Sometimes Your Mystical Experiences are Hard for Folks to Accept

A Bible Commentary on Mark 3:9-12, 20-22

“He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him, for he had cured many, so that all who had diseases pressed upon him to touch him. Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, “You are the Son of God!” But he sternly ordered them not to make him known… Then Jesus went home, 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.” And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.” - Mark 3:9-12, 20-22

Photo by Prince Akachi on Unsplash

In the gospel of Mark, Jesus is curing people everywhere. Each healing, each of Jesus’ miracles, is a mystical experience to those who see them. Something outside of “normal” reality has happened, and it changes those who experience them. As a result, everyone starts following him, hoping to have their diseases cured, hoping to hear Jesus’ words of wisdom. They sense that Jesus is operating out of a transcendent realm and they want to be part of it. They drop everything and follow him.

But in Jesus’ day, like in our own, not everyone is happy with mystical experiences. Such experiences upend the normal structure of things. They don’t make sense in the traditional order of reality. This frightens people. The scribes in this passage are from the Temple in Jerusalem and they see in Jesus someone who threatens their own spiritual authority and that of the entire Temple complex. In addition, Jesus’ healings make no sense to their understanding of how God works. The scribes accuse Jesus of working with Beelzebul, who is a demon or Satan. They believe that Jesus’ mystical experiences are manifestations from Beelzebul rather than God. Such accusations are the only way they can make sense of what Jesus is doing. We often attack that which we don’t understand.

Then other people also start saying that Jesus “has gone out of his mind.” His own family seems to agree. They try to restrain Jesus from continuing his miracles because his transcendent experiences are so disruptive. They fear he will be seen as foolish at best, and crazy at worst. They believe they are protecting him. This is like the countless people who’ve had mystical experiences today, particularly NDEs, who, when they tell their stories, are not believed, even by their own families. Many have been told they are crazy and if they continue insisting on the truth of their experience they will be sent to a psychiatrist, kicked out of their house of worship, or worse.

Mystical experiences are disruptive because they change the world, one person at a time. They cause us to open our hearts and souls and minds in unexpected ways. We start understanding reality, and our place in it, in a completely different way. This is both frightening and exhilarating! Jesus was not crazy, nor are those who have transcendent experiences. The reality to which they point may be our best chance for healing humanity and the earth.

All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition.