Did the kith and kin of Jesus anticipate a security threat for themselves?

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The OP asked if Jesus' family really meant "he is out of his mind." The text is clear on that point. The answer is yes. Virtually all translators render this phase as "out of his mind", "beside himself" or "insane." Regarding their security concerns, I will address three possible agents who might have threatened them: Jewish authorities, Roman authorities, and Jesus' hearers (not addressed in the OP).

Jewish authorities

There is no indication here that Jesus family foresaw a security threat from the Jewish rulers or the religious hierarchy. They certainly might have feared that Jesus himself would get into trouble, but the text does not imply a concern from their own safety from this quarter. In Jewish law a person's relatives are not held responsible for the sins of their children or siblings (See Ezek. 18). At most, they would have feared for their reputation and financial security. But we can rule out a physical security threat against them from Jewish authorities.

Roman authorities

On the other hand, if Jesus were claiming at this point to be the Jewish Messiah (this point is debatable), they might feel they needed to distance themselves from him to avoid getting into trouble with the Roman authorities for supporting a rebellion against Roman rule. This indeed is a possibility in terms of their motivation, but it is not shown in the text itself. This scenario is also supported by the fact that the Romans had put down other messianic revolts in the area, notably that of Judas of Galilee.

Jesus' followers

However, the fact that they wanted to "lay hold of Him" indicates the possibility that they intended to use physical force if necessary, to remove Jesus from the scene, probably to bring him home to talk some "sense" into him. So if they had a concern about their own security, it might well be that they feared the crowd of Jesus' hearers. This posed the most immediate threat, not the religious or political authorities. The fact that they remained outside the house rather than trying to immediately "take hold" of Jesus shows that this was a real possibility.

Conclusion: Jesus' family did have reason to fear that association with him might get them into trouble with Roman authorities as supporters of a would-be Messiah. They also might have feared for their own reputation in their religious community, but this would not involve a security threat from the authorities. They also must have had immediate concerns that entering the house to take hold of Jesus might result in violence from his followers. We should add that probably did fear for Jesus' own safety if he persisted in his mission.

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My KJV says this in Mark 3:21:

And when his friends heard of it they went out to lay hold of him for they said, 'He is beside himself.'

Interestingly, the KJV you quote from says "when his own people" heard about this.

The NIV, ESV and NLT translations all say it was Jesus' family who heard about the incident in the house where crowds gathered to such an extent that neither Jesus nor his followers could eat.

The word 'kith' simply means ones friends and acquaintances and the word 'kin' means ones family or relatives. It would be useful to know what Hebrew words were used in this passage which might help to explain why the KJV says 'friends' and more modern translations say 'family'.

What's interesting is that after Jesus spoke to the teachers of the law who had come down from Jerusalem, then Jesus' "brethren and his mother" turned up (Mark 3:31 - KJV). 'Brethren' refers to Jesus' half-brothers, who were not yet believers (see John 7:5). I say "half-brothers" because their earthly father was Joseph whereas Jesus did not have any earthly father.

This is a bit of a long-winded introduction in an attempt to answer your question. Please bear with me.

The motives of Jesus' friends and/or family in trying to intervene may have been out of concern for Jesus' welfare. After all, Scripture shows how large crowds followed Jesus around, possibly because of all the miracles he was performing. It must have been exhausting being followed around by so many people. On several occasions Jesus had to withdraw to get some time to himself to pray.

More significantly, the Pharisees and teachers of the law were trying to entrap Jesus, even this early on in his ministry. They disapproved of the miracles Jesus was performing and were accusing him of being possessed by Beelzebub, the prince of demons.

It is probable that Jesus family were aware of the danger Jesus was in, but failed to realise that he was doing the will of his Father in heaven, who had sent him. Certainly, his half-brothers did not realise who Jesus really was.

Their motivation might have been out of self-interest, not wishing to draw unwanted attention upon themselves. Or it might have been out of concern for Jesus' welfare. We don't know and the Bible does not tell us.

What the Bible does say, with regard to this event, is that Jesus put his family firmly in their place when he said the people surrounding him represented his spiritual family:

Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother. (Mark 3:35)

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