Liar, Lunatic or Lord-Mark 3:20-35

Last Sunday morning in our journey through the Gospel according to Mark we continued our closer look at the men whom Jesus chose to be His disciples. We looked at Judas Iscariot, The Traitor. Tragically this man who’s name meant "Jehovah leads" was more clearly led by Satan than he was by Jehovah. While his hypocrisy was impossible to miss for us, with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, he had the 11 other Disciples completely fooled. None of them suspected even for a moment that he would betray Jesus, in fact as you read the Biblical accounts, each one was more concerned that they might be the one to betray Jesus rather than Judas. We were reminded that Judas received all of the benefits of the remaining 11, yet never embraced Jesus as Lord. Despite the miracles, despite the teaching, despite spending 3 years of his life with Jesus almost 24/7, still he never surrendered his life to Jesus, never fully embraced Him as the long awaited Messiah. His following of Jesus was more about what he could gain personally; leadership, fame, money among other things. In the end, when it became clear Jesus wasn’t going to provide him with his selfish desires, he betrayed Him for $20, the price of a slave. Leading up to the betrayal of Jesus, we watched as Jesus gave Judas multiple opportunities to stop and change course before the betrayal, but Judas ignored every opportunity. We looked at the account where Judas was filled with remorse at his betrayal of Jesus, but the remorse never brought him to the point of repentance, remorse without repentance accomplishes nothing when it comes to our sin. We closed our time with 3 very important lessons from the actions of Judas. First:

1. Judas reminds us that it is possible to be near Christ and associate with Him closely (but superficially) and yet become utterly hardened in sin. Please don’t miss this important point, because it is as possible for us today as it was for Judas.

2. Judas is proof of the patient, fore-bearing goodness and loving-kindness of Jesus. Jesus knew from the very start that Judas was going to betray Him, yet He continued to show him love and call him friend up until the betrayal took place. And last:

3. Judas reminds us that no matter how sinful a person may be, no matter what treachery he or she may attempt against God, the purpose of God cannot be thwarted. Judas’ betrayal of Jesus seemed at first glance like Satan's greatest triumph ever. But in reality, it signaled utter defeat for the devil and all his works.

This week we move into another sad chapter in the life of Christ, as we will look at an encounter He had with his family. Like many of us, Jesus dealt with a lot of heart aches and sad chapters in life, but in thinking about that, I am reminded about what the author of Hebrews wrote in Hebrews 12:1-2; where we read; Next Slide

Hebrews 12:1-2

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the Founder and Perfecter of our faith, Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right Hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2

Jesus endured all of the heartaches, all of the sad chapters He experienced in life, because of “the joy that was set before Him”. Which includes those of us today, who come to the point of full surrender to Him. We are a part of that joy that was set before Him!

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Conflict From Every Direction.

Conflict was just a way of life for Jesus. From every angle it seemed, Jesus had to deal with conflict. It came from His enemies who were, ironically the religious leaders of the day. From them it came out of hearts are filled with jealousy and hatred. They felt He was taking their followers away. The truth is, we should expect conflict to arise from our enemies, it is only natural. But it wasn’t just His enemies whom He had to deal with when it came to conflict. There was also conflict with His family! In fact, Scripture seems to indicate that it came from His brothers as well as His mother. You remember His mother, don’t you? “Greeting, you are a highly favored! The Lord is with you… you will be with Child… a Son… the Son of the Most High… He will reign over the house of Jacob forever.” She was the one who had a star from heaven shine upon the birth of her Son. Who was visited by shepherds the night of His birth. Who later was visited by Kings from a faraway land bringing gifts! She was a virgin who gave birth to a Son proclaimed by the angel of God. Perhaps you would expect some conflict from His brothers, but from Mary? Yet there was conflict just the same. I guess that what it all boils down to is this; if we are doing the will of the Father, our conflict free times may be few and far between. That is just simply the way it is while we are here. Jesus never promised that once we accepted Him as Savior, our life would forever more be peaceful and serene. On the contrary, He assured us “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me and for the gospel will save it.” There are many other passages as well that make it clear that there will be troubles in life. The truth is, while we may not enjoy the conflicts that arise, it is nice to know ahead of time that they will come. Why? Because we can prepare.

When the Indianapolis Colts prepared for Super Bowl 41 against the Chicago Bears they knew they were facing a great defense. The Bears had the top-rated defense in the NFC and had finished with the best record in the NFC. They had a good chance of finishing with the best record in the NFL, except they sat out most of their starters the last game of the year. Knowing they were going to face a very good defense, the Colts studied everything they could about the defense so they would know how to attack it. They weren’t caught off guard or surprised and their preparation enable them to come up with a come from behind victory and Peyton Manning’s first Superbowl victory.

We too know that the enemy will attack. So why be surprised? Instead let’s prepare for what we know will happen. Then when conflicts come, we don’t have to get bent out of shape and react in an ungodly way. We can simply trust in God, you know, that all powerful, all knowing, never caught off guard One will get us through this just as He promised. He will be nothing less than 100% faithful to us 100% of the time. Because while He promised that we would have many trials and tribulations, He also promised that not only would He be there for us, but He would also give us the ability to come through victoriously. So, when we face trials and conflicts of all kinds, let us “Fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross.” That’s what we will see as we look at this encounter Jesus faced with His own family in today’s passage.

Would you please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word?: Next Slide

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 3:31–35 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.” 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.”

May God add His blessing to the reading of His Holy Word. Please be seated. Next Slide

Home Is Where the Conflict Is.

Most likely the Biblical account we are looking at this morning is taking place at the home of Peter. You may recall that earlier in this chapter the crowds that were following Jesus were so large that He had his disciples prepare a boat at waters edge so He could climb aboard, if necessary, to safely teach without being crushed by the huge crowds. Here in verse 20 we read; “and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat.” So, here He is once again surrounded by a dangerously large crowd. So large that they were unable to even eat a meal. Word must have gotten to His family in Nazareth that Jesus was in danger, because they made to 20 mile journey to Capernaum to rescue Him. I mentioned a moment ago that here Jesus was facing opposition from His family. This was not a hostile opposition, it was more of an act of love than anything else. It appears that His family had heard He was not properly taking care of Himself. Sleepless nights, going without food, surrounded by dangerous crowds who cared little for Him, only what He could do for them. He was constantly confronting the powerful religious and political leaders, never once backing down despite their desires to see Him dead. There is little doubt that they had heard that His life was in danger, so they made their way to Capernaum. At the end of verse 21 we read “for they were saying, ‘He is out of His mind.’” My guess is this was coming from His brothers and not from Mary. For her, it was probably a misguided attempt at protecting Her Son. Of course as the Son of God, He had no need of her protection, but it’s hard to blame a mother for wanting to protect her son. After-all, it is a natural part of the instincts of almost every mother. Additionally, we read in John 7:5 that during His earthly ministry, His brothers didn’t believe in Him. That belief came after His resurrection. In their state of unbelief, His brothers watched all of what He was doing and thought it crazy.

If you think through all that they had heard about what was taking place, it’s hard to blame them. We have the benefit of the historical record. We have the benefit of the completion of God’s Word, they had neither. All they had was their eyes and ears, what they saw and heard, and based on those things, much of what Jesus was doing was crazy, almost suicidal when you think of his constant confrontations with the Pharisees, other religious leaders and the Herodians and other political factions. On top of that, perhaps there may have been something else at play here. Can you imagine being raised with a brother who literally did nothing wrong? I means seriously, how annoying would that have been!

To a certain degree, I have a limited amount of understanding on this. Let me tell you about my brother Mark. Mark is 2 years, 1 month and 1 week and 1 day older than me. Mark was annoyingly good. Rarely disobeyed my parents, rarely disobeyed his teachers, was fastidious at giving honor to his elders. Mark was so good that even when he did wrong my parents had a hard time believing it! Case in point. It was somewhere around 1967 or 68. I would have been 7 or 8 at the time and our younger sister Joy would have been 4 or 5. We lived in a farming community in western Kansas. Not far from our house was some railroad tracks and we were given strict instructions to stay away from those tracks. Well one day the local post office lady noticed one of us boys with Joy playing on the railroad tracks. Later that day she let my parents know what she had seen. Mom and Dad took the 3 of us boys to the post office. Somehow I picture in my mind us standing beneath the wanted posters that were on the walls of every post office in the 60’s in sort of a criminal lineup. Dad then asked her to identify which one of us boys she had seen with Joy on the railroad tracks. Before long she pointed at me! Well I’m here to tell you that it wasn’t me! It was Mark! But how could it be Mark, I mean everyone in the community knew Mark was not capable of doing such a heinous act! But Jimmy....naturally she pointed in my direction! Guess what I got as a result of Mark’s sin! I got the belt! While my brother Mark was annoyingly good, Jesus was perfect! Maybe that played a role in their assessment of Jesus' mental make-up! Next Slide

The Great Trilemma.

In C.S. Lewis masterful apologetic book Mere Christianity, Lewis, a former atheist, seeks to counter claims that Jesus was simply a good teacher but not divine. He popularized what became known as the great “trilemma”. Simply put, he stated that Jesus couldn’t be just a good teacher. Either He was who He claimed to be, God in the flesh, of He was a liar, or even worse, a lunatic on the level with someone who would claim to be a poached egg. He wrote Mere Christianity in 1952, but he actually touched on the great trilemma 2 years earlier in his first book from the Chronicles Of Narnia, The Lion, The With, And The Wardrobe. In this book, the 4 Pevensie kids, who lived in London during World War II, were sent by their parents to to the home of an old professor who lived way out in the country, far from the air raids that were taking place in London at the time. While playing hide and seek one day, the youngest of the children, Lucy, went to hide in what turned out to be a magical wardrobe that led into a whole different world. If you want to know more about that, get the book and read it to your children or grandchildren. When Lucy returned to the wardrobe, returned to earth and found her 3 siblings, understandably they had a hard time believing her story of this whole other world. A day or so later, her brother Edmund who was one year older than her, decided to follow her into the wardrobe. He discovered she was, in fact telling the truth. But when they were reunited with the 2 oldest, Edmund decided to claim they were only pretending. That led to the excerpt I will read to you now.

Next Slide

The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe.

The result was that next morning they decided that they really would go and tell the whole thing to the Professor. “He’ll write to father if he thinks there is really something wrong with Lu,” said Peter “it’s getting beyond us.” So they went and knocked at the study door, and the professor said “Come in,“ and got up and found chairs for them and it said he was quite at their disposal. Then he sat listening to them with the tips of his fingers pressed together and never interrupting, till they had finished the whole story. After that he said nothing for quite a long time. Then he cleared his throat and said the last thing either of them expected.

“How do you know?” He asked, “that your sisters story is not true?”

“Oh but – –“ began Susan, and then stopped, anyone could see from the old man’s face that he was perfectly serious. Then Susan pulled herself together and said, “but Edmund said they only been pretending.”

“That is a point,” said the Professor, “which certainly deserves consideration; very careful consideration. For instance – – if you’ll excuse me for asking the question – – does your experience lead you to regard your brother or your sister as the more reliable? I mean, which is the more truthful?”

“That’s just the funny thing about it, sir,” said Peter. “Up till now, I’d have said Lucy every time.”

“And what do you think, my dear?” Said the Professor, turning to Susan?

“Well,” said Susan, “in general, I’d say the same as Peter, but this couldn’t be true – – all this about the wood and the Faun.”

“That is more than I know,” said the Professor, “and a charge of lying against someone whom you have always found truthful is a very serious thing; a very serious thing indeed.”

“We were afraid it might didn’t even be lying,” said Susan. “We thought there might be something wrong with Lucy.”

“Madness, you mean?” Said the professor quite coolly. “Oh, you can make your minds easy about that. One has only to look at her and talk to her and see that she is not mad.”

But then,” said Susan and stopped. She had never dreamed that a grown-up would talk like the professor and didn’t know what to think.

“Logic!” Said the professor half to himself. “Why don’t they teach logic at these schools? They’re only three possibilities. Either your sister is telling lies, or she is mad, or she is telling the truth. You know she doesn’t tell lies and it is obvious that she is not mad. For the moment then unless any further evidence turns up, we must assume that she is telling the truth.” (C.S. Lewis “The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe” pgs. 43-45 Collier Books) Next Slide

Liar, Lunatic Or Lord.

It would have been easier for Jesus younger brothers had they been born sometime after the days of C. S. Lewis, because he could have set them straight as to the reality of Who their older brother was. He had never told a lie, therefore He was not a liar. And His claims were backed up by the miraculous power of God. He had already performed too many miracles to count, including raising a widows dead son, healing the Centurion’s son without even going to see him, he had already cast out many demons, healed the sick, cleansed the leper. The fact that He could perform these miraculous wonders, accompanied by the fact that, outside of His unorthodox ways and teachings, there was nothing in His behavior that would cause you to think that He was a mad man, confirming the fact that He could not have been a lunatic. That left only one option, Jesus was Who He claimed to be, Jesus was the Lord of the Universe.

Last Sunday morning we looked at the life of Judas Iscariot, the betrayer. Towards the end of the message we looked at the fact that of all of the encounters Judas had with Jesus, he never referred to Jesus as his Lord, only as Rabbi. This leads us to believe that while Judas may have had a great deal of respect for Jesus, he never moved to the point of full surrender to Jesus as the Lord of his life. In the end, the most important decision any of us will ever make is What we do with Jesus. Judas never surrendered his life to Jesus, which meant he was never transformed by Jesus, and in the end he went into eternity separated from God. Jesus’ bothers may have thought Him to be mad as they did in this mornings passage, but in the end they embraced Him as their Lord and Savior and as a result He transformed their lives.

The question we are all faced with this morning is; “What do we do with Jesus?” Only one response changes the course of your eternity, and that response is always accompanied by a transformed life. Has Jesus, the Lord, God in the flesh transformed who you are? If not, there is no better time than today to surrender completely to Him, just like His brothers did, who at one point thought Him to be mad.

As I close us in prayer this morning, I am not going to lead us in what has become known by many as The Sinners Prayer. If you’re serious about Jesus becoming your Lord, once and for all, you’ll be willing to seek me out privately, either here at church, of if you are watching the service online, through a private message. But I I challenge you, if you haven’t already, today is the day to surrender to the transforming power of Jesus.