Crazy or God

Mark 3:20-35

Jesus came home with his disciples. Again the crowd gathered, making it impossible for them even to eat. When his relatives heard of this they set out to seize him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.” The scribes who had come from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “By the prince of demons he drives out demons.” Summoning them, he began to speak to them in parables, “How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand; that is the end of him. But no one can enter a strong man’s house to plunder his property unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder the house. Amen, I say to you, all sins and all blasphemies that people utter will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin.” For they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.” 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 mother 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.”

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Jesus Christ’s life is recorded throughout Scripture and secular History.  For example, Josephus, a 1st century Jewish historian and Pharisee wrote: “He convened a meeting of the Sanhedrin and brought before them a man named James, the brother of Jesus, who was called the Christ, and certain others.  He accused them of having transgressed the law and delivered them up to be stoned.”  Josephus also wrote: “About this time, there lived Jesus, a wise man.  For He was One who wrought surprising feats and was a Teacher of such people as accept the Truth gladly.  He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks.  When Pilate, upon hearing Him accused by men of the highest standing among us, had condemned Him to be crucified, those who had in the first place come to love Him did not give up their affection for Him.  For the Prophets of God had prophesied these and countless other marvelous things about Him.  And the tribe of Christians, so called after Him, has still to this day not disappeared.”  Tacticus, a Roman historian wrote in 115 A.D.: “Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the population.  Christ, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our Procurators, Pontius Pilate, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke-out not only in Judea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome.  Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty: then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind.”  And, so, we come to the Gospel Reading here.  Many people during Jesus’ three (3) year Ministry on Earth thought that He was crazy or possessed – even some of His own Family and Neighbors felt that way.  Still, others saw Him as the promised Messiah – as the Savior of the world.  In the famous words of Tom Callaghan Sr. (played by Brian Dennehy) in the movie, “Tommy Boy”, “There ain’t no third direction.”  Jesus was either crazy or He was God.  I’ve met a few crazy people in my life – and at least a few possessed people.  Jesus was never recorded as acting like any of them.  When I think of someone acting crazy, I am reminded of another scene in “Tommy Boy” when Tommy Callaghan Jr. (played by Chris Farley) lights a model car on fire during a sales pitch.  Now, that’s a bit crazy.  Jesus continues to bring us a Message of love and hope and there’s nothing crazy about that.  The crazy part would be in not accepting His invitation.