Preaching Paths 9 June 2024 Proper 5B

Sally A. Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary

The scene of our gospel text, Mark 3:(19b) 20-35, is Jesus’ home town. No warm welcome awaits. In a chiastically structured narrative, Mark presents three groups that, in one way or another, impede Jesus’ ministry of healing and exorcism. First, the admiring crowds (vv 20, 32) press so relentlessly that Jesus cannot get a meal. Some seek help for the sick or demonically afflicted; others simply elbow to the front to crane their necks and see whether the astonishing reports they’ve heard are true. Second, Jesus’ family (vv 21, 31) appears, seeking to restrain Jesus. They are concerned that he is “beside himself;” they may also be frightened by rumors that Jerusalem’s highest religious authorities are on their way, having declared Jesus dangerous. Finally, scribes from Jerusalem indeed arrive (vv 22, 30), declaring that Jesus is possessed: he commands the demons as Satan’s proxy.

At the central “fulcrum” of the chiasm (vv 23-29), Jesus summons the scribes and employs simple logic and parabolic speech to refute their falsehood (vv 23-26). He goes on to declare the nature of his mission: to “plunder” the “strong man’s” (Satan’s) house, a mission that requires him first to “tie up” or “bind” the strong man (v 27).  The verses that follow suggest that Jesus’ “plunder” consists of Satan’s hostages. Their sins and blasphemies will be forgiven (v 28); but, Jesus suggests, one sin can leave the sinner irrecoverable: attributing God’s work to Satan. Perhaps Jesus is issuing a warning, here, not a final judgment; his opponents have not, at this point, accused him before the Sanhedrin.

The scribes now dealt with, Mark reminds us of Jesus’ waiting mother and siblings who are calling for him (v 31). Jesus does not address them directly, but by way of the crowd who, having reported the family’s request, will surely relay Jesus’ reply. Jesus answers his own rhetorical question (v 33) as to who truly are his mother and brothers. Looking around at the crowd (who might very well be shocked by this unorthodox question and are holding their breath), Jesus says, “Here are my mother and my brothers. Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother” (vv 33-35).

Nearly all interpreters insist that here, Jesus repudiates his biological family. But is this necessarily the case? Jesus redefines family as those who “do God’s will,” welcoming the inbreaking of God’s reign. Could Jesus be suggesting to his biological family that God’s inbreaking reign provokes a shift in the vector of “family obligation,” such that it is no longer he who needs to yield to their summons, but they to his? Today, we cannot help reading Mark canonically—that is, alongside Mt and Luke. We therefore know Mary asthe quintessential “doer of the will of God,” accepting at great risk the role of Theotokos, God-bearer. Might Jesus be urging Mary to embrace once again the disruptive, captive-releasing, world-overturning ways of God that she lauded in song so many years ago (Luke 1:46-55)?

Jesus’ invitation to let the demands of the inclusive, liberating, and scandalously generous ways of God take priority over traditional family ties has acute relevance for our time. Christians who believe God’s reign calls for generous inclusiveness and the defense of society’s most vulnerable are finding themselves shunned or condemned by family members. Seeking to expose and dismantle white-supremacist and xenophobic social policies is castigated as unholy rebellion against divine order. Choosing and pursuing God’s liberating ways may earn us labels: trouble-maker, traitor, ally of evil. But look: there is Mary, choosing her path. She will lead us—to the foot of the cross, and beyond.