The Family of the King

INTRO:

Outlines & Reading —>

Podcast on Spotify/Amazon — Worship Playlist as well — Bulletin & NFG this coming week.

Hopefully make it a little bit easier to keep up, catch up, or share with others.

Recap of Series — Mark: Conquering King; Suffering Servant

Authority of Jesus - Over sickness | Over Demons/Unclean Spirits | Over Religious Leaders/Practice

Last week —> Jesus calls the Twelve (apostles) — Inaugurating a “New Family” & New founding — “New Wine”

TENSION:

Am I really forgiven? Can I be forgiven? Do I really belong?

TRUTH:

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.”

Pray

Jesus is Accused | 2. Jesus Corrects | 3. Jesus Confirms

CONTEXT IS … (KING)

Sandwich —> “He is out of his mind.”

1) Jesus is Accused (vs. 22-27)

Mark 3:22 “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.””

Scribes — from Jerusalem — Calling in the the PROS…

I imagine they think they’ve really got him here — Their best material — Claim his power comes from the demons (Hahahahah)

Beelzebul = “Prince of Demons”

“Baal the Prince” — Who was Baal?

OT = Chief rival of the Yahweh faith!

**** Be clear about what they are accusing Jesus of… ****

Mark 3:23–27 “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.”

Logic — “Kingdom divided against itself” — other parallel accounts — Asks “by what authority other Rabbis cast out ‘unclean spirits.’”

Jesus tells them what he is in fact doing — “I’m binding the strong man” (Satan)

His “goods” are the souls of man that have been CAPTIVE to his lies.

Plunder = “thoroughly plunder”

He is taking ALL of his “goods” — the souls of man — Jesus has bound the strong man —> that we may be set free!

2) Jesus Corrects ( vs. 28-30)

Mark 3:28–30““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.””

“Truly, I say to you” — 13 Times in Mark — Many times in EACH Gospel account — ‘Pay attention to what comes next!’

Jesus doesn’t respond to directly to the content of their accusation — But He responds to what is behind their accusation — Their sin.

This is important — This is what we often see Jesus doing when he teaches — Responding to the cause of their actions…

Nature of Sin

“All sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter”

It is hard to be more clear than that — All sin CAN be forgiven — Jesus himself will secure that forgiveness himself.

All sin must be paid for - by blood - what the OT teaches us through the sacrificial system — Jesus’ blood pays for those that ‘repent & believe the gospel’, that place their faith in his sacrifice for their ‘right standing with God’.

But there is this other thing he mentions…

“but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”

This is sometimes referred to as the “Unforgivable Sin” — Misunderstood…

If you grew up in the church like me — This was probably your greatest fear — “Did I commit the unforgivable sin?” “Is this the unforgivable sin?”

First of all — if you are worried about committing the “unforgivable sin”, you have not in fact committed the “unforgivable sin”.

You cannot accidently do this.

*** Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is settled and determined response to reject the Holy Spirit and His work in our lives. ***

This is the man or woman that has heard the gospel message — they’ve had some interaction with church (maybe even attended for some time) — but never received Christ.

One example a commentator shared — interaction between a Pastor & and a dying man

P: “How is it between you and God?”

M: “I’ve always believed in God, and I know everything is shipshape.”,

P: “What do you believe about Jesus?”,

M: “I’ve known God all my life.”,

P: “My friend, how is it between you and Jesus?”,

M: “I’ve never made a place in my life for Jesus. I don’t believe in Jesus. If I were to believe in Jesus, it would upset EVERYTHING in my philosophy and my life, and I would have to rethink everything about me.”

P: “You have that kind of time to rethink it”

M: “No, I will die without Jesus.”

P: “Why then did Jesus die?”

M: “I understand he died for sins.”

P:“YOUR sins”

M: “Perhaps, perhaps, but it’s too late in my life to rethink the place of Jesus.”

Notice — the Scribes are toeing this line.

They recognize that Jesus has power — UNDENIABLE — but they are attempting to attribute that power to something other than the Holy Spirit — WORSE the devil himself!

I say “toeing this line” - close — because they have not commited this eternal sin yet — there is still hope for them — a life of rejecting the HS is the only way to commit this sin…

I said earlier, it felt like I was always looking over my shoulder to see if I had committed the “unforgivable sin” — Maybe not a bad thing —> It appears that the “religious” have a special ability to commit this sin.

Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit implies knowledge — You know EXACTLY what is happening here — but reject it, or attribute the Power of the HS to something else.

*** I believe that until a man or a woman breathes their last — they still have a chance for forgiveness — Jesus says it — all sins will be forgiven the children of man — May we live in that urgency! ***

3) Jesus Confirms (vs. 31-35)

Completing the sandwich — The Bottom Bun (Or top — depending)

Mark 3:31–35“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.””

“Seek” in Mark = Attempting to gain control over Jesus.

It seems his family “assumes” they have rights over him — First Century Practice — Don’t embarrass the Family! (Livelihood, etc.)

Jesus though has the claim (AUTHORITY) over His FAMILY.

Jesus is confirming the “New Family he inaugurated earlier on the mountain. (New Wine).

*** PROXIMITY TO JESUS DOES NOT AUTOMATICALLY MEAN RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS ***

“Your place in the Kingdom of God is defined by your response to Jesus.”

Jesus’ family in part 1 & 3 of the Sandwich were close to Jesus…

The scribes in part 2 of the sandwich thought they were close to God…

Relationship with Jesus is determined by if we do the Will of God…

James 2:20 “faith apart from works is useless?”

“You will know them by their love”, “Produce fruit — abide in me and I in you”,

We are saved by Grace through faith, it is a gift of God — but friends — The Holy Spirit is POWERFUL — and if our encounter with the Holy Spirit does not lead to DOING the will of God — I don’t think we have encountered the right Spirit…

Make Disciples — Share the Gospel

Preach (proclaim the good news).

Drive out the Darkness.

Love your brothers & sisters in Christ.

Jesus is Accused | 2. Jesus Corrects | 3. Jesus Confirms

4 Implications of Mark So Far (Chapters 1-3)

Jesus Has Authority

Right from the beginning of the Gospel — Mark is pointing to the fact that this JESUS is special — John the Baptist paves the way and tells us this is the Messiah.

Chapter 1 — speaks to Jesus’ authority over SICKNESS & UNCLEAN SPIRITS (Demons)

Chapter 2 — we see Jesus’ authority over the Religious Leaders & their Religious practices (which miss the intimacy with God they aim for)

Chapter 3 — The conflict with the Religious Leaders come to a head.

Jesus has authority, not his family

Jesus has authority to creat a new family — a new people — New Wine.

Which leads us to the 2nd…

Jesus Has Power

Obviously connected to his Authority…

Power to heal

Power to drive out demons — We see in this passage where that Power comes from.

If he has Authority, but no Power — He is in charge, but doesn’t change anything.

His Power = Forgiveness of sin — changes the equation!

The ultimate example of Jesus’ Power will be his death on the Cross — Suffering Servant.

Because Jesus has Authority & has Power it matters that…

Jesus Has Truth

He has corrected the understanding of Leprosy — thought to be incurable — Jesus heals a man & gives him a way back into the community…

He has corrected their understanding of the Sabbath & we as humans relate to the Sabbath.

Jesus has taught them where his power comes from & the nature of sin.

He has also began to seed (lay the groundwork) for the fact that Kingdom has come to the outcasts — The Call of Levi — Begins to signal a “New Family”

Jesus Has a Family

If we are being honest — sometimes it can feel contrived to refer to the church gathering as a “family” — but that doesn’t make it untrue.

This is the Biblical language for the people of God - especially in the NT…

1 John 1:7 “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”

Romans 8:14–17 “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with

Jesus creates a new family — the guarantor of that family is perfect — but the members of it are NOT.

Forgiven — not perfect

STUDENTS & KIDS — Godly parents are a gift. Honor your Father & Mother is not nullified. Be grateful you have parents who point you to Jesus — even if imperfectly.

SINGLE FOLKS — You are not incomplete — you whole as God made you now. Jesus was a single man, Paul was a single man - implored believers to remain single — focus can be the Church & the Kingdom of God. — We NEED you — in many ways - raising kids, etc. (1:4 ratio).

MARRIED FOLKS — Don’t let your family become an idol —gift from God. Tim Keller analogy (two diamonds in a tumbler). Our children have been given to us that we may steward them well & lead them to lasting faith in Jesus.

“Our calling as members of the Family of God is to “KNOW the Will of God & DO the Will of God.”

CONCLUSION

The Sandwich Mark uses here — begs the question —> How are you going to Respond to Jesus?

His Earthly Family/Associates — “He is out of his mind”

The Scribes/Religious Leaders — “He has a demon/the prince of demons”

The Twelve - The followers of Jesus — Know AND Do the Will of God.

Famous C.S. Quote — How will we respond? (Summarizes & updates this question for us)

“I’m trying here to prevent anyone from saying the really silly thing that people often say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we mustn’t say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said wouldn’t be a great moral teacher. He’d either be a lunatic—on a level with a man who says he’s a poached egg—or else he’d be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But don’t let us come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He hasn’t left that open to us. He didn’t intent to.”

Jesus also gave us a reminder of the family he formed: Communion.

This is a “family meal” for those that have “fallen at his feet and called Him Lord and God”.

We are going to take communion together, please prepare your elements.

If you have NOT received Jesus — Don’t take the elements this morning — Receive Christ - NOT the reminder of his sacrifice on our behalf.

Paul implores believers to examine themselves before receiving communion.

Is there ongoing sin in your life? Do you need to repent?

Don’t receive communion in an “unworthy manner”

Pray silently — I will close us in a moment.

1 Corinthians 11:24–25 “and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.””

PRAY