Mark 3:21-35

Seder

C. S. Lewis, wasn’t the first to speak about either Jesus being either a Lunatic, Liar or Lord but his presentation of those three options in his book “Mere Christianity” is probably most memorable

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish 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 must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would 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 let us not come with any patronising nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. . . . Now it seems to me obvious that He was neither a lunatic nor a fiend: and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God. (Mere Christianity, 55-56)

Lunatic, Liar or Lord. Mark is going to tell us two stories today that will cause us to arrive at one of those three conclusions. Mark actually starts telling a story, then interjects another story, then finishes the first story. Mark does this all over his gospel and those that have studied this Gospel refer to this literary phenomenon as a, “Markan Sandwich.” Family / (switches gears to Scribes of the Pharisees / Family - When Mark does this He is connecting thematic motifs for us to consider. In the the case with this sandwich that Mark is serving to us, I think the name of the sandwich is, “The what not to do with Jesus” sandwich.

Let’s see what’s on the menu.

Mark 3:20–21 ESV

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.”

Mark 3:22 ESV

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.”

Mark 3:23–25 ESV

23 And he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.

Mark 3:24–26 ESV

24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end.

Mark 3:27 ESV

27 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.

Mark 3:28–30 ESV

28 “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— 30 for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

Mark 3:31–32 ESV

31 And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. 32 And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.”

Mark 3:33–35 ESV

33 And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

Jesus is not a lunatic. (3:20-21; 31-35)

Lunatics need to be stopped and that is exactly what we see the biological family of Jesus doing.

Ok, some of you have some crazy family situations. You can take comfort in knowing that Jesus can relate with what you may be going to. I know that sometimes you can dread having your family or in-laws coming over to your house, but hopefully they are not coming over to take you out by use of force because they think you are a lunatic. This isn’t a family friendly visit.

Let’s look at the outside layers of this story that Mark tells.

Mark 3:20–21: 31-35 (ESV)

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.” …31 And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. 32 And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.” 33 And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

The crowd that Mark tells us about earlier in this chapter now has made their way to the home, and apparently into the home, that Jesus was at. I think that is why Mark says, “so that they could not even eat.” This is pretty intense. Have you ever had like maybe one to many people over to your house at a time? It can get pretty chaotic. Every hosted a dinner and not gotten to eat?

So the crowd is in His house and Jesus’ family hears about all the chaos and they probably had just heard about commissioning 12 men to be apostles so that they could be officially sent out everywhere with His message of the Kingdom that He was bringing and they think, “Insane.” He is insane. Someone has to stop all this non-sense. I guess we, of anyone on the planet, might able to talk some sense into Him. We are after all blood related. Ok…we got to go get Him. We will use force if we have to. Something must be done. He is a lunatic that must be stopped.

So they leave go to Him in hopes to stop Him and Mark tells us that they are “standing outside” the house.

Then with the next sentence Mark tells us that there was a crowd “sitting inside” the home and they were “around” Him. He was in the center of their circle and they were sitting at His feet.

His blood relatives standing outside the house who think He is “out of His mind,” are contrasted with His spiritual family sitting inside the house wanting to absorb everything that is coming “from His mind.”

They were adoring Him. They were silently encircling Him and begging Him to continue what He was doing even at mealtime!

He was the center of their community and they wanted every part of what He was doing.

We can’t miss the contrast and the comparison that Mark is showcasing here.

V. 35 - “Whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

That is pretty explosive language and shocking because it runs counter to the way things were done in that part of the world. In the Mediterranean world the family was the basis of social and economic life and the source of one’s identity.

And here Jesus is redefining what it means to be a “family.” All to those who “submit” to God’s will and “do” God’s will are members of the same family.

That means that you and I, have a place to belong. And we have place to belong for eternity. We are the household of God.

You are my brothers and sisters and mothers. There is only ONE FATHER and we all belong to Him and because of Him we all belong to one another.

1 Corinthians 12:27 (ESV)

27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

We can find a deeper connection with God as we are engrafted members into a local congregation. This is a place were we can become known, accepted and intentionally discipled by others and by God Himself.

INVITE Jordan & Anna Kooi and kids Kennedy, Paige and Georgia

Josh & Trayci Douglas and kids, Jackson and Adelina

They have expressed a desire to be “all in” with the fellowship of disciples here. These are people that have demonstrated their commitment to the deepest level to this fellowship at FCC. They have attended our membership class, agreed to our doctrinal statement, shared with a team of our elders their salvation story. The elders collectively reviewed their testimonies and are glad to invite them on stage to “show them off” a bit!

Here’s the “new shiny members” that we are receiving into the fellowship here at FCC today.

As your pastor, I aspire to uphold you in prayer and to come alongside you with God’s Word to show you our Father’s heart on any and every situation you might find yourself in.

“new and shiny.” You truly are a “new,” “shiny.”

You are new – (2 Cor. 5:17 – new creations)

You are shiny – (Matt. 5:14-16 – cities on hills / lamps on stands)

As disciples of Jesus Christ, (mathetais) (Matt. 11:29) – we are learners of Jesus.

Be disciples who make and mature more disciples. (talk about this at membership class - membership is signing up for intentional discipleship.

To help you remember that you are shiny and new…I want to give you this little glow in the dark star as a reminder of who we are to be as members of the church universal.

Jesus said that the way people will know that we are His disciples is by the way we love one another. Paul says that we maintain our shine is by committing to uphold the one another’s of the NT. He says in Philippians 2:14–16…that we are to

Philippians 2:14–15 (ESV)

14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.

The way we shine is by not grumbling or complaining. Trust me…there are plenty of things to grumble and complain about around here, but when we choose not to and instead we choose to consider others interest better than our own, that is what will make us look different that the culture that Paul said is, “crooked and twisted.”

Let’s welcome them into the fellowship (Clap).

God’s solution for the brokenness that is very real in our world is the church.

1 Corinthians 12:26 (ESV)

26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

When we gather together in unity, the whole is the more than the sum of it’s parts. We are social creatures and every human who has ever lived is trying to find out “where they belong.”

Once we are united to Christ by grace through faith, we become members of His Body and therefore intimately and inseparably connected to one another and with people from every tribe, tongue, people and nation and with the Lord Jesus Christ Himself and FOR ALL OF ETERNITY!

This is what Jesus died to purchase and set up and be the Head of and His church is the God given institution with the responsibility to minister to the problems of life and to care for people In their brokenness.

Jesus is not a lunatic, He is life source of this community of His called out ones.

Jesus is not a liar. (3:22-30)

Mark 3:22–30 (ESV)

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.” 23 And he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end.

Jesus was getting ready to send out His emissaries to spread the message of His Kingdom, but before He did that Jerusalem was sending their own to stop Him. And they way that they would do that is by propagating lies about Him.

They lied about him. His biological family said, “He is out of His mind,” but these religious guys from the Mother City Jerusalem assess the situation and say, “He is possessed by Beelzebul.” (Teacher in high school wrong answer - Buzz).

This is another ironic point Mark makes. His family thought He was a lunatic, but the conclusion that the religious leaders came to was the luny one. There conclusion doesn’t even make logical sense and Jesus quickly stomps on the falsehoods that they were spreading based on their logical fallacy.

Satan can’t cast out Satan. If a Kingdom is divided, it can’t stand. And IF a kingdom is divided it is only a matter of time before it will come to an end.

Now look at verse 27 because in it Jesus is going to show that He Himself is about the render the counterfeit Kingdom of Satan powerless. And the way He will demonstrate this is by eluding once again to the Exodus event.

Mark 3:27 (ESV)

27 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.

Okay, what is going on here and what is Jesus eluding too? Probably the most famous incident involving plundering in the OT is when Israel was lead out of captivity in Egypt. The Israelites were the ones who were held captive by the “strong” oppressive nation named Egypt, but it was Israel who left like a conquering army with all the loot!

Egypt was much stronger than Israel, but Israel’s God was much stronger than the Egyptian (lower case g) gods. Ten times over God proved His dominance over the “strong house” of pharaoh which submissively allowed Israel to walk away with the treasures of Egypt.

Listen to God’s own words to Moses,

Exodus 3:19–20 (ESV)

19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand. 20 So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you go.

Exodus 3:21–22 (ESV)

21 And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and when you go, you shall not go empty…you shall plunder the Egyptians.”

That is what God said He would do and then in chapter 12, that is what He did.

Exodus 12:36 (ESV)

36 And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.

Jesus is making a comparison between His Kingdom and this famed Exodus event of antiquity.

Jesus wasn’t empowered by Satan, His Kingdom is more powerful than Satan’s and it is evident in that He is able to “bind him” and then “plunder His possessions.”

Jesus isn’t a burglar stealing from Satan what ins’t rightfully His, He is the King of all Kings who had won the war and to the victor goes the spoils. Jesus was taking with Him the treasure (i.e. the ransomed children of God. of God). Whom the Son sets free is freed indeed. The power of sin is broken and they are free.

This is marvelous, but if you don’t see the work of Jesus for all of its magnificent, eternal life giving significance, and you refuse to allow Him to carry you off as His prized possession, then, and only then will the terrorizing verses of 28-30 apply to you.

So many of us (me included) have been worried and terror stricken and tortured in thinking that maybe we, or someone we know have committed what in pop culture is called, “the unpardonable sin.”

Mark 3:28–30 (ESV)

28 “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— 30 for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

I want to make a Theological Point and then a Pastoral Point.

Theological first. “All sins will be forgiven” that means even the when we are guilty of having blasphemous words come out of our mouths.

Paul identified Himself as a “former blasphemer,” when he writes to Timothy.

1 Timothy 1:13 (ESV)

13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy…”

And that mercy that He recieved changed his whole identity. Paul used to be just like these religious leaders that were coming down from Jerusalem to spread lies about who Jesus really was, but he is not like that anymore and the reason why is because of mercy. He didn’t get what he deserved. The theological point in verse 28 should be a great source of comfort for all of us who are truly guilt ridden because of our sin.

All sorts of sins and every sin can all be forgiven by blood of Jesus.

However, if you are so utterly defiant toward the work of Jesus in your life, if you totally and utterly reject what Jesus is bringing to your table, if you live in a perpetual state of spurning His work as if what He is offering you is from the pit of hell instead of the Paradise of His heaven, that is something that just can’t be forgiven because you will have refused your need for forgiveness altogether. Don’t want it. Don’t need it.

Mark 3:28–30 (ESV)

29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— 30 for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

One of the roles the Holy Spirit is to convict you of your sin. If you mock His work?

If you are so backwards in your thinking that when you look at Jesus and determine that He is no better than the one who is seeking to kill you, steal from you and destroy you instead of giving you life and life abundantly, then there seems to be no coming back from that and the reason why is because you will never actually want to.

So here is the pastoral point,

“If you have ever experienced worry because you have wondered if you have committed the “unpardonable sin,” your worry actually provides you with proof to demonstrate that you haven’t.”

But if you are willfully blind to the truth of Jesus and willfully resist and reject His help, what can be done?

Jesus is not a lunatic that needs to be stopped. He is not a liar that needs to be lied about and ultimately rejected.

Jesus is the Lord. (3:32; 34-35)

And Lord’s should be listened to and obeyed. Look at this crowd.

Mark 3:32 (ESV)

32 And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.”…34 And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

These people in the house were sitting around Him. He was in the center of their circle and they were willing to allow Him to erase everything that they had formerly gotten their identity from. And according to their willingness to “obey, “believe” and “do” what Jesus was instructing, they were now family members with the One Who was known as the Son of God!

Through their willingness to believe His words and put them into practice, they had become children of God.

They were humbly sitting at His feet, listening to Him like He was their Lord, and He was.

He is Lord. We need to encircle Him.

He is Lord and we need to behold and adore Him and allow Him to reign in our lives for ever and ever.

Song: Behold Our God

Benediction

Mark 3:35 ESV

35 For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

Psalm 143:10 (ESV)

10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God!

Have you ever read Mere Christianity? Or any other of C.S. Lewis writing?

The biological family of Jesus was trying to stop him from doing His work. Are there any areas of your life where you are resisting the work that Jesus wants to do in and through you?

The scribes were completely wrong about Who Jesus really was. In what ways might you be thinking wrongly about Jesus and how would you know?

How does it feel to be the “treasure” that Jesus carried away from the strong man’s house?

Those gathered in the home had Jesus in the center of their circle. They were “doing God’s will” by sitting and listening to Him redefine everything about them. Is Jesus the center of our collective expereince when we gather for corporate worship or do we place ourselves in the center?