“Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, ‘He is out of his mind.'” (Mark 3:20-21)
Jesus here is confronted by His family who seem to be embarrassed by His ministry. Mark tells us they thought Jesus was out of His mind. Jesus handled the criticism of His family well. He was convinced of His mission and purpose in life because He knew He was and He knew of His relationship with the Father. Nothing any of His relatives or friends said or did would change that. While we should love and respect our parents and relatives, family authority or loyalty should never take precedence over obeying the will of God the Father. We must obey God rather than man.
As I recall, my family thought I was crazy when I first became a Christian. After all I was baptized, confirmed and raised in the Roman Catholic Church. What else did I need? At that time they believed that only Catholics could get into heaven, although it was not a sure thing. Even Catholics still had to earn their way to get there although they at least had a chance. Nowadays they do not think that, but tend to be more ecumenical and politically correct And maintain that people of all faiths can get to heaven, not through Christ Jesus or the cross.
It was not easy for me to turn from the family and its traditional religious values because it brought me a lot of criticism. But I had met Jesus, the same Jesus I had heard of when I was growing up but now I had discovered that He loved me. And because of His love I was guaranteed a place in heaven in spite of my sinful nature, not because of how good I was, but because of how good and perfect He is. I was convinced by faith in the assurance of salvation in Jesus. There was no way I could go back in spite of the pressure. I was and still am sure!