Mark 3:16-21 - He is out of His mind

3:16-19

We now get the names of the twelve whom Jesus appointed. We also see that Jesus gave “nicknames” to some. In Peter’s case this would signify a change in his character that would take place. With James and John being called “sons of thunder” it is much more of a nickname in the sense that we think of it.  There were a wide selection of people, Jesus was into diversity! Judas Iscariot is, of course, there. Jesus knew what He was doing in choosing Judas, that it was all part of God’s plan. God’s plans do not always (in fact, very rarely) take what we think of as a nice neat course.

3:20,21

More conflict is about to arise. Jesus enters a house and the usual crowds descended upon Him. “So He and His disciples were not even able to eat”. This is an interesting little detail. Jesus, and certainly not His disciples, was no superman, but was fully human with human needs. His family heard that He was here and went to “take charge of Him”. They were rather concerned about His notoriety, and could maybe see the direction things were going, at least in terms of conflict with the religious leaders. This is not something they would want, neither for Jesus’ own sake, nor for their own sakes either. When we follow Jesus there will be times when this demands that we do things or follow paths, that our friends and family do not understand.