We too easily dismiss the story shared in the middle verses of the third chapter of Mark (Mark 3:19-35). Jesus goes "home," and while he is there the local folks, the folks who knew him from birth, begin to ask questions about him.
"He is beside himself," they say. Others suggest, "He is possessed by Beelzebul."
Jesus deflects their concerns with his often repeated statement of "a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand." Great insight; Jesus is correct.
But do we too quickly leave it at that? Do we fail to consider the appropriateness of their concern. Jesus does shows signs of being possessed, according to the standards of any established society.
He claims to be God. Yeah, he was. But think of how we respond to someone who even claims to have heard the voice of God. It is not surprising that those who watched him grow from a young man would have wondered where he got this outlandish ideas.
C.S. Lewis writes in Mere Christianity, that Jesus was either a raving lunatic or he is who he says he is. Lewis takes to task those who would make of him a great moral teacher. Jesus is not a great moral teacher - he is is either the Son of God or a raving lunatic.
When we find it difficult to understand why others would not accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, let us not forget that he made claims which are pretty hard to swallow. His family thought he might be a bit off kilter, so why is it surprising that others might think the same, too?
Re-read Mark 3 with a new openness to the concerns being lifted by the villagers and family of Jesus. Not everyone was out to get him; some where appropriately overwhelmed by the awesomeness of the words he spoke. When we remember this, we are more likely to understand the full impact of those words in our life.
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