Mark 3 (Be-elzebulinating)
Notes
Transcript
Mark 3 (Be-elzubulinating)
Mark 3 (Be-elzubulinating)
Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. They were watching him to see whether he would cure him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come forward.” Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.
Jesus departed with his disciples to the sea, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him; hearing all that he was doing, they came to him in great numbers from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and the region around Tyre and Sidon. He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him, for he had cured many, so that all who had diseases pressed upon him to touch him. Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, “You are the Son of God!” But he sternly ordered them not to make him known.
He went up the mountain and called to him those whom he wanted, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve to be with him and to be sent out to preach and to have authority to cast out demons. So he appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter), James son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder), and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who handed him over.
Then he went home, and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.” And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.” And he called them to him and spoke 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 his end has come. But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered.
“Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness but is guilty of an eternal sin”—for they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.”
Then his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside asking for you.” And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
Mark in his introduction has let us in on the secret, the mystery.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who is bringing a gospel.
He is appearing during a period of time where Israel has been without a king, land, nation, or real independence.
They have been under the rule of other nations for more than 400 years.
There have been many who claimed to be a messiah, but this man seems different.
Is he a prophet
Is he a messiah
Is he a king
Who is this man?
Remember, in Mark:
No birth story
No genealogy
No angels or Christmas songs!
We have two primary groups:
Leaders who want to figure him out
Crowds who want to find him out
Mark 3 opens on the fourth controversy
Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. They were watching him to see whether he would cure him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come forward.” Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.
Last week we saw what God thought about Fasting:
And through that we saw that you are obedient to God by loving others.
As if to say, don’t elevate the law above the good you could do for a person.
Which is tricky
Now, we don’t have the disciples wandering through a field eating grain on the Sabbath.
We have a healing.
And it would appear that Jesus is intentionally creating a controversy.
However, Jesus resolved the question about Sabbath:
You heal, you help on Sabbath.
You are not allowed to sit in your house while your brother hungers in the street
At this point what do you know:
He silences demons
He knows Scripture inside and out
He teaches with authority
He challenges authority
He heals
He forgives sin
Now which of these warrants the Pharisee’s desire to destroy him?
That should be your question as the reader.
However, if you are a regular, everyday person, you know how this happens.
There is a system for the elite
There is a system for everyone else
And those who challenge the elite are silenced
Jesus departed with his disciples to the sea, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him; hearing all that he was doing, they came to him in great numbers from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and the region around Tyre and Sidon. He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him, for he had cured many, so that all who had diseases pressed upon him to touch him. Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, “You are the Son of God!” But he sternly ordered them not to make him known.
For only the second time we see the name of Jesus
For the third time we see him by the sea
People are streaming to him, so much that he makes prior arrangements to escape.
Like swooping the President or a Star out of the crowd.
Why is this the case?
Because he is human.
How does a son of god get tired?
How does a son of god need help escaping?
But from a Jewish perspective, many diseased people are ‘pressing against him’ making him ritually impure and unclean.
He knows the law
But he does not live according to their reading of the law
All of that is interesting…but the last part is the most interesting.
And it will be more interesting in a moment
The unclean spirits KNOW who he is!
And he silences them.
and Judas Iscariot, who handed him over.
Then he went home, and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.” And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.”
I juxtaposed these on purpose.
Do you get it?
The unclean spirits know who he is, and he silences them
The scribes think he is working with the king of demons
So for the humans, at every level, the mystery remains.
We see the scribes sent from Jerusalem probably to argue with him over his reading of fasting and the Sabbath.
That is how you silence the Son of God
Bring the experts of the text, who likely have scripture almost entirely memorized
To refute this guys understanding of scripture
Jesus, as it turns out, is so out of his mind that he makes an interesting argument:
If demons are possessing people only to be cast out by Satan, then to what end?
But again, that is not the curious part of the parable.
But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered.
What do you think is being said here?
In light of the accusation that Jesus is the lord of demons and casting out demons by the lord of demon’s power?
In light of the kingdom divided against itself?
A strong man’s house:
Earth, Sheol, A person, A temple, Throne, Other
A strong man:
Satan, a person, God
Plunder:
Gold, a person, an army
Here are some options:
Israel is the strong man of the land of Israel. Israel was tied up (by God) and the house was plundered by her enemies.
Yahweh is the strong man, and who is going to tie him up? Thus, the house will never be plundered unless Yahweh loses.
How about this one:
The strong man is the satan and his house is the earth and all that is in it (including Sheol), he will be bound and his house will be plundered.
Now that reading is not common, but it is consistent with the story of the satan
Then he states that all sins will be forgives the sons of adam, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but one who calls the Holy Spirit an unclean spirit will never be forgiven.
So, WHO is this man?
He was just accused as being possessed by the satan or a worker of satan.
And it is juxtaposed against this:
Then his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside asking for you.” And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
He is not a worker of Satan, here are his mother and brothers!
And what does he do?
Defend himself?
No
Go quietly?
No
He asks them a question:
‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’
The same question all of Christianity has been asking since the start
Trying to systemetize it
Making a ‘test’
Baptism
Communion
Say the right words
Believe the correct things
****NEXT SLIDE****
A crowd forms around him…and he does the unthinkable:
All of these people, they are my mother and brothers
There are more like me right here.
Whoever does the will of God is my blood relative.
What does this do but deepen the mystery of this man.
Because, for the person living in Jesus’ day…
What is the will of God?
This statement is a major test for you the reader and it turns into a TRAP!
When I read that, and I know we are at the end of a long message…
But when you read that, did you even stop to think what Jesus meant by the will of God?
What are the people sitting around Jesus doing?
Sitting, listening, learning, and following
What are we drawn to?
Jesus has a family, including brothers?
Did he just dismiss his mother and brothers?
Is family not important?
Aren’t families tribal?
How can a regular human be the ‘brother’ of Jesus?
Isn’t he so high in stature that we cannot compare?
If he is a son of God, can we be that too?
Do you think every single person around him that day believed the same thing about him?
Even the disciples are not going to understand who he is in Mark!
They have differing opinions.
So what is the will of God?
According to the New Testament authors:
1 Thessalonians 4:3–8 “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.”
1 Thessalonians 5:12–22 “We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.”
For it is God’s will that by doing right you should silence the ignorance of the foolish.
1 Peter 2:15–17 “For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.”
These rub against our modern thought: It is about what I believe.
Yes
But you are not going to argue the evil and wickedness out of this world!
Mark 3 (Be-elzubilinating)
Mark 3 (Be-elzubilinating)