Jesus Journey - Part 5 - Mark 3:7-35

Welcome back to our study of the book of Mark. This time we're going to look at the rest of chapter 3. Um, we only really entered chapter 3, so we're going to start at verse 7 and work our way down to the end of the chapter. And while doing that, we're just going to comment on some of the stuff we see. As I've looked over this, I've realized that this section, if I was going to name this I would name it, because I'm in Australia, I would name it "Whose Are Yous?" In Australia, we use a term for a collective you, which there really isn't a word in English for the collective you. We just say you or you all, or in America they say y'all, and in Australia they say yous. Whose are yous? So who do you belong to? Who are your people? And who is Jesus to you? This passage, this chapter of— chapter 3 of Mark— Mark really zooms in on what people thought of Jesus, how they reacted to Jesus, and what they did and said around Jesus, what they did and said about Jesus, and how different groups had different approaches. So if you have your Bible with you, um, just open up to Mark chapter 3. If you don't have your Bible, I'll be putting the texts up on the screen as well, so you'll be able to, um, just watch and read along. Mark chapter 3, verses 7. And so the first little section, uh, 7 to 12, is titled in my Bible, Ministering to the Multitude. Jesus departed with his disciples to the sea And a large crowd followed him from Galilee, and a large crowd followed him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and around Tyre and Sidon. The large crowd came to him because they heard about everything he was doing. Then he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him so that the crowd wouldn't crush him. Since he had healed many, all who had diseases were pressing toward him to touch him. Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, "You are the Son of God!" And he would strongly warn them not to make him known. There's so much in this passage, but I think you probably saw or heard "crowd, crowd, crowd." Even the way that it starts out, Jesus departed with the— and a large crowd followed him from Galilee. So it tells you that he's departing from Galilee and a crowd's following him. But then it says, and a large crowd followed him from Judea. So it's like as he's going from place to place, these crowds are following him. They're just kind of hangers-on. They're becoming his, his multitude. And he has this huge crowd that's just growing and growing and growing. And Mark is really about this crowd. It's about this crazy group of people. Crazy in the sense that It's huge. There's so many people that it becomes overwhelming for Jesus, for his disciples, even for, um, his family to understand what is going on with Jesus. And also for the religious leaders. There's just so much in this chapter, but it's all focused around how people responded to Jesus, how the group, uh, responded and the, the response other people had to their just being such a huge group. So you've got these crowds that are following Jesus, and an interesting little point that it mentions in here is that they were pressing towards him to touch him. Jesus had this unique healing ministry that he actually reached out and touched people. He didn't just heal from afar. He could— there are miracles mentioned where he does heal from afar, but in Mark, Mark makes a real point of saying that Jesus touched people and people would press forward. Now you imagine, these aren't just people that, um, just general people that he's touching. These are sick people. These are people with skin conditions, with flus and colds and, um, and, and handicaps of all different sorts. And they look unwell. And Jesus is knowing what he knows and who he is, he reaches out and he touches these people. And in touching them, they are healed. There's also this interesting point made that whenever he sees someone with an evil spirit, the evil spirits know him and they name him. It's a fascinating little tidbit that Mark brings up quite often about them mentioning Jesus's name and Jesus saying, "Don't, don't say who I am. Don't tell everyone. Don't reveal me yet." And It's a fascinating thing. Back in that time, and even in some parts of the world today, people believe that you have power over someone if you say their name. If you are able to command them by saying their name, you have authority over them. And these demons do not think they have authority over Jesus. They just feel like they have to say his name. They they feel compelled and different commentaries have different reasons for why this is. But Mark's real point is just that it happened, that it just, there was this constant kind of back and forth between Jesus and between the demons and Jesus and where they would say, you are the Son of God, you are the Messiah, you are. And he would say, shh, you know, come out of them. You be quiet. Don't say who I am. And it's like he didn't want them either to reveal who he was or maybe just to think that they had authority. Don't you try to control me. Don't you use my name and think that you have authority over me. Which fits in quite interestingly to this chapter, because this chapter is about the power that people thought they had— people thought they had over Jesus. When it comes to demons, demons just— Jesus just knows that he has authority, and the demons know that Jesus has authority, and they flee. It's another major theme in the book of Mark that we've already looked at a little, is the authority that Jesus has. He speaks as one who knows his scriptures so well, but doesn't speak like the scribes. The scribes would always reference someone else and say, oh, as Scribe so-and-so says, or as Rabbi so-and-so says. And then they would, you know, speak on that person's authority. We know this is true because so-and-so has said such and such. Where Jesus just says, I tell you, this is what the scripture means. And the people were amazed by it. And so were the scribes and Pharisees, like, whose authority? Who is this guy speaking under? And they would, um, they would come after him with that question. So, you are the Son of God, verse 12. And he would strongly warn them not to make him known. Let's continue on verse 13 as this crowd moves along. Mark chapter 3, verse 13, and we're going to go down to verse 20. This section in my Bible is called the 12 Apostles.— it makes sense that it's called that because this is where he names them. Jesus went up to the mountain and summoned those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed 12, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, to send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons. He appointed the 12. To Simon he gave the name Peter, and to James the son of Zebedee, and to his brother John He gave the name "Boanerges," that is, sons of thunder, to Andrew, Philip, and Bartholomew, Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus and Thaddeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him. In this passage, we see a little bit more about that authority idea. This time it says that Jesus is calling them, he's gonna give these 12 authority to do some of the stuff he's doing, to preach what he's preaching and to drive out demons as he's driving out demons. It also enters this, introduces this idea in the very first verse there, verse 13, where it says Jesus went up the mountain and summoned those he wanted. We're going to see that word come back again a little bit later in this chapter. And it's fascinating. It makes sense for him to summon his apostles, right? He's calling them. He's saying, come follow me. Um, and he's, He's probably, well, we know he's with a massive crowd. And so he separates himself away, goes up on the mountain and summons these 12 and they come to him. And then he names them in a sense. He names them basically declaring his authority over them. And some of them even changed their name, but he uses their names and gives them these new names to show that they are his followers. And he declares them to be his apostles. And then continuing, verse 20. The next section is called A House Divided, and this is the meat and potatoes of this chapter. Jesus entered a house, and the crowd again gathered so that there was not even room to eat. When his family heard this, they set out to restrain him because they said, he's out of his mind. The scribes who had come down from Jerusalem said, he is possessed by Belzebub, and he drives out demons by the rulers— by the ruler of demons. So he summoned them and spoke to them in parables. How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, the kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, He cannot stand, but he is finished. But no one can enter a strongman's house and plunder his possessions unless he first ties up the strongman. Then he can plunder his house. Truly, I tell you, people will be forgiven for all sins and whatever blasphemies they utter. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness. But is guilty of an internal sin because they were saying he has an unclean spirit. Wow. So this passage, we get introduced to this idea that people are uncomfortable with who Jesus says he is and what he's doing. And people are trying to explain Jesus. His own family are saying, we're hearing these things about Jesus. We've got to go and stop him. And so Mark does this interesting little trick where he wants to show time passing. And so he introduces the idea by saying, "When his family heard this, they set out to restrain him." So in other words, they're somewhere else. They're probably, you know, back where he was raised in Nazareth. And they set out to come and restrain him because they said, "He's out of his mind." Now, that's an interesting translation because it's really quite inaccurate. In the original language, the phrase means he was standing outside of himself. So it's not about a state of mind. It's more about his actions don't seem like him. And so they're basically saying Jesus is, um, he's out of his depth. That's probably a better way to say it. He's, he's not acting the way we think he should be acting. In fact, he's not acting the way he's ever acted at home before. And so we're gonna go, and there's just these crowds, and they're dominating him, and they're, they're overwhelming him, as if Jesus didn't want the crowds to do this. And so they're like, we're gonna go tell Jesus how to, how to beat these crowds. And so they head out to come and help. And While they do this, the scribes who had come down from Jerusalem, it says, which is a little hint as to how nervous they are about this Jesus. They've been sent by the authorities in Jerusalem to come and watch what Jesus is doing, to come and listen to what he's saying, to come and see if the reputation, if the rumors, if what they say about Jesus is actually happening. And so these scribes come down And they cannot say that it's lies, that Jesus is not healing people, because he is healing people. They cannot say that Jesus is not driving out demons, because he is driving out demons. And there's just so much proof, and so many people who have examples, could give examples from their own life. And so many people, including the scribes, you can watch it happening, and they They've seen it happening. And so now they can no longer say, look, he's just, things are overinflated. It's not as big as it seems. They're saying, it is, it is happening. So how, how is it happening? And they reach out for this idea and they just grab onto it and they just start saying it. But what's interesting is we see here that Jesus, they're not with Jesus. They're like the family of Jesus. They're out there and they're talking about him and they're heading towards him, or they're at least nearby. They're closer than the family. The family's coming from Nazareth, The scribes are far enough away that Jesus does something I find really amazing. It shows you that Jesus loves the scribes, and Jesus has time for the scribes. Jesus knows what the scribes do. The scribes write things down, and he wants the scribes to write things down the right way. But he also cons— is concerned about the scribes' spiritual, eternal well-being, their identity in eternity. And he knows that if they go around teaching that he is doing things in the name of the devil, that— how can you possibly— this is what he says to them. He summons them. First of all, that's what I wanted you to get, is this idea. He summoned the 12 apostles. They came to him on the mountain. He is in this house and he hears people saying, the scribes are out there saying that you are possessed. You know, not you're possessed, but you're using the powers of Belzebub, the number one, you know, Satan. You're using his powers to drive out demons. And Jesus just stops everything and he says, bring them to me. Now, if you're the scribes, right, and you're trying to act like, hey, we're here from Jerusalem under the authority of Jerusalem, and we're here to make things, you know, make sure things are, you know, rah rah rah, and we're going to go and report, and we're here under authority, the authority of the the synagogue, and Jesus summons you. Now, who's in the authority? And guess what they do? They come. They hear his summons, and they— I don't know what their hearts were like, but I don't— if I was around there and I was maybe saying things I shouldn't be saying, and then Jesus summoned me, I would feel, oh no, I'm gonna get in trouble. But I also would feel Jesus wants to talk to me, kind of like Zacchaeus in the tree, you know. Jesus is actually calling for me. I'll come down, I'll come in. And they do. He summons them, and these scribes come traipsing in through the crowd, fighting their way in. So tight is the crowd that later it says the family couldn't even get into the house. And they fight their way in, and they sit. There's this inner circle sitting around Jesus, and then they sit in the next level, or maybe they stand behind the 12, and they say, "You called for us?" And then Jesus lets loose on them, but not because he hates them, because he loves them. He wants them to understand that you cannot say that what God is doing is coming from the power of the devil and believe that, unless you are so disconnected from God that you can't see when God is doing something that you are basically— you're either in league with the devil or you're in league with God. You can't be in league with the devil and do God's work, and you can't be in league with God and do the devil's work. And that's what they were saying Jesus was doing. And he said, you cannot say that. In fact, when you say that, it so distances you from the presence of God that you are unsavable, you are unforgivable, because you won't even seek forgiveness because you believe in your mind that, that you would never seek forgiveness from that God. Because that god is the devil. And Jesus says, you, you can't do this. If God's Spirit is doing something, do not say that the devil's spirit is active. And he challenges them with this. And I just, as I was reading it, I just felt this overwhelming sense of There's times in our life when we need Jesus to say that to us, when we need Jesus to say, you need to slow down and you need to think about why you're saying what you're saying and what you're actually saying. That if you make these claims, you're actually distancing yourself from the good, and you're distancing yourself so far from the good that you can't speak on behalf of the good. And that's a terrible place, a terrible place to build your house, a terrible place to build your philosophy, a terrible way to write your story, which is what the scribes were going to do. They were going to write it down, and Jesus wanted to make sure that they wrote it the right way. You know, when you're dealing— if you're ever in leadership, which we all are, we're in authority at different times— and When you're in authority over someone, if there's a problem with someone and you just start complaining about the problem and that person's not even there, but you just start— what if Jesus had just said to the crowd, oh, you have— you heard what the scribes are saying? Well, let me tell you, they are— there's no hope for them. They cannot be saved. They cannot. If they think like that, if they're blaming the devil for what God is doing, how can they possibly be right with God? And but he doesn't do that. When you want to solve a problem that you're in authority over, you don't talk to the problem, you talk to the people. And Jesus calls them, he summons them, he says, "Bring them to me." And he doesn't say it like, "Oh, now I'm gonna squash them." He says, "Please bring the scribes and Pharisees, bring these guys to me." And they come in and they stand there, and then Jesus He speaks to the people who are saying the problematic things, and he doesn't just address the problem in a metaphorical way. He talks directly to the people, but then he's gentle in the way he says it because he uses parables. And he says, you know, in a sense, this is what he says if you wanted to literalize the parable. He says there's a strongman and his name is Satan, and this strongman has his way with people. He makes them ill. He breaks their body, and he sends demons to inhabit their hearts. The only way, the only way that you can come into the strongman's house and take away what belongs to the strongman is if you bind the strongman. You have to tie him up first. And that's what Jesus has come to do. That's what he's going to do on the cross. He is going to bind the strongman. He— and He's going to have no strength anymore. He's going to thrash around like, you know, the Revelation says that the dragon knows his time is short, and so he's thrashing around and attacking where he can because he knows that he's lost the war. Jesus has come to bind the strongman, the devil, and he's going to do that by giving his life. He's going to do that by doing something so unthinkable for the arrogance, the arrogance of the devil, so unthinkable for the narcissistic nature of the devil that he can't even imagine that God would allow himself Himself to be put on the cross. They can't even imagine that the God who created all that is would put Himself to death, basically allow Himself to be no more, to come to a stop, take their place. That's how He's gonna bind the strongman. And so Jesus says this to the scribes: I am here to bind the strongman. Don't say that the strongman is binding the strongman, because first of all, it doesn't make any sense. Why would he do that? He's spent his whole working life, the devil, in setting up all of this evil, this creating all of this bad stuff and making everything broken and hurting people and hurting God by hurting people. Why would he now be undoing it? Doesn't make any sense. But let me tell you this: God is here to bind the strongman, and he's going to do it through love, and he's going to do it through opposing the devil. And anything that's against the devil and that's causing the devil to flee, do not say that that is the devil, because the work of the Holy Spirit is the work of God. Jesus has some pretty strong words for the scribes, but the beautiful thing is it gets written down, and it— that story gets written down in the book of Mark so that we are compelled in the way we live our lives to speak the truth and let the truth own us and not ever call what is good bad or call what is bad good, but represent truth with honesty and integrity and know that Christ has bound the strongman, the devil. He's locked in eternal chains without the power to destroy us anymore because the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God through what Jesus did on the cross is eternal life. So let's finish the chapter. Verse 31. This section in my Bible is called True Relationships. Whose are yous? His mother and his brothers came, and standing outside, they sent word in and called him. A crowd was sitting around him. So they summoned him, didn't they? They say, send Jesus out to us. Doesn't happen. A crowd was sitting around him and told him, look, your mother and your brothers and your sisters are outside asking for you. He replied to them, who are my mother and my brothers? Looking at those sitting in the circle around him, at least just named the 12, he said, and then said, here are my mother and brothers. And then I imagine him looking up over the circle that's seated and into the eyes of the scribes that are still there listening. Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother. What a beautiful way to conclude what he's just said to the scribes, saying, you're welcome here, you're welcome to be on my inner circle. Do the will of God and you are my mother and my brother and my sister. Do you want to be part of the family of God? Here's the invitation. Jesus has come to bind the strongman, and he invites you to serve him, to serve Jesus, to serve God, just by doing the will of the Father. It should come naturally to you because once he lives in your heart, the good of God should come through you to the world. And anything that, that isn't of him should feel uncomfortable. It should feel unnatural for you because you have the heart of one who is saved now, and sin no longer has a place in you. Sin is foreign. Sin is weird. Sin is unnatural for you. And so when it crops up, your heart being connected to Christ rejects it. Does not want to be part with the evil that is bound as— because of what Jesus did on the cross. You can feel the book of Mark leading up. He's really setting up the cross beautifully. But in this passage, in this chapter, chapter 3, he really focuses in on groups of people and how people respond to him and his authority and what he's doing. And he invites all of us to be part of his family by doing the will of God.