FOR THE LOVE OF GOD

Scripture Reference: Mark 3:7-35

A New Family – Continued

Most people don’t want to be told they are helplessly held by Satan, but it is true nonetheless, and the Bible confirms it in other places, you are either a member of the Kingdom of God, or else of the domain of Satan. But the message of Mark’s Gospel, indeed of the whole of Scripture, is that Jesus Christ is more powerful than Satan. Driving out the demons proves that, and here He is on His way to the great battle, the battle of the Cross. Satan’s power over us, his claim on us, is that we are sinners, offenders against God. But when Jesus Christ went to the Cross He dealt with our sin and reconciled us to God. The sins are forgiven; the broken relationship is restored; and Satan’s claim on us is gone. So Jesus’ death on the Cross defeats Satan, the strong man, and Jesus comes in and rescues from Satan’s house everyone who will follow Him out of the prison. So, all of our sins will be forgiven.

Now it is time to meet His natural family. They have been on their way, and now they turn up, Mary, His natural mother, and her other sons. Presumably they know where to find Him because this is His regular base. They wrongly assume that if they send a messenger into the house, then Jesus will immediately drop whatever He is doing and emerge. That is what the culture of the time assumes. Inside, the house is crowded as usual; their message is passed along until it reaches Him, and soon everyone knows that His family is waiting outside.

Jesus, however, immediately responds with a distinctly odd question. Then He looks around. Now the house is crowded, but of course this is not the heaving crowd of thousands that we have seen with Jesus by the lakeside. This is a house in a fishing village; at most a few dozen people are within earshot and these are not all the sensation-seekers. These are people who want to sit and listen to His words, a predominately intimate group that consists of His core team of twelve with a wider group of others. In verses 34-35 Jesus gives His verdict. He looks at the group gathered round Him on the floor. Then He looks at the messenger at the door and speaks through him to the family gathered outside, and He essentially says, “You say they are outside looking for me? No, My true family have already found me. My true family are here, on the inside, doing what I teach.” It’s not so much that He is rejecting His natural family, though we should note that there is no special place given to Mary, His mother, here. But this is one more way that Jesus is overturning people’s assumptions, redrawing the boundaries. He is speaking to a nation who believe that family is above everything else. These people live and die by genealogies. They think God will accept them simply because two thousand years ago they had an ancestor called Abraham.

But, Jesus tells the people, (and therefore God’s true people) who truly are His:

“For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.”

God who is creating a new people that doesn’t depend on physical family ties, or on the nation you were born into, but only on those belonging to Jesus. It’s a family that will extend right around the world, into every country and across every boundary. It doesn’t divide people by their background, their color, or their race.

In every local church we have a small fragment of that bigger, global, family. It’s not perfect, because it’s full of people who still get things wrong from time to time. Sometimes bad things also happen in this family. But the good news is that the Head of this family is perfect. The day will finally come when we are too; we will see Jesus face to face, and He will look at us and say, “Yes, you are My brother, My sister.” In this family, we are united by ties much stronger, and far deeper, than those of even the closest human family. These ties are stronger than genetics, stronger than marriage, stronger than human love. They are ties based on Blood, but not ours. The life of this family begins with the Blood of Jesus.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved

Scripture Reference: Mark 3:7-35

A New Family – Continued

From Last Lesson: Rumors haven’t only reached Jesus’ family; the news about Jesus’ activities is now seriously worrying the temple authorities. They have a policy in their files for dealing with cases like His. So, according to their clear procedures, they now send a commission up north to Capernaum.

Now, probably after spending some weeks in the area, they have reached their conclusion. “Beelzebub,” is based on an Old Testament name for one of the ancient false gods of the region, now long-forgotten; but the name has hung on and is here being applied to Satan and his demons. Whereas the family and others have concluded that Jesus is mad, these religious experts declare Him to be possessed and inspired by evil. That, they claim, is how “He casts out demons.”

Notice that no one to this point, doubts the reality of what Jesus is doing. No one who is actually on the spot suggests that Jesus is using trickery, or faking the miracles. Still less is anyone coming up with the ridiculous idea that Jesus is nothing but a good man who is being misunderstood. No, the miracles are real; the exorcisms are real; what the experts lack is an explanation. They need to put something in their report! So because it is unthinkable that Jesus can be wielding the power of God, they are forced to attribute His power to the only other possible source, “the ruler of the demons” himself, Satan.

Now it’s not very difficult to show that this idea is absurd, and in verses 23-27 Jesus proceeds to do just that. He sets up a public confrontation to face the experts with the truth: “You say I’m possessed by an evil power? Very well, let me prove that’s wrong.”

“So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables: ‘How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end. No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house.’ ”

Yes, the accusation is absurd. But worse than that, it is unforgivable. Jesus is not bandying abstract ideas here, you see. What the religious experts have done is to label the work of God in Jesus Christ as demonic, as coming straight from the pit of hell. They have resolutely decided that the spiritual power behind all of Jesus’ works is not God’s Holy Spirit, but Satan. This is not some idle, throwaway remark; it is their careful and settled conclusion. Jesus responds in essence by saying, “If you say that, you are placing yourself right outside the scope of God’s forgiveness.” That is what the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is, a settled attitude of deliberate hostility against the work of God. Occasionally today you will meet Christians who are worried that they have committed this sin, either unintentionally, by making some rash remark, or deliberately before they knew Christ, and that therefore God can never forgive them. We can reassure anyone who thinks that: “If you are even the slightest bit worried about it, then rest assured, you haven’t done it.” This is a warning against setting yourself deliberately and resolutely to reject Christ when you have all the evidence before your eyes that He is real and true.

So His natural family think Jesus is mad; the delegation think He is inspired by evil, and there aren’t many other options left, not for people who really know about Him. Jesus Himself tells us what He is all about right in verse 27. It’s another little parable. The strong man is Satan; the one breaking in is Jesus Himself. This is precisely His mission; to break into Satan’s territory, to tie Satan down and to steal his possessions. He is not mad; He is not evil, and this is no civil war; rather this is an invasion of enemy territory. Satan’s possessions are the people of this world who are in his grip, even though they don’t know it. Jesus came to set those people free.

To Be Continued

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved

Scripture Reference: Mark 3:7-35

Wanted: A New Family

In Mark 3:20-35 we are introduced directly to the family of Jesus, the new family that He came to establish, that we become part of when we surrender to, and follow Him. Having called the Twelve to Himself, Jesus now returns to town. He is most likely back at His Capernaum base, and maybe this is once more the house we have been in before, first in chapter 1 and then again in chapter 2. Not surprisingly, He will have to face His opponents again as well as the crowds. The fact that opposition now also comes from His own human family must have hurt. It is against this background of false accusations, of blindness and hostility towards Jesus, that He shows us whom He considers to be His true family.

The story focuses around two ideas about Jesus, the first from Jesus’ physical family, who think He is most likely mad, “out of His mind,” and the second from the religious authorities, who think He is possessed by evil. Jesus and His team are so busy that they don’t have time for a “lunch-break.” It is quite possible to read the report in verse 21 as, “His own people were saying He is out of his mind.”  In other words, a rumor is doing the rounds that Jesus is mad. Thus His own family members have come to that conclusion. Either way, it is the family who feel that they have no choice but to come and take Him away. Yes, Jesus is a thirty-year-old man who is living an independent life, but in a culture where the honor of the family is so vital, they simply have to follow up on stories like this. It is a question of honor or shame, just as it is in the Middle East even today. Presumably it is what Jesus has been saying, the claims He has been making, that has led people to say that He is mad. After all, He has been claiming to forgive people’s sins in His own name! (Mark 2:5). He has been announcing that, now He has arrived, God is in action again, doing new things, in fact, God’s longed-for Kingdom is here because He has arrived.

Interestingly, it seems that the final straw is the report that Jesus isn’t getting regular meals. Like many mothers, Mary is probably most concerned that her eldest son should be eating properly! So the family set off, and they will appear again shortly.

This is in fact the first example in the Gospel of bracketing, a device Mark uses to illustrate one story by means of another. There is a striking example in chapter 11, where the cursing of the fig tree is an acted parable illustrating the downfall of the temple. In this case Mark is highlighting the fact that Jesus’ own natural family do no understand Him any better (at least at this point in His ministry) than His religious adversaries.

Meanwhile, the religious leaders are getting in on the act. We have seen before that Jesus’ opponents have watched Him closely, even setting traps for Him (see Mark 3:1-6), but here it is absolutely clear that He is faced by a special commission of inquiry sent down from headquarters in Jerusalem. Rumors haven’t only reached His family; the news about Jesus’ activities is now seriously worrying the temple authorities. They have a policy in their files for dealing with cases like this. So, according to their clear procedures, they now send this commission up north to Capernaum, about eighty miles away. Possibly they are enquiring whether the whole town needs to be declared apostate, that is, rejecting God, but certainly they are given the task of drawing a clear conclusion about Jesus Himself.

To Be Continued

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved

Scripture Reference: Mark 3:7-35

The Call – Continued

From Last Lesson: The disciple’s job will be to cover the ground in a way in which no single individual, no matter how powerful and persuasive, could ever do.

This is the beginning of the church. When Jesus calls people today, He calls them into the same mission. People sometimes ask if He has given us the same authority, even over demons, that He gave the disciples. Demons figure prominently in Jesus’ ministry because it was His unique mission to confront Satan and defeat Him; Jesus’ appearance on earth seems to have drawn out demonic opposition on a massive scale that has never been seen before or since. Yet demons still exist today. We don’t expect to meet them very often, but we should not be shocked when we do. If we belong to this new people, the church, then we too have the authority of Jesus over the spiritual powers, including Satan himself when he tempts us or tells us we are useless. Although the first disciples’ position was unique, there is a sense in which every Christian is part of the Twelve.

Now let’s take a closer look at the twelve Jesus calls at first (see verses 16-19). Even “Judas” has his part to play in God’s purposes. Some of them have extra names, nicknames, and they are very significant. This is not a gallery of heroes, at least not yet. Simon is called “Peter,” meaning “the (small) rock.” Jesus calls him that because he is going to be a strong foundation of the new people, the church, one day! For now, though, the name is somewhat ironic, for Peter is one of the most unstable people you will meet. The brothers “James . . . and John,” whom He nicknamed “Sons of Thunder,” explosive hotheads who can create a violent argument out of thin air. The other “Simon, the Canaanite,” also known as Simon, the Zealot. The “zealots” later become an organized extremist group, who in forty years’ time will lead the revolt against the Romans, a sort of first-century Hezbollah whose tactics include mingling with the crowds, sidling up to suspected collaborators and sticking daggers in their backs. That organized violence still lies in the future, but it shows where Simon’s sympathies lie. Simon now finds himself in the same group as “Matthew,” or Levi, the former tax collector and collaborator. To put it mildly, the Twelve are indeed a motley crew . . . unqualified, untraveled, untrained, yet called by Jesus to be the founding fathers of the church. With them He will turn the world upside down.

Today however, many who admire Jesus are content to remain in the crowd. They never do hear the call and climb the mountainside. The crowd is a comfortable place to be. You don’t have to commit yourself to anything when you’re lost in the crowd. You can turn up in Galilee to watch Jesus do His thing, but then you can walk away. We need to show people that it’s not enough to be part of the crowd. We have to come to Him on His terms, in His way, when we do hear Him call. Unlike the man watching Jean François at Niagara Falls, we have to turn our admiration into faith. If we have heard the call and have responded to it, then verses 13-18 remind us what we are called to: to be “with Him,” intimately, surrendered, and not as nodding acquaintances, but to know Him. And we are called to ministry, to serve others, just like the original Twelve.

To Be Continued

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved

Scripture Reference: Mark 3:7-35

The Crowd – Continued

Down by the lakeshore they find Jesus healing; the picture is that of a dense multitude, as people struggle to get close enough to touch Him so that they will be healed. They find Him also driving out demons. Sceptics think that all this talk of demons is just some primitive description of mental illness: these simple first-century types didn’t understand about schizophrenia or epilepsy, they say, and so they put it all down to demons. But we read here that the demons speak articulate words as Jesus drives them out. Also, these are not just any words, no, it is only the demons at this point who have an accurate view of Jesus’ identity (see Mark 1:34). Jesus refuses to accept their testimony, not because it is inaccurate, but because the only confession He wants is from the mouth of someone who understands and who submits to His authority with delight, not terror. So Jesus is healing and driving out demons, but above all He wants to speak, to teach. We know from the first chapters that this is His top priority, and we know it here because of verse 9. Why does Jesus need to have a boat on standby? Clearly, not so that He can heal; He usually heals through touch. Not so that He can drive out demons, either; He accomplishes that also, from close up. The only reason He could need a boat is to speak without constant interruption. From a boat a few yards out on the lake He can probably get better acoustics, and He can certainly pull back from the encompassing crowd. Jesus’ priority is to teach people about the Kingdom of God. He drives out demons to prove that the Kingdom is here, but nothing will make sense to people unless they can hear and understand what it is all about.

So much for the crowd. They have come from far and near, converging on the figure standing at the lakeside. The crowd is drawn by the headline-grabbing healings and exorcisms and, sadly, their testimony about Jesus is not much more helpful than that of the demons. The crowds in Galilee always like Jesus, but for most of them it never goes much beyond that. They remain outsiders.

The Call

Now for the call. Look at verse 13. Mark tells us that Jesus calls the ones He wants to come into His presence and be near Him. In the Greek there is a very strong emphasis on the word “He.” The crowd may want Jesus for all sorts of reasons, but overwhelmingly it is for what they can get. But Jesus calls for the people he wants.

Mark points out that He then appoints “twelve.” Why twelve? He has just broken with the leaders of the old religion, which is based on the nation of Israel. Israel had twelve founding fathers, and now Jesus begins to create His new people, “the Israel of God” (Galatians 6:16), also with twelve founding fathers. This is the beginning of the church. On that Galilean mountainside the church of Christ appears in embryo, and this is its very first meeting.

Verses 14-15 explain why they are called. First, they are to “be with him,” for they are to spend time with Jesus, getting to know Him intimately, for Himself, learning all that He has to teach them, seeing how He lives right up close. They will know Him as those crowds never will. Secondly, they will be sent “out to preach” about Him and to announce that the Kingdom of God has come. Their job will be to cover the ground in a way in which no single individual, no matter how powerful and persuasive, could ever do. They will multiply the presence of Jesus twelvefold and in their turn bring others to know Him too. Thirdly, they will walk in His “authority” and “power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons.”

To Be Continued

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved

Scripture Reference: Mark 3:7-35

In 1859 the great circus performer and tightrope walker whose name was Jean François Gravelet, came to Niagara Falls. I don’t know how he managed this, but he set up a rope 1,150 feet long that stretched right across the top of the falls. Using a long balancing pole for assistance, he proceeded to walk across. That amazing act would have sufficed for most people, but not so for Jean François. Over the next year or so he undertook the crossing about a dozen more times under the gaze of ever larger crowds. It is said that hundreds of thousands of people watched him as he walked across: blindfolded, then pushing a wheelbarrow, and then with a stove, stopping in the middle to cook an omelet. As more and more people heard about these spectacular performances, the crowds continued to come from far and wide.

When people in Galilee heard about Jesus and His spectacular miracles, the crowds also continued to grow. They came from far and wide. Many enjoyed watching; many came along for the thrill; but far fewer were willing to step out of the crowd. Even today, all sorts of people hear about Jesus and are impressed. But only a small number of them are willing to hear His call and place their lives in His hands.

Wanted: A Crowd or a Call?

In these verses, we find Jesus deliberately withdrawing from the towns where the opposition, up to this point, has been concentrated. He cannot spend His whole time dealing with them. Mark’s geographical notes are usually significant; here he is telling us that, by leaving His enemies behind, Jesus is symbolically breaking with the old established religion. He takes Himself off to the familiar territory of the lakeshore. The local crowd come with Him, but is it really a crowd that Jesus wants? In verses 7-19 we see the difference between a crowd and a call. Once again the spotlight will shine on us, the readers: what is our response to Jesus? Are we only to be admiring onlookers, or are we going to hear the call and place our lives in His hands?

The Crowd

In verses 7-12 we see the crowd. News has spread fast. Although Jesus has told people not to go spreading stories about Him, He has not been obeyed (Mark 1:45). As a result, Jesus is faced by huge crowds wherever He goes, many of whom are little more than sensation-seekers. The places listed in the 8^th verse, cover almost every point of the compass and include Gentile areas as well as Jewish. There are Judea and its capital Jerusalem to the south; Tyre and Sidon to the north; the Transjordanian lands (such as the Decapolis mentioned in Mark 7:31) to the east; and Idumea, or Edom, to the south-east. Jesus will later visit most of them in person. These places are fairly far away, at least in times when nearly everyone has to travel on foot, and clearly all this doesn’t happen on a single day. These verses describe developments which probably take place over several weeks.

To Be Continued

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved