Mark's Sandwiches 1.2

Here is an interesting example of one of Mark's sandwiches. Here the story of Jesus' being rejected by his family has been split into 2 by the story of rejection by some of the Jewish leaders:

Mark 3:20 Now Jesus went home, and a crowd gathered so that they were not able to eat. 3:21 When his family heard this they went out to restrain him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”

3:22 The experts in the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and, “By the ruler of demons he casts out demons.” 3:23 So he called them and spoke to them in parables: “How can Satan cast out Satan? 3:24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom will not be able to stand. 3:25 If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 3:26 And if Satan rises against himself and is divided, he is not able to stand and his end has come. 3:27 But no one is able to enter a strong man’s house and steal his property unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can thoroughly plunder his house. 3:28 I tell you the truth, people will be forgiven for all sins, even all the blasphemies they utter. 3:29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, but is guilty of an eternal sin” 3:30 (because they said, “He has an unclean spirit”).

3:31 Then Jesus’ mother and his brothers came. Standing outside, they sent word to him, to summon him. 3:32 A crowd was sitting around him and they said to him, “Look, your mother and your brothers are outside looking for you.” 3:33 He answered them and said, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 3:34 And looking at those who were sitting around him in a circle, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 3:35 For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”

The two stories mutually interpret each other. Both groups of people, the experts of the law and Jesus' family, want to divert Jesus from his mission. The experts in the law try to publically brand him as an outcast to stop him; his family wants to restrain him. The experts of the law try to say that he is demon possessed; his family thinks he is crazy. Both groups have rejected his mission and so Jesus has parted ways with them as well. For those who would try to stop him or associate him with demons, be they the experts in the law or his closest kin, they are committing the equivalent of blasphemy and doing the work of satan.

As a side note here, and very strangely, Jesus' own mother is grouped in with the rest of his family that seeks to restrain him.