In this weeks gospel Mark 3:20-35 Jesus enters a home and faces ridicule from everyone including his family. Some people thought that Jesus was possessed by the devil. His own family assumed that he had lost his mind. Nobody quite understood what Jesus was doing and his master plan. Still Jesus continued to speak and do all that he came to do. He spoke to the crowd in parables hoping to influence them. He mentioned the importance of not being divided in your thinking. He spoke about Satan and how Satan could be defeated on earth. Most importantly Jesus made a clear distinction on who he considers family. Jesus says “ Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” I believe that with this statement Jesus made it clear that family isn’t just blood related. Family includes everyone that does the will of God.
Who is in your family? Think about it a moment. Who do you really consider family? If you’re like me you have a decent size family that extends to aunts, uncles cousins and lets not forget about all the family you gain through marriage. Do you include anyone else? What Jesus did during this gospel reading was expand the meaning of family. I feel that this very important especially in the time we are living in. There is more division than ever and expanding who we consider family is almost the opposite of what the world has been doing. Recently, I’ve noticed that we have closed our inner circles off. We have created safe “pods” and aren’t looking to add anyone to them. Family is very tricky, on one hand, family shares a special bond that is linked through DNA on the other hand I’ve seen close tight knit family fall apart and treat each other like total strangers. Does your family have any old disagreements that led to the family being divided? I’ve seen it happen all too often. I’ve watched families fall apart over homes, money, cars, boats and all kinds of insignificant material objects. I have seen families have small disagreements that drag on for years and only end when someone passes away. Even in this gospel, it was Jesus’s blood related family that thought he lost his mind. Can you imagine?? Jesus’s family thought he lost his mind because of how we spoke! I think what Jesus did was expand the idea family to include himself the lord and the Holy Spirit. They are our true family members. This holy family isn’t caught up in material possessions. This family doesn’t judge you. This family doesn’t hold grudges. Doing gods will is all you need to do be a part of this family.
In today’s world it seems like all we do is focus on the differences we all have. Jesus’s definition of family changes that. His definition is inclusive. We don’t need to focus on appearances or social status. Its simply based on the love of God. The love of the God that has granted us salvation. We can all choose to include more people into our families. The choice is ours. We can choose to overlook the differences we all have and understand that God’s family is the only family we really need. Ask yourself, who is really in your family? I’m not perfect but I know Jesus is. So, If he considers you a brother in christ…So do I.
-Anonymous
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