Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
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Pastor John
We were listening to the CD, “A Stranger to Ourselves”, and on it you said Mary and his brothers came to get Jesus when he was preaching, because they (his mother and brothers) thought he was beside himself.
Now the other day, we were reading in the Gospels, and came across that verse but it said his friends thought he was beside himself (Mk. 3:21), and when we later came to the verse about Mary and his brothers coming (Mk. 3:31-35), it did not say anything about Jesus being beside himself.
Now my wife and I were thinking that his friends went to tell his mother that they thought he was beside himself, so they came to see what was going on.
Would you be able to shed a bit more light on this for us please?
Thank you
Jack & Lisa
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Hi there!
Actually, neither the Greek word for “friend” or “family” is in that verse from Mark 3:21. Instead, what is there in the original Greek is an odd phrase that denotes “others who are intimately connected with someone, e.g., family, relatives” (BDAG, p. 756). So, according to the experts in the matter, the translation in Mark 3:21, “friends”, is incorrect.
From this, then, we can see, later in that chapter (3:31-35), that when Mary and Jesus’ siblings came to see him, it probably was part of a broad family effort to get Jesus some professional counseling before he went off the deep end. Understanding that may be the reason Jesus ignored his mother’s request to come out to see her and his other relatives.
Pastor John