Out of his mind!

Mark 3:20-21

20 Then Jesus went to a house [probably Peter’s], but a throng came together again, so that He and His disciples could not even take food. 21 And when those who belonged to Him ( His family) heard it, they went out to take Him by force, for they kept saying, He is out of His mind!

Food for thought!

This Reading is very disturbing. Jesus is taken to be mad, to be out of himself, that is, to be mad and crazy and deranged! The matter becomes even worse, when we notice that it is not strangers considering Jesus to be crazy; it is his own people, his family. As we know, everything in the life of Jesus happened for a purpose: our edification.

So, what is the lesson behind this incident? Often it is our dear ones like mother, father, husband, wife and friends, or even those people we know and who know us, that stand in between us and God. Of course many times they don't do it out of evil intentions; Mary and the others weren't acting out evil intentions; they were trying to help Jesus, so they thought. This was a misguided help of well intentioned people.

It is not uncommon for people to misunderstand us and even to label us as they wish. They labeled Jesus as being out of himself. If they called this to Jesus, why will they not call you and me? So, next time people call you names for doing what you believe to be the work of the Father, remember Jesus. Don’t get angry because the people have misunderstood or misrepresented you.

The reason they called Jesus looks to be his busyness; Jesus was just too busy with the Father’s work that he had no time for his family. Jesus is teaching us that our duty, our obedience is first and foremost to the Father in heaven. The rest is rest.