Entering the Cosmic Conflict

Mark 3:7-35 (NLT) The Gospel of Mark Entering the Cosmic Conflict Introduction: The Bible is a story about a Cosmic Conflict. The kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness This conflict was first introduced in Genesis chapter 2 where after humanity had committed treason against God and his good kingdom, God declared that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent and in doing so would bruise his own heel. For the rest of the story we see these kingdoms clashing again and again. The Gospel of Mark is set within the context of this cosmic conflict and we might even say is the climax of this cosmic conflict. From the very first chapter of Mark’s gospel we see the heavens being torn open, and the spirit of God descending upon and anointing and empowering Jesus from where he is driven into the wilderness for a face-off with the Satan. Having overcome him in the wilderness Jesus returns to Galilee declaring the good news of God that the kingdom of God is at hand - and in the scenes directly following this we see Jesus demonstrating the power of God’s kingdom in healing sin, sickness and disease and confronting the kingdom of darkness as he cleanses a demonized man from the unclean spirit. Mark’s gospel pictures a world filled with demonic power and presence more than any other gospel - Mark’s Gospel is truly set in the midst of a cosmic conflict in which Jesus Has come to overthrow the kingdom of Darkness and bring humanity into his good kingdom. In our passage this morning we see Jesus once again confronting and plundering the kingdom of darkness. As he continued his ministry in Galilee it says, "And whenever those possessed by evil spirits caught sight of him, the spirits would throw them to the ground in front of him shrieking, “You are the Son of God!” But Jesus sternly commanded the spirits not to reveal who he was. In the very next verses we find Jesus going up on the mountain and calling to him those whom he desired. There he appoints 12 disciples so that they might be with him and he might send them out to herald the good news about God’s kingdom being here and to have authority to cast out demons. There are some things to mention here that will give us some insight as we seek to understand Mark’s purpose and teaching here about what it means to be Jesus’ disciples. 1. The New Mission and the New Identity a. Jesus ascending a mountain and from there appointing 12 men should be significant to us who know our scriptures. It’s like a hyperlink taking us back to Moses who ascended the mountain of God to receive the law and consecrate the children of Israel as the people of God. The 12 disciples here are symbolic of course of Israel’s 12 tribes. Jesus is signaling to any who have eyes to see, that he, like Moses, is consecrating a new Israel under his authority to do the kingdom work of storming and plundering the kingdom of Darkness. This is a new Israel, a new humanity, with a new mission.. i. I’ve mentioned throughout our teachings that Mark's gospel is about being a disciple of Jesus - being with him, becoming like him, in order to do what he did, and we can clearly see that in this passage. ii. Jesus called the 12 to be with him, and then sent them out to do what he had been doing - preaching and casting out demons. Jesus invites his followers into his own mission to declare God’s reign and to storm the kingdom of darkness and to rescue men and women who have been held captive by Satan and his demonic forces. This is the mission that Jesus sends his disciples on. b. Who is called to this mission? All disciples, all those who claim to follow Jesus - The 12 disciples throughout Mark’s gospel are symbolic of all disciples and are contrasted with the crowd, and the religious leaders, and even Jesus' blood family. True disciples, followers of Jesus, Jesus new family community, are marked by doing God’s will Ie taking up jesus’ mission (Mark 3:35) i. It’s interesting to note who is in this group of disciples called to take up Jesus’ mission. Within Jesus inner circle you had a vast array of different personalities, occupations and even political affiliations. Some of these names and characters are familiar to us from the other Gospels - Peter, John, Andrew, Philip even Matthew/Levi. But Mark mentions here two characters that come from vastly and even polarized camps. Levi the tax collector was considered a Roman defector and a traitor to the nation of Israel and on the far other side of the spectrum we have Simon the Cananean - Scholars agree that The Cananean is a term associated with the Israelite zealots or dagger men who planned the overthrow of Roman tyranny over the nation of Israel. They were responsible for many seditious bloody uprisings and messianic movements. And yet, here these two men are not with the agendas that inform their political backgrounds (Jewish defector Christian or Christian zealot). They have laid these Identities and affiliations aside and have taken on a new identity (Disciples of Jesus) and a new mission (Apostles of Jesus, sent by Jesus) In this new humanity and mission - People are not the enemy, they are the captives and victims (The Romans are not the enemy, The Jews aren’t the good guys) those categories are gone - The mission is to bring the presence and power of the kingdom of God to bear upon the kingdom of darkness. ii. Church there were many political parties in Jesus’ day The Sadducees, the Pharisees, The Herodians, The Romans - or even those who hit the cultural eject button like the Essenes at Qumran - But Jesus does not cozy up with any of them - He’s on a different mission and he has a different politic. He is here for the redemption and restoration of humanity - he’s here to destroy and to plunder the kingdom of darkness. His mission concerns the establishing of the kingdom of God and the redemption of the Human race. That mission continues today but Satan and the kingdom of darkness have a subversive strategy to it. c. Satan’s Subversive Strategy - In this passage and all throughout Mark’s Gospel, Satan’s kingdom is being plundered - this is Jesus’ explanation for his power over Demons - when he is accused of being possessed by the Prince of demons Satan is like a strong man who is able to keep his goods safe from those who might try to plunder. But Jesus implies that he is the stronger man who has bound him and begun to plunder his goods. i. The language Jesus uses here would have taken these biblical scholars to a passage in Isaiah - "Who can snatch the plunder of war from the hands of a warrior? Who can demand that a tyrant let his captives go? But the Lord says, “The captives of warriors will be released, and the plunder of tyrants will be retrieved. For I will fight those who fight you, and I will save your children. I will feed your enemies with their own flesh. They will be drunk with rivers of their own blood. All the world will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Israel.” - Isaiah 49:24-26 ii. Far from Jesus being possessed by the Prince of Demons - these scribes are resisting the plundering of the kingdom of darkness - who is under the influence of demons here? d. But just because Satan is overcome by Jesus, that doesn’t stop him combating Jesus' work. Satan knows he can’t meet Jesus head on, and so his campaign is one of disinformation and propaganda - it’s not baltant but it is subversive - We can see it as Jesus’ family come and declare that Jesus is out of his mind (acting like Moses, appointing a new Israel - Who does Jesus think he is?) - I wonder if we consider the emotional and psychological effect this would have had on Jesus - His own family rejects his claims, dismisses his power and authority. Not only that but we have the Scribes who come down from Jerusalem - Biblical scholars coming from the seat of religious authority (It’s like the top harvard or Yale scholars coming against someone) These Scribes held so much weight and authority in this shame and honor society - they could lift you up or they could destroy your reputation - it’s these leaders of the nation, these influencers who come against Jesus saying that he is possessed by the prince of demons and that is why he has this power… Again, can you imagine the psychological warfare going on here?? I wonder in this moment if Jesus was tempted to back down a bit, to stop ruffling so many feathers to just go quietly with his family and not bring shame and dishonor to the family name and reputation? But once again Jesus is bold and unflinching. He will not be dissuaded from his mission to rescue humanity from the kingdom of darkness and to transfer them into his kingdom of light! e. I bring up this point of Satan’s subversive strategy to remind us that we have a real enemy and he is crafty and he is at work in the world sowing lies and hatred, jealousy and fear, suspicion and prejudice - and he would love nothing more than to get us to doubt our true identity, calling, and mission as disciples of Jesus - to doubt it’s power, it’s potency, it’s relevance, it’s truth. He would love for us to be distracted by anything that would take our focus off of the kingdom of God, and God’s rescue. He would love nothing more than to see the Church actually resisting and working against God’s kingdom and the overthrowing of the Kingdom of Darkness - as we see here with the scribes, Pharisees and even Jesus’ own family. f. I don’t believe that I am someone who is hypersensitive to demonic activity - but I will say unless you have a belief in and understanding of the devil, the demonic realm, and the kingdom of darkness - you will tend to make people the enemy, rather than the power that is influencing, enslaving and often controlling them.. i. As in this story people are pawns that Satan uses Satan’s continuing influence has implications for human beings because people choose sides in the conflict of kingdoms by their response to the person, power and authority of Jesus 2. How do we engage in this Mission of Jesus? a. It’s a whole life engagement - The disciples were called to be with Jesus and then he sent them out i. I think the first step is recognizing my own discipleship to Jesus as my true identity and primary calling and then beginning to live that out before the watching world. 1. (Living out the way of Jesus into every sphere what would Jesus do if he lived my life?) ii. If like these disciples we have been with Jesus, and he is rubbing off on our lives, we’re becoming more like him our lives will provoke questions - the normal categories of Liberal and Conservative, Religious or Secular won’t fit - Because we reflect the God who is both more liberal and more conservative than we can possibly imagine; because we follow the Lord of both the sacred and secular. I know when this is happening in my life because - the response has been - You aren’t like any Christian I’ve ever met… iii. Of course this way of life provokes questions to which Jesus, the Good news of God’s rescue, the judgment of evil and the restoration of all things are the answer. - Our questionable lives give us the opportunity to share the good news of the love and rescue of God in each context with each individual. iv. Is our love, mercy, compassion, forgiveness, response to violence, slander and criticism so different that people would question it; that it challenges the status quo? v. Good works - deeds of justice and mercy, (the beatitudes and the fruit of the spirit) this is how we confront spiritual darkness and wickedness - But do they really? That seems so soft and ineffective. It’s true, it does seem that way, in our human thinking and that is because the human way is the demonic way which is always violence and force - But Paul the Apostle reminds us that the weapons with which we fight are not weapons that the world uses and yet - they are mighty through God - “We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God.” - 1 Corinthians 10: 4-5 1. And even then this is done with kindness with humility, not pride and arrogance... 2. My mom recently started a new podcast where she and a friend are trying to expose the Christian community to our rich heritage of Godly faithful Christian missionary women - some who we’ve heard of and others are unknown to us. On a recent episode she was talking about a woman named Evelyn “Granny” Brand. She and her Husband began a ministry to the people of rural India, bringing education and medical supplies and building roads to reduce the isolation of the poor. For seven years they went without making a single convert to Christianity. During this period they were continually attacked by one man in particular - A Swami or Hindi priest. He spread terrible rumors about them in the surrounding villages and actively opposed them - he even set their house on fire trying to kill them - they responded again and again with forgiveness and kindness. But then that same priest developed a fever and grew deathly ill. No one else would go near him, but Evelyn and her husband nursed him as he was dying. He eventually said, ‘This God, Jesus, must be the true God because only Jesse and Evelyn will care for me in my dying.’ The priest gave his children to them to care for after he died – and that became a spiritual turning point in that part of the world. People began to examine the life and teaching of Jesus, and in increasing numbers began to follow him. 3. Following Jesus, and being his disciple is not easy, it goes against our sinful nature that wants revenge, that wants to take down the kingdom of darkness with violence. We have to learn from Jesus how to be gracious, forgiving, how to turn the other cheek and not repay evil for evil, how to endure suffering righteously. 4. Our engagement in this cosmic conflict with evil is a costly engagement - Just look at Jesus. Consider what it cost him to bring us from darkness to light. What it cost him to destroy the works and power of Satan so he could set us free and bring us into his kingdom. 5. Let us not be distracted or deceived from the true identity and mission that Jesus has given to disciples - to be signs and witnesses of the kingdom of God