One Truth, One Family

Introduction

Last week we saw a great scene, the calling of the twelve apostles. This was the calling of the twelve men that would turn the world upside down. They responded to a radical call in a radical way and lived for Jesus for the rest of their lives. After they were up on the mountain they came back to the house that has been their base of sorts and Jesus began to minister again. Jesus kept on going so much that his family thought that he had lost his mind.

Shortly after they were discussing that Jesus had lost his mind the scribes from Jerusalem came to see what this Jesus was all about. These were the very top religious authorities of the day coming into the scene now. This is where we pick up in verse 22. Lets begin by reading the entirety of this passage today.

Mark 3:22–35 ESV

And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” And he called them to him 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 will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house. “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.” And his mother 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.”

In this passage we see the accusation that Jesus is doing these things by the power of Satan, what a horrid and terrible accusation. After he responds to that his family is trying to take him home because they thought he was crazy. It seems like there are very few people on his side.

This is a launching off point for Jesus to where we begin to see the parables and see in more detail his teaching. Right now though there is something happening, Jesus is setting himself as from God and in a way separating himself from anything that would hold him back including his own family. Tonight I want to look at one core truth that we must all heed and I want to look at one family. the family of God.

pray

One Truth

Mark 3:22–30 ESV

And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” And he called them to him 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 will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house. “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

There is one major truth running through the many truths of this passage. That truth is that you must not deny the work of the Holy Spirit. Through this section of the passage we see the scribes saying that it is not the power of God doing these things that Jesus is doing but rather it is a demonic power. They were denying the power of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus claims that a house divided cannot stand. He shows that it is a ridiculous thought to think that Satan can cast out demons, only the power of the holy can do that. If Satan were to be casting out demons he would be found going against himself and if he were doing that he would be coming to an end.

Jesus then moves us to a sin with no forgiveness. To commit the eternal sin (as it is called) is to continually ,without repentance, deny the work of the Spirit. These scribes are on this very path. We do not know if they continued down it to the point of no forgiveness but if they do not repent they undoubtedly will.

One man was on his death bed years ago and a pastor went to talk to him. The pastor ask him if he has a relationship with the Lord and the man responds with this “I don’t need God, I can do this. I will face death and what comes next myself without any of his help.” A few days later that man died. This is the eternal sin, the unforgivable sin. permanent denial of the work of the Spirit.

Some of you here may be scared and thinking “have I committed this sin?” and if this is in your mind then it is sure that you have not. The sheer fear of doing it is evidence enough. If you do live in constant denial of the work of God in and around your life though, quit denying. Turn away from this sin quickly and put your faith in Jesus. He is the great forgiver and will forgive you if you let him. What the unforgivable sin truly is, is the sin that you will not let him forgive. Let him bring you forgiveness and be apart of his family, the one family.

One Family

Mark 3:31–35 ESV

And his mother 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.”

If you remember from last week we looked at Mark 3.20-21 “Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”” Jesus’s family thought that he was out of his mind, they thought he was crazy! We then see Jesus continue and he faces the authorities from Jerusalem. By this point his family decides to intervene. Their hearts were in the right place, they truly did care for him. They just didn’t get his message yet. They are calling to him to take him home and end the nonsense as they view it.

In Jesus’s response he is not disowning his family, rather he is showing where his heart is truly at. When he is on the cross he is still showing care for his mother. Sometimes our faith will cause division though, it says later in Mark 13.12-13 “And brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death. And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” sometimes our faith will cause our family to turn on us but we must endure while showing the love of Christ.

Jesus responds with this very bold statement in Mark 3.35 “For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”” Jesus is prioritizing the community of faith, the family of God. When you put your faith in Jesus and repent of your sins you are in a new family. This family is not like an earthly family though. In this family there is no divorce, there is no leaving, there is only the perfect love of the father. This is not a father that wants to cause harm, or a father that does not love, there is only a loving caring father that never ever changes. He is always the same and he is always love.

This family is those who do the will of the father which is to be saved and continue on in the faith. It is those that live for him for all of their days and submit to him as their authority.

Conclusion

Throughout the entire Bible we see the need for repentance. without repentance there is no forgiveness. The only thing that God won’t forgive is someone who won’t repent. have you ever repented of your sins and put your faith in Jesus? The scribes in this passage are on this dangerous slope, don’t find yourself in the same position.

See God made everything perfect, that is something that is hard for our minds to even grasp. Everything was perfect, there were no stickers in the grass, there was no need to pray for rain, things were perfect. What messed it all up was sin. Adam and Eve in the garden rebelled against God and introduced sin into the world and because of that we are all born sinners. We are born enemies of God. This sin came in and corrupted the perfection that God had created. Luck for us though God sent his son Jesus, the man we have been reading about, to make the payment for our sins with his life. In his death that we will be reading about soon and just celebrated this last week at Easter Jesus paid the penalty for our sins. Now we are to just respond with faith and repentance. It all comes down to our response. If you go through life and never repent of your sins you are guilty of the eternal sin of continual denial of the work of God. If you do turn away from your sins and put your faith in Jesus you join the family of God. The true family with a perfect father.

God desires that you come to him and be saved. He wants you to be in his family. He wants you to be on the good side and not the evil side. If you desire to do this let today be the day and come to one of the adults here in this room. If you have put your faith in Jesus remember through this story to continually submit to the will of the father and enjoy being in the family of God. God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in him, so be satisfied in him and do his will in your life. Be on Gods side not the side of the world.