An Effort at Intervention

Matthew records this incident in 12:46-50 almost word for word. He records more of the dialogue, however, and Mark is terser, as usual, so we will read his account. Mark includes the phrase about Jesus and his mental condition. This dispute follows the calling of the Twelve, which is interesting in itself. Crowds are following Jesus. Twelve men decide to drop everything and follow him. And his mother and brothers arrive to say, “He is out of his mind.” The religious rulers say, “He has an evil spirit.” These are not happy considerations for the four fishermen who just dropped their nets.

These speculations are striking to his disciples, and they record them here because they are significant. They did not dissuade the Twelve, however. Maybe accusations of insanity are one of the requirements for greatness.

Families Monitor Diet:

“he and his disciples were not even able to eat” - Mark 3:20.

Mark records for us that Jesus and his disciples “were not even able to eat.”

When people stop eating properly, the people who love them get concerned. They might be getting sick.

• Food can alter the mind and disposition. So mothers think that food is the answer to most unusual behavior. “Why is little Johnny acting like this?”

• Answer: “He hasn’t had his supper.”

• We all participate in this connection of food and behavior. Some of us are not worth anything until we get our Starbucks coffee. Others of us have to have some sugar to get going in the morning.

• Nutrition and behavior are connected. We know this even without the evidence of alcohol and drugs which are an extreme example of the phenomenon. So if someone is acting strangely in our time we say, “He is off his meds.” We mean by such a comment to suggest that his ingestion of certain chemicals, or the lack thereof, is affecting his behavior.

• “Why is he so grumpy?”

• “He had to skip lunch, and he hasn’t eaten dinner.” That is a sufficient explanation for his behavior.

Graham has been put on a diet. So the family is rallying around. No more whole milk. Everyone drinks 2%.

“Mom, that tastes like water in the cereal.”

“Yes, son, but we have to do it for Graham.”

“But Mom, he’s the one who has to lose weight, not me. I want my regular milk!”

“I know, son, but we have to get rid of the regular milk. It is just too tempting to have it in the frig. So we are all going to eat whole wheat bread. No Bunny Bread anymore. And we are all going to get 2% in our whole grain, sugarless cereal.”

Families React to Strange Behavior:

“When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him” - Mark 3:21.

The family and the religious authorities agree that Jesus is acting strangely.

• The religious leaders interpret Jesus’ condition spiritually. They think that what ails him is more that just his glucose levels. They think he is possessed by evil spirits.

• The family appears to take the route of mental health—he has lost his mind. This is a much better diagnosis than demon possession—and much more hopeful. If his brain isn’t working right, that can be changed by food, rest, rehydration, etc. If he is demon-possessed, that’s a tough one.

• The word translated “out of his mind” is existemi, a compound of the preposition ek, meaning “out” and the verb histami, meaning “stand.” So, “he is out of his stand” or he is out of his posture or, maybe to stay with the word itself, he is out of his existence. All the dictionaries say the word “existence” is from the Latin. But the Latin prefix and verb are similar both in spelling and in meaning.

• A psychologist might call this “self-actualization.” Jesus is stepping out. He is declaring himself. He is behaving and speaking in ways that are consistent with his own being. He is emerging. This is the idea behind the word “existence” and an interesting parallel to the Greek in this text.

• Maybe you, too, have looked at a family member and wondered which description of his condition was most accurate—insanity or possession. If you have had a hard time discerning between the two, take heart. Even back then, people watching Jesus struggled to distinguish them.

The Reaction—“let’s go get him, take him home, and force him to eat and sleep properly.”

• This is called an intervention. It is an extreme form and friends-and-family reaction to self-destructive behavior.

Families Show Up in Crisis:

“Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.” - Mark 3:32

This crisis has been building. Jesus went down to the Jordan and got himself baptized by that crazy cousin, John the Baptist. Then he showed up in Capernaum and made everyone angry with his comments about being the Messiah. Then he broke the rules on fasting, healing, and keeping the Sabbath. Rumor has it that the Jewish leaders are plotting to assassinate him. Now he is holed up in someone’s house, jammed with people, and he can’t even get out to eat. Somebody needs to do something.

The family takes responsibility.

• He is Mary’s son. He is the brother of James and Jude. They feel an obligation to see after him even when he is an adult. And they should feel that obligation. That’s what families do.

The family shows up.

• I often get the question, “Should I go?” It may be a death in the extended family. It may be a sudden illness or an aged parent in need. But we struggle to know what to do and we ask the question, “Should I go?”

• My default answer is “Yes.” If you feel some responsibility to give care in the situation you should at least consider going. Weigh all the alternatives.

William Golding wrote a famous novel in 1954 called “Lord of the Flies.” I was required reading back when I was in high school. I don’t know if that is still true today.

The Lord of the Flies in the book was the boar’s head mounted on a stake and covered with flies. But the root of the idea is in this term “Beelzebub” that is usually understood to mean “lord of the flies” or “lord of the dung.” The original deity was probably “lord of the house.” The name was corrupted either accidentally or intentionally and one consonant changed so that it meant “lord of the flies.”

You recognize the term “baal” in this name. “Beel” is the Greek transliteration for the name. So there is no doubt that Beelzebub is lord of something. By the time of Christ Beelzebub was considered the chief of demons and equated with Satan or the devil.

The facts were otherwise, as we know. Jesus may have been acting strangely, but it was not because he was crazy or possessed. He had a unique calling. He was going to live on the edge as part of that calling. His life was dedicated fully to the Father in Heaven, and that just looks strange to us down here. One day in heaven we will fully understand how this lifestyle of Jesus made perfect sense and was truly evidence of God’s presence.

• This week I heard a young father say that he was taking his family back to Ethiopia in a few months to continue his mission work. If you are from Ethiopia that may sound like a good idea. But if you are from these United States a parent might respond, “Son, have you lost your mind?”