FAMILY: A HARD MINISTRY

MUSINGS - September 29 2018

FAMILY: A HARD MINISTRY

Mark 3:20-22
Then Jesus went home. Another crowd gathered so that Jesus and his disciples could not even eat. When his family heard about it, they went to get him. They said, "He's out of his mind!"

The scribes who had come from Jerusalem said, "Beelzebul is in him," and "He forces demons out of people with the help of the ruler of demons."

We don't have to read too far into the Gospels to see that the religious authorities really don't like Jesus. This is understandable on a human level because he was a threat to their power and authority. So, we can not be too surprised that try to discredit him and even kill him.

However, it is harder to understand why his family would say that he was crazy. In John's gospel chapter 7:1-13 is another story that involves his interaction with his brothers and in verse 5 we see that they did not believe him. This too is a very human reaction. Jesus himself said, "The only place a prophet isn't honored is in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his own house."*

We had a foreign exchange student who spent most of a year livening in our home and becoming a part of our family. She stated that one of the best things about her experience was that no one knew her from before and that all they knew about her was as she was now. I think that is a very wise observation. People who knew me in my teenage years would hardly believe what I've become in my later years. I have unbelievers in my family also.

It is important to note that, even if dinner is his family had doubts, they cared enough about him to come to take him home, where he could be fed and cared for. I've come to the belief, that because of our shared history, I'm not the one who will lead them to belief. It will take an outsider to teach them. In the mean time, I try to be the outsider the others.

Can you reach your family for Christ it do they know you too well? You pray for my family and I'll pray for you. We all need help from our friends.

*Mark 6:4

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