CANON Dagmar Winter, Rector of Hexham, writes:

Churches often define themselves as “family”. What that might mean and how this is perceived by others varies widely. It is, of course, intended to feel warm and mutually supportive. Hopefully, this is the experience of many, both of families at home and church families. However, we know that families can also be oppressive and dysfunctional (like anything that involves human beings) and church families are no different. Meanwhile, the understanding of family in our society is becoming more inclusive.

So it is with this in our minds that we hear the words of Jesus in Mark’s Gospel – Jesus who would have had a different experience again of family in first century Galilee.

When Jesus’ mother and brothers turned up while he was teaching the crowds, he responded: “Who are my mother and my brothers?”

Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said: “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

It’s easy to read this as Jesus’ rejection of family for the sake of a rather negative and sour holy life.

I don’t think this is what is happening here. Rather, Jesus is expanding the understanding of family and giving family, indeed human life, a framework that points to something that is beyond ourselves and our everyday life: a vision of God’s will that challenges us into more radical love than we might imagine, yet also embracing us more deeply.