Why do you think the family of Jesus said that Jesus "was out of his mind?" - Mark 3:21?

Question

After all the angel visitations and announcements from the Holy Spirit, one would think that the strongest backers and believers of Jesus would be his family.

Answer 1

There are a lot of debates about the authorship of Mark, and his format for delivery. Only one is the theory of his intended use of irony, which shows up both in your quoted scripture as well as other passages:

Mark creates a story in which Mary thinks that Jesus is out of his mind, and must be taken charge of (Mark 3:14-21, 31).

He appointed twelve--designating them apostles--that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons....When his family [Jesus’ mother and brothers] heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind." (Mark 3:14-21)…“Then Jesus' mother and brothers arrived.” (Mark 3:31)


Who knows a man better than his own mother? Next to God himself, the last person one would expect to reject Jesus' divinity would be his mother. Mark is able to make this believable because his gospel story has no birth narrative, as does Luke's, in which Mary is told by the angel that she would give birth to the son of God (Luke 1:26-35). If Mark's Mary had known that her Jesus was the all-powerful son of God, she never would have thought he was out of his mind and needed care.

This story not only illustrates Mark's use of irony--events occurring which are contrary to expectations, but also shows what seems to be his ignorance of the circumstances of Jesus conception and birth, if such had even occurred. Not only does the story seem to be fiction, but it also points to an apparent contradiction between Mark and Luke: Luke's Mary knows Jesus is the son of God, but Mark's Mary does not.

Other writings of Mark allude to the same end and thus the theory is that Mark deliberately wrote in irony to demonstrate something deeper.

Another theory is that he had grown beyond his own family's ability to perceive the deeper truth, and they were left only to believe that he was mad.

"Jesus of Nazareth outgrew his family's views. The record says: "When Jesus returned to the house where he was staying, the crowds began to gather again, and soon he and his disciples couldn't even find time to eat. When his family heard what was happening, they tried to take him home with them. 'He's out of his mind,' they said" (Mark 3:20-21 NLT). Another account says: "Even Jesus' brothers did not believe in him" (John 7:5 NCV).

Personally, I believe such things manifest the nature of God's humanity, even to the extent that the deepest and most human doubts are recorded because he was indeed also a man. If anything, it shows that Mark recorded the things that occurred without any benefit of trying to show the events in a way the only favoured Jesus.

His family doubted him. In spite of the Angel visitations and announcements, because that is the nature of our inward soul.


Theologically,

Ms. Teak

Answer 2

We have to assume Jesus was the Messiah. Because that is the ONLY explicit claim he made about who he was. (John 4:26)

He was certainly not God again because he explicitly said more than once God was separate to himself. But the most telling is this:

John 20:17 : "'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'""

Besides, he prayed often, with his head all the way to the ground. And he did not want to be crucified.

Luke 22:44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

So the question is: why not take him as the prophet AND Messiah that he claimed to be? Other claims (such as his divinity and even Godhead-ship were made for him, not by him, perhaps by St Paul who REALLY did not know him, never met him and, ABOVE ALL, never talked to his mother! No-one did.
Finally, to talk of Triune God or the trinity really rebels against monotheism. You cannot be a Trinitarian and a Monotheist. It is not a mystery. it is illogical. Or .. be an atheist and forget about all this! If God cannot make Himself clear, let it be on his head!

But, to be fair to God, Jesus did not start or even INTEND to start a new religion. That was done by St Paul. Jesus had come only for the Jews, not Gentiles and he actually said so!
Matthew 15:24 He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel."

Why make Jesus into what he did not claim to be; what people around him did not think him to be and the Original; Sin is not real either BECUASE God punished the snake, Adam and above all Eve right on the spot! Jesus NEVER said anything about that Original Sin!
So ... what the ....!!!

Answer 3

The real question is: was it His family that said this, or His friends? The NKJV reads, "His own people," the KJV and ASV reads, "His friends." The more liberal translastions, such as the NIV and NIRV read "His family." The Greek word here is "para," meaning, in this context, "those closely around." If you look at the paralel texts of this incident, no family members are mentioned, but His disciples were all around Him. So, I don't think this passage refers to Jesus' family. There are, however, other passages that refer to His family's disbelief, such as John 7:5, "for neither did His brethren believe Him." The Greek word used here is "adelphos," which could mean a literal brother; a cousin; a close friend; or (later on) is a reference to a fellow believer. Most scholars believe (as I do) that this passage refers to His male cousins.

Even if His family surrounded Him, why should they have been any different than other Jews of that time? Remember, Jesus' first miracle was at the wedding in Cana. It's not as if He walked around doing signs and wonders at family get-togethers! Surely they all saw He was a devout Jew and obediant to His mother. But He still had to convince family members, who had to wonder whether He was, indeed, "out of His mind."

Answer 4

Just because Joseph and Mary were both visited by the Holy Spirit didn't mean that years later they didn't think they didn't dream it or think they themselves might have "made it up" to explain away something, after all, they were only human. Also, have you told your parent's EVERYTHING about yourself? Then you can bet they hold back stuff too.

We shouldn't assume that this was some sort of SUPER HOLY family that went around fighting evil. They weren't. They worried about putting food on the table, jobs and a roof over their heads like everyone else.

Answer 5

I think this explains it well:

Mar 6:4 But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.

The LEAST likely to believe are those who grow up with you, because familiarity breeds contempt. Look at Peter -- he was one of the 12 and one of the three in his inner circle, yet he would rebuke the Lord. We think, how could he? But by being with Jesus day in and day out, the "familiarity" caused them to forget who He was.

It is interesting that you bring this up because I just read it in devotions this morning. I think that part of the reason they did it was fear of the religious leaders -- either for themselves or for Christ.

Answer 6

this is just a saying!
alot of what god was doing then in mark was all new to them. like casting out demons, healed people. they thought that he was crazy, what he was doing it was out of the ordinary. it's a figure of speech that's all.
but in time, if u read im mark 3:11 stated he is the son of god.
in time, they then believed he was the son of god. they've never gone thru, seen what & the works that jesus was doing. it was all new to them. in time, the people believed. seeing is believing.

Answer 7

I'll let JC's words stand for themselves.

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.”

And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebub,” and, “By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons.”

So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables: “How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand.

Answer 8

good quesiton.

i have to wonder if the immediate family (mom and earthly dad) questioned this, or did the more distant family members?

remember, if a chick got knocked up before she was married, she was stoned (had big rocks thrown at her) until she died...much like the mideast today.

the faith of joseph must have been fantastic if he was able to accept another person's child as his own, even if was God.

-eagle

Answer 9

Read a few verses before and after to find out

Answer 10

Mark 3:21
And when his Friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him: for they said, He is beside himself.

Simply put, his friends did not understand.