As you know
we are going through Mark each week and looking at different responses to Jesus
from different people. Tonight we are looking at those who chose to demonise
Jesus and say he is out of his mind. We are presented with two types of people,
his family and his enemy, we hear their accusations, Jesus’ expert response, a
stark warning to us all and a challenge.
His
family’s response
vv20-21
Again we are
told that Jesus can be found in the heart of a crowd of people. We saw this
last time with Fergus, v7 and if you look a chapter ahead to chapter 4:1. Where
ever Jesus seems to go and for whatever reason, there appears to be a large
crowd around him. Tonight’s passage is no exception. Verse 20 – and again a
crowd gathered. His fame as a miracle worker and devout speaker was widely
known.
We do not
know how many were in the crowd, but we do know there must have been a lot
since in verse1 we are told he and his disciples could not eat. Now, this and
the likely knowledge of his wanderings from place to place, his constant work
ethic and his seemingly inability to look after himself got back to his family,
his mother and bothers.
I think
their response to Jesus was a mixture of concern for his health, resentment on
their part for he was not providing for the family as they were most likely,
perhaps resentment that he was spending more time with strangers and the lowest
of society and wishing no more bad feelings towards the family name. So, they
decided to go to him with the intention of binding him up and treating him for
being ‘out of his mind’.
The
Teachers
Whilst the
family were on their way from Nazareth, the teachers of the law arrived from
Jerusalem. Now, Mark wants us to focus on this section as this is the centre
part of the ‘sandwich’ with the family on either side. But he wants us to keep
the family in mind as we listen to Jesus respond to the Teachers of the law.
v22
I find it
interesting that not long before, the Pharisees and the Herodians were plotting
to kill Jesus, and now the Teachers of the law, the most educated within
Jerusalem, the ones who live by the scriptures, who have studied scripture most
of their lives would come down from Jerusalem and question Jesus. Perhaps they
were looking for evidence for themselves. After all, if anyone would know the
Messiah it would be them.
Within
moments of them arriving they declare Jesus to be none other than Beelzebub,
himself. It is Jesus who clarifies who they refer to in v23 by calling him
Satan. So the teachers of the law conclude that Jesus is Satan and that he
casts out demons in the name of the prince of demons. You don’t have to be a
genius to see the flaw in this logic.
But notice the
parallel between what his family say in v21 and what the Teachers say in v22
and again in v30. They are saying exactly the same thing. They are saying his
is crazy, which in those days would have been, he was possessed.
They saw
Jesus as a charlatan, a false prophet someone who could destroy their way of
life, everything they have come to believe in as truth. How could a man dressed
in plain clothes, have no home and clearly does not have the education they
have be anyone else other than a trouble maker or the devil? Surely, if God
were to send the Messiah, he would choose someone high up in society, someone
who had studied the scripture all their life and a pillar of the community.
Someone like them, perhaps. No, this man was the devil!
If you think
about it, this a textbook human response. We see someone who says or does
things that are against our beliefs, against what we know to be true and we
call them crazy, out of their mind. There is no other logical explanation for
their behaviour, they must be crazy!
You see,
these teachers of the law and the Pharisees and Herodians from verse 6 stood to
lose everything they held dear. Their position and status in society, their
wealth, their everything if this man was allowed to continue.
Jesus’
Response
I said, it
does not take a genius to see the logic in the teachers accusation of Jesus to
be flawed, but Jesus decides to respond pointing out the stupidity of the
accusation.
v23-26
He asks one
simple, rhetoric question that destroys the accusation and stops them in their
tracks.
How can
Satan drive out Satan and remain strong?
Whether this
was a deliberate ploy from the teachers to discredit Jesus or a genuine belief,
their sole argument is flawed and blown away. He reminds them and those
listening that a Kingdom cannot stand and stay strong if there is a civil war
raging within its walls. Similarly, how can Satan be divided against himself
and wish to stay strong? The logic in their accusation is flawed.
To emphasise
his point further, Jesus then goes on to the real truth that is happening here.
v27
This is a
vivid picture of what Jesus is actually doing. The strong man is Satan, his
household is Earth and the people he has enslaved with sin. He shows the
teachers that only one who is stronger than Satan can take his possessions
(that is, enslaved people). He is in fact, that stronger man and he has already
bound Satan and set the people free.
The
Warning
Jesus
follows this response up with a stark warning.
v28-30
I think this
is the real reason for Mark placing this section here. He wants us to realise
the importance of recognising God’s spirit. He wants us to know that there are
some that will not be saved. There are some who will not be forgiven. Those who
commit this unforgivable sin of blaspheming against the Holy Spirit will not
receive forgiveness.
Don’t get me
wrong, Jesus is not saying that God is unwilling
to forgive them. Remember, John 3:16 says, ‘Whoever
believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.’ Rather, Christ is
saying they, themselves are refusing
forgiveness. Now, to some this may sound convenient, especially those who have
committed the unforgivable sin. But if you think a little more deeply and look
at the logic behind what Jesus says, it becomes clear.
If you sin
against the Holy Spirit, that is, say the work that Jesus does is powered by
Satan and not God, you are closing your own heart and mind to the power of the
Spirit of Christ. Such deliberate and willful twisting of the truth makes
repentance and salvation impossible. They have shut the only way to salvation,
the only gateway that God has opened, they, themselves have closed it. They
have rejected the testimony of the Father, the Son and now the Spirit’s
authentication, nothing more can be done for their salvation.
Those who
fear or are concerned they have committed this terrible sin take heart, for the
very fact you have concerns is proof you have not committed the sin. You see,
only those who refuse the spirit of Christ to enter fear no retribution from
God, no consequences for their actions.
But, Mark
does not want us to focus too much on the exception of forgiveness that we fail
to appreciate the breadth of forgiveness that Jesus offers us. v28 – all the sins – this is not contradictory
this points to all types and kinds of sin that are not against the Holy Spirit.
This will come as a sense of relief to many sinners today.
Christ’s
response to his family
And so we
come to the last section of our passage, the completion of the story from
beginning, the arrival of Christ’s blood family; his mother and brothers.
vv31-35
You could be
forgiven to think that Christ is advocating that we disown our families for the
sake of the Christ here. But, if he were, this would go against everything we
believe about Christ. It would go against the rest of the Bible. There is no,
tit-for-tat going on here. Christ is not saying they said this about me, so I
am disowning you. Christ wants us to realise something really important.
He wants us
to do God’s will. But what exactly is ‘doing God’s will’? Well, Mark is quite
clear on this as well…
Look at v34
again …
Then he looked at those seated around
him …
These people
were intently listening to him. They were hanging on his every word. They
wanted to learn from the master. They were doing God’s will.
Christ is
not advocating we leave our non-Christian family members to serve God. That is
what modern Cults would have you believe. No, he is simply saying, “Listen to
me!” If you join in fellowship with me and other Christians, if you listen to
my words, you will shine. The fruits of the Spirit will make you an example to
your non-Christian family, friends and colleagues.
Sometimes,
family members have concerns about how much work we do for Christ or the church
and they try and pull you away from it. This is more opposition than assistance
– we see that with Christ’s mother and brothers, they want him to leave his
teaching to speak with them (v31). Christ wants you to know the reward of
remaining faithful to him – it’s an intimate relationship with him.
We must
become like those seated around him in verse 34. We must listen intently to his
every word. For if we don’t, we are in effect saying his words are unimportant.
He is out of his mind or worse still calling him Beelzebub or Satan. If we hear
something we do not like, if we try and change what Christ says to suit our own
life, we are no doing God’s will. His words are not important enough to listen
to.
Think about
it – God just spoke words and everything came into existence. The creator of
the Universe just said, “Let there be…” and the whole of creation came into
being.
How many of
us will fail to listen to his words? How many of us fail to open scriptures and
listen to what Christ is saying. This is an integral part of being in Christ’s
family.
Therefore, I charge you to listen to Christ, hang on his every word,
for only then can you be Christ’s disciple.
