersions on the family. In fact, Jesus points to the family, using familial language, to explain how life should be in the church. The New Testament letter writers did too. Scripture speaks positively of the family model that God created, with all its joys and sorrows, and encourages us to be the right kind of husband, wife, father, mother, or child for our good and God’s glory.

But Jesus enlarges the definition of family through this passage. In the church we find spiritual fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters. Here we receive acceptance when our own family rejects us. Here we find companionship when natural family is far away. Here we are offered assistance in our time of need.

Consider This: Who are your spiritual fathers and mothers? Your closest brothers or sisters? To whom are you a father or mother? A brother or sister?

If you are not enjoying the family, you are missing out! It’s not a perfect family; we’ve got our problems. Every family does. But I can’t begin to describe the benefits. I have people to go to for counsel, people to help me with my kids (you’re going to need it too!), people to laugh with, and people to unload my burdens on. People to simply share life with!  To paraphrase Dietrich Bonhoeffer,

Through Christ, we have each other, and we have each other forever.

Looking for more reading on the benefits of Christ’s extended family? Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s short book, Life Together, is an eloquently written manual for Christian community. This sermon, other sermons from The Gospel series, and past sermon series can be downloaded or heard online at the Calvary Church website.