Mark 3:31-35

Mary and Jesus' Brothers Are Firmly Reminded of Their True Position. In Their Present State And Attitude They Do Not Count As Much As Genuine Believers For They Are Not Part of the Kingly Rule of God (3:31-35).

The section began with the initial manifestation of the One sent from God to drench men and women in the Holy Spirit, and to bring them under the Kingly Rule of God, Who was God's own beloved Son. Now it ends with an initial indication of the new community that is being formed thereby. These are His new ‘brothers'.

This small but important passage comes as quite a shock to us. And this is especially so in the light of the fifth commandment to honour father and mother, which was treated very seriously by the Jews, and hopefully by us. But we must see it in its context. This was not an unfilial, unthinking act. It was an attempt to diffuse a difficult situation and to make clear how things now stood. And it is placed here because it is a further example to Mark of Jesus' new status and authority. For by it Jesus made clear to all what the position now was. He was now no longer a carpenter and family man, He was, as God's chosen One, the foundation and central pillar of the new people of God, the new Israel, and it was with such that His loyalties now lay. But it was brought on by the implacable attitude of His mother and His brothers.

For as a result of their decision in Mark 3:21 Mary and her other sons had arrived in order to ‘lay hold of' Jesus and take Him away with them. They were truly concerned and had come to save Him from Himself. They had not come to listen and to learn, but to interfere with His ministry. They ‘stood outside', not only outside where He was, but outside His ministry and outside the will of God. And they called for Him to come out, and He had to make clear where His loyalties lay.

Had His mother come privately as a mother to see her son she would have been treated differently. He would have greeted her warmly. But when she came publicly with her sons in an overt attempt to counter His chosen course and to force at least a temporary withdrawal from it, He could not receive her. And yet His reply was not so much a rebuke as an attempt to diffuse a difficult situation. The message they receive gently emphasises that they must not interfere. He is about His father's business and must not be troubled (compare Luke 2:49). We should note here that Mark makes no attempt to exonerate Mary, and nor does Jesus. She takes her place with His brothers as those who are at present seeking to thwart the will of God.

But it was necessary for all to recognise that having commenced His Messianic mission heavenly ties had become more important than earthly ties and He thus had to point out that those who truly believed and obeyed God, and were in full tune with His ministry, counted for more at this time than loved ones who sought to interfere with His ministry. It was the former who were His true relatives. They were His brother and sister and mother in God. The mention of mother in this description stresses that He included Mary as equally worthy of blame and as therefore at least temporarily replaced. It was because at this stage Mary was not a full believer that she had no part in Him when it came to His ministry and she could not be permitted to use her relationship to seek to interfere with it. He was responsible to a higher authority.

From Mark 3:7 onwards Mark has been emphasising the authority of Jesus' ministry continuing the stress begun in Chapter s 1 and 2. And this incident is another example of it. The One to Whom the world was seeking and Who was fulfilling the Isaianic ideal by healing and releasing captives (Mark 3:7), Who has established the new Israel by choosing the twelve (Mark 3:13), and has made known His successful and victorious confrontation with the very powers of darkness (Mark 3:22), is now revealed as One Who is above family ties because of Who He is, and because of His love and concern for His new community.

This is intended by Mark to powerfully bring out His special status, for it was only because of Who He is that His actions here are justified. Had He been just a healer or teacher they might not have been so (although even then He might have resisted interference with an important work). But because He was more than that, and it was their intention to interfere with His manifestation of Himself, it made it necessary for Him, while they had the attitude that they had, to repudiate them. For the alternative was to relinquish His mission, (which was in fact actually their aim). The incident, which would certainly not have been invented by the church, establishes quite clearly that He saw Himself as having a unique mission, the mission of being the Messiah Who had uniquely come to bring men to God.

That the sons are genuine sons of Mary and not half-brothers comes out in a number of ways. Firstly because Jesus was called ‘the carpenter's son' and ‘the carpenter', an indication that He was prospective head of the family business, and head of the family, taking on His earthly father's role (Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3). Secondly because He was also the ‘firstborn son' (Matthew 1:25; Luke 2:7) with no suggestion that He was not seen as Joseph's firstborn. Had He not been seen in this way it would surely have been mentioned at this point, for the title of ‘firstborn' indicated the prospective head of the family. Thirdly because it is doubtful if as a half-brother would James have been called ‘the Lord's brother' (Galatians 1:19). A half brother would not have been accorded such status. And fourthly, and emphatically, because had Jesus not been the firstborn of Joseph, He would not have been in direct line to the throne of David and David's heir. Indeed there are no grounds anywhere in Scripture, or even in first or second century literature, for any other view. Tertullian accepted it without any indication that it was not the norm. It was only centuries later for doctrinal reasons that other ideas began to develop.

Indeed had Jesus not been seen as the firstborn of Joseph He would not have had the right to be called ‘the king of the Jews' (Matthew 2:2). His elder brothers would have had that right. He would have been low in the line of descent. But His importance as ‘the son of David' arose from an earthly point of view from the fact that He was the firstborn to the one who was first in line of descent, Joseph.

(That His grandfather was alive at the time of His birth comes out in that ‘the main room' (‘kataluma' - ‘guest-chamber' (Mark 14:14; Luke 22:11) and not therefore an inn) in the family home was not available for Joseph and Mary when they travelled to Bethlehem so that they had to make do with the ground floor room among the domestic animals where, as in many such houses, there was a manger. To use this room for guests was a regular feature of life in Jewish households and was not seen as at all degrading).

Analysis.

a And there come His mother and His brothers, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling for Him (Mark 3:31).

· And a crowd was sitting round Him, and they say to Him, ‘See, your mother and your brothers are outside looking for you' (Mark 3:32).

· And He answers them, saying, “Who is My mother and My brothers?” (Mark 3:33).

· And looking round on those who sat round Him He says, “See, My mother and My brothers” (Mark 3:34).

· For whoever will do the will of God, the same is My brother and My sister and My mother” (Mark 3:35).

Note that in ‘a' His mother and brothers are outside calling to Him, and in the parallel He declares who are His true brother, sister and mother. In ‘b' the crowd of believers are sitting round and say, ‘See your mother and brother are outside looking for you', and in the parallel Jesus looks round at the crowd of believers and says, ‘See My mother and My brothers'. Centrally in ‘c' He asks the vital question, who is it who are truly related to Him?