Day 8 - What were you expecting?
Mark 3:20-35
Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.” And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.”
So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house. Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.” He said this because they were saying, “He has an impure spirit.”
Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.” “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked. 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.”
Carol Macdonald writes:
I am struck in this passage by the three very different reactions to the amazing things Jesus had been saying and doing. The crowds flocked to his message of hope and healing. His family were concerned for his well-being. The teachers of the law didn’t understand it and felt threatened by him. They had been waiting and praying for a Messiah, but this wasn’t the one they had expected. They were so taken aback by this that they thought it was demonic.
I wonder what you are expecting when you pray. Are you willing and ready for Jesus to do things in your life that are perhaps inconvenient or unexpected?