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Again the crowd gathered,
making it impossible for them even to eat.
It was as though something like a circus, a party, or a mob, had sprung up around Jesus. Those who saw only the chaos had a hard time understanding what it was all about. It was easier to see how such a crowd was disruptive and dangerous. The reason for it could not be understood apart from Jesus himself. And so, from that remove, people were inclined to say, "He is out of his mind" or to go further still and say, "He is possessed by Beelzebul".
When his relatives heard of this they set out to seize him,
for they said, “He is out of his mind.”
The people were suggesting that Jesus was out of his mind so relatives of Jesus, who felt that he was their responsibility, stepped in to try to take matters into their own hands. Jesus, it seemed to them, was not managing his popularity well. Of course it wasn't as though Jesus was actively courting popularity on this scale. He was in fact discouraging those whom he cured to even speak about it. But it was nevertheless not possible that the breaking in of the Kingdom of God and the beginning of the restoration of a fallen world would not be met with some fanfare and enthusiasm. It wasn't the goal. But it was a side effect that Jesus knew he would need to accept as he went about his mission. Being misunderstood and even opposed was just one logical eventuality of this fact.
We remember the places where Jesus tells that we must be willing to put our relationship with him even above that of our own family (see Matthew 10:37) We find reassurance in the fact that Jesus practices what he preaches. There is a lot the happens in the wake of the Kingdom of God that can lead to an obscuring of the person of Jesus and the misunderstanding of his message. Crowds are an inevitable but often problematic phenomenon. Nevertheless, we need to remain near Jesus no matter what others think about it. It is often the case that the followers of Jesus will share in his lot, share in the misunderstandings that he faced, and even the willful misrepresentation and insults that were often hurled at him. A temptation we will face is like that to which his relatives succumbed. We may attempt to try to take over the PR campaign to make it more presentable in the eyes of the world, to take off the hard edges, and hide the unpresentable parts. But there is no way to conform the Kingdom to the world without losing what makes it essentially unique, important, and powerful.
The world would prefer a Kingdom where it never needed to interact with those on the peripheries, the sick and the possessed, or with sinners and tax collectors. But the Kingdom seeks out such people in order that they might be transformed and healed. There is no way to tame the atmosphere of such a Kingdom when that is what is meant to happen inside. It is inevitable that some chaos and a lot of celebration will surround it. So we should make our peace with that and trust that Jesus knows what he is about. If we are maligned for it along with him that is a cause for rejoicing, not reevaluation.
Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven (see Matthew 5:11)
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