The Messianic Secret (II)

Sermon on Mark 3:20-35

Two weeks ago, I first shared on the Messianic Secret [a] . It is a major theme in Mark where Jesus was shown to be secretive and cautious about the revelation of his true identity. In fact, for more than a year, his disciples thought they were following Batman, until he revealed himself to be actually the Messiah. All their Robin costumes had gone to waste. Kidding aside, in the gospel of Mark, Jesus repeatedly told his followers to keep his Messianic identity a secret. He only shared his true mission with a selected few, speaking in parables in public whenever possible. He even planned detours and sudden boat rides into his itinerary just to distance himself from his popularity. In my sermon, I then shared on the reason for this: It’s the Messianic Secret: You only know Jesus when you know him fully. You need to “be with him” in order to truly know him. And if you don’t, if you only know Jesus superficially, a little learning is a dangerous thing. This danger is spelled out early in Chapter 3 itself.

Mark 3: 1 Another time Jesus went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. 2 Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. 3 Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.” 4 Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent. 5 He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. 6 Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.

In the modern world, we often equate experiencing with believing. Such a form of thinking is known as Empiricism[1] . This is why we now hanker for a dynamic worship. We think that if we can feel more and experience more, God becomes more real to us. This is why there is also a fascination with signs and miracles. We think that miracles are the necessary physical evidences we need to prove God’s existence or the validity of our faith. But I think that there is a slight fallacy in this. While experiences lead to knowledge, it does not lead to full knowledge, and it certainly doesn’t necessarily lead to belief. In the story, the Pharisees came to know Jesus. They were the direct witnesses to the miracle of the healed shrivelled hand. Yet it was only partial knowledge because they only saw what they wanted to see. They were only looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, and hence that’s all they witnessed. Their partial knowledge of Jesus led them to the conclusion that Jesus was a law-breaker. So Jesus was killed for their partial knowledge. You only know Jesus when you know him fully.

So, what we need is more than just experience. What we really need is full understanding. We need to know more than just what we want to see. Take the shrivelled hand miracle story for example, from the perspective of the Pharisees, Jesus was openly challenging the boundaries of legality. Can something illegal be the right thing to do? How far would you go to save a life? To the Pharisees, when Jesus asked these questions and performed the miracle, he seemed like a dangerous time-bomb, so they thought it best to defuse the bomb as soon as possible. But that is not full understanding. These challenging questions can only be fully understood when Jesus’ work on the cross is finished. On the Cross, the laws and righteousness of God were redefined by grace. On the cross, the meaning of salvation was redefined by the death of the Saviour. Only on the cross, we have complete understanding. So you see? Experience can only lead us so far. You only know Jesus when you know him fully. Partial knowledge leads to rash responses, only complete knowledge leads to true belief.

In today’s passage, we see the family of Jesus exhibiting the danger of partial knowledge. Verses 20 and 21 are Mark-exclusive verses: 20 Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. 21 When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.” This is Mark exclusive because when Matthew and Luke repeated this episode in their gospels, they left out these verses. Why? Is it because this portion didn’t happen? No. In fact, it is the opposite. We can deduce that this portion is a very authentic account of history because of the Criterion of embarrassment[2] . This criterion states that accounts embarrassing to the author are presumed to be true because the author would have no reason to invent an embarrassing account about oneself. From history, we know that the mother and brothers of Jesus would become prominent figures of the early church. Stating their early opposition of Jesus so plainly would have been embarrassing for them. Perhaps this is why Matthew and Luke left them out, out of respect to Jesus’ family. But thanks to Mark’s unrelenting account, we now have a fuller context to Jesus’ following words.

Now, the key to these verses lie in the words “take charge”. It is a figurative use of a word that means grabbing and seizing forcefully. Essentially, they are trying to control a situation that is going crazy, and the centre of this situation is Jesus. It is not hard to guess why they are trying to subdue Jesus. “They are intent on silencing him, presumably to squelch any further unwanted attention from the populace or the authorities. They may be spurred by the noble but misguided desire to protect him from danger or, less nobly, to salvage the family reputation.”[3] The word “take charge” can even mean to “bind Jesus and deprive him of freedom”.[4] They can do this because traditionally, they have authority over him as his family. The family is forcefully taking control of the situation before it goes out of hand. They think that they are using their authority for Jesus’ own good.

Those were the days where “the family was the basis of social and economic life and the source of one’s identity. In the first-century Mediterranean world, an individual’s identity was basically that of a member of a group. The genealogies and laws relating to family life in the Scriptures show the importance of membership in a family or clan. In the Old Testament, “life” is used almost interchangeably with “family.” One’s family was one’s life, and to reject family or to be cast out of the family was to lose one’s life.” [5] So the family of Jesus thought that they had authority over him. And based on cultural norms, this is true. They thought that it was their responsibility to “take charge” of Jesus before things got out of hand. But this was partial knowledge. They didn’t really know Jesus completely. And their partial knowledge led to rash responses.

So Jesus redefined family, just as how he had redefined the laws of God for the Pharisees. Verse 35 Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother. Jesus did this not because he was against his family. History tells us that he cherished his family, even remembering his mother with one of his sayings on the cross. This was why his family remained in his community even after his death. They were mentioned praying together with the Apostles when they had to choose a replacement apostle for Judas. [6]

But where authority was concerned, Jesus had to let his family and his followers understand fully. In time to come, they would accept and believe the truth. And the truth is that the only authority lies in God’s will. Unlike the traditional concept, Jesus’ natural family cannot claim ownership of Jesus just because of blood relationship. Jesus submits to a higher authority under God. And those who submit to the same authority, even though they are not related by blood, become the family members of Jesus. This is good news to all who are lost and always feeling alone. Family is not about blood ties. Family is not about “who has authority and responsibility over whom”. That is partial knowledge of family. That is partial knowledge of Jesus. Jesus spells out what is full knowledge. Family is when we do God’s will to love and accept one another. Family is about service and sacrifice. Family is only fully understood on the cross. On the cross, we see that we are not losing our family when we follow Jesus. We gain a true family as what a family should be: a family of love and sacrifice. And when Jesus resurrects from death, we see that what we have is a family that is eternal. [7]

Today's message gives me a renewed understanding of the Church as a family. I used to think that my role as a pastor is only to get people to recognize this family kinship we share. God is our Father, Jesus is our eldest brother, and I thought that the relationship and ties between us would develop naturally. I now know that it is not enough. This is only partial knowledge. I made the same mistake as Jesus' mother and brothers, in thinking that just because I have the relationship in definition, it entails that I would have the relationship in substance. This is wrong. Instead, members of a family have to work on being and becoming a healthy loving family.

A young man said, I remain in Jubilee because it is a family church, but I once left also because Jubilee is a family church. You know why? Because when the Church is a family, it means that problems that can happen in a family, are also problems that can happen in a church. When we define family as a place of authority and responsibility, like the family of Jesus in our passage today, Church as a family can be stifling and controlling. We can become obsessed with doing the right thing, and getting the right behaviour. When we assume authority over others, we become the mother in the movie “I not stupid”[8] , we are bossy, but we always think “this is for your own good”.

In a family, sometimes in the pretext of good intentions, there will be expectations. Parents hope for high achieving children望子成龙, the same way Jesus’ family worried about Jesus, thinking he is out of his mind. Family can be judgmental and criticisms can go overboard. When the Church is a family, the problems that can happen in a family, are also problems that can happen in a church. Expectations can run wild in a Church too. When we go to other churches or when we have outside speakers, we are like a mother-in-law looking at a prospective son-in-law. 丈母娘看女婿，越看越有趣. But these people may treat people who are serving in church like mother-in-laws looking at a daughter-in-law, nit-picking all the time. 婆婆看媳妇, 鸡蛋里挑骨头. Beware that it could be stressful for all.

In a family, care and concern can become nags and gossips. I know some people dread the CNY family visitations because of all the “when are you getting married?” or “how did you do in your studies?” questions. When the Church is a family, imagine answering that kind of questions every Sunday. We end up driving people who don't fit the norm out of the church with our so-called care and concern. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Jesus says “35 Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” By God’s will, I think he means love and forgiveness. That is how he defined family, and that is how we should define Church as a family. So a family is not about authority but about love. The same goes for the Church as a family. A family is not about expectations and judgments but rather about being embracing and accepting. The same goes for the Church as a family. I know this is what Jesus means when he defines family, because this is how he lives out God's will. Looking at how Jesus treats his followers, this is how the Church should be as a family.

When the Church is such a family, it is a great comfort to all without a family, and those in broken families. Some may have lost their family because they were persecuted for their faith. There are others who lost family members to sickness and tragedies, or simply lonely in a distant land. Jesus' words tell us that we would always have a family, and we can always be a family, because of our common obedience to God. God has called us to love one another. And this is what it means to be Christian. Jesus Christ reached out to the marginalised: the tax-collectors, the lepers and the possessed. The Church must continue this mission to be a family to all who desire such family love. I hope Jubilee lives up to this vision. We can be this family, the true sisters and brothers of Christ.

Footnotes:
[a] Previous sermon at http://www.jubilee.org.sg/sermons/id/335/
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empiricism
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criterion_of_embarrassment
[3] Garland, p 130
[4] James Edwards, Mark (Pillar Commentary), p. 118
[5] Garland, Mark: NIV application commentary, p 131
[6] Acts 1:12-14
[7] This is a touching response from Jesus: Mark 10: 28 Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!” 29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.” How can we receive a hundred times of what we have given up? It is because we gain a true family of love.
[8] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Not_Stupid