Understanding Jesus!

Saturday, January 24, 2026

2 Sam 1:1-4, 11-12, 19, 23-27; Mk 3:20-21

Today’s Gospel highlights the struggles in understanding Jesus. 

The text presents that because the crowd started gathering around Jesus so intensely, he and his disciples could not even eat. While Jesus’ popularity could have been a matter of pride for his family members, they treated him as if he were possessed. Though their act of ‘restraining’ Jesus was intended to be a protective gesture, they went wrong with their intention. 

It must have been a very disappointing experience for Jesus. He was misunderstood not only by scribes but also by his family. Unfortunately, his family weighs the effects of his ministry as reflecting his madness. Hence, for them, the crowds gathered around Jesus were not a sign of his popularity but a confirmation that he was out of his mind. 

What happens to Jesus prompts us to ask who really understands Jesus.

The passage offers three powerful insights for Jesus’ disciples. 

1. Nearness does not mean relationship. Those who are close to us may stand distant in understanding us. We are on the right track as long as we define our mission by God’s will. 

2. Jesus’ inability to eat should not be reduced to burnout syndrome. Instead, it is a sign of his total commitment to God’s mission. For Jesus, God’s mission can have no boundaries. 

3. If there was one thing that Jesus suffered till the very end of his life, it was misunderstanding. But for Jesus, misunderstanding is not necessarily failure. Jesus teaches that we must keep doing what we do for God because there is no full stop to God’s mission. 

Let us pray for the gift of right understanding to faithfully imitate Jesus’ missionary commitment.

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar