Mark 3

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Markings

Matthew 3 by verses:

1-67-1213-1920-3031-35
Mark 3:1-6

(Matthew 12:9-14; Luke 6:6-11)

Mark 3:7-12
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Mark 3:13-19

(Matthew 10:1-4; Luke 6:12-16)

Mary Gordon, “The Man He Wanted,” Incarnation, p. 23 f.

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Mark 3:20-30

(Matthew 12:22-32; Luke 11:14-23)

John Dominic Crossan, “Beelzebul Controversy,” The Historical Jesus, p. 317-320

The Historical Jesus

… because it is obvious that the possessed are deviants, it becomes just as obvious that deviants must be possessed. There is thus a “symbiotic relationship” between “possession as protest” from the weak to the strong and accused possession, as control from the strong to the weak (577). Hence the illogical logic of the possessed exorcist.

Howard Thurman, Jesus and the Disinherited, p. 64

Jesus and the Disinherited

He suggested that if they continued saying that he was casting out devils by the power of the devil—and they knew that such was not the case—they would commit the unpardonable sin. That is to say, if a man continues to call a good thing bad, he will eventually lose his sense of moral distinctions.

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Mark 3:31-35

(Matthew 12:46-50; Luke 8:19-21)

Raymond Brown, “Exegesis and Mary,” Biblical Exegesis & Church Doctrine, p. 89-92
John Dominic Crossan, “Against the Patriarchal Family,” The Historical Jesus, p. 299
Robert Flynn, “Genesis, Jeremiah, & Gospels,” Communion, p. 200

“Genesis, Jeremiah, & Gospels”

My favorite story of Mary was when she and her other children tried to rescue Jesus from himself, his mission, because people said he had gone mad. That was a mother I could identify with. “Don’t climb too high, son. Don’t jump too far. Don’t attract attention to yourself.”

Thom Gunn, “Jesus and his Mother,” Collected Poems, p. 64 f.
John W. Lynch, from A Woman Wrapped in Silence, Divine Inspiration, p. 316
Kelley Nikondeha, Adopted, p. 17 f.

Adopted

What an audacious thing to say on this Palestinian street in the first century—to suggest that any other affiliation could rival that of family! In the mind-set of the crowd, nothing trumps family, nothing supersedes commitment to your blood and bone, your tribe and clan.

But Jesus isn’t diminishing his mother or brothers in public. He’s simply describing his own experience of family. This is what Joseph taught him: Anyone can be your family if you choose to live with fidelity toward one another. Jesus was going public with how those in the company of the adopted function.

Did Mary and her sons experience those words of Jesus as insult? … I suspect his description of family didn’t offend them. After all, they all lived under Joseph’s roof.

William E. Phipps, “Review of Neusner, A Rabbi Talks with Jesus,” Interpretation (July 1995), p. 306

“Review of Neusner A Rabbi Talks with Jesus”

While approving of the Beatitudes, Neusner is disturbed that Jesus urges his disciples “to violate some of the Ten Commandments.” … Also alleged is that Jesus substituted obedience to his teachings for the honoring of parents; he equated doing his will with doing God’s will.

Carol Bechtel Reynolds, “Life After Grace: Preaching from the Book of Numbers,” Interpretation (July 1997), p. 272 f.

“Life After Grace: Preaching from the Book of Numbers”

The fact that this group went forward at all is a tribute to the power of God to lead and to heal. It also bears witness, however, to the fact that the community of faith ultimately transcends genetics. Perhaps these were the “family values” Jesus had in mind in Mark 3:31-35 (“Who are my mother and my brothers?”) and John 19:26-27 (“Woman, here is your son”). In any case, Numbers 26 can help us appreciate Jesus’ promise not to leave us “desolate.”

Gérard Félix Tchicaya U Tam’si, “The Scorner (2),” Divine Inspiration, p. 319
Paul Wegner, “Jesus and His Relatives,” Divine Inspiration, p. 314

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