Spiritual Warfare

INTRODUCTION

There are days when we can feel all alone and defeated.

Have you ever had one of those days?

Or maybe you are having one of those years. 😀

Please make no mistake; we are in spiritual warfare.

We have to understand the battle going on around us.

Today's passage is found toward the end of chapter 3 in Mark’s Gospel, but you'll notice something if you read chapter 3 from start to finish.

There is a growing sense among both strangers and friends of Jesus that something isn’t right with Him.

The chapter begins with the Herodians wanting to destroy him because of “work " on the Sabbath (more on that in week 5) and then climaxes when His family tries to restrain him and declares Jesus to be “out of his mind" (v. 21).

The criticism Jesus faces in our text today should give us hope.

If you believe in and trust Jesus, this criticism and how Jesus answers it should encourage us all, especially when we feel defeated.

We can lose hope and faith when things are not going well.

If we are not careful, we can start to feel like the enemy cannot be defeated and that we will ultimately lose.

Jesus will clear up that myth in our text today.

We are not fighting the battle alone; Jesus has fought the battle and gives us ultimate victory!

We will be in two passages today, Matthew 12:22-37 as well as our main text, Mark 3:20-30.

These two passages are parallel passages of the same event, and each helps to fill in some holes from the other.

Let's begin with Matthew 12:22-24 and Mark 3:20-22.

Big Idea of the Message: Jesus waged war against the powers of darkness.

Jesus has won the battle for us because He is more powerful than the powers of darkness!

Mark 3:20–21 (NET 2nd ed.)

20 Now Jesus went home, and a crowd gathered so that they were not able to eat.

21 When his family heard this they went out to restrain him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”

Matthew 12:22–24 (NET 2nd ed.)

22 Then they brought to him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute. Jesus healed him so that he could speak and see.

23 All the crowds were amazed and said, “Could this one be the Son of David?”

24 But when the Pharisees heard this they said, “He does not cast out demons except by the power of Beelzebul, the ruler of demons!”

Mark 3:22 (NET 2nd ed.)

22 The experts in the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and, “By the ruler of demons he casts out demons!”

SERMON

I. The criticism of Jesus.

Jesus was heading home, and the crowds were gathering, so much so that Jesus and His disciples could not eat.

The crowd brings Jesus, a demon-possessed man who could neither speak nor see.

Jesus healed the man.

The crowds were AMAZED; the crowd wondered and said, could Jesus be the Son of David?

The Son of David was a phrase used for the coming Messiah.

The miracle excited the crowds who were looking for the Messiah to come.

Could Jesus be the one?

Now here comes the party poopers, the religious leaders.

Here is the problem for the religious leaders.

There was a miracle that was performed by Jesus that they could not deny.

If you look carefully at their response in verses 22 and Matthew 12:24, they were in a position where they did not deny the miracle.

So what do you do when you cannot deny what happened before your eyes?

You make up a new story.

In verse 22, the scribes declare that Jesus "is possessed by Beelzebul” and "by the prince of demons he casts out the demons."

We see three claims from his critics: Jesus is not thinking clearly; Jesus is not in control of his actions; Jesus is not serving God.

Why are they saying this?

First, they cannot deny what’s happening.

Jesus is casting out demons (v. 11).

But He isn't acting in a way they believe a respectable, law-abiding Jew should act (vv. 1–6).

So if Jesus is not acting the way they expect a religious observant Jew to act, yet he is casting out demons, in their mind, there is only one conclusion: he is an agent of Satan.

That is a very serious criticism.

The Pharisees' explanation had merit since the people understood there were only two possible powers that could pull off such a powerful miracle, God or Satan.

It may be hard to prove where the power to do the miracle came from.

Jesus will show he is clearly thinking, that He is in control of His actions and that He is serving God.

However, Jesus considered the criticism worthy of an in-depth reply.

Let’s continue with Mark 3:23-27 and Matthew 12:26-29.

Mark 3:23–26 (NET 2nd ed.)

23 So he called them and spoke to them in parables: “How can Satan cast out Satan?

24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom will not be able to stand.

25 If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.

26 And if Satan rises against himself and is divided, he is not able to stand and his end has come.

Matthew 12:26–28 (NET 2nd ed.)

26 So if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?

27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason they will be your judges.

28 But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has already overtaken you.

Mark 3:27 (NET 2nd ed.)

27 But no one is able to enter a strong man’s house and steal his property unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can thoroughly plunder his house.

II. The response of Jesus.

Jesus offers four arguments to refute the criticism by the Pharisees.

For a man out was accused of being out of His mind, Jesus offers rational answers.

The first argument against the Pharisees is found in Mark 3:23-26.

The premise of this first argument is that the Demons are on Satan’s team, and I am not.

How is it possible, Jesus asks, that Satan can cast out Satan (v. 23)?

He points out that a house divided against itself cannot stand but will fall.

If Satan is waging war on his own kingdom, then in the end, God'sSatan'sLet's kingdom will triumph because the kingdom of darkness will devour itself (vv. 23–26).

Fighting against oneself seems kind of silly and would serve Satan no purpose.

Jesus healed this man from a malady Satan inflicted upon him.

I want to point something out concerning how Jesus handles criticism.

Jesus responds to different criticisms in different ways.

When it’s appropriate to refute a claim directly, He does so.

He does so when it is necessary to demonstrate His soundness of mind.

Jesus doesn’t avoid addressing the criticism but instead turns it into a moment to teach people about His mission and God.

The example of Jesus should help us to think about how we handle criticism when it comes our way.

The second argument is found in Matthew 12:27

Matthew 12:27 (NET 2nd ed.)

27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason they will be your judges.

The Pharisees claim that Jesus' work of casting out demons is done in the power of Satan.

But the Pharisees' own followers also cast out demons, so Jesus asks where their followers' power to do this comes from.

The Jewish historian Josephus (Ant. viii. 2,5, and Wars vii 6,3) tells us that there were Jews who practiced exorcisms, as does Acts 19:13 (sons of Sceva).

When Jesus says, "YOUR SONS" cast out demons, He references the Pharisees' disciples.

Jesus strongly suggests that the Pharisees were not accusing their disciples of being in league with Satan.

The thought that Jesus ends this second argument goes something like this, "If your sons are casting out demons by the power of Satan, you should have condemned them like you are me."

Since you do not, in the final judgment, they will condemn you for not speaking out to stop what they are doing!

The third argument is found in Matthew 12:28

Matthew 12:28 (NET 2nd ed.)

28 But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has already overtaken you.

The term "Spirit of God” refers to the Holy Spirit, the third member of the Godhead.

Jesus says it is the Holy Spirit, not Satan, who empowers Him to do miracles like casting out the demons who caused the man to be mute and blind.

By saying that the Holy Spirit is behind His healing power, Jesus implies His miracles are much greater than the Jewish exorcisms!

The fourth argument is found in Mark 3:27

Mark 3:27 (NET 2nd ed.)

27 But no one is able to enter a strong man’s house and steal his property unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can thoroughly plunder his house.

Jesus says that His miracles are so great that it is evident that He is stronger than Satan.

The strong man represents Satan in the parable, and Jesus has bound him!

By casting out the demon, Jesus shows that He walked into Satan's" place (god of this world, 2 Corinthians 4:4) and bound him and tossed his evil little worker into the trash can!

Jesus likens this to plundering the strong man's home!

Jesus blows the Pharisees' criticism right out of the water!

Let's conclude by turning to the last part of the passage.

Matthew 12:30 (NET 2nd ed.)

30 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

Mark 3:28–30 (NET 2nd ed.)

28 I tell you the truth, people will be forgiven for all sins, even all the blasphemies they utter.

29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, but is guilty of an eternal sin”

30 (because they said, “He has an unclean spirit”).

III. The implications of the response.

The first implication is found in Matthew 12:30.

In Mark 3:20, we are told there was a large crowd present.

Matthew 12:30 is a warning to the crowd that there are only two sides; with Jesus or against Jesus.

There can be no neutral ground in the spiritual battle between Jesus and Satan!

There is no Switzerland!

There are only two kingdoms, and every sou; is either on one or the other, for there is no third! (Gareth Reese LOC notes)

If this is addressed only to the religious leaders, the implication is that their attacks against Jesus show they are on Satan's side!

In Mark 3:28-30, we see the second implication.

Jesus uses the word BLASPHEMY.

Loosely translated, the word refers to any word or act that detracts from God's power and glory.

Jesus made His remarks about blasphemy against the Holy Spirit because the leaders had called the Spirit by which Jesus worked His miracles as an evil spirit!

These leaders had walked a line close to blasphemy against the Holy Spirit!

Jesus says that whoever blasphemes the Spirit will not be forgiven.

One who habitually blasphemes the Holy Spirit will be in trouble.

Jesus issues this warning, so we know not to do that!

Verse 28 tells us other blasphemes will be forgiven.

I wonder if He was speaking specifically of what they would do to Jesus on the cross.

CONCLUSION

So where does all this lead us?

In the context in which Jesus was criticized, all sides recognized and believed in spiritual warfare.

And spiritual warfare was a big part of Jesus's ministry.

Today, it's easy to face temptation or even ill health and limit the scope of the problems merely to the physical realm.

The criticism Jesus received in this passage is a good reminder that Jesus has power and authority over everything, seen and unseen, and we can pray to him in our time of great need.

Application Point: If you don't believe in spiritual warfare and the powers of darkness, then a lot of what Jesus did and taught will seem like nonsense.

But knowing he is all-powerful over the forces of evil means you can turn to him in your time of need.