HE IS OUT OF HIS MIND

Reflections on the Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Genesis 3:9-15; 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1, Mark 3:20-35

Jesus’ family is worried and rightly so! Should he let himself and his disciples be so overwhelmed by the swarming crowds that they had no time to eat? What about his health and his personal space? Why does he have to prioritize the concerns of the crowds over his own health? Maybe he needs to take it slow and easy. Maybe he needs to slow down. Their concern must have grown considerably when they heard the harsh criticism of the scribes of Jerusalem saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul”. Why does he have to antagonize the religious leadership? Why does he have to claim the right to forgive sins?

Isn’t he insulting God? How does one justify his seemingly casual approach to the Sabbath and the laws of fasting? Who is he to criticise religious practices and rub shoulders with the leadership? Doesn’t he risk making himself impure by associating himself with the ‘impure’ kind (the sick, possessed, and publicans)? Why would he want to go to the dangerous city of Samaria? Why enter the homes of Levi and Zacchaeus? Maybe he needs to cool down a bit and bring it down a notch. Jesus’ family probably feels it is time to intervene and bring him back to his ‘senses’.

They “set out to seize him, for they said, "He is out of his mind”. They are at his door, sending word to come out and meet them. The Gospel reads, “His mother and his brothers arrived. Standing outside they sent word to him and called him. A crowd seated around him told him, "Your mother and your brothers and your sisters are outside asking for you” (verses 31&32). Mark insists twice that Jesus’ family is ‘outside’. Boundaries are drawn: an ‘out of mind’ Jesus and a family standing “outside the home’. By assuming his vocation, Jesus had stepped outside their circle and now they stand outside his home.

He is so out of the ordinary that his family now deems it necessary to snatch him back and reintegrate him by force into their world. However, Jesus does not move. He does not go out to meet them. Does it mean that he is now disowning his mother, sisters, and brothers? No! Jesus, instead, reverses the situation and challenges them to exit their circle and enter a new family that he is now gathering through his ministry. Those who were there to seize them are themselves seized now by a new definition of family that is no longer purely and exclusively based on bloodline. He wants them to ‘enter his mind’, and discover a new way of being family.

What does it mean to become a member of this new family? The Gospel gives us an important clue by highlighting a simple gesture of Jesus. He asks, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking around at those seated in the circle he says, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother”. Jesus ‘looks around’ and points to his disciples, the men and women who have crossed their individual circles, breached predefined boundaries, and scaled walls to enter Jesus’ home.

Being a part of this new-found family means entering a new eschatological and ecclesial reality. Admission to this family is not assured by biological relationships. The only path to entering this reality is to submit to God’s will. Choosing to do the will of God means choosing God’s priorities over one’s own. The family of Jesus is not determined by birthright or nepotism but by conversion of heart and adherence to the will of God and God-centered fraternal bonds.

Together with Jesus' family, we have a choice to make. We could either stay at the door, waiting to imprison Jesus within our narrow families, or we could choose to fulfil God’s will and enter his home to become part of a much bigger family. This invitation is a serious challenge to our Indian Church, which is riddled with the plague of identity politics. Don’t we reduce the Church family to our caste and linguistic identities? Aren’t we seeking to seize and imprison Jesus in our narrow circles of rites and regions? Isn’t there a growing confusion in ecclesial circles between ‘passion’ for one’s language, culture, and traditions and an unhealthy exclusivist and divisive pride about these identities?

Can we embrace the Gospel challenge to redefine our definition and criteria of families, no more along the lines of identities, but in the light of our common invitation to do God’s will and fraternity? Can we exit our narrow and predefined ‘worlds’ to enter ‘the mind of Jesus’? Mary prayed, “Let it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). Jesus prayed, “Not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42). Maybe it is now time for us to ‘lose our minds’ and choose to do God’s will!