2 Samuel 1:1-4, 11-12, 19, 23-27; Psalm 80; Mark 3: 20-21
In his grief over the death of Saul and Jonathan, David tears his clothes and repeats three times: How the mighty have fallen! Of Jonathan, “beloved and lovely,” he proclaims in his distress: “My brother Jonathan, greatly beloved were you to me; your love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.” This is a statement about profound and tender friendship, not homosexuality. Jonathan is his brother and Jesus in the gospel will say that all of us who are disciples are his brothers and sisters and even his mother. We will not get part two of this passage however, because Sunday and so many feasts disrupt the continuous reading. All we hear is that Jesus’ family comes to restrain him because people were saying he was out of his mind.
Suppose we never heard part two, when Jesus points to those who are listening and says they are his new family. If you were Jesus, how would you feel to be so outcast, mistrusted by your own? If you were his family, his mother, how would you feel about his reputation? How are your own family relationships? Any that need reconciliation? Any that need new respect? Pray for your blood family and all your friends who are sister and brother to you.
Thank you for giving us friends, loving God. Deepen our relationships with those close to us, and open our hearts, softened, to all disciples and to all your children.