Week 6 of My Reflections in the Gospel of Mark.

Ever been asked, “Can we step outside?”  

I could be wrong, but it usually doesn’t mean good news is on the way. Whether it’s a harmless word that someone needs to get off their chest or an invitation to brawl in the back alley, I’m not interested. I envision conversations that don’t feel right or discussions that are more divisive than supportive. 

The request to “step outside,” unless it’s to soak up the sun, can feel pretty shady.

Outside is where malcontents grumble in the shadows. They’re more interested in exclusion than inclusion, scattering than gathering. The longer you stay outside the more you become disconnected from truth. The ground outside is the tilled soil for growing conspiracies and developing plots.

From the early chapters of Mark we see Jesus interact with a variety of people, and on more than one occasion, some in that crowd are drawn to the outside.

After Jesus heals the man with the withered hand, Mark says, “the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.” — Mark 3:6

It appears Jesus had invaded their turf and disrupted their way of life. Shuffling their sandals in the dust outside the synagogue, the religious leaders conspire to kill the Rabbi.

In Mark’s fast-paced style, we move through what seems like a long day in Galilee. At some point, a crowd has gathered around Jesus. They are sick and hungry. Hearing about Jesus from afar, they squeeze inside the house he was visiting.

They weren’t the only ones. Jesus’ family also has arrived. But unlike like the crowd, they’re not present for Jesus’ teaching. Instead, they have come to “take charge” of him — to restrain him. In their minds, he is out of his. He’s gone crazy. He has been challenging the establishment, making claims of a new kingdom and speaking with authority about the scriptures. If they could seize him then maybe they could protect him — and possibly preserve their own reputation.

Mark mentions their arrival: “Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, ‘Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.’ ” — Mark 3:31

Unlike the friends in Mark 2 who dig a hole in the roof of a crowded house to get to Jesus, his family remains outside. 

On the inside, Jesus looks at the crowd sitting around him. Would they not give him a few minutes to check on his mother? Allow her to check on him? Of course they would. Few relationships are revered more at this time and in this culture than the immediate family. But he doesn’t go. Instead, he looks around the room and announces that the crowd in front of him was his family.

Once again, Jesus behaves in a way that upends a structure in their society. And once again, those who are disturbed by this behavior are standing outside, grumbling in the shadows.

Don’t be mistaken: Jesus loved his mother and his brothers. To assume this story is about Jesus merely transferring his family allegiance is to ignore the Son who cares for his mother while also dying on a cross.

But it must be said that Jesus is continuing to build his kingdom. And, one of the ways he does that is by gathering his Father’s family. As the Good Shepherd, he is gathering the sheep inside the pen. Those standing on the outside prefer the status quo. And the status quo is scattered sheep.

It also must be said that the stories of those on the outside, both the plotting Pharisees and the frustrated family, are told in Matthew 12 with even greater detail.

In both Matthew and Mark, Jesus compares what he is doing to a thief who has to bind up a strong man to carry off his possessions. The idea is that Jesus, the Deliverer, has to bind up the powers of darkness and the empires and structures of the world to set the Father’s children free.

In Matthew, Jesus associates what he is doing with those who are with him.

Jesus says, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” — Matthew 12:30

The kingdoms of this world and the power of darkness only perpetuate the scattering. But those who are with Jesus will resist the kingdoms of this world for the purpose of gathering God’s children. The building of his kingdom includes the gathering of his family: the hungry, the sick, the weak, and the poor. 

This might be the reminder we need for today. If we are more concerned with drawing lines and building fences in our churches and in our communities than we are with dismantling walls, then we are in the business of scattering — a business that opposes Christ. 

And it’s precisely the kind of business conducted by those standing on the outside, grumbling in the shadows.

To follow the way of Jesus is to go inside the house, to gather as he is gathering, and rejoice when he looks around the room and calls us family.