Straight Outta Your Mind

The Joint Is Jumping

Picture the scene. The place is packed. The joint is jumping. So many people that you can barely move much less eat. And they’ve all come to see you.

Suddenly you see a handful of familiar faces in the crowd. It’s your family worming their way through the mob towards you. They’ve come to show you their love and support!

(Insert the sound of a record scratch here!)

But that’s NOT why they’re here. Not even close. They’ve come to take you home. They’ve come to shut you down.

Inspiration or Intervention?

Your family thinks you’ve let things get out of control. They’re actually worried about your mental health. A sane person doesn’t go around saying the things you say or doing the things you do.

They’re not here for inspiration but intervention! 

This is the scene John Mark paints in his bio of Jesus. Yup, that’s right. There’s actually a story in one of the documents of the New Testament where Christ’s own family thinks He’s come unhinged (Mk 3:19-21).

They've come straight outta Nazareth because they believe He's straight outta His mind.

A Messy Story

Maybe you believe the Bible is just a bunch of well-edited spin to get you to swallow some whacky story about a mythical, miracle-working man of God long, long ago, in a land far, far away. I get it. But when you read it for yourself, you get a whole new understanding.

The story of Jesus is messy. The human authors of Scripture make it clear that His closest followers are not exactly the brightest bulbs in the box. His own family thinks He’s lost His everlovin’ mind. And if that’s not bad enough, they embarrass Him in front of the big crowd.

Right after Draft Day

We pick up the scene in Mark’s amazing story of the Messiah right after draft day. Jesus has just selected the original roster of His disciples (Mk 3:13-19). He calls these twelve guys in so that He can eventually send them out.

Right after Christ announces His first dozen draft picks, Mark writes, “One time Jesus entered a house” (v20). Your Bible may put these words in verse 19. A lot of translations do. What’s up with that? Just about every expert believes this phrase has nothing to do with His picking the apostles and should start the next story.

You might say, “Hold up, cowboy! You’ve said God has inspired these documents we call the Old and New Testaments. Who are YOU to play editor?!?” Valid question. Let’s chat.

Chapter and Verse

The original Scriptures ARE absolutely perfect and straight from Almighty God (2Tim 3:16). But little problems like these began to pop up whenever we start translating them from their original languages and assembling them into what we now call the Bible.

The first chapters God’s Word didn’t appear until around 1200 AD. We added numbers to individual verse 300 years after that. These digits made it SO much easier to find specific passages. If you think the Bible is hard to navigate now, just imagine what it was like before we had these address numbers? Yikes!

The point is that while God’s Word IS perfect, chapter breaks and verse numbers are not. This is one example. So Judas Iscariot’s infamous double-cross of Christ in verse 19 has nothing to what happens next.

Jesus Goes Home

We read in this new story, “One time Jesus entered a house, and the crowd began to gather again” (v20). Most First Century homes are small. VERY small. No bigger than a one-car garage or decent sized shed. Galilean homeowners would be lucky if to have more than one room.

Mark tells us how our Savior “entered a house” (v19). John MacArthur thinks a better translation is that Jesus “went home.” In other words, Christ returns to Capernaum where He’s living at the time (Mk 2:1).

This could be the home Pete and Andy’s families share (Mk 1:29). Or the Son of God possibly has His own place in this little Galilean fishing village. One thing for sure, the Lord uses Capernaum as His home office for the first part of His ministry.

Jesus Needs the Rest

If we follow the events in Mark 3, we can see Jesus could use the rest. He heals a guy at the synagogue and has a showdown with the Pharisees who eventually put contract out on Him (Mk 3:1-6).

Then a crazy crowd gathers along the lake where Christ performs a boatload of miracles…from a boat (Mk 3:7-12)! Wrap that up with His careful selection of His expansion team He will train to change the world (Mk 3:13-19).

The 99 Percent

No matter who’s house it is, Jesus isn’t alone for long. “The crowds began to gather again” (v20). Mark chooses a Greek word for “crowds” (Gr. οχλος/ochlos) that we often see used for people in the middle and lower class. A couple of thousand years later, it’s what we’ve come to call the 99 percent.

In other words, these are folks on the outside looking in when it comes to society. It makes sense when you think about it. Galilee is not exactly the dynamic center of culture and finance. We’re talking about Capernaum, a blue collar town in the boondocks of Palestine.

Here We Go Again

Word gets out that the new radical Rabbi/Carpenter is back in town. It’s not long before there’s a flood of folks at His front door. Forget about getting some rest. Christ has to get back to work.

Here we go again. It happened at Pete’s place (Mk 1:32-34). Then there was the time four guys do an end run around the crowd by slicing a hole in the roof to get their disabled buddy in front of Jesus (Mk 2:1-12).

Rocky’s Story

Just how big is this crowd? While we don’t get a head count, we do see that Christ and His crew are up to their eyeballs in ministry. “Soon He and His disciples couldn’t even find time to eat” (v20). The original text literally reads “they are not able even to eat bread” (v20 YLT).

Remember, there’s a pretty good chance this is Pete’s eyewitness account that he’s telling to John Mark. The disciple Jesus nicknames Rocky still clearly remembers how hungry he was when things got crazy in Capernaum.

Working through Lunch

The Lord knows what it’s like to be so busy that you don’t have time to grab a meal. He and the boys work through lunch…and probably dinner as well! As God in human form, Christ gets hungry. But He and His team put their own needs aside in order to serve the folks who’ve packed the place.

There are going to be times we’ll miss a meal when serving others in Jesus’ name. It’s all part of putting others’ needs ahead of our own (Phil 2:3). After all, it’s what He did for you and me.

A Juicy Tidbit

Apparently it was just this lack of lunch that sounded the alarm for the Lord’s human family. “When His family heard what was happening, they tried to take Him away” (v21). Mark is the only Gospel writer to gives us this juicy little tidbit about Jesus.

Behind Mark’s description of “His family” are a couple of words in the original language which literally mean “the ones with Him” or “those near Him.” Some other versions translate it as “His own people” (NASB, NKJV).

Those Closest to Christ

The author wants us to know that these are the people closest to Christ. It’s clearly NOT His newly selected team of disciples (Mk 3:13-19). They’re already at the house missing a meal just like Jesus.

The other clue that cinches the identity of “those near Him” is what we read in just a few more verses in Mark. The author tells us how Jesus’ own mom as well as His brothers would like to have a word with Him (Mk 3:31-32).

His Brothers Aren’t Buying It

The amazing thing is that those who knew Jesus best aren’t buying that He’s the long promised Messiah. His own brothers aren’t going for it (Jn 7:5). The only family member who believes at this point is His weird leather-wearing, bug-eating cousin John who lives alone in the desert (Mk 1:4-11).

Think about it. What would it take for you to believe your big brother is God in the flesh? For Jesus’ family, it all changed the Sunday morning He came walking out of the cemetery. Resurrection from the dead tends to make believers out of hardcore skeptics. Just ask Saul of Tarsus (Acts 9:1-9).

Dr. Luke goes out of his way to list “Mary the mother of Jesus…and the brothers of Jesus” (Acts 1:14) among the 120 people attendance at the upstairs prayer meeting with the apostles after the Son of God headed home to heaven.

From Doubters to Disciples

God transforms Jesus’ family from doubters to disciples. One of those younger brothers is James. He will eventually take the lead of the local church in Jerusalem and writes the earliest document in what we now call the New Testament.

Then there’s His other brother who goes by the name of Jude (Jude 1). God’s Spirit will also inspire him to write a little letter to Jesus’ followers that bears his name.

But that doesn’t happen until AFTER their Brother’s crucifixion and resurrection. On the day Mark describes, it’s a VERY different story. They’ve come with their mother “to take Him away” (v21).

Grabbing the Son of God

I gotta tell you, that description really doesn’t do justice to what His family came to do. Mark uses the Greek verb κρατεω/krateo here. It means to seize, grab, take control, conquer, arrest, restrain, or even rule over someone or something.

The word describes holding on tightly and not letting go. It insinuates force, power, and strength. Matthew picks this term when writing about King Herod’s arrest of John the Baptizer (Mt 14:3).

Putting a Leash on the Lion

Christ’s family hasn’t come to gently put their arms around Him and guide Him to safety. They’re here to grab Him and put an end to all this. In their minds, this has gone on long enough.

Just a little tip…seizing Jesus is NOT happening unless He allows it. It’s not a good idea to put a leash on the Lion of Judah. It’s like the scene in the movie “Man of Steel” where the cops put Superman in handcuffs. “Supes” wears those cuffs only because he wants to.

God Does What He Wants

One of songwriters in the Psalms has a little lyric that goes a little something like this. God only does what He wants to do (Ps 135:6). In the highest heavens. Here on planet Earth. In the deepest parts of the ocean.

Hey man, if death and the grave couldn’t hold Him, what chance does anybody have? That includes you, me, and His own family. Seizing Jesus and trying to control Him is a big mistake. A VERY big mistake.

Out of His Mind?

John Mark then lets us in on the dirty little secret on why Jesus’ relatives are here to break up the party. “‘He’s out of His mind,’ they said” (v21). It’s one thing for Christ’s enemies question His sanity. But His own family? We’re talking about the blessed mother Mary here, not to mention His very own siblings!

Surely this must be some kind of mistake. Somebody must have jacked up the translation. Did some evil atheist slip this in to sabotage Scripture?!?

Nope. This is exactly what went down. It’s more proof that the documents we’ve assembled as God’s Word haven’t been edited and sanitized to make Jesus’ first followers and closest family members look good.

Out to Lunch?

If I’m Mary or James or Jude, I’m scheduling an editorial meeting with Mark to get this dropped from the final edition. But here it is. That’s because the story of Scripture has just one Hero. And His name is Jesus.

The original Greek in this verse leaves little doubt His family’s assessment of our Savior’s mental health. Mark describes how they think He is “out of His mind” (Gr. εξιστημι/existemi). It’s a compound word which literally means to be “out of (Gr. εξι-/exi-) the proper place (Gr. -στημι/-stemi).”

It’s a nice way to say you’re completely out of your mind. Out to lunch. Off your rocker. Whacked out. Out of touch with reality. That’s why Jesus’ family came for Him. Let that sink in for a minute.

A Poached Egg

A boatload of Bible experts back that up. Matthew Poole believes the Son of God’s human relatives “took what He did to be the product and effect of a natural infirmity and imperfect head and disordered reason.” An imperfect head. Such a nice word for bonkers.

McLaren says Mary and the family have come to take Jesus home “where He might indulge His delusions without doing any harm to Himself.” Barnes pulls no punches with his take. They thought He was “delirious or deranged.”

C.S. Lewis writes that for Jesus to do what He did and say what He said, He must be a liar, lunatic, or Lord. Those are the only options. Or in Lewis’ own words, “on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg.”

Crazy…about Jesus!

Christ isn’t the only one in the New Testament that people accuse of being crazy pants. One Roman governor thought Paul was a religious fruitcake for following doubling down on Jesus as God (Acts 26:24). The apostle tells the Corinthians that if his enemies accuse him of being crazy, they’re right. He’s crazy about Jesus (2Cor 5:13)!

Have you ever seen someone so committed to the cause of Christ that you thought they had gone off the deep end? Maybe they weren’t. Maybe YOU’RE the one who doesn’t have a grasp on what God is up to.

Family Feud

Maybe this is exactly what Jesus is talking about when He warns that trusting in Him as Savior and Lord has the real potential to split families apart (Mt 10:34-39). He should know. It certainly happened to Him before His death and resurrection.

Just about every follower of Christ can tell you that you’re own family can be the hardest to reach with the Gospel. Just ask Jesus. His own family didn’t believe Him until He punched death in the throat. Until then, they thought He was cray-cray.

Stacking the Kindling

Here’s some great advice from the Life Application Bible. “Family members require the most patience. They see you are your worst when your guard is down.” Jesus Himself knows how frustrating it can be to share God’s grace with your own family.

Hang in there. Keep your cool. Keep loving them. Remember, it’s NOT our job to convert anybody. Let the Holy Spirit do His thing. Matt Chandler calls it stacking the kindling. That way, whenever He ignites them, they’ll burn hot and bright!

A Check up from the Neck up

Jesus feels your pain. He knows what it’s like to have the ones closest to you reject you. His family didn’t just doubt Him in the beginning, they thought He was in need of a check up from the neck up.

Our job is to love them. Show them grace. Shower them with forgiveness. Pray for them. You never what God might do. He might just work a miracle right before our eyes. Wouldn’t THAT be crazy?!?

©2017

Jay Jennings