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The Originals, Week 6, Day 4

by David Joynt on February 14, 2018


MARK 3:31-39

But perhaps Jesus' family’s desire to interrupt his ministry arose
from concern for his welfare. His teaching and healing were
provoking opposition among Israelites, leaders, and scholars.
Jesus may have feared for his brother's life.

 

Jesus’ response seems harsh and dismissive of his family. But this
is a misreading. He is simply insisting that our ultimate loyalty to
God and his calling trumps other loyalties. It is wrong to seek
self-protection if it means abandoning your purpose.

 

 

Have you ever felt a conflict between family loyalty and God
loyalty?

 

 

How did you handle it?

 

Tags: loyalty

About the Author
David Joynt

Dave Joynt began his service as a pastor at Valley Presbyterian Church in Paradise Valley, Arizona in September 2014. This meant a move away from the Northeast, where he has a long history, growing up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and then serving congregations in Delaware and New Jersey for a total of 23 years.

Dave was nurtured in a great church in Bethlehem where his parents, Anne and Carey, served as elders. He graduated in classics from Lehigh University where his Father taught, and then from Oxford, where he met his wife Julia. Ordained in 1988, he completed a Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1993.

He and Julia have a son, Tristan, and a daughter, Madeleine.

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