The Criticism of the King

Mark 3:20-25

If you brought your bibles turn with me over to the gospel of Mark chapter 3. The gospel of Mark chapter 3 and in a moment we are going to read Vs. 20-35 of the gospel of Mark Chapter 3.

Criticism is a part of life. We all face criticism from time to time. We anticipate being Criticized by our enemies, but it is painful when it comes from our family and friends, especially when we are attacked for our faith in Christ, and living for God!!

That is the subject of this great passage this morning. Jesus faces criticism from every direction; from His family and friends and from His enemies, and the way He responds teaches us some very important spiritual truth.

The Point is; When you are living for Christ, you can expect criticism from the world, but how do you respond to that criticism?

Mark 3:20–35 KJV

And the multitude cometh together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread. And when his friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him: for they said, He is beside himself. And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils. And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan? And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end. No man can enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house. Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation: Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit. There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him. And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee. And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren? And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.

(pray)

Father, I thank you for your Word.

I pray this morning Lord Your Word would speak to our hearts and minds and you would teach us what you want us to hear.

Lord allow me to speak clearly and simply so that we could understand your Word. In Jesus name I pray, Amen!!

In our passage this morning Jesus is being attacked by two groups of people. Both of these attacks teach us something about our own walk with the Lord.

If you are a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ you will come under attack. That is a promise to His followers.

John 15:18 Jesus said, ““If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.”

No one likes to be hated or criticized for their faith. But it shouldn’t surprise us when the world treats us just like they treated Jesus.

So, I want us to look at these verses and the criticism Jesus endured and see what we can learn from the way He responded to the attacks against Him.

I. The Criticism of His Family Vs. 20-21

A. The source of the criticism coming from His family and friends seems to be this overbearing crowd we see in Vs. 20.

The passage suggests the crowds were so large Jesus couldn’t even meet His own physical needs.

Notice Vs. 20, “And the multitude cometh together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread.”

Jesus and His disciples have returned to a home in Capernaum, we learn that at the end of Vs. 19 where we are told, “they entered into a house.” This is the home of Simon Peter. This is where His ministry first began.

If Jesus had a home at all, this is where He called home. It was a place He could go to and rest, but from everything we read in this story, there was no rest for Him there.

Vs. 20 says, “The Multitude gathered together again.”

This is an obvious reference back to 2:2, when Jesus was in this same house and the crowd was so great, it was standing room only. That day Four men came carrying a paralytic on a stretcher, and they couldn’t even get into the house.

So, they climbed up on the roof, dug a hole, lowered the man down in front of Jesus, and he was healed and forgiven. Well, this same crowd has gathered together again at this house.

B. Now, it is important we understand this multitude was an obstacle Jesus had to deal with and overcome, but they were not a hinderance to the work of God. In fact, they were the work of God.

These were the people Jesus was feeding. These were the people Jesus was healing, and casting out demons. These were the people our Savior was pouring out His love and compassion on!!

But, notice these were the people His friends wanted to separate Him from.

Notice Vs. 21, “And when his friends heard of it.”

Heard of what? They heard of this crowd. They heard what He was doing. At a time when food was scarce they heard He couldn’t even eat bread.

But, they have also heard of the miracles. They have heard of the healings. They have heard people believed in Him as the Messiah.

It is important we know the word “friends” here in the original language means “Kinsmen.” So, this is His family. That becomes clear down in Vs. 31.

This is specifically His mother and His brothers, and they are concerned about His well being. Notice what they came there to do.

Vs. 21 says, “they went out to lay hold on him:

These people came there to get Jesus. They came to stage an intervention.

This phrase “to lay hold on Him” literally means “to take Him by force and arrest Him.” They want to get Jesus out of there, take Him back with them, lock Him away, so they can straighten Him out. If there were mental institutions in the first century, that’s what they wanted to do to Jesus.

And notice why they want to do that. Look at the end of Vs 21, “ for they said, He is beside himself.”

They think He has lost His mind. They think He has gone mad, and just look at the evidence. In Mark 2:5 He claims to be God. In Mark 3:13-18 He calls twelve men to become His followers. Now in Mark 3:20, He has surrounded Himself with people and refuses to rest or to eat. So, they think He is gone crazy.

That tells us, His relatives didn’t understand His ministry, because they didn’t understand Jesus, and obviously don’t believe He is on a mission from God!!

I can’t help but think, when you come to know the Lord Jesus Christ and you become serious about living for Him. People who do not have that same conviction will not understand what is taking place in your life.

They will think you have lost your mind because you want to live different from the world around you. You want to live your life for a greater purpose. You want to live in a way that glorifies Christ!! That does not make sense to someone who does not know Jesus.

Many times, this is the people we love and the people who love us. They don’t understand the change that is taking place inside of you, and they will criticize you for fear of losing you in your obedience to God!!

I’ll give you an example. There was a family in Monroe that had a teenage son and daughter. And the Son began drink and party with his friends. His father said, “He will be okay he’s just spreading his wings and sowing his wild oats.”

Meanwhile, the daughter began coming to church. She wanted to be baptized, she wanted to be saved. Well, they immediately began to criticize her. They said she was crazy and lost her mind. They wanted me to talk some sense into her, because they couldn’t understand what God was doing in her life.

It is something we all have to come to terms with. Not everyone is happy that you got saved. There will be some people in your family and among your friends that will criticize you for living for Jesus.

They will call you a fanatic. A Jesus freak and a religious nut. But don’t let that stop you Jesus said it would be that way.

They said the same thing about Martin Luther, Dwight L Moody, and John Wesley. So, if serving Christ is crazy, I pray this church becomes an insane asylum!!

That is what we see in this story. The brothers of Jesus were not believers, they didn’t understand His ministry, but I feel like, Mary should have known better.

Maybe she was concerned about His health but she knew He was the Christ, she knew Jesus had to be about His Father’s business!!

Yet she went along with His brothers, and tried and prevent the plan of God, and people will do the same thing in your life and mine!!

I want you to see the way Jesus responded to the criticism from His family. Vs. 31-35.

 You have to understand that nothing was more important to a first century Jewish person than their family. Belonging to the family or tribe was everything to them.

Most of the people could trace their heritage back to one of the twelve tribes of Israel.  So, for someone to exist, at that time apart from a family was inconceivable. In fact, entire families lived together, worked together, supported one another, throughout their lives.

So, when they told Jesus His mother and brothers were outside, waiting to see Him. The people sitting with Him there, fully expected Him to get up and go outside and and see them.

Instead, Jesus asked a question and then He answered it, with this amazing statement that applies to us today. He said, “Who are my mother and brothers?” Then Jesus looked around at the room and the group of people with Him, and said, “This is my family. Whoever does the will of God is my brother, sister, and mother.”

 It is important we understand, Jesus wasn’t rejecting His earthly family, but He was teaching us an important truth. A spiritual connection is stronger than a biological one.

You’ve heard the phrase, “blood is thicker than water.” That usually means our relationship with our family is stronger than our friendships. But let me revise it: “The blood of Jesus is thicker than family blood.” In other words, Jesus is teaching us that the most important family in the world is the Family of God, because that is your eternal family.

(I want you to look around this room at the people sitting next to you) These are the people you will spend eternity with. These are your brothers and sisters in Christ. We are the family of God!!

So, what exactly does Jesus mean by those who do the will of God? He is speaking about those who respond to His offer of grace. Those who respond the sacrifice of Christ for their sin. Those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation have done the will of God and are placed in the family of God.

I want you to notice something; the people around Jesus. The people He calls His brothers and sisters. They did not do anything special to be called that. They simply wanted to be with Him, where He was at, doing what He was doing. That is what a relationship looks like. They wanted to hang out with Jesus.  

The point is; A Christian becomes a part of the family of God by God’s grace, and not anything else. But, from our passage we learn that our response to Jesus is important, it matters.

The question for us today is, Are you a part of the family? Do you enjoy being with God’s people in the presence of the Lord? And do you believe in Jesus as your Lord and Savior?

II. The Criticism of His Enemies Vs. 22

This is what we would expected. We would expect people who don’t care for us to criticize us. Especially when our relationship with God directly impacts them personally and that’s what we see in this story.

Notice Vs. 22, “And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils.”

The scribes in this story, are people who were experts in the law. These were the judges, and the lawyers of Israel, these were the important people of the nation. And notice where they came from; Jerusalem. That tells us they came there on purpose. They came there to investigating Jesus.

They are not only there to criticize Him, but they are there to demonize Him. They want to discredit Him and turn the people away from God.

Notice what they say, Look at the middle of Vs. 22 “He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils.”

Now they have to accuse Him of doing this, because they cannot deny His miracles. Notice they admit He is casting out devils!!

So, they have to explain why He has this power. They had to explain why people were being healed and miracles are taking place as well, because people are starting to believe in Jesus as the Messiah.

The proof was in the pudding and they couldn’t deny it. It was happening all around them and everyone could see it.

He has even given the disciples the power to heal and cast out demons. So, they accuse Him of doing it by the power of Satan.

It is important we understand Beelzebul was the name of the pagan god of the Philistines, in the Old Testament. His name literally means lord of the flies. But, wherever there are flies, What do you find? you find dung.

So, his name became synonymous with the lord of the dung, or lord of demons. This was the most awful, degrading, vile thing they could call Jesus. If they could have thought of anything worse, they would have called Him that.

 But, I love how Jesus responds to their criticism in Vs 23-30. Because He responds with logic.

First notice Vs. 23 He says, “come here guys, Let me tell you how stupid what your saying really is.” Vs. 23 says, “How can Satan cast out Satan?” 

This is a rhetorical question because the answer is obvious, he can’t. And Jesus gives them these three brief parables, to explain this. The parables He uses are really like proverbs. They are universal truths that apply to everything, they are true across the board.

 In Vs. 24-27 He says, A kingdom divided cannot stand, a house divided cannot stand. If Satan rises up against himself, he is finished. You cannot rob a strong man’s house unless you first go in and tie up the strong man.

What Jesus is saying here. The strong man in verse 27 is Satan but, Jesus is the stronger man. And He is able to go in and bind him up, and take over Satan’s house!!.

These are universal truths we need to understand, and just as a side note; America is a kingdom divided, and if we don’t resolve our issues, we will not stand. I am not saying we should go along with people we disagree with just to get along. I am just stating a universal fact, laid out for us in scripture, a kingdom divided will not stand!!

Then I want you to notice in Vs. 28-30, Jesus gives us a precious promise and a stern warning.

First lets look at the promise Vs. 28 says, “All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme:”

What Jesus is teaching us here that, there is nothing you can ever say that cannot be forgiven by God, not even speaking out against God Himself. That is what it means to blaspheme. To blaspheme is to speak slander against God, or to speak profanity against God.

And Jesus teaches us, that even if we do that, it shall be forgiven. In other words, If we seek His forgiveness and repent of our sin, we will find forgiveness.

That is what the Apostle John teaches us in 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

That means the person who is repenting and seeking God’s forgiveness, will always find God’s forgiveness, regardless of what they have said and done!! What a great promise that is from God!! Because we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

 Then He gives these scribes a stark warning in Vs. 29-30, He says, “but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness but is guilty of an eternal sin”— because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

 Jesus is teaching these scribes, that everything is forgivable but what they were doing. This is what we call the unpardonable sin.

Over the years, so many Christians have come to me, afraid they have somehow committed the unpardonable sin.

 So, we have to ask, what is the unpardonable sin? What were these men doing? They were accusing Jesus of being in a league with Satan. They were accusing Him of being evil, and they were doing it on purpose to try and prevent others from believing in God.

In other words, they were rejecting Christ and trying get others to reject Christ, and they’re hearts were unrepented. That is the unpardonable sin. It is to reject Jesus with an unrepented heart. That is unforgivable, because Jesus is God’s only means of salvation. He is God’s only means of forgiveness.

     I want you to understand that Jesus died on a cross for the sin of the world and as long as we have breath in our lungs, He offers us the grace of God. John 3:16 ““For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

To believe in Jesus is to have a heart of repentance over your sin and to know that you need a Savior.

  One of the most beautiful stories in all of the Bible is the story of the prodigal son. It is a story of a young man who leaves his father’s house, wastes his life, living wild and blows all of his money.

And then one day he wakes up in a pig pen. When he realizes what he has done, and the mistakes he has made in his life, he decides to go home. That is a choice that each and everyone of us have. We can go home, we can repent, we can confess, and God will forgive us.

The amazing thing about the story of the prodigal son is; the Father was waiting for His son. He was looking for him and when he saw him coming he ran to meet him with open arms. That is a picture of our heavenly Father waiting for us to return so He can forgive us!!

Conclusion

Criticism is a part of life, and you can expect to come under attack because of your faith. But, remember you are in good company because Jesus, our Lord and Savior was attacked as well.

And He teaches us that; if you are criticized by your family it’s okay, because you have another family, an eternal family, the family of God, and they will stand beside you as you live out the will of God for your life.

And He teaches that you can expect to be attacked by your enemies. But to respond with faith, forgiveness, and grace knowing that you have been forgiven by God, and you are saved!!

Lets pray together.

Father, I thank you for Your Word. I thank you for this time we have spent looking into your Word. I pray You would give us strength to respond to the criticism we face, with Love and grace. In Jesus name, Amen