ÿþ<HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>Holy Trinity Reformed Evangelical Church</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> <!-- p {text-indent: .25in} --> </style> </HEAD> <BODY BGCOLOR="snow" TEXT="saddlebrown" LINK="saddlebrown" VLINK="saddlebrown" ALINK="saddlebrown"> <H1 ALIGN="CENTER"<b>H&nbsp;&nbsp; o&nbsp;&nbsp; l&nbsp;&nbsp; y&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; T&nbsp;&nbsp; r&nbsp;&nbsp; i&nbsp;&nbsp; n&nbsp;&nbsp; i&nbsp;&nbsp; t&nbsp;&nbsp; y</b></H1> <CENTER> <HR SIZE=4 WIDTH="100%" ALIGN=CENTER> <IMG SRC="churchgreen.jpg" HEIGHT="85" WIDTH="125" ALT="redorange"> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <IMG SRC="river.jpg" HEIGHT="85" WIDTH="125" ALT="river"> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <IMG SRC="dtgreenville.jpg" HEIGHT="85" WIDTH="125" ALT="dtgreenville"> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <IMG SRC="eppingforest.jpg" HEIGHT="85" WIDTH="125" ALT="eppingforest"> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <IMG SRC="earth.jpg" HEIGHT="85" WIDTH="125" ALT="earth"> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <IMG SRC="eye.jpg" HEIGHT="85" WIDTH="125" ALT="eye"> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <IMG SRC="churchgreen.jpg" HEIGHT="85" WIDTH="125" ALT="redorange"> </CENTER> <HR SIZE=4 WIDTH="100%" ALIGN=CENTER> <br> <center> <u> <a href="http://holytrinityreformed.com/New Church.html" title="home" >new church</a> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="http://holytrinityreformed.com/worship.html" title="worship" >worship</a> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="http://holytrinityreformed.com/creeds.html" title="creeds" >creeds</a> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="http://holytrinityreformed.com/links.html" title="links" >links</a> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="http://holytrinityreformed.com/contact.html" title="Contact us" >contact us</a> </u> </center> <br> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="saddlebrown"><CENTER> MARY'S UNBELIEF</FONT> <br> <br> <center><table cellpadding="15" cellspacing="0" border="0" width="900"> <tr><td align="right" valign="top" width="200"> <IMG SRC="churchgreen.jpg" HEIGHT="905" WIDTH="150" ALT="churchgreen"> <td align="left" valign="top" width="500"> <FONT SIZE="5">Mary's Unbelief</FONT SIZE><BR> By John Barach<BR> <p>Mark 3:20-35 is one of Mark s typical sandwiches, in which a story starts, gets interrupted by a second story which relates to it in some way, and then finally comes to its conclusion. Here, we are told that, having heard about Jesus behavior, some of  His own people come to seize him, saying,  He is out of his mind (3:20-21). Then we have the second story, Jesus confrontation with the scribes from Jerusalem who claim that he casts out demons by the ruler of the demons (3:22-30). Finally, we return to the first story, when Jesus brothers and mother come and send for Jesus and when Jesus identifies those who are doing God s will by sitting around him as his brother and sister and mother (3:31-35). <p>That structure is obvious even in an English translation. But a look at the Greek reveals an interesting play on words. At the beginning, when Jesus  own people say that he is  out of his mind (3:21), the word used literally (or, rather, etymologically) means  standing outside. (Perhaps that s roughly equivalent to our English expression  beside himself. ) But at the end of the story, Jesus  own people turn out to be his brothers and mother, who come and,  standing outside, call him (3:31; cf. 3:32, which stresses again that they are  outside ). <p>So Jesus  own people think Jesus is the one  standing outside (in the sense of  crazy ). But Jesus family members turn out to be the ones literally  standing outside, while Jesus identifies those who are sitting inside as his true family, those who, in obedience to God s will, are  sitting around him (3:32, 34). To be his true family  his true mother and brothers  his natural mother and brothers must come inside instead of calling him out. <p>Jesus does indeed belong with his family. But at this point, in spite of their natural relationship with Jesus, Mary and his brothers are not that family. They are seeking to take him away from the ones who sit around him in obedience to God, away from the ones he identifies as his mother and brothers and sisters, in order to take him into their protective custody, as if Jesus would be safe with them instead of they themselves being safe with him. And therefore, though they did later trust in Jesus, they are acting at this moment in unbelief. For Mary to become Jesus  mother and brother and sister now, she must join those who are with Jesus; she must come inside. Otherwise, she will be left outside his family. <p>Furthermore, in a sandwich story, the middle story also relates to the story that frames it. And so here it is not just the frame story that involves standing (and sitting). In 3:24-25, Jesus says that a divided kingdom or a divided household cannot  stand. And in 3:26, he speaks of  the satan as  standing up against himself. <p>The reference to the divided household that doesn t  stand might resonate with the frame story: Jesus natural household won t stand if his mother and brothers are divided against Jesus. While Mary and Jesus brothers are not saying, with the scribes from Jerusalem, that Jesus is in league with the ruler of the demons, they are still opposed to him, still acting in unbelief, and therefore still in danger. Their natural family relationship to Jesus will not keep them safe. Mary is not saved through giving birth to Jesus, and she is not blessed apart from her faith. If Mary and Jesus brothers continue to  stand outside instead of  sitting around him, then their household won t stay standing. <p>The repetition of the word  stand, and especially of words having to do with  standing outside, sets up this question: Who is really  standing outside ? If Jesus family thinks Jesus is  standing outside in the sense of being insane, then their household won t  stand. And if you think Jesus is  standing outside in that sense, then you end up  standing outside yourself, here literally but, as Jesus words make clear, also in a deeper sense. <p>The family is sitting inside, sitting around Jesus and with Jesus. While not everyone has to be crowded into the room where Jesus is sitting, everyone must be with him and not against him. That s God s will. Only Jesus family is safe, only the mother and brothers and sisters who stick with him. You d have to be insane to be  standing outside. <br> <br>Biblical Horizons <br>P.O. Box 1096 <br>Niceville, FL 32588 <br>850-897-5299 <br> <a target="_blank" href="http://www.biblicalhorizons.com">Biblical Horizons Website</a> <br> <a target="_blank" href="http://biblicalhorizons.wordpress.com/2009/12/09/marys-unbelief/">Biblical Horizons Blog</a> <br> <a target="_blank" href="http://barach.us/">John Barach's Blog</a> </td> <td <td align="left" valign="top" width="200"> <IMG SRC="tableset.jpg" HEIGHT="150" WIDTH="190" ALT="table"> <br> <FONT SIZE="4">Christ came into the world to be the Life of the world. Holy Trinity Church exists to bring that same life to Greenville, South Carolina.</FONT> <br> Location:<br> We meet at Zoar United Methodist Church at 1005 Hwy 357 in Greer, SC. <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Zoar+United+Methodist+Church,+Greer,+SC&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=42.495706,92.724609&ie=UTF8&z=16&iwloc=r1" title="map" >Here is a map</a> of where we meet. <br> <br> <b>Suggested Resources</b> <br> <br><a target="_blank" href="http://www.holytrinityreformed.com/Blessed Mary Ever Virgin.html">Blessed Mary Ever Virgin</a> <br> <br><a target="_blank" href="http://www.holytrinityreformed.com/More Thoughts on BMEV.htm">More Thoughts on BMEV</a> <br> <br><a target="_blank" href="http://www.holytrinityreformed.com/Protestants and BMEV.htm">Protestants and BMEV</a> <br> <br><a target="_blank" href="http://www.holytrinityreformed.com/The Impending Distress.htm">The Impending Distress and Enforced Celibacy</a> <br> <br><a target="_blank" href="http://www.canonpress.org/store/pc/showsearchresults.asp?pageStyle=H&resultCnt=9&keyword=shape+of+sola+scriptura">The Shape of Sola Scriptura</a> <br> <br><a target="_blank" href="http://www.cmfnow.com/dvd-areromancatholicsmembersofthenewcovenant.aspx">Are Roman Catholics Members of the New Covenant? (Debate)</a> <br><a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/Examination-Council-Trent-Part-I/dp/057003213X">Examination of the Council of Trent</a> <br> <br><a target="_blank" href="http://www.exodusbooks.com/details.aspx?id=3343">Putting the Reformation Solas in Perspective</a> <br> <br><a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1592446787/103-4416146-6354253?v=glance&n=2 83155">The Principle of Protestantism</a> <br> <br><a target="_blank" href="http://www.athanasiuspress.org/inventory.html?invid=71">The Liturgy Trap</a> <br> <br><a target="_blank" href="http://www.reformed.org/misc/hodge_catholic.html">Is Rome a Part of the Visible Church?</a> <br> <br><a target="_blank" href="http://www.faithtacoma.org/sermons/Romancath/roman.html">Robert Rayburn on Roman Catholicism</a> </table></center> </BODY> </HTML>