Had Jesus Lost His Mind?

Day 49: Mark 3:7-30

“Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, ‘He is out of his mind.’” - Mark 3:20-21 ESV

At first glance, this may seem odd to us. Jesus' mother and his brothers are attempting to put a stop to what he was doing. Why did they think he had lost his mind? I mean, he had been teaching and healing for a while now. His first miracle (John 2) was at the prompting of his mother as she told the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." So what had changed?

It seems like the thing that is concerning them most are the crowds. This has all the makings of a revolution, and movements like these almost always ended in the death of the revolutionary.

They didn't want to lose their guy. Later on, Peter would have the same reaction when he heard Jesus tell the disciples about his coming death (Mark 8:32).

They were essentially saying, "If this thing ends in your death, we will not support it."

This is why verse 36 is so important. To Jesus, surrounding himself with those interested in doing God's will was more important than even spending time with his loved ones if it meant it would distract him from his purpose. Don't worry, though. His family comes around in the end (see Acts 1:14).

Are we willing to do what God wants for our lives, no matter what the cost or the reaction of those closest to us?

R. Alan Cole's thoughts on this passage are especially helpful: "This, to them, was the last straw; like Peter when he heard of the cost to Jesus of the road to Jerusalem (8:32), they decided that they must save him from the consequences of his own vocation. Again, like Peter, they thought that they acted as his friends: but such friends were more dangerous to him than enemies. Like the disciples at the well of Samaria, they had no concept of the true food that sustained Jesus, the moment-by-moment obedience to the Father’s will (John 4:32–34)." - Cole, R. A. (1989). Mark: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 2, p. 142)