Only a “madman” could do what Jesus did. Mk. 3:20-21

This very short gospel has a total logic, if we look at the family culture of Palestine in the time of Jesus. The first thing each member of the clan had to learn was to preserve and increase the honorability of the group. Jesus was skipping that tradition. He had not been faithful to the religion of his parents; He preached things that He had not heard in his environment and went around doing “magic” in the neighboring towns. He had a group of followers who did not inspire confidence. His relatives feared that he would endanger everyone’s honor; only a “madman” could do what Jesus did. And time proved them right; The worst that could happen was that the Romans would kill you on the cross. Jesus, knowing all this, went ahead and did not conform to their interests.