Liar, Lunatic, or Lord

INTRODUCTION

Having completed our study of the disciples in Mark 3:16-19, we are today looking at the rest of the chapter

Please take your Bibles and turn to Mark chapter three

In this passage, Jesus faces multiple challenges

First, his popularity draws such large crowds that he and his disciples struggle to find time to eat or rest

Second, his own family, concerned for his well-being, comes to restrain him, thinking he might be out of his mind

Meanwhile, the scribes accuse him of being possessed by Beelzebul, the prince of demons

Jesus refutes their accusation, warning of the severe consequences of blaspheming against the Holy Spirit

He then redefines who are His mother and brothers

This passage highlights the growing opposition Jesus faces, His unique authority, and his emphasis on spiritual relationships over biological ones

It also addresses the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit

Notice verses 20-35 as I read them:

Read Mark 3:20-35.

After going up on the mountain and summoning those He wanted, He appointed the twelve disciples as apostles

Afterwards, Mark says Jesus “came home”

This was probably in Capernaum (Mk.2:1) at Peter’s home (Mk.1:29)

A “crowd gathered again” but this time it was “to such an extent that they could not even eat a meal”

This description is similar to Mark 2:2 which describes the crowded conditions as “many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room, not even near the door”

In other words, the crowd was so great no one could get through the door

Now the crowd was so packed that eating was impossible

And in this situation there was no boat to put some distance between the crowd and Jesus (Mk.3:9)

The passage implies they were hungry but unable to satisfy their hunger

D. Edmond Hiebert adds that the details about not able to eat “is an added touch in Mark’s picture of the ceaseless activity of the servant of the Lord

The persistent pressure of the clamoring crowds formed one of the burdens of His strenuous ministry

Matthew 9:33 helps us understand why the crowds kept coming

Matthew says, “And after the demon was cast out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds marveled, saying, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.””

Many of you are familiar with the name C.S. Lewis

Lewis made the following statement in response to anyone who might suggest that Jesus was only a good teacher but not divine

Lewis explained that such an opinion was not logically tenable

He said…

Mark 1–8: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Chapter 13: Jesus Christ: Liar, Lunatic, or Lord? (Mark 3:20–35)

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. (C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity [London: Collins, 1952], 54–56)

After noting the problem in verse 20, Mark says in verse 21…

I. His Own People (v.21)

Heard of this

Having heard, they left Nazareth for Capernaum “to take custody of Him”

The words “take custody” means to “take hold of forcibly”

Mark uses this term in Mark 6:17 to refer to the arrest of John the Baptist

The idea is to “seize Him”

Eight of the 15 uses in Mark refer to Jesus being seized

Why did they want to do this?

Because they said “He was out of His mind”

Mark 1–8: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Lunatic: The Assumption of Jesus’ Family (3:20–21)

It is difficult to imagine that anyone could think that Jesus had lost His mind. His reason was the most perfect; His logic the most pure; and His preaching the most profound. No one ever spoke like He spoke—with such clarity or depth. Whenever He taught, the reaction of the people was always the same: “all the people were hanging on to every word He said” (Luke 19:48). But in spite of His popular reception by the crowds who flocked to hear Him, certain members of Jesus’ family thought He had gone mad.

In verse 21 the term “saying” is in the imperfect tense indicating they were saying this repeatedly

His family had thought He was suffering from a mental break down

He was “beside Himself” or “out of His head”

His family thought He was not acting rationally

A similar charge was leveled at Paul by Festus

Acts 26:24, “Now while Paul was saying this in his defense, Festus said in a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind! Great learning is driving you out of your mind.””

Paul told the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 5:13, “For if we are out of our mind, it is for God, or if we are of right mind, it is for you.”

In the OT, the prophet who came to anoint Jehu was called a “mad fellow” in 2 Kings 9:11.

J.C. Ryal says…

Few things show the corruption of human nature more clearly, than man’s inability to understand zeal in religion. Zeal about money, or science, or war, or commerce, or business, is intelligible to the world. But zeal about religion is too often reckoned foolishness, fanaticism, and the sign of a weak mind.”

R.C. Sproul said…

Mark Chapter 10: Blasphemy against the Spirit (Mark 3:20–35)

If the definition of a fanatic is someone who is zealous for the faith, I would be proud to be called a fanatic.

Mark pauses to address the scribes…

II. The Scribes (vv.22-29)

who accuse Him of casting out demons by the “ruler of demons”

They “came down from Jerusalem”

The reason why it says they came “down” is because Jerusalem is at a higher elevation than Capernaum

They “were saying, ‘He is possessed by Beelzebul,’ and ‘He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons’” (v.22)

Mark The Source of His Power

This was the most vicious charge leveled against Jesus up to this point and perhaps in His whole life. Basically, the scribes theorized that Jesus was acting insane (challenging the status quo) because He was possessed by an evil spirit, which also explained where He got the power to cast out demons.

This is what many said in John 10:20, “And many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is insane. Why do you listen to Him?””

Their verdict may mean that Jesus controlled Beelzebub, operated in his power, but more probably they meant that Beelzebub used Jesus as his agent

In the Greek, the name is always Beelzeboul; the familiar “Beelzebub” is from the Vulgate

Some view the name as a derisive corruption of the title of the god of Ekron, Baal-zebub, “the lord of flies,” to make it mean the lord of dung

More probably it means lord of the dwelling, that is, the dwelling of the evil spirits

This name that they called Him was another name for Satan

Jesus responds in verse 23 by calling “them to Himself” and “speaking to them in parables”

He says, “How can Satan cast out Satan?” (v.23)

“24 “And 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 he is finished! 27 “But no one can enter the strong man’s house and plunder his property unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house.”

After Jesus’ response to the scribes, Mark returns tells us…

III. His Mother and His Brothers (vv.31-35)

Arrived (v.31)

They were “standing outside” (v.31)

So “they sent word to Him and called Him” (v.31)

Some in the “crowd” that were “sitting around Him,” said to Him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside looking for You” (v.32)

He answered by asking , “Who are My mother and My brothers?” (v.33)

Then “looking about at those who were sitting around Him, He said, ‘Behold My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother” (vv.34-35)

CONCLUSION