THROUGH UNTRUE
In today’s Gospel reading, the relatives of Jesus see Him as someone who is “beside himself” (Mark 3:20-22). The phrase typically refers to a person who is acting crazy due to anger, fear, or any strong emotion that overwhelms him.
For sure, St. Mark is not telling us that Jesus has become insane or unhinged. Instead, he shows how Jesus’s relatives have misunderstood Him. Jesus has changed so significantly that He no longer fits the image they have of Him. As a result, they interpret His behavior as strange and even irrational. He has become so radically different that they are threatened by His presence.
They know him to be an ordinary carpenter. Suddenly, He abandons this occupation, spends much time in prayer, denies himself the comforts of life, and preaches untiringly to the multitudes. He speaks to demons and casts them out. He prioritizes helping those who are in need over rigid obedience to the law. He defies religious rituals when these get in the way of loving and forgiving tax collectors, sinners, drunkards, and prostitutes. He makes friends without requiring loyalty checks.
Jesus has transformed from being an ordinary carpenter to an intensely religious and spiritual person. This change elicited a reaction from His relatives similar to ours when a familiar person suddenly devotes himself lengthily to prayer and good works, refrains from saying cuss words, and shakes off his vices. We think he has gone mad or become a fanatic.
For sure, Jesus is not just trying to be different or, to use a cliché, “thinking out of the box.” He defies people’s stereotypes in order to show that God cannot be pinned down by our ideas of Him. Jesus also challenges us to overcome our fear of being labeled “crazy” for not conforming to societal norms.
Let’s face it. Many of us act sheep-like, driven by the herd instinct. We abandon our better judgment to copy conventional behavior popularized by social and entertainment media, the fashion industry, and market-savvy and enterprising influencers.
Jesus disrupts our world that is afflicted with passive conformity. We may learn that, as children of ONE Father, we need not see ourselves and our neighbors in terms that divide us — outsider or insider, crazy or normal, sinner or saint, gays or straight, black or white, rich or poor. As we read in today’s Gospel reading: “A house divided against itself cannot stand” (Mark 3:25).
Edward Arlington Robinson writes: “In God’s vocabulary, there are no adjectives.” This means that God has a total and penetrating grasp of the uniqueness of every created thing. We become God-like to the extent that we try to see others with eyes that affirm their uniqueness and unrepeatability.
We must discard the familiar image of God as one whom we can manipulate to our liking, who is at our beck and call, and who will not surprise us with His unpredictability. It would be tragic if, like the Pharisees during the time of Jesus, we refuse to put our faith in the God who is, because we are so obsessed with the god we want.