{"id":1456,"date":"2012-06-07T09:44:18","date_gmt":"2012-06-07T13:44:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/onscripture\/?p=1456"},"modified":"2012-06-07T10:02:34","modified_gmt":"2012-06-07T14:02:34","slug":"what-makes-a-family-mark-320-35","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onscripture\/2012\/06\/what-makes-a-family-mark-320-35.html","title":{"rendered":"What Makes a Family? (Mark 3:20-35)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

By Matthew L. Skinner<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cParents just don\u2019t understand\u201d might be an ever-present theme in popular music, but it\u2019s hardly a modern phenomenon.<\/p>\n

Jesus\u2019 Family Discord<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re looking for snapshots of well-adjusted and happy parent-child relationships from the ancient world, the Bible probably shouldn\u2019t be on your short list of sources. Consider even Jesus\u2019 family, for example. The New Testament preserves evidence suggesting that Jesus\u2019 relationship with his mother was rather strained. Similar tensions appear to have existed between him and his siblings, as well.<\/p>\n

An important source is Mark 3:21, which says: \u201cWhen his family heard what was happening, they came to take control of him. They were saying, \u2018He\u2019s out of his mind!\u2019\u201d (translation: Common English Bible).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/br><\/p>\n

Yet, Christian tradition has had a difficult time reckoning with the perhaps troubling idea of family strife between Jesus and his kin. Consider what translators and even other Gospel authors have done with Mark 3:21:<\/p>\n

\u2022\tThe King James Version totally removes Jesus\u2019 family from this part of the scene, saying: \u201cAnd when his friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him: for they said, \u2018He is beside himself.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022\tThe New Revised Standard Version puts the disparagement of Jesus in the mouths of others, saying: \u201cWhen his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, \u2018He has gone out of his mind.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022\tThe authors of the Gospels according to Matthew and Luke, whose books were produced after the Gospel according to Mark and who included scenes similar to Mark 3:20-35, omitted from their narratives any suggestion that Jesus\u2019 family thought he was crazy.<\/p>\n

<\/br><\/p>\n

The story told in the wider context, Mark 3:20-35<\/a>, sets Jesus\u2019 family in comparison to influential religious leaders (legal scholars based in Jerusalem). Both groups express an inability to understand who Jesus really is. The religious authorities conclude he is possessed by Satan. His family assumes he has lost his sanity. In an ancient setting, these diagnoses were roughly equivalent to each other.<\/p>\n

The scene underscores how those who presumably were in great positions to make sense of Jesus still were not immediately able to see him as God\u2019s agent. As Jesus announced and re-inaugurated God\u2019s intentions for human flourishing, many could not overcome the disorienting character of his message. Even close relatives and religious insiders were bewildered by what he said, which threatened to disrupt so many aspects of human society.<\/p>\n

Maybe Jesus\u2019 relatives were dismayed that the first-born son wasn\u2019t supporting his family but was gallivanting around Galilee as a self-appointed prophet. Or maybe they wanted him, as Messiah, to have bigger and better ambitions, such as promising a revolution instead of preaching and healing the sick. The Gospel of Mark does not explain; it merely sets up a showdown of sorts when the family arrives to seize Jesus.<\/p>\n

<\/br><\/p>\n

Family, Reconsidered<\/strong><\/p>\n

When the crowd says that his family is summoning him from outside the crowded building, Jesus answers with a shocking statement: \u201cWho is my mother? Who are my brothers? … Look, here [these people seated around me] are my mother and my brothers. Whoever does God\u2019s will is my brother, sister, and mother.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s good news for those inside the house, who seek to identify with Jesus and his message. It\u2019s also good news for Mark\u2019s earliest readers who found themselves estranged from their biological families (compare Mark 10:28-30<\/a>). Bad news, however, for his relatives on the outside, and for others with high regard for customary notions of honor and social stability.<\/p>\n

Jesus redefines the criteria for who constitutes his true family.<\/p>\n

This goes beyond striking back at his mother and brothers\u2019 opinion about his sanity. More foundationally, Jesus makes a claim about what it might mean to belong to other people. He makes a claim about identity. Families, or \u201chouseholds,\u201d were the primary social and economic units of first-century society. Jesus speaks to deeply embedded cultural assumptions when he determines his true family not by blood relations or kinship ties but by doing the will of God.<\/p>\n

No wonder some people are bent on killing him in this book.<\/p>\n

Jesus was hardly the first thinker to use familial terms to describe the membership of a movement or an in-group. Still, his comment would strike many of his contemporaries as dangerous. What\u2019s a \u201cfamily\u201d supposed to consist of now? For Jesus, family — at least, one type of family — is a community of people joined as an expression of their commitment to discover and manifest God\u2019s will.<\/p>\n

<\/br><\/p>\n

Family Values and Marriage Equality<\/strong><\/p>\n

The state in which I currently reside will soon vote on a constitutional amendment to limit what counts as a \u201cvalid or recognized\u201d marriage. The amendment would essentially attempt to head off any judicial action to legalize same-sex marriage in Minnesota. Thirty other states\u2019 constitutions prohibit same-sex marriage.<\/p>\n

While Mark 3:20-35 is not the first biblical text I would appeal to in a conversation about why I will vote against the amendment, nevertheless this passage should inform how Christians think about the issue.<\/p>\n

And what is \u201cthe issue\u201d? It\u2019s multifaceted, obviously. The proposed amendment touches on many things, not solely approval or disapproval of homosexuality in general. For one thing, it\u2019s about families — real families.<\/p>\n

Jesus\u2019 words prompt us to consider the relationship between a family and what it means to know and do God\u2019s will. Can only certain kinds of families reflect or promote God\u2019s will, as Jesus articulated it in terms of mercy, love, justice, protection, holiness, and well-being? Can only certain families express the belonging and solidarity that God desires to share with humanity?<\/p>\n

Obviously, Christians have not found consensus on these topics, as discussions of sexuality and marriage have polarized many communities. Yet the discussions, impelled by the cultural urgency surrounding the issues, have also brought many into deeper understandings about what kind of living might be consistent with Jesus\u2019 life and message.<\/p>\n

<\/br><\/p>\n

Watch the Video:<\/strong> A House Divided:The Black Church and Gay Marriage<\/em><\/p>\n\n

<\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n\n

A rift in the black church over gay marriage has widened in the weeks since both President Barack Obama and the NAACP came out in support of marriage equality. The Rev. Anthony Evans, president of the National Black Church Initiative, and The Rev. Dennis Wiley, pastor of the Covenant Baptist United Church of Christ in Washington, D.C., explain their positions at opposite ends of the issue.<\/em><\/p>\n\n

<\/br><\/p>\n

Our Values as Reflections of God\u2019s Commitment to Humanity<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jesus did not abolish the idea of family or household. It goes too far to suggest he overthrew his culture\u2019s values about family, society, and religion — in this passage or any other. But he does consistently unsettle and sometimes redirect those values.<\/p>\n

When Jesus teaches, heals, and makes pronouncements, everything gets put up for renegotiation. Old values aren\u2019t necessarily flawed, simply by virtue of their being old or established. But God\u2019s presence in the world, manifested through Jesus\u2019 words and actions, repeatedly upends conventional assumptions about what\u2019s \u201creal\u201d or what\u2019s \u201cnormal.\u201d It upends them, not to change them for change\u2019s sake, but so we might reconsider just how they can be authentic manifestations of who God is and how God can be known. For God wills to be known by us, in the particularity of our real lives and relationships.<\/p>\n

<\/br><\/p>\n\n

Learn more about the ON Scripture Editorial Board Click here<\/a><\/p>\n

Learn more about ON Scripture Click here<\/a><\/p>\n

Like ON Scripture Click here<\/a><\/p>\n

Follow ON Scripture Click here <\/a><\/p>\n

ON Scripture is made possible by a generous grant from the <\/strong>Lilly Endowment<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/br>
\n<\/br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Matthew L. Skinner \u201cParents just don\u2019t understand\u201d might be an ever-present theme in popular music, but it\u2019s hardly a modern phenomenon. Jesus\u2019 Family Discord If you\u2019re looking for snapshots of well-adjusted and happy parent-child relationships from the ancient world, the Bible probably shouldn\u2019t be on your short list of sources. Consider even Jesus\u2019 family,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":465,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1],"tags":[347,350,346,348,42,349,239,240,246,352,351,47],"class_list":["post-1456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-on-scripture","category-uncategorized","tag-discord","tag-equality","tag-family","tag-family-values","tag-mark","tag-marriage","tag-mathew-skinner-2","tag-odyssey-networks","tag-on-scripture-the-bible","tag-relationships","tag-same-sex-marriage","tag-the-bible"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat Makes a Family? (Mark 3:20-35) - ON Scripture<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onscripture\/2012\/06\/what-makes-a-family-mark-320-35.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Makes a Family? (Mark 3:20-35) - ON Scripture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Matthew L. Skinner \u201cParents just don\u2019t understand\u201d might be an ever-present theme in popular music, but it\u2019s hardly a modern phenomenon. Jesus\u2019 Family Discord If you\u2019re looking for snapshots of well-adjusted and happy parent-child relationships from the ancient world, the Bible probably shouldn\u2019t be on your short list of sources. Consider even Jesus\u2019 family,…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onscripture\/2012\/06\/what-makes-a-family-mark-320-35.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ON Scripture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-06-07T13:44:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-06-07T14:02:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/onscripture\/files\/2012\/03\/Mathew-Skinner1-150x150.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Odyssey Networks\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What Makes a Family? (Mark 3:20-35) - ON Scripture","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onscripture\/2012\/06\/what-makes-a-family-mark-320-35.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What Makes a Family? (Mark 3:20-35) - ON Scripture","og_description":"By Matthew L. Skinner \u201cParents just don\u2019t understand\u201d might be an ever-present theme in popular music, but it\u2019s hardly a modern phenomenon. Jesus\u2019 Family Discord If you\u2019re looking for snapshots of well-adjusted and happy parent-child relationships from the ancient world, the Bible probably shouldn\u2019t be on your short list of sources. Consider even Jesus\u2019 family,…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onscripture\/2012\/06\/what-makes-a-family-mark-320-35.html","og_site_name":"ON Scripture","article_published_time":"2012-06-07T13:44:18+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-06-07T14:02:34+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/onscripture\/files\/2012\/03\/Mathew-Skinner1-150x150.jpg"}],"author":"Odyssey Networks","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onscripture\/2012\/06\/what-makes-a-family-mark-320-35.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onscripture\/2012\/06\/what-makes-a-family-mark-320-35.html","name":"What Makes a Family? (Mark 3:20-35) - ON Scripture","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onscripture\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onscripture\/2012\/06\/what-makes-a-family-mark-320-35.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onscripture\/2012\/06\/what-makes-a-family-mark-320-35.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/onscripture\/files\/2012\/03\/Mathew-Skinner1-150x150.jpg","datePublished":"2012-06-07T13:44:18+00:00","dateModified":"2012-06-07T14:02:34+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onscripture\/#\/schema\/person\/378ff98df1bd7df2dbc812937bbae6fa"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onscripture\/2012\/06\/what-makes-a-family-mark-320-35.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onscripture\/2012\/06\/what-makes-a-family-mark-320-35.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onscripture\/2012\/06\/what-makes-a-family-mark-320-35.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/onscripture\/files\/2012\/03\/Mathew-Skinner1-150x150.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/onscripture\/files\/2012\/03\/Mathew-Skinner1-150x150.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onscripture\/2012\/06\/what-makes-a-family-mark-320-35.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onscripture"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What Makes a Family? (Mark 3:20-35)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onscripture\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onscripture\/","name":"ON Scripture","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Odyssey Networks","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onscripture\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onscripture\/#\/schema\/person\/378ff98df1bd7df2dbc812937bbae6fa","name":"Odyssey Networks","description":"Odyssey is the nation's largest multi-faith media coalition with over 100 members, including faith groups, organizations and individuals. Our stories explore a wide range of issues including peace, tolerance, social justice and the environment. Our Mission: To use electronic media to enrich spiritual life and build bridges of understanding among people of faith. Our Method: Telling stories of faith in action. Stories changing the world. Odyssey Networks is a service of the National Interfaith Cable Coalition, Inc., established in 1987.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.odysseynetworks.org"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onscripture\/author\/yyuce"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onscripture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onscripture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onscripture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onscripture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/465"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onscripture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1456"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onscripture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1456\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1481,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onscripture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1456\/revisions\/1481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onscripture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onscripture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onscripture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}