Aneel Aranha's video: January 23 2021 - Strange Words- A Reflection on Mark 3:20-21

Jesus said the strangest things. How are we to understand him? https://youtu.be/S_fu4fUQGQQ Scripture Reading: Mark 3:20-21 And the crowd came together again so that they could not even eat. When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, "He has gone out of his mind." Reflection: As Jesus goes about the countryside, preaching and teaching and healing the sick, he becomes very popular. So popular that he is always besieged by crowds who do not even allow him to eat in peace. They long to hear him speak because he spoke like nobody they had heard before. However, not everyone was as enamored by him. Jesus' words were so strange to them; they complained to his family that he had gone out of his mind. So, they went out to "restrain him." Why? Because at times, Jesus spoke strangely. He talked about repentance, forgiveness, and love, which his listeners could understand. But he also said things like: "Sell your cloak to buy a sword" (see Luke 22:36); "Hate your father and mother" (see Luke 14:26); "Eat my flesh and drink my blood" (see John 6:54). Don't you find these things he said weird? So, if WE feel this way, little wonder then that people thought he was out of his mind. But, quite obviously, he wasn't. So, how do we understand what Jesus said? Through the Holy Spirit. Shortly before Jesus died, he promised us the Holy Spirit. "The Advocate," he said, "the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you (John 14:26). Before that, in the same passage, Jesus said, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him because he abides with you, and he will be in you" (John14:15-17). The Holy Spirit abides in us to help us in many ways. Understanding the word of God is one of them. But we also need to have the right relationship with the Word, who is Jesus. The more we read Scripture, the more we will know Jesus and understand the things he says. The words of Jesus lead us towards our salvation on a path of repentance, forgiveness, and love. The path could be narrow and challenging, but the destination is always God's kingdom and not an earthly kingdom. Without this knowledge and wisdom, there is a danger we will misunderstand, misquote, and even misuse Scripture to prove a point. And we have done this so often. Haven't we?