Does Mark 3:21 refer to "kinsfolks," "friends," "Jesus' people/disciples," "scribes"?

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psycheives

Puritan Board Freshman
Does Mark 3:21 really refer to Jesus' family? His mother and brothers? His people/disciples/crowd? Friends? Or the Scribes and Pharisees?

The Greek says: 21 καὶ ἀκούσαντες οἱ παρʼ αὐτοῦ ἐξῆλθον κρατῆσαι αὐτόν, ἔλεγον γὰρ ὅτι ἐξέστη. (NA27/TR)

Mk 3:21 And when his kinsfolks heard of it..." (GNV)
Mk 3:21 And when his friends heard of it..."(KJV)
Mk 3:21 When His own people heard of this..." (NASB/NKJV) --- This seems a very good rendering considering the context mentions the crowd of disciples.
Mk 3:21 And when his family heard it..."(ESV/NIV)

The Greek from D = Codex Bezae & W = Washingtonianus:
21 και οτε ηκουσαν περι αυτου · οι γραμματειν και οι λοιποι εξηλθον κρατησαι σαι αυτον · ελεγον γαρ οτι εξεσταται αυτους
When the scribes and the rest heard of it, they came to apprehend him; for they said, that he made men mad.

Part of the difficulty in reading this as "Mary and His brothers" is that Mary calling Jesus "mad," "insane" or "our of his mind" does not match her belief in Him. Mary knew Jesus was the Son of God/my Lord/Isaiah’s Servant/would save people from their sins/who did miracles:

- Mary knew Jesus was the Son of God, to reign on the throne of David and the house of Jacob. Lk 1:28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” ‎‎29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. ‎‎30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. ‎‎31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. ‎‎32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, ‎‎33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
- Lk 1:35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.
- Elizabeth told Mary that her baby was “my Lord.” Lk 1:41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, ‎‎42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! ‎‎43 And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
- ‎‎Mary’s Song References Isaiah 41, 44: Lk 1:46 And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, ‎‎47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, ‎‎48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; ‎‎49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. ‎‎50 And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. ‎‎51 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; ‎‎52 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; ‎‎53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. ‎‎54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, ‎‎55 as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”
- Joseph knew the child would save people from sins: Mt 1:20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ‎‎21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
- Zechariah’s Prophecy: Lk 1:67 And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying, ‎‎68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people ‎‎69 and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, ‎‎70 as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, ‎‎71 that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; ‎‎72 to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, ‎‎73 the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us ‎‎74 that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, ‎‎75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. ‎‎76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, ‎‎77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, ‎‎78 because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high ‎‎79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
-‎‎Mary Knew Jesus Could Do Miracles: Jn 2:3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” ‎‎4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” ‎‎5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”


Additionally, "those with him" are described in the context as only being the crowd (v20) - so many that they could not eat. No family are mentioned. It also says "he went home" and only the crowd are mentioned. In v31, the family are portrayed arriving from the "outside" and calling him. So they are not inside the home. Only Jesus and the crowd are inside. The family cannot get inside because of the crowd, so they call to him. Notice they only called or sent for him. They did not criticize him.
 
I would say that the v21 in question should be read in full context, and particularly as part of the introductory phrasing of the periscope which extends to the end of the ch3. In the broader context of Mark, the whirlwind introduction of Jesus ministry is past (ch1), the Jewish leadership has identified Jesus as a significant threat (ch2-3:6), yet without their approval Jesus continues to make waves and in answer to their organized hostility (3:6) he organizes his own proto-kingdom administration (vv13-19).

Viewed in this light, the loose or ambiguous term "his people" may be understood in a vague and generic way (without insisting there cannot be a more precise referent). We might think of them as those who are ostensibly "on his side."

Notice the collective confusion and hostility of various groups mentioned, and certain efforts at control of the situation and Jesus at its center:

1) the multitude, a kind of undifferentiated mass of careless curiosity-seekers, the needy-sick, and spiritually hungry.
2) his people, who try to exercise some form of control over the chaos, and focus on Jesus as a kind of "instigator" or the magnetic eye of the swirling storm of humanity tightening around him; their explanation has a humanistic plausibility and a practicality about it. These people could be anyone from his disciples (whose instincts of the need of the hour are often wrong, especially when they don't ask Jesus first, but act on their own); or perhaps these were "his people" of his current hometown (Capernaum, presumably) responsible for local control and police and care for citizens (cf. 6:1,4).
3) the scribes, representing the elites, who have a contrary and more sinister explanation for the phenomenon of Jesus and the pandemonium surrounding him.
4) his family explicitly, who try to exert control over him perhaps as some kind of "compassionate intervention;" but there is no strong reason to suppose they are the party offering the original "out of his mind" assessment.

But Jesus is never "out of control" of his situation. The situation around Jesus may appear greatly disturbed looked at from every other vantage point except for the eye of the storm. But he is unruffled. He is NOT subject to anyone's control, but he imposes control on whatever disturbance he feels necessary to quell (see the end of ch4).

King Jesus never allows that he is under the control of anyone. He refuses to acknowledge the present crop of Stewards of Israel, and makes no alliances with any parties as an angle to his throne, not even with those (e.g. friends, family, disciples) who might have for various reasons been otherwise considered "on his side." Subjects must be subject.

Perhaps these thoughts are helpful.
 
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