an unlikely family
And he answered them, “Who are my mother and brothers?” Looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.” Mark 3:33-34
If you’ve ever found yourself wondering why family is so complicated, look no further than the gospel of Mark for some reassurance that you’re not alone.
We see Jesus longing for his heavenly Father while navigating the imperfect relationships in his own family on earth. We see a group of twelve men with little in common leave everyone they know and become brothers—right down to their contentious bickering about who’s the favorite. We see how in the dynamics of the kingdom of God, families are created and held together in unlikely ways, between unlikely companions.
At a glance, Jesus might seem to be warning us not to expect too much from family. He dismisses his own mother and siblings when they come looking for him; they in turn think he’s lost his senses, and seem more embarrassed of him than reverent (3:21). His disciples leave their loved ones and hit the road.
But Jesus never says, Forget about your family. Instead, he redefines what it means.
Family is the father who loves his child so deeply, he can’t imagine life without her. “My little daughter is at the point of death,” Jairus begs in Mark, chapter 5. “Come… that she may be well, and live.” As the girl’s parents stand nearby, Jesus pulls a child back from death. Mark tells us that directly after saving Jairus’s daughter, Jesus returns to his hometown.
Did something about that interaction with Jairus and his family speak to something in Jesus?
Mark doesn’t record any interaction between Jesus and his family in chapter 6. Instead we see Jesus teaching in his home synagogue. Where did he learn all this? his neighbors ask, amazed. But their wonder gives way to cynicism. Who does he think he is? As if we don’t know his whole family!
“A prophet is not without honor,” Jesus remarks, “except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.”
Jesus experienced misunderstanding and rejection even in his own household. He leaves town again, marveling (6:6). It could seem like Jesus walks away and doesn’t look back, like he gives up on these people.
But he doesn’t—because the kingdom of God is a different kind of family. Jesus wants people to know they have a Father who loves them so deeply, He can’t imagine life without them.
Jesus goes to his death on behalf of the people who didn’t get it right. Who couldn’t make up their minds. Who let their cynicism overrule their wonder. Jesus never gives up on us. Isn’t this what family members should do for each other? Isn’t this what we should do when, like Jesus, we see the people sitting around us?
Back in Capernaum, four men once carried a paralytic to Jesus. Unable to get in the door, they moved the roof to lower the man for healing. Mark doesn’t say if the paralytic’s companions were relatives or not—because these men are family to each other, either way.
Whoever does the will of God, Jesus says, is my family.
Today's Prayer: Jesus, what you did during Holy Week brought me into your family, forever. Help me become the kind of person who runs to you in the face of sickness and death. Help me become the kind of person who moves a roof to make a path to you. Help me find and appreciate the unlikely families you create.
Focus on prayer: Each meditation gives you a starting point for a prayer. Begin with the prompt above, and let your words to God continue and become your own.
Meditation by Meghan Blosser