CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES
Mark 3:31. His brethren.—The word means nothing more than His “nearest male relatives.” Probably either the sons of Joseph by a previous marriage, or of the Mary mentioned in Mark 15:40. It is inconceivable that our Lord should have assigned His mother to the care of John, if she was the mother of four other sons.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Mark 3:31-35
(PARALLELS: Matthew 12:46-50; Luke 8:19-21.)
Kinship to Christ.—Notwithstanding the organized opposition of the religious leaders, crowds continue to surround Christ, eagerly listening to His gracious words. But His friends and relatives, already convinced that “He is beside Himself” (Mark 3:21), now induce His mother to accompany them into His presence. The reason must have been, observes Calvin, “either that they were anxious about Him, or that they were desirous of instruction; for it is not without some good reason that they endeavour to approach Him, and it is not probable that those who accompanied the Holy Mother were unbelievers. The warmth of natural affection may have carried them beyond the bounds of propriety; but I have no doubt that they were led by pious zeal to seek His society.” One would fain believe that this estimate of their conduct is the true one, rather than the harsher judgment of Chrysostom, that the Blessed Virgin wanted to make a public display of her maternal authority. But, whatever the motive may have been, whether wholly innocent or partly blameworthy, Christ seizes the opportunity to set forth eternal truths of far-reaching import.
I. A sad fact.—“So far from blood relations being, as a matter of course, helpers and promoters of spiritual duty or lofty sacrifice in the home of which they are inmates, the history of all times goes to prove the very contrary; in the persecutions endured for the faith’s sake the daughter has risen against her mother, and the father against his son, and the house has been divided against itself; and the sword (not of the Spirit) has invaded it. We may have to choose between Christ and some one who, after the flesh, is as dear to us as our own soul. Which shall we go with? (Matthew 10:37.) A call to the mission field, or the preference of a quiet Christian life to a career of splendour and fashion, or a profession which implies the reproach of Christ rather than the riches of Egypt, has often disturbed families and parted kinsfolk” (Bishop Thorold).
II. A great principle.—Christ here declares most emphatically, that obedience, not privilege, constitutes true kinship to Him—that the spiritual fellowship which He came from heaven to establish, and which all may equally participate in, is a far higher and more precious thing than any mere earthly tie. So far, however, from in any way depreciating the natural relationships of brother, sister, mother, He adds to them fresh dignity and interest, by adopting them as fit terms for the description of His closest union and communion with believers. “It was not that He denied the claims of the flesh, but that He was sensitive to other, subtler, profounder claims of the spirit and spiritual kinship. He would not carelessly wound a mother’s or a brother’s heart, but the life Divine had also its fellowships and affinities, and still less could He throw these aside” (Dean Chadwick). As Bengel puts it: He contemns not the mother, but He places the Father first.
III. An abiding law.—“There is no tie so close, so holy, so blessed, so exquisitely tender, as that which joins one regenerate soul to another in the mystical body of Christ. The joy of the common salvation, the inheritance of the faith once delivered to the saints, the fellowship in the gospel, the inexplicable experience of the love which passeth knowledge, the hope laid up in heaven, the sympathy and zeal and ardour for the honour of the Saviour—these constitute an unity closer, surer, fonder, deeper, than the dearest earthly tie which human souls can know” (Bishop Thorold). The tender bonds of family affection can find stability nowhere but in Christ, the “Elder Brother,” who is the Only Begotten Son of the Eternal Father, from whom every family both in heaven and earth is named.
OUTLINES AND COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Mark 3:31. The family visit.—We place this visit of the mother and brethren of Jesus immediately after His return to Capernaum, and we attribute it to Pharisaic opposition, which either filled those relatives of Jesus with fear for His safety, or made them sincerely concerned about His proceedings. Only if it meant some kind of interference with His mission, whether prompted by fear or affection, would Jesus have so disowned their relationship.—A. Edersheim, D.D.
Christ’s outside kindred.—They were without—that is, not in the inner circle of the crowd standing by Him and with Him, but on the outside of the crowd, loving Him, but wanting to get Him away from His present surroundings. They no doubt thought Him unwisely carried away with enthusiasm, and that He was spoiling or hurting His cause as well as imperilling His life. Jesus has many outside kindred—those who admire Him, and appreciate to some extent His sublime teaching on ethical points; but they do not understand Him as the world’s Saviour; especially they do not understand the significance of His death and His relations to all men irrespective of persons, and the nature of that new kingdom of men and women “born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, … but of God.”—G. F. Pentecost, D.D.
Weigh the calls.—This was a call to give up His work. We must be careful to weigh the calls that come to us. Even the calls of kindly consideration may need to be resisted.
Mark 3:33-35. Lessons.—
1. The power of interfering with others in such a way as to do good is a very rare possession.
2. Sometimes it is our duty to take a course that grieves dear friends. In such cases aim at doing as Jesus did—blending perfect gentleness with perfect firmness.
3. Nearness to Christ is a matter not of race, or place, or time, but of heart.
4. Let all seek this essential grace that was the root grace of Christ’s character—and live daily, hourly, doing the will of our Father in heaven.—R. Glover.
The false and the true family of Jesus.—
1. The one would watch over Him and His cause; the other will be watched over by Him.
2. The one would lead Him; the other will be led by Him.
3. The one would save Him; the other will be saved by Him.
4. The one would restrain and bring Him into danger; the other will be restrained and bound by His Word and Spirit.—J. P. Lange, D.D.
Mark 3:34. The Church’s relationship to Christ.—Christ here speaks of the relationship which the Church on earth can hold to Him.
1. It can be, as it were, a “mother” to Him—can, as that highly favoured and blessed among women, bear Him, again and again, to a perishing world which needs Him,—can, I say, be as she was, but is not, because lofty purity and lowly submission to God’s will are lacking.
2. Or the Church can be as those “brothers” were—those who tenderly cared for Him—those who misunderstood Him, and would fain protect Him from Himself—those who at length learned to believe in Him, and to suffer with Him, and to stand witness before kings for His sake: thus can the Church be, when it gets the brotherly heart, and thinks more of Christ than of self.
3. Notice that Christ did not say, when He spoke of the relationship man can hold to Him, “Behold My Father.” That is a position no man by himself, nor all men put together, can hold to Him. For the father’s position (and half the world’s evils, domestic, political, and religious, have arisen from forgetfulness of this) is the originating and governing position. The true son only then lives when he does the will of his father. And the Christ, who saves, admits no man’s right to stand in this governing, regulative position to Him.—J. W. Owen.
Mark 3:35. Christ’s spiritual kindred.—Wonderful words!
1. Think of it, busy toiler, far away, perhaps, from the home of your youth; a young man here in this city, it may be, with few friends. Here is an assurance of the Saviour’s brotherly kindness.
2. Or you may be a daughter trying to lift a mother’s burden or a father’s care. No matter how poor or needy, if you are doing God’s will, Christ calls you His sister.
3. You may be a wearied, perplexed mother, with many little ones, and disheartened with the work and burden of home, where the bitter and sweet mingle. Jesus calls you “Mother,” and makes Himself your “Son”!—E. P. Parker, D.D.
The gospel of the family of God.—We have had the gospel of the kingdom of God, and glad tidings it has been indeed; but have we not here something even better? It is much to be permitted to hail the Son of God as our King: is it not better still to be encouraged to hail Him as a Brother, to know that all that is sweetest and tenderest in the dear words “brother,” “sister,” “mother,” can be imported into our relation to Him? How it endears the heavenly relationship, and hallows the earthly!—J. M. Gibson, D.D.
The family of love and service.—All those who have been impelled by a higher inspiration, and those who, subjugated by God’s call, have dedicated their whole life to His service, will understand without difficulty these words of Jesus. Every strong conviction ends by taking possession of us; it overcomes and absorbs us, and tears us ruthlessly from everything else; it becomes our sole object, and outside it nothing seems to touch us: those who do not understand it are strangers to us; those who attack it are our enemies; those who love and serve it with us are our true, our only family.—Father Didon.
All to each.—He does not say that one of us is to Him as a “brother,” and another is to Him as a “sister,” and another is to Him as a “mother,” according to the several features of our different characters; but the man who “does the will of God,” the same occupies, at one and the same time, all those endearing relationships. He stands in the confidence of the “brother,” in the fondness of the “sister,” and in all the holy and respectful attachment even of a “mother.”—Jas. Vaughan.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 3
Mark 3:35. The test of relationship is life.—If you go out into the woods in summer, you may see, high up on some tree, a branch with dry twigs and withered leaves. It seems to be a part of the tree. Yet, when you look closer, you find it has been broken away, and now it is only a piece of dead wood encumbering a living tree. The test of relationship with the tree is life—fruit-bearing. That is also the test of relationship with Christ. The power which binds the iron to the magnet is unseen, but real; the iron so bound becomes itself a magnet: the power that binds believers to Christ, and makes them members of Him, is as real, though also unseen.
All love in Christ.—Light is one thing, though comprising in itself several hues. All the fair hues of nature inhere in the light—so that where there is no light, there is no colour. Wherever the light travels, it disparts its colours to natural objects—to one after this manner, to another after that—the emerald green to the leaves—to the flowers violet, and yellow, and crimson. And in the same manner all love is in Christ, and is from Him, as its Fountain-head and Centre, disparted among the various relations of human life. A ray from His light struggles forth in the care of the father, in the tenderness of the mother, in the active support of the brother or friend, in the sister’s refined sympathy—nay, in the affectionate homage of the son. And this whole love, in all its manifold elements, is brought to converge, with unshorn beams, upon that thrice happy man or boy who does the will of God.—Dean Goulbourn.