If I were inventing a messianic religion, I would not write the kind of stories about the Messiah we find in Mark 3.20–35. According to that passage, when Jesus’ family heard about what he was doing, they formed a psychological opinion: “He is out of his mind.” Pious, well-educated religion professors made a spiritual diagnosis: “He is possessed by Beelzebub [i.e., the devil]!” When Jesus’ family arrived on the scene, no doubt to take him home and care for him, he brazenly asked, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” In a patriarchal society such as first-century Palestine, Jesus’ rhetorical … Continue reading Was Jesus Insane? Possessed? Opposed to Family Values? (Mark 3.20–35)