Scripture Notes: Family (Mark 3)

At the end of Mark 3, Jesus is teaching when His mother and kinsmen (the word “brothers” is broader than our normal definition and includes cousins and other family members) arrive. Someone tells Him that his family is asking for him, and in response, Jesus says something rather surprising: “Who are my mother and my brothers?” Then He answers His own question. He looks around at the crowd before Him and identifies them as His family, adding, “Whoever does the will of God is My brother and sister and mother.”

For generations now, some people have looked upon Jesus’ response here as dismissing His mother and other family members, as somehow denying their importance or even putting them firmly in their place. Yet this is insulting to Jesus, Who loves perfectly. He would be the very last person to ever dishonor His own mother, for that would be breaking a commandment of His Father.  

So what is Jesus doing then? He is extending His family. He is not denying that His blood relatives, especially His mother, are an important part of His life. Rather, He is broadening out His circle. He is offering membership in the family that He is building as He inaugurates the New Covenant. And membership in this family carries a critical obligation: loving, faithful obedience to God.  

Who does this better than Mary? After all, she is the one who welcomed Jesus into her own body with her prayer of acceptance and invitation: “I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Mary obeyed God’s will with immense faith and love. She opened her heart and her womb to the Word of God made flesh. So when that Word of God teaches the need for such obedience, He looks toward His mother as an example, holding her up and inviting others to join her in His family.