June 5, 2024 at 9:26 a.m.
The paradox of family
The reading from Mark’s Gospel begins calmly enough: Jesus is coming home with his disciples. But a large crowd gathers and chaos ensues. Jesus’ family hears about this and comes to “seize” him, accusing him of being out of his mind. So Jesus must face what many of us have experienced — misunderstandings with family members. There could be many reasons for the family wanting to take Jesus away by force if necessary. There’s the usual, “Who does he think he is? He’s a carpenter, had a decent living, took care of his widowed mother, he’s just one of us.” Or perhaps they believe that he is stirring up trouble with the authorities and making claims way beyond his station. Now he shows up as a rabbi with disciples? This is too much! Jesus is threatening the honor of his family.
“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
— 2 Corinthians 4:18
Jesus has definitely turned things upside down with the preaching of the Kingdom of God and with the miracles he has performed. If his family’s recriminations weren’t bad enough, the Jerusalem scribes show up accusing him of being possessed by Beelzebub, the prince of demons. Our First Reading from Genesis gives us some background on the “serpent” and its lying ways. The serpent tricked the woman with a monstrous lie — to interpret God’s prohibition against eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil as false; to say that the Holy One was lying! The woman and then the man believe the serpent and evil rolls out into the world. Beelzebub is another name for Satan, meaning the lord of flies or dung — the father of lies. This is a very serious accusation! Jesus replies not with anger or resentment, but with a parable, one that is very logical: if Satan is fighting against Satan, then his kingdom is divided and will soon fall. Perhaps Jesus is saying that he has tied up the “strong man,” Satan, and now Jesus will plunder the house of evil. But Jesus’ main concern is the hard-heartedness and stubbornness of people who refuse to see his words and deeds as coming from God. Those who deny the Spirit of God are the ones falling prey to the Father of lies and who are guilty of “everlasting sin.” Does Jesus’ family belong to this group that refuses to see who he really is? Certainly, family is a paradox — faithful and loyal, yet so critical. As the reading returns to focus on family, it seems they are a bit more mellow, possibly because Mary is with them. But then Jesus turns the concept of family upside down by basing family ties on people who do the will of his father, regardless of “bloodlines.” This last statement must have been crushing for family members and solidified their notion that Jesus was crazy.
Sunday’s Gospel is packed with food for reflection. First of all, Jesus’ being misunderstood by his family hits a nerve for most of us. He must have been disappointed at their lack of wanting to discuss things with him, before “seizing” him. But Jesus seems to take things in stride. He doesn’t lash out. The Gospel brings the discussion around to Jesus expanding the idea of family. Jesus asks them to move beyond the limitations of blood family to embrace all people in love and care. This is a very great challenge and one that Jesus extends to us as well.
The story in Genesis and the Gospel story of Jesus’ being called Beelzebub can serve as a very stark reminder about our own dedication to truth. In our culture, we have become acclimated to lying. Stories of people being loose with the truth are in the headlines every day. We may begin to think that it doesn’t matter if people tell the truth. It does. We need to pay close attention to how faithful we are to the truth. The will of the Father is that we live in righteousness, in goodness, beauty and truth. For such is the Kingdom of God!
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