Where there is no will there is no way- Tuesday, 3^rd week in ordinary time- Mark 3: 31- 35

The passage of this morning must be seen in the larger context of the rejection of Jesus in Galilee 3:7-6:6. This rejection comes from a number of quarters; the Jewish leaders, the disciples of John the Baptist, the people and even His own family. Yet peppered in all this is also the fact that the rejection of Jesus was not universal for many followed Him making it at times essential to find refuge in a boat or in His house

The rejection from the family of Jesus in His own hometown of Nazareth was written by the sacred writer to give hope to the Gentile followers of Christ who lived around 65 AD and who were unfamiliar with Jewish customs and traditions.  The Gospel of Mark which was written shortly before A.D. 70 in Rome was written at a time of impending persecution, when destruction loomed over Jerusalem. The book aimed to equip such Christians to stand faithful in the face of persecution (Mark13:9-13), while carrying on with the proclamation of the Gospel that was preached by Jesus in Galilee (Mark13:10; 14-19).  

The early Christians, like Jesus and His disciples, may have lost mothers, fathers ,  sisters, brothers, houses and fields for the sake of the Good News (10:28-30) and may have felt themselves under threat from powers and principalities as He was.  So for those people, then and through the ages, there is comfort in the turn from restraint and threat to freedom, courage, and hope, even in the face of the ones who would kill Jesus.

The central saying, “who are my mother and my brothers”, harsh as it may sound about Jesus’ natural family is meant to contrast it with His spiritual family; namely all those who do the will of God. So the family of Jesus is not bound by blood relation but by fidelity to the will of God.