Alan Swartz > Alan's Quotes

“Instead of rushing to the family reunion, Jesus asked one of those rabbinical rhetorical questions addressed to listeners then and now: “Who are my mother and my brothers?” The messengers thought they were informing him about his biological family. He used the occasion to redefine the nature of family for those who joined him on the way to a New Community.”
― Cynthia A. Jarvis, Feasting on the Gospels--Mark: A Feasting on the Word Commentary

“The people right in front of him represented that New Community. They had entered into the gospel journey with the strange Nazarene—a journey with multiple implications. Then came a description of the “holy family” that is at once immediate and timeless: “Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother” (v. 35). By the time this specific passage ends, Jesus has transformed the implications of family from biology to spirituality.”
― Cynthia A. Jarvis, Feasting on the Gospels--Mark: A Feasting on the Word Commentary

“Thus, to be “in Christ” is to belong to a new family, made brother or sister to a collection of individuals who have decided to follow the Jesus way as best they can. The people who seek to “do the will of God” for Jesus’ sake are stuck with each other, becoming brothers and sisters, friends and mentors by God’s grace. Just as none of us chooses our biological brothers and sisters, so we must beware of obsessive selectivity in relating to our sisters and brothers in Christ.”
― Cynthia A. Jarvis, Feasting on the Gospels--Mark: A Feasting on the Word Commentary

“The primary emphasis of the text, however, is on doing the will of God. In the context of Mark’s Gospel, this means joining in the actions that herald God’s reign (1:14–15). Whenever the church is participating in God’s mission—housing the homeless, feeding the hungry, setting free the oppressed, working for peace—it is “being family.”
― Cynthia A. Jarvis, Feasting on the Gospels--Mark: A Feasting on the Word Commentary