Then the multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread. But when His own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, “He is out of His mind.”
Mark 3:20-21
With the crowds pressing in on him, Jesus didn’t even take time to eat. Thinking he had gone “over the edge” as a religious fanatic, his family came to him. John recorded that Jesus’ half-brothers did not believe in him (John 7:5), although some later did believe (Acts 1:14). In fact, Jesus’ half-brother James became one of the leaders in the church in Jerusalem and the writer of the book of James. Mary believed that her son was special, but at this time she didn’t understand his ministry either. Perhaps she thought the situation was getting out of hand, and she needed to protect her son from himself, from the demands of his ministry, or even from the relentless crowds. But on the day of Pentecost Mary was one of the 120 believers who received the Holy Ghost.
With an attitude of some irritation, Jesus’ family decided he had truly gone out of his mind with this “Messiah stuff” and that they needed to take charge of him.
The family may be the most difficult place to be a witness for Jesus. To be the first or only believing Christian may go against the grain. Our faith may come across as criticism of the way others conduct their lives. Our zeal may be misunderstood. We may be accused of being a hypocrite because other areas of our lives still fall short of what a Christian should look and act like.
Unsaved people may view our commitment to the Bible as unreasonable bigotry. A truly transformed life is hard to understand. When one no longer uses foul language; no longer goes to the places one once went to; starts going to church—regularly (even to prayer meeting) and starts telling others about the Gospel of Christ—people just don’t get it.
Don’t worry, just keep on showing them the love of Christ. Let them see Christ in you; they will come around. Some, maybe all, of Jesus’ family did, though at first, they thought He had lost His mind. Plus, no matter what the unregenerate people may think of you, you now have a family that is all over the world and that stretches all the way back to the Cross; it is called the Church. Amen, amen and amen!
