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20 Then the multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread. 21 But when His own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, “He is out of His mind.”
Jesus' own family came to try and save Him from what He was doing. They came to forcefully take Him away claiming Him to be crazy.
Did they come out of concern for Jesus well being, or did they come out of concern for their own reputations?
What was their motive?
22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebub,” and, “By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons.”
the scribes are publicly accusing Jesus of being a demon, being in league with satan.
Are they sincerely concerned that Jesus is doing the devil's work, or are they only trying to undermine Him because of the impact He has had on their own power and influence?
What was their motive?
23 So He called them to Himself 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 cannot stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end. 27 No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house.
Jesus used this parable to counter their accusation and show the truth. He doesn't want to simply win an argument, He wants to bring people with Him, which should be our goal in everything that we do in the name of Christ. If we aren't bringing people with us, then what is the point?
The point He is making is that a house divided cannot stand. If Jesus was aligned with satan, why would He destroy His own work? Why would He bring satan's house to an end?
We must be careful not to become a house divided lest we become ineffective and unable to stand. A great number of churches have fallen and closed their doors because of the division with itself. We destroy what God has ordained because of our attempts to make it about ourselves rather than focusing on why God established it. When the people of God cease to move in the direction of the will of God, they then move in opposition to it. A house divided cannot stand.
But here is what is easy to miss:
Satan is the strongman in this story, and Jesus has bound satan and is plundering his goods in his own house. Jesus is stronger than the strong man. Again, Jesus making known His power and authority over satan as He has been since His ministry began.
28 “Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; 29 but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation”—30 because they said, “He has an unclean spirit.”
Blasphemy is the act of spitefully insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence to a deity or holy thing.
Jesus takes this opportunity to speak about the unpardonable sin because of their accusation of Him being a demon, an unclean spirit.
Jesus is referring here to the spiteful denial of the work of the Holy Spirit (the Spirit of God) in the ministry of Jesus Christ, which is what they were doing with their accusations. They were not only rejecting the work of the Holy Spirit, but they were also obstructing it by their actions against Jesus.
Many reject Jesus out of ignorance, fear, weakness, but to willingly and knowingly attack that power is far different. The ignorant can be informed, the fearful can be strengthened, the weak can be encouraged, but what does one do with one who refuses to see or respond to the truth?
Blasphemy is forgivable: example Paul.
We can move from one extreme to the other through faith and repentance, but to continue in the opposition of Spirit's work cannot be forgiven. In short, the unpardonable sin is UNBELIEF, UNREPENTANCE.
Just like salvation, it's not about your words or actions, but the heart and intention with which you do them. True faith and repentance will save you just as true unbelief and unrepentance will not be forgiven.
Mark 3:
31 Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him. 32 And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You.”
back to the family who came to take Him away. they were waiting outside and did not come inside, either they could not get in or chose not to, so they sent for Him.
Maybe they couldn't get in because there was no access to Jesus. Their names weren't on the list, so they couldn't get into the club. I'm sorry, you aren't on the list.
Wouldn't that be a horrible thing to hear at the gates of heaven?
Tell Jesus I'm here, I know He will let me in! Did you tell Him who I was?
Or maybe they chose not to come in. Instead they chose to wait outside and expect for Jesus to come out to them. I will tell you something right now. Jesus is always with us, He never leaves or abandons us, and waits for us to turn to Him always.
But to expect Jesus to come to us on our terms for our purposes, is the furthest thing from what it means to allow or accept Jesus into our hearts. We aren't doing Him a favor by giving Him the privilege of being with us. Becoming a follower of Christ means that we are recognizing our need for a Savior and relinquishing all control of ourselves, lives, family, goals, future to Him and no one else!
Jesus doesn't respond to us on our terms, we must surrender to Him on His terms or else it doesn't work.
Mark 3:
33 But He answered them, saying, “Who is My mother, or My brothers?” 34 And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.”
At first read, this seems very cold and disrespectful to Jesus' mom. I can understand being a jerk to your brothers, but to your mom?! I could have never done that to my mom. I would drop all my friends to be with my mom. She would have the best seat in the house! This response was very shocking to me at first.
When we take a step back and recover from our reaction to Jesus' response, we can begin to see the reason for it.
Jesus came to fulfill His Father's purpose. His response was not meant to be mean or disrespectful, but to point God's greater definition of family. A family that is open to anyone who seeks to do the will of God. Many of the people following Jesus at this time had lost their family because of their decision to follow Christ. Can you imagine how these words must have impacted them when Jesus spoke them?
This was a family who's ties went beyond the blood of men, but would be sealed and sanctified by the blood of Jesus Himself. None of us chose to be in the family were born into, but we all have the choice to be a part of this one!
The Point
You were created by a God that loves you. He sent Jesus for you, has a plan for you, wants you to live in the abundance of His grace.
As one hears the gospel of Christ and the call to repentance and salvation, they have to respond to it in one form or another. Either Jesus is who He says He is, or He is not. If He is not the Son of God, then He is out of His mind as His family said, but there is no in-between. We have to make a choice on the matter. You have to make a choice! And the choice you make will dictate how you see and respond to Him throughout your life.
If you are presented with a truth, and you decide not to believe it, then you will never apply it to your life therefor will never benefit from the results of it's application. If you choose not to believe that Jesus is Lord and that He and He alone can give you eternal salvation, then you will never surrender your life to to Him therefor will not go to heaven. This is unbelief and unrepentance.
blasphemy against the Spirit
scribes with their accusation of Jesus - maliciously
family thinking He was crazy and trying to obstruct His mission - unknowingly
slandering and attacking the Spirit is easy to recognize, but attempting to obstruct or subvert the Spirit is not so easy to see. Especially in ourselves.
Those closest to Jesus are those most in danger of this sin.
Those of us who are educated in God's Word and are convinced that we are working out of the best of intentions are less likely to see our own guilt in undermining the Spirit.
holding one form or style of worship over another
refusing to see the value of others
slandering fellow Christians
labeling those who don't agree with us as blasphemers
turning our backs on those we think not deserving of hearing the gospel
These things stem from:
fear of change or something different
judgement of what we do not understand
always seeing ourselves as the good guys
dread of losing power, influence, or relevance
the scribes were trying to protect what they had, with all faith that scripture and God were on their side.
the family was trying save face and thought they were doing what was best for Jesus and themselves.
Many Christians today, thinking that God is on their side and they are doing what is best for everyone, are guilty of obstructing the Spirit's work in the people around them.
Because of it, many house are divided today, working against themselves, working against us and the commission of reaching people for the kingdom of God.
We were called to be a part of a family, a family whose ties are stronger than any other, a family that is eternal and will accept you and support you no matter your history. We have been called to the family of God.