The Twisted Mind
And when His own people heard of this, they went out to take custody of Him, for they were saying, “He has lost His senses.” Mark 3:21
Lost His Senses – Jesus was crazy. That is the conclusion of all those who knew Him since childhood. He said things that no one could believe. He did things that created skepticism. He just didn’t fit in. He wasn’t socially adaptable. Even His mother and brothers were embarrassed by His words and deeds. So, they determined to reign Him in, to get control over this son who was clearly deranged. Whenever a man or woman lives entirely according to the will of God, they will be accused of possessing a twisted mind. Why? Because the way of the Father is radically different from our human expectations. If people don’t think of you as just a little crazy, maybe you haven’t really adopted the life of the Son.
Mark uses the Greek term exeste. Literally, they said Jesus was “moved out of place.” In the New Testament, this word always implies “being out of your mind.” Paul uses the word in 2 Corinthians 5:13 in opposition to “being of sound mind.” Apparently, if you are going to follow Jesus, you will appear to be insane. And why wouldn’t you? Jesus says that the world will hate you. He tells you that you can expect persecution. He says that those with poverty of spirit or unquenchable hunger are most blessed. He calls you to sacrifice yourself for your enemies. He demands absolute submission. He denies the value of reward in this life. He suggests that ethics is a matter of motivation. He asks you to come and die with Him. That is insanity. No human being in his right mind would follow a man like this – unless – what He says is true. And then, of course, all the rest of humanity will think that anyone who follows Him is just as crazy as He is.
A long time ago we discovered that John’s gospel never speaks of belief in Jesus. John always uses the verb (believing), not the noun (belief) and he couples it with the preposition en (into). In other words, believing into Jesus is really the action of being transported from one view of the world to another view of reality. It is moving house from the world that human beings think they own and control to a world that is governed by God. John’s idea of moving from one world to another is quite a bit like Mark’s comment on being out of your mind. Following Jesus moves you out of the common human arena where you are judged sane by your accommodation into what human beings expect. Now you live on God’s terms, and from the perspective of human life, you have gone mad. You believe God answers prayer. You think sacrifice is a good thing. You are content with what God brings into your life. You take care of those who would harm you. You give without expecting a return. You don’t take advantage of situations and people. So, the world shakes its head and says, “Well, he’s a nice guy, but he must be crazy. He’ll never make it in this world.”
And you don’t care.
If you don’t have a twisted mind, maybe you haven’t moved house. Think about it.
