Mark 3:32-33, The House Church

Posted on Saturday, November 8, 2014 in Bible Commentary | 0 comments

And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You.” But He answered them, saying, “Who is My mother, or My brothers?”

//The early Church met in homes, before the emerging Church structure, size, and political acceptance began to make dedicated church buildings practical. So here we find Jesus and his followers sitting together in a home (3:19). Mark 3:20 indicates that it was a “multitude” who met that day, so many that they could not share bread as was the custom.

To this home came Jesus’ mother and brothers. But they came not to join in fellowship, but to take Jesus home, because they felt he was “out of his mind.” They were not inside the home, and made no effort to be inside. So Jesus is told that they were waiting outside to see him, and here is his reaction:

And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.”

There is no hint that Jesus ever goes outside to meet his blood family. He prefers his new family, in the exclusive house church.

Did this really happen this way? What happened to the idea of an angel appearing to Mary, telling her she would give birth to the Messiah?

Scholars continue to disagree on just how estranged Jesus was from his family.