What does Mark 3:35 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Those who do God"s will, not just those who profess discipleship, constitute Jesus" spiritual family. The terms "brother and sister and mother" are figurative. "Father" is absent because Jesus had only one spiritual Father. His spiritual mothers were those believing female disciples who sustained Him in motherly ways. Jesus claimed the authority to redefine motherhood and sibling relationships according to doing God"s will rather than blood lineage (cf. Mark 6:1-6). ^[1] [source]

This pericope should be a great encouragement to any disciple who is suffering persecution for his or her faith. Such disciples were Mark"s original readers. Some disciples suffer broken family relationships and even ostracism because of their commitment to do God"s will. Some experience intense opposition from unbelievers who try to make their good works look bad. One reward for such sacrifices is intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. [source][source]

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Context Summary

The Pharisees circulated this infamous charge-not because they believed it, but to satisfy the questions that were being asked on all sides. What they affirmed they knew to be untrue; but for selfish reasons they would not confess what they really thought. Such denial of truth is a deadly and unpardonable sin, because it injures the sensitiveness of conscience and produces moral death.

Family ties, Mark 3:31-35. The family of Jesus needed to be taught, though with the utmost delicacy, that they must not attempt to control His public ministry. All who love God and do His will are welcomed into the divine family circle and become blood relations of the Son of God.

The sower, Mark 4:1-9. Note the perils of the hearer, that you may guard against the waste of precious seed. There is a grave peril in the effect of light, fanciful, wandering thoughts. There is great peril also in a mere emotional response-the "straightway springing up" which has no root, because the heart is hard. There is danger lest the cares of the poor, the riches of the wealthy, and the too eager pursuit of things by other classes may drain away the strength of the soul, so that the Word of God shall be a slender stalk, without an ear or fruit. It is not enough to hear the Word, we must accept it and bear fruit; otherwise the plowing, sowing, and all the operations of nature are in vain. Live up to what you know. Obedience is the key to understanding. [source]

Chapter Summary: Mark 3

¹  Jesus heals the withered hand,
¹⁰  and many other infirmities;
¹¹  rebukes the unclean spirit;
¹³  chooses his twelve apostles;
²²  convinces the blasphemy of casting out demons by Beelzebub;
³¹  and shows who are his brother, sister, and mother