Opposition and Family. Mark 3

Reflection.

As Jesus' public ministry builds momentum, we see two things happen.  We see opponents resisting Jesus' teachings and we see a core group of twelve students coalesce around him.  These 12 disciples are also apostles.  They are both gathered around him as learners and sent from him as practitioners.  The learning model is an apprenticeship, action/reflection model.  He expects more from them than belief or faith.  He expects them to act---to do what he does, not just know what he knows.  His teachings are often examples.  When he heals a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath day, he defies the letter of the law that prohibits work of any kind.  But, he redefines the spirit of Sabbath by asking, "Is it lawful to do good or harm on the Sabbath, to save life or destroy it?"  Who would suggest that  God's law permits one to destroy or do harm?  Jesus suggests that to do nothing is tantamount to doing harm or destruction.  So, he acts.  He sees that we create barriers that prevent people from getting access to health care.  By healing the man he calls these barriers unjust.  Whenever a leader publicly challenges systems of injustice, those who benefit from that system (and someone always does) become angry.  We haven't even gotten through the 3rd chapter and already people are plotting against him! 

We see a variety of opponents.  Jewish leaders.  Demons.  Jesus' family members.  His teaching practice is confrontational and controversial.  He is upsetting the status quo by healing people!  We can say that following Jesus will create opposition or resistance.  Why?  People hate change.  And people are invested in maintaining their own comfort, sometimes at the expense of others.  Jesus threatens the delicate imbalance that exists between the people at the top and the people at the bottom.  Jesus crosses boundaries, norms, and rules that define place.  The man with the withered hand was considered cursed by God.  It was assumed that some moral failure caused God to punish him.  So if Jesus healed him, he must be working for God's opponent---Beelzebul.  We see Jesus as a divine healer.  But they saw Jesus using demonic powers to oppose God.  That is why Jesus quotes Abraham Lincoln (a house divided against itself cannot stand).  Jesus sees the withered hand as a work of the devil not of a punishing God.  Jesus has a perspective on the human condition that says evil is at work in the world and it is not God's doing!  He has been sent by God to confront the evil forces at work in the human family by healing those who are suffering.           

Jesus redefines the family, too.  Who is his family?  Those who do the will of the Father.  And what is that?  We look at Jesus to understand the will of God, assuming that he demonstrates it in his actions.  So, we might say the will of God is a reorienting baptism and time of wilderness trial; a public announcement about the coming of the reign or kingdom of God, works of healing and mercy.  Jesus will continue to show us what God's will looks like in action.  He will continue to redefine family.  Beyond blood and ancestry.  God's family is bigger than Israel. This is a major theme and a massive shift that Jesus proposes about God.  God may not look like, sound like, or think like us!  God may not be male or white or English-speaking or American, either.  Wait and see what happens in chapter four...