Jesus Departs in Haste 

Jesus and his apostles were staying at the Zebedee home in Bethsaida, a village on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. David Zebedee, brother of the apostles John and James, provided a messenger service for Jesus and his followers. On Sunday morning, May 22, 29 CE, well before daybreak, one of David’s messengers arrived in great haste from Tiberias. He brought word that Herod, the Roman governor of Judea, had authorized the arrest of Jesus by the Pharisees. Pharisees were officers of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish religious authorities.

This news caused David, on his own accord, to send his messengers out to the disciples in the area, summoning them for an emergency council at seven o’clock that morning at the Zebedee home. When the sister-in-law of Jude (Jesus’ brother) heard this alarming report, she carried word to all of Jesus’ family living nearby. Five family members decided to attend after hearing this call to meet Mary, James, Joseph, Jude, and his baby sister Ruth.

The night before, Mary had been visited by the Pharisees, telling her that her son was mentally unstable and that she should try to stop him from stirring up trouble and come home. The Pharisees tried to persuade her that Jesus was beside himself, demented. They urged her to go with her sons and dissuade him from further efforts at public teaching. They assured Mary that soon Jesus’ health would break and that only dishonor and disgrace could come upon the entire family if he were allowed to go on. Mary was doubtful and confused, but she could never quite forget the visit of Gabriel before Jesus was born.

On the way to the meeting, Jesus’ family talked these things over and agreed among themselves to try to persuade Jesus to come home with them. Mary expressed her feelings passionately, saying, "I know I could influence my son if he only came home and listened to me." They had heard about the plans to arrest Jesus and take him to Jerusalem for trial, and they feared for their own safety. As long as Jesus was a popular figure in the public eye, his family allowed matters to drift along, but now that some of the people and the leaders in Jerusalem had suddenly turned against him, they began to feel the pressure to do something about Jesus.

Inside the Zebedee home, at about 7:30 in the morning, Jesus began his parting address to almost one hundred believers. This was a solemn occasion for all present, but Jesus was cheerful; he inspired all of them with his words of faith, hope, and courage. Jesus bid them farewell for the time being, he directed them all to ask God for guidance and to carry on the work of the kingdom regardless of consequences. He told the evangelists to labor as they saw fit until he called them. He directed the twelve apostles to remain with him no matter what happened, and he selected twelve male evangelists to accompany him and the twelve apostles. The women evangelists he instructed to remain at the Zebedee house and at Peter’s house until he sent for them.

Of all his family, only one, his youngest sister Ruth, believed wholeheartedly and continuously in the divinity of her brother’s mission on earth. Jesus’ brothers, Jude, James, and Joseph, still retained much of their faith in him, but they had permitted pride to interfere with their better judgment and real spiritual inclinations. Mary was likewise torn between love and fear, between motherly affection and family pride. All, except Ruth, were more or less convinced that Jesus was acting strangely, that he had acted strangely for some time.

It was about eight o’clock on this Sunday morning when they arrived. Jesus was delivering his parting address inside the home, and it was crowded to overflowing.

His family expected Jesus to come to them as soon as he heard they had arrived. They planned to take him aside and urge him to go home with them. Some distance had grown between Jesus and his family over the previous three years because they did not understand him or his mission. But they decided to assure him that they would forget his neglect of them if he would only give up the foolishness of trying to preach a new religion which could only bring trouble to himself and dishonor to his family. To all this Jesus’ loyal sister, Ruth, said in protest: "I will tell my brother that I think he is a man of God, and that I hope he would be willing to die before he would allow the wicked Pharisees to stop his preaching." Jesus’ brother Joseph promised to keep Ruth quiet while the others would try to persuade Jesus.

It did not occur to his mother how important the giving of this parting message was to her son’s followers, neither did she know that his address was likely to be terminated any moment by the arrival of his apprehenders. She really thought, after so long an apparent estrangement, in view of the fact that she and his brothers had shown the grace actually to come to him, that Jesus would cease speaking and go to them the moment he received word they had arrived. But it was too crowded to enter the home or even see Jesus. Standing on the back porch they could hear him. Mary decided to pass a message announcing their coming. The message went in, person to person, until it reached the apostle Peter who read it and whispered it to Jesus.

This was just another of those instances in which Jesus’ earth family could not comprehend that he must be about his Father’s business. And so Mary and his brothers were deeply hurt when, instead of his rushing out to greet them, they heard him speak these words to everyone there: "Say to my mother and my brothers that they should have no fear for me. The Father who sent me into the world will not forsake me; neither shall any harm come upon my family. Bid them be of good courage and put their trust in the Father of the kingdom. But, after all, who is my mother and who are my brothers?" And stretching forth his hands toward all of his disciples assembled in the room, he said: "I have no mother; I have no brothers. Behold my mother and behold my brethren! For whosoever does the will of my Father who is in heaven, the same is my mother, my brother, and my sister."

When Mary heard these words, she collapsed in Jude’s arms. They carried her out in the garden to revive her while Jesus spoke the concluding words of his parting message. It was at just this time that a woman in the room stood up and exclaimed, "Blessed is the womb that bore you and blessed are the breasts that nursed you." Jesus answered this woman, saying, "No, rather is the one blessed who hears the word of God and dares to obey it." He would then have gone out to confer with his mother and his brothers, but a messenger arrived in great haste bringing word that the officers of the Sanhedrin would be there any minute.

Jesus intended to visit with his family before leaving, but this plan was thwarted when the messenger brought word that his captors were nearby. Jesus, his twelve apostles, and twelve evangelists hastened out the front door of the house and into boats tied to a dock extending out over Galilee. And this explains why Jesus did not see his family waiting on the back porch. He did say to David Zebedee, as he entered the boat: "Tell my mother and my brothers that I appreciate their coming, and that I intended to see them. Admonish them to find no offense in me but rather to seek for a knowledge of the will of God and for grace and courage to do that will."

Jesus, with his twelve apostles and the twelve evangelists, engaged in a hasty flight from the Sanhedrin officers who were on their way to Bethsaida with authority from Herod Antipas to arrest him and take him to Jerusalem for trial on charges of blasphemy and other violations of the sacred laws of the Jews.

The crowd lingered about Zebedee's home, watching the boats make their way over the lake toward the eastern shore. They were well away when the Jerusalem officers arrived and began their search for Jesus. The Pharisees refused to believe he had escaped them; they and their assistants spent almost a full week vainly searching for him in Bethsaida and Capernaum.

Jesus and his company landed near the village of Kheresa, put their boat in the custody of friends, and began the wanderings of the eventful last year of the Master’s life on earth. For a while, they remained in the domains of Philip, a friendly governor, going from Kheresa up to Caesarea-Philippi, then over to the coast of Phoenicia.

Jesus’ family returned to their home in Capernaum and spent almost a week talking, debating, and praying. They were filled with confusion and consternation. They enjoyed no peace of mind until Ruth returned from a visit to the Zebedee house. There, she learned from David that Jesus was safe and in good health and making his way toward the Phoenician coast.

Jesus, Mary’s eldest son, never stopped loving his family. After his father died, he devoted his life to them between the ages of fourteen and thirty. He was father-brother to his eight siblings and helped Mary in every way he could. When all his siblings were grown and the home was financially secure, he began his public ministry. It lasted five years, during which time his family heard unsavory rumors and outright lies about him. They were confused and could not understand who he was or what he had to accomplish during those five short years.

Mary and Jesus’ brothers thought that Jesus did not understand them, that he had lost interest in them, little realizing that it was they who failed to understand him. It is forever true that all who may think they are misunderstood or not appreciated have in Jesus a sympathizing friend and an understanding counselor.