Mark 3:7-21

The Desire for a King and Kingdom

Mark 3:7–10 “7 Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea 8 and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. 9 And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him, 10 for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him.”

State

The people of Israel want a King.

In their minds, they still have the stories of King Saul, and King David, and King Solomon - and a united kingdom.

But in their minds - they have a very specific idea and ideal of what a king should be.

This king needs to be a conqueror like David - someone who unifies the kingdom through war - the way David did

Ultimately, the Israelites are looking for someone like Saul

Remember, Israel wanted a king like the nations

Tall, Handsome, Warrior-like, The ability to draw crowds, and command hoardes

But remember what the prophet Isaiah tells us in Isaiah 53:2–3 “2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”

What does Isaiah 53:2-3 tell us about the nature of this king?

Israel was looking for a king of their own making

This is by definition, an idol

Apply

You and I often find ourselves doing the same thing

We also desire a king and a kingdom

But we don’t want the King of the Universe

We want a king of our own making

And we see this in Jesus’s response to the crowds and to the unclean spirits in verses 11-12

The Denial of their King and Kingdom

Mark 3:11–12 “11 And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” 12 And he strictly ordered them not to make him known.”

State

Jesus’s rebuke of the unclean Spirits is a denial of the kingdom that the crowds and even the demons wanted Jesus to acquire.

Remember, Satan even offered Jesus a Kingdom - a kingdom that Jesus could rule as long as he bowed down and worshiped him

Matthew 4:8–10 “8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ””

Psalm 2:1–12 “1 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, 3 “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” 4 He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. 5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, 6 “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” 7 I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” 10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. 11 Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.”

What does this passage tell us about the nature of Jesus’s Kingdom?

The Kingdom is one that Jesus is building - not acquiring

He isn’t taking someone else’s kingdom

He is building his own kingdom

Daniel 2:37–43 ESV

37 You, O king, the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory, 38 and into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell, the children of man, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them all—you are the head of gold. 39 Another kingdom inferior to you shall arise after you, and yet a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. 40 And there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things. And like iron that crushes, it shall break and crush all these. 41 And as you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom, but some of the firmness of iron shall be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with the soft clay. 42 And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle. 43 As you saw the iron mixed with soft clay, so they will mix with one another in marriage, but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay.

Daniel 2:44–45 ESV

44 And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever, 45 just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.”

Apply

We want to define a kingdom by our own experiences, by our own desires, by our own preferences.

But Jesus establishes a kingdom that doesn’t have it’s source in man-made things

What is valuable and worthwhile in Jesus’s kingdom is not what we would call valuable in worldly kingdoms

Righteousness, Humility, Compassion, Love

Over against - The ability to give a speech, the ability to sway a crowd, the ability to cut down your opponents with harsh words

Jesus’s silencing of the unclean spirits is a squashing of any false notions of false kingdoms being set up

The Discipleship of the King to Build a Kingdom

Mark 3:13–19 “13 And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. 14 And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach 15 and have authority to cast out demons. 16 He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); 17 James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); 18 Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot, 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.”

State

Jesus builds his kingdom through relationships

Jesus had the opportunity to start a kingdom uprising that the Jews had longed for - over against their Roman oppressors.

Israel wanted the next Moses who would deliver them from slavery. And Jesus had the opportunity to step into that position.

Yet, he intentionally got away from the crowds that wanted him to be king - and started with 12 men that NO ONE would have chosen.

He didn’t pick men in the Roman Senate - or men of high esteem - he didn’t choose warriors

He chose fishermen

and Tax Collectors

And a man who would betray him

What does this tell us about how Jesus builds his kingdom?

What does this tell us about how Jesus chooses his servants?

Apply

What does this tell us about how evangelism should normally be done?

Jesus spent 3 years training these men to preach the Gospel to masses - AND - to care for the individual.

Jesus is calling us to share the Gospel with many and with few.

It could be your co-worker, a family member, a neighbor

And that begs the question - What is the Gospel?

God

God created all things, including you and me - and called them very good. And as the creator, God tells us what is good and lovely - and how we should live in his world to bring him glory

Man

But you and I sinned - we transgressed God’s good and holy law. We took what was good and lovely and have turned it into evil and wretchedness. The Bible says that the wages of sin is death - what we have earned is death - separation from the love, mercy and grace of a holy God.

Jesus

But Jesus - God himself, being rich and mercy, took on human flesh, he came and lived a sinless life in our place - he perfectly obeyed God’s law - everywhere we sinned, he obeyed. And the punishment that we deserved - death - Jesus took that punishment on - by dying a horrible death on a cross in our place. But on the third day, he rose again from the dead - he ascended back into heaven - and he is seated at the right hand of God the Father where he is ruling and reigning now.

Response

And the facts of his life, his death, his burial, his resurrection, and his ascension - all require a response from each of us.

Acts 17:30 “30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,”

So what will you do with THIS Jesus?

This is the Gospel message. This is what Jesus is calling us to disciple people in - This is what we are calling people to.

Now, what do you think will happen when you share this Gospel message?

Acceptance

Indifference

Rejection

Hatred

The Division of 2 Kingdoms

Mark 3:20–21 “20 Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. 21 And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.””

These verses lead to his own family thinking that he’s crazy?

What does that tell us about what we should expect when we share the Gospel - or even when we talk about the kingdom in this way?