Jesus Established a New Family and Announced a New Kingdom (Mark 3:20-30)

I. A house divided cannot stand (vv.20-27.

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.” 22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebub,” and, “By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons.” 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.

A. Our Lord’s “people” were sure that Jesus was confused, and possibly deranged!

The great crowds they saw following Jesus, and the amazing reports they heard about Him, convinced them that He desperately needed help. He simply was not living a normal life, so His friends came to Capernaum to “lay hold of Him.”

These verses, vv. 20-21 are unique to Mark. After Jesus entered a house, such a large crowd demanded His attention that He and His disciples had no time to eat. When His family, (His own people) heard that His ceaseless activity prevented proper care for His needs, they came to take charge of Him, the people kept saying He was out of His mind, a mentally unbalanced religious fanatic

B. The teachers of the law came and said that Jesus was not mad, but demon-possessed.

It is hard to believe that even the teachers of the law thought this accusation was true; that is why Jesus’ rebuke was so severe. First, he showed how stupid the suggestion of a ‘civil war’ within Satan himself is. Then he pointed out that his expulsion of demons meant a victory over the enemy, not a siding with him.

Jesus summoned His accusers and refuted their charges in parables. He dealt with the second accusation first by showing the absurdity of their underlying assumption that Satan acts against himself. He used two illustrations to make the self-evident point that if a kingdom or a house is divided against itself in purpose and goals, it cannot stand. The same applies to Satan if it is assumed that Satan opposes himself and his realm is divided. This would mean that his end has come. Clearly this is false. So the charge that Jesus’ exorcisms were due to Satan’s power was false.

II. The Unpardonable Sin.

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.”

A. Jesus gave a grave warning about the only unforgivable sin in the Bible.

The sin against the Holy Spirit this seems to mean the deliberate closing of the heart and mind to the witness of the Spirit to Jesus, something of which the teachers had just shown themselves to be guilty.

Such a wilful and deliberate twisting of truth makes repentance and salvation impossible, for it has shut the one gate to salvation that God has opened. It is not that God is unwilling to forgive, but that the person concerned is unwilling to receive his forgiveness.

B. Jesus declared, All the sins and blasphemies of men are open to God’s gracious forgiveness with one exception—blasphemies against the Holy Spirit.

In light of the context this refers to an attitude (not an isolated act or utterance) of defiant hostility toward God that rejects His saving power toward man, expressed in the Spirit-empowered person and work of Jesus. It is one’s preference for darkness even though he has been exposed to light

Mark explained that Jesus said all this because they kept saying He was demon-possessed. Jesus did not actually say the scribes had committed this unpardonable sin; but they came perilously close by attributing His exorcisms to satanic power when they really were accomplished by the Holy Spirit. They were close to calling the Holy Spirit “Satan.”

III. JESUS’ TRUE FAMILY.

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.” 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.”

A. Our Lord was not being rude to His family when He remained in the house and did not try to see them.

He knew that their motives were right but their purpose was definitely wrong. If Jesus had yielded to His family, He would have played right into the hands of the opposition. The religious leaders would have said, “See, He agreed with His family—He needs help! Don’t take Jesus of Nazareth too seriously.”

Instead of giving in, He used this crisis as an opportunity to teach a spiritual lesson: His “family” is made up of all those who do the will of God. Our Lord’s half brothers were not believers (John 7:1–5) and Jesus felt closer to the believing publicans and sinners than He did to James, Joses, Judah, and Simon, His half-brothers.

B. Our Lord was not suggesting that believers ignore or abandon their families in order to serve God.

We must put God’s will above everything else in life. Our love for God should be so great that our love for family would seem like hatred in comparison (Luke 14:26). Certainly it is God’s will that we care for our families and provide for them (see 1 Tim. 5:8), but we must not permit even our dearest loved ones to influence us away from the will of God.

How does one enter into the family of God? When the sinner trusts Jesus Christ as Saviour, they experience this new birth and enter into God’s family. They share God’s divine nature and can call God “Father”. This spiritual birth is not something that we accomplish for ourselves, nor can others do it for us. It is God’s work of grace; all we can do is believe and receive.