Bible Reflections From Scripture Union Volume OneSample

Misunderstood and Rejected
Read Mark 3:20-35

Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.” Mark 3:20 - 21

The opposition towards Jesus’ ministry continued to grow. This time, Jesus’ family and the religious authorities from Jerusalem not only misunderstood Jesus’ ministry but attempted to discredit Him. The family sought to take charge of Jesus by alleging that He was out of His mind while the authorities from Jerusalem charged Him with collaborating with Satan.

This must have been a very painful moment for Jesus. His own family misunderstood Him and the religious authorities accused Him of being used by Satan when He was rightly doing God’s will. Many of God’s faithful servants, from Apostle Paul, Hudson Taylor to John Sung faced the same charge by people who knew and loved them.

In Asia, many of us have faced rejection by family, relatives and friends when we became Christians. We may have lost our jobs, our only source of financial security. We may have lost our identity, and have been labelled as traitors of our community and former religious faith. But in Christ, we found ourselves a permanent family in the Body of Christ. We found our security in Christ, the anchor of our soul. We found our identity as children of God. So, take courage if you have been misunderstood or persecuted by your family and relatives because of your faith in Christ and your service for Him.

Even though misunderstood by His family, Jesus never ceased to love and care for them. Likewise, Christians have a responsibility for their own family members who still have yet to turn to Christ.