An Unsavoury Jesus?

Luke 2:45-50 When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Jesus were astonished at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were overwhelmed. His mother said to him, "Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously." But he replied, "Why were you looking for me? Didn't you know that I must be in my Father's house?" Yet his parents did not understand the remark he made to them.

John 2:3-5 When the wine ran out, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no wine left." Jesus replied, "Woman, why are you saying this to me? My time has not yet come." His mother told the servants, "Whatever he tells you, do it."

Mar 3:21-22 When his family heard this they went out to restrain him, for they said, "He is out of his mind." 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."

Mar 3:31-4 Jesus' mother and his brothers came. Standing outside, they sent word to him, to summon him. A crowd was sitting around him and they said to him, "Look, your mother and your brothers are outside looking for you." He answered them and said, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" And looking at those who were sitting around him in a circle, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers!

What are we to make of these incidents which portray Jesus in a less than understanding light? It will not do to simply assert that he was a perfect, sinless man and therefore these passages can be explained away. If we look carefully at the logicality of these texts we may arrive at a more congenial conclusion.

The incident in the Temple, when Jesus was twelve, doesnt bear the hallmarks of historicity. Jesus comes across as some sort of wunderkind, a child prodigy. If he was, then dismissing his parents out of hand would be true to form. So would the precocious debating with the Temples intellectuals. If this scenario was true, I would have expected Joseph to give him a good slap for being rude to his parents. However, as I said, it doesnt have the hallmarks of history. In the first instance, Joseph and Mary now have other children besides Jesus. One would assume that they made sure all were accounted for before they made the return journey back to Nazareth. Even if he subsequently disappeared, they wouldnt leave it for over a day to turn back. Similarly one couldnt imagine Jesus debating for three days in the Temple. What were the Temple authorities doing all this time, letting a child just wander around? And what of Jesus sense of causing his parents to worry. Did he have absolutely no idea or did he not care? His response to their anxiety, "Why were you looking for me? Didn't you know that I must be in my Father's house?" is a meaningless comment. They looked for him because he was their child. What does he mean when he says he must be in his Fathers house? By itself it explains nothing. One would have thought, had he said this, his parents would continue to ask questions until they understood what he meant. In fact, his comment only make sense to the reader of the gospel who knows the whole story. This incident is pivotal, because it is one of only two references to Jesus childhood. The other is also in Luke: 1

Luke 2:40 And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favour of God was upon him. This latter statement is without foundation. Luke has no evidence about the boys childhood and development. It is clearly a projection into the past based on knowledge of Jesus adult personality. The premise is that he must have been a wonderful child if he was such a wonderful adult. So what options do we have concerning the Temple incident? I suggest one either accepts it as wholly true, and therefore Jesus is a precocious brat who doesnt concern himself with his parents. Or we make a guess that there was an incident but it has been over-theologised by Luke. Perhaps Jesus did dawdle in the Temple listening to the rabbinic debates, but went home with his parents. There are other indications that would lend support to this explanation. As it stands this passage is the evangelist creating a picture of a young Jesus who is more spiritual than other children of his age. A conclusion that Jesus is normal for a child of his age is reinforced by his reception, as an adult, when he returns to Nazareth to preach in the synagogue. He is not hailed as a wunderkind. His old neighbours regard him as just Josephs son. (Lk 4:22)., or the carpenter (Mk 6:3), in other words as perfectly ordinary. They dont say its Marys weirdo kid returned, or words to that effect. They only notice that Jesus has completely changed is when he starts preaching.

Apart from the crucifixion, John only mentions Jesus mother twice. In John 2:1, the wedding at Cana and John 2:12, when she and his brothers and disciples accompany him to Capernaum. John is not interested in the human Jesus, only the Word and the Cosmic Christ. He makes no reference to the family tensions that surface in the other gospels. The earlier mention is when Jesus changes water to wine at a wedding. Running out of wine at a wedding represents an enormous faux pas. Someone or some family had agreed to provide the wine as part of the wedding celebrations in which virtually the whole community would be involved. Had it been discovered, those responsible would have been deeply shamed. Mary asks Jesus to rescue the situation. It may be that his family had agreed to organise the wine, which would have made her anxiety all the more understandable. Nevertheless, Jesus does intervene, albeit reluctantly. His reply to his mother suggests annoyance or anger or impatience. Biblical commentators have explained this in various ways. I suggest the easiest explanation is connected to his earlier temptations. His first temptation is to turn a stone into bread and this he firmly rejects. What he has decided against is the use of magic as a method for his mission. He realizes that the use of magic entails greater and greater tricks in order to impress. Ultimately it is a self-defeating process. His anger at his mother is that she is asking for him to indulge in magic, an idea he had earlier rejected. However he does as she asks to save the unknown benefactor from overwhelming shame. *For those who have a non-supernatural view of Christ, (a position that has merits), some alternative explanation is necessary. I would suggest that Mary either didnt know or couldnt remember where the wine had been stored. She goes to Jesus to ask him to sort it out. He is annoyed that she isnt taking responsibility for her role at the wedding, but reluctantly tells the servants where the wine can be found. His comment, My time has not yet come, makes no sense given its context. I would surmise it is a later insertion into the story. The Synoptics have Jesus developing a clearer understanding of his role over time. John has Jesus as a fully blown Cosmic Christ from the very beginning. The comment obviously refers to his death some years hence, and so is for the readers benefit, rather than an actual remark. It is also worth noting that John uses this example of magic as his first sign, which really doesnt fit in with Jesus methodology. One wonders what Jesus would have said if he had read Johns Gospel. 2

We have already noted that when Jesus returned to Nazareth he was initially regarded as just the carpenter or carpenters son who had left some time ago. It was only once he started preaching that the synagogue congregation realized that this was a changed Jesus. In the end, Jesus too realizes that his relationship with his home community has completely changed: Then Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honour except in his hometown, and among his relatives, and in his own house." Mark 6:4 He must have said this with a sense of disappointment, frustration and anger. I think this is the key to understanding his attitude to his relatives when they try to get near him. In Mark 3:21-22, his family consider him out of his mind. This is in the context of experts from Jerusalem who accuse him of being in league with Beelzebul. It must have been neigh on impossible for his mother and siblings to switch from Jesus as carpenter, son and brother, to Jesus who casts out demons and preaches with authority. He was no longer the person they had grown up with. His family, influenced no doubt by the experts, conclude that Jesus must be out of his mind, which meant possessed by a demon. He needed to be rescued from himself and taken home before he causes trouble and the authorities intervene. In Mark 3:31-34, he continues to express his disappointment and frustration. His mother and brothers are those who accept his role and mission. If his family continue to see only a mad carpenter, then they can never meet the real Jesus. Not only that, but they will be missing out on his message of salvation. Continued attempts to restrain him must inevitable lead to his frustration and anger. Luke expresses it succinctly: But he replied to them, "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it." Luke 8:21. In fact, Jesus spells out the consequences of following him in no uncertain terms: Mat 10:34-38 Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughterin-law against her mother-in-law, and a man's enemies will be the members of his household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Here he is talking from his own experience, as well as warning of the traumas for those who follow him. To promote the Kingdom is to provoke those in authority who oppose it, as well as family members who refuse to understand. Jesus is frustrated by his alienation from his family and their denial of his mission. Life will indeed be rough.

Conclusion
There is no conclusion. You will believe what you believe. My suggestions on how to understand the texts may or may not make sense. However, it made me try to understand the evidence, even if I too have not yet reached a complete conclusion.