Gospel in Art: The mother of Jesus and his brothers were standing outside

Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear, by Vincent van Gogh, 1889 © The Courtauld Institute of Art, London

Source: Christian Art

Gospel of 27 January 2026
Mark 3:31-35

At that time: The mother of Jesus and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, 'Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.' And he answered them, 'Who are my mother and my brothers?' And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, 'Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.'

Reflection on the painting

Today's Gospel can feel unsettling at first. It almost sounds as if Jesus is brushing aside his own family. But that is not what is happening. The Gospel carefully tells us, twice, that his family are outside. Quite literally, they are standing physically outside the house where Jesus is teaching. Meanwhile, those seated around him form a circle on the inside. Jesus uses this simple physical contrast to make a deeper point: belonging in God's family is not determined by proximity, bloodline, or privilege, but only by relationship. What matters is not where you physically stand, but whether you are listening, responding, and seeking to do God's will within the community of others.

That distinction speaks powerfully into our world today. We are very quick to divide people into insiders and outsiders; into who belongs, who doesn't; who is "one of us" and who is not. Too often, being an insider is treated like membership of an exclusive club, guarded by boundaries that keep others out. Our Christian faith does speak about belonging - we are indeed joined together by baptism and faith into the Body of Christ - but it is never meant to become exclusive. Quite the opposite. To belong to Christ is to belong to a family with open doors. The true insider, Jesus tells us, is anyone who listens, follows, and desires to do God's will. And if that is the case, then our task as Christians is clear: to make sure that no one feels shut outside, fling open the doors, and make sure that everyone knows there is a place for them in the circle around Christ.

Everyone on the outside can move to the inside. Today's reading made me think of Vincent Van Gogh. He is a striking example of this movement from outsider to insider. During his lifetime, Van Gogh lived on the margins. He was misunderstood, poor, mentally unwell, and largely ignored by the art world. He sold almost nothing, was often dismissed as a failure, and died believing he had achieved very little. He was, in every sense, an outsider. And yet, over time, the very qualities that once excluded him (his intensity, his honesty, his refusal to conform) became the reasons he is now so deeply treasured. Today his paintings hang at the centre of the world's greatest museums, loved by millions. Van Gogh's story reminds us how easily we misjudge, and how often true value is recognised only later. It echoes the Gospel's warning: those we place on the outside may, in time, be revealed as those closest to the heart of what truly matters. So it is important to keep the doors always open to outsiders.

Painted shortly after a mental breakdown, this self-portrait painted in 1889 confronts us with Van Gogh's vulnerability rather than artistic bravura. He does not present himself as a celebrated insider, but as a wounded, fragile human being. Yet the intensity of his gaze reveals a dignity and depth the world failed to recognise at the time.

LINKS

Gospel in Art: https://christian.art/
Today's Reflection: https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/mark-3-31-35-2026/