The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe, Week X-B, 10 June 2018
Genesis 3:9-15///2Corinthians 4:13-5:1///Mark 3:20-35
Just like you, I am also a big fan of the late Anthony Bourdain. In fact, I got the idea for my email address from him, lordmychef. When I heard the news of his death, something at the back of my mind was saying they should not write or report his alleged suicide because I was hoping he was still alive. And now that he is really gone, I just felt it is not right to tell of negative things of him or of anyone still alive especially if he/she is a rock star, like an icon or an idol. Or, like the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Much like the news on the alleged suicide of Bourdain, probably we also ask why did Mark write this event in his gospel? Was it necessary to tell us that even His relatives took shot at Him? Never mind about the allegations by His enemies that He was possessed by the devil but, His relatives and family not understanding Him so well?
Jesus came home with his disciples. Again the crowd gathered, making it impossible for them to even eat. When his relatives heard of this they set out to seize him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.” His mother and his brothers arrived. Standing outside they sent word to him and called him. A crowd seated around him told him, “Your mother and your brothers and your sisters are outside asking for you.” But he said to them in reply, “Who are my m other and my brothers?” And looking around at those seated in the circle he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”(Mk. 3:20-21,31-35)
Mark wrote the first gospel account of Jesus Christ. Matthew and Luke patterned their versions from Mark’s work that collectively they are called “synoptic gospels” from the Greek word synoptikos that means “able to be seen together” due to their similar stories. Of the three evangelists, Mark used a literary style of “sandwiching” one story within another like the other week when Jesus cursed a fig tree with no fruits with the cleansing of the temple. Today, Mark sandwiched the accusation by scribes that Jesus was possessed by evil spirits with the two stories of His relatives calling Him “out of his mind” and later His mother and brothers calling for him. In doing this, Mark wanted to highlight the growing mystery of the person of Jesus. Recall last February before Lent interrupted our Ordinary Time, Jesus was already preaching around Galilee, choosing 12 Apostles to accompany Him in His ministry. Many people followed Him as they wondered at His preaching and powers to exorcise demons (Mk.1:21), to cure the sick like Peter’s mother-in-law (Mk.1:29), cleanse lepers (Mk.1: 40), and heal by forgiving the sins of a paralytic who was lowered from the roof of the house where He was teaching (Mk.2:1). Everybody was wondering, asking who is this Jesus Christ?
In telling us the story of Jesus’ relatives saying “He is out of his mind” by sandwiching the episode of scribes accusing Him of being possessed with the arrival of His mother and brothers who then “sent word to call him”, Mark shows us that it is not really that easy to understand who Jesus really is. His behavior defies human reason to the max. You cannot just take Him for granted like any rock star or icon still living or already dead. By making us see how the relatives and family with their reactions to Jesus, Mark is asking us too, “what do you think of Him really?” Do you sincerely believe He is the Christ?
Along with his literary style of sandwiching, Mark is also fond of portraying negatively those closest to Jesus like His disciples and in this story, His relatives and family. In the original short ending of his gospel, Mark said that on Easter after Magdalene and the other women were instructed by the angel in the empty tomb to inform the 11 about the resurrection, they “fled… seized with trembling and bewilderment. They said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.”(Mk.16:8) Mark always presented negatively the disciples and family of Jesus like in our story today to show the early Christians as well as today that these people who were closest to the Lord had many weaknesses too except for the Blessed Virgin Mary. But, eventually they were able to overcome these negative traits to boldly spread the Good News of salvation everywhere. By showing us the negative side of the family of Jesus, Mark challenges us whether we are admirers of Jesus or His followers? It is always easier to be an admirer of the Lord or of anyone. We admire celebrities for their talents and convictions but we rarely follow and imitate them except perhaps for their fashion. But with Jesus Christ, it is not enough to simply admire Him. Maybe His relatives and family admired Him that they wanted Him to come home to be shielded from further nasty talks and accusations. But Jesus could not be swayed because He is so sure of Himself, of His person and of His mission. And so therefore, at the end of his story, Mark obliges us too to be there inside that crowded house to join the true family of Jesus, to be His mother and brother and sister by “doing the will of His Father.”
In this age of troubled and dysfunctional families with separated parents or solo parents so anxious with children hooked on drugs, or into depression and suicidal tendencies, the family of Jesus offers us with some solace. They were troubled too. But everything can be overcome in Christ Jesus who is our only fulfillment and salvation promised by God on the very day Adam and Eve sinned (first reading). For us to be followers of Christ, St. Paul is telling us in the second reading to always search Jesus in every suffering we are going through especially in our family. When are able to see Jesus even in our troubled family and personal sufferings, we are not “discouraged because although our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.”(2Cor.4:16) Despite our troubled backgrounds, family or personal, we can be followers of Jesus, listening and acting on His words to lovingly serve others, to be forgiving and kind with everyone especially those silently suffering in our family circles. Jesus values each one of us no matter what we think of Him because He is sure of Himself as the Christ, our Savior. Amen.Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ni San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan 3022
Photo by the author at Mt. St. Paul Retreat House, Baguio City, July 2017.
lordmychef.com 