I did a little research on the Greek for Mark 3:21 and the word translated as “friends, family, relatives, his own people”, etc. literally means
“beside” which I would take to mean those close to him, but not necessarily any relation whatsoever (although they could be) which explains the various translations. Whoever these people are they did seek to restrain him in some manner. But I don’t see an indication that these people are actually his “mother and his brethren” who show up later in verse 31.
Another possible explanation, since this was his hometown of Nazareth, is that these are people he grew up with, but they were not followers or disciples, simply neighbors who knew him from an early age. So in that sense, they were “beside or close to” him. We also know from Mathew 13:58, and Mark 6:5-6 that he could not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief. Nazareth is also the place for his first public ministry where his neighbors tried to kill him (Luke 4:16-30).
I think the earlier responses in this thread are correct in that it isn’t a rebuke to Mary or his “brethren”, but rather it is elevating those who obey God to be the family of Jesus/God. Although due to his unfavorable reception in Nazareth, it could be a veiled rebuke to the other people who live there. Most likely it seems to be both, in my opinion.
Originally Posted by JB Brother 4446
John 7:5 also says quite candidly, “For even His brothers did not believe in him.”
There is a very broad meaning in the scriptures for the term “brother”. It can mean of the same parents, but it can also mean a close blood relation such as cousin, uncle, etc. Another common usage is belonging to the same people, ancestry, or fellow countrymen (a clear example of this usage is Romans 9:3), and other usages.
From John 7:1, Jesus is traveling about within Galilee. Nazareth is a town within Galilee. We have already seen the reception Jesus received in Nazareth, “his own country”, and many did not believe there. Any person from Nazareth or Galilee in general could be called Jesus’ brethren because they are fellow countrymen. Any Jew could be called a brother because they are of the same people or ancestry. While these unbelieving brethren could be the same wanting to restrain him in Mark 3, it could just as easily be any of a number of groups of people.
From the text itself, it is impossible to state that the people that wanted to restrain Jesus in Mark 3:21 are related to Jesus in any way, or that they are the same brethren that came to speak to him with Mary in 3:31. It is also impossible to tie either of these two groups together with those unbelieving brethren mentioned in John 7:5. Also due to the broad meaning and usage of the term brethren, it is impossible to say definitively their relationship to Jesus either by close blood, or common ancestry, or simply neighbors in a common town.
So while some may claim that his “relatives” didn’t believe him, or that this is a rebuke to Mary, there simply isn’t any indication of that without speculating beyond what is stated in the text, or by assuming that “brother” must mean by blood despite the wide range of usage that it has within scripture. If this is also supposed to be a rejection of Mary in Mark 3, then it must also be a rejection of Mary in the parallels of Mathew 12:46 and Luke 8:19. While Mark has additional information that could speculatively explain “why” Mary would be rejected, the only reason for this rejection in the parallel accounts would be that she simply wanted to speak to him. That’s pretty harsh and contradictory to his own teaching “…he that curses his father or mother, let him die the death” (Matt 15:4). So I restate what I said previously, if wanting to speak to Jesus is all it takes to be rejected by him, then we are all in trouble.
They might have dragged Mary along with them.