October 23, 2013
Even Jesus…
Mark 3:13-35
I Was Pressured 3:7-19
II Was Misunderstood 3:20-30
III Had to Choose 3:31-35
…….Was Pressured 3:7-19
There was a mounting hostility toward Jesus----In Capernaum, when He forgave the paralytic’s sins, the scribes and Pharisees were furious, and they accused Jesus of blasphemy, which, according to Jewish law, was punishable by death-----then, when he called Matthew to be one of his disciples and allowed Himself to be the guest of honor, at a party, full, of tax collectors, sinners, and Gentiles---- the Pharisees were appalled.-----then, when Jesus and the disciples ignored the ceremonial laws about fasting , the Pharisees couldn’t believe it-----from their perspective, Jesus couldn’t be a teacher of the law if He didn’t follow the law----
But the most incomprehensible thing, in their minds, that Jesus and the disciples did----which escalated the hostility, to the point, of no turning back, was that they didn’t observe the rules of the Sabbath, in the way the Pharisees believed that they should----the disciples had the audacity to pick and eat some grain, and then Jesus, healed a man’s withered hand, all on the Sabbath. So, in the Pharisees’ minds, these two things, were unforgiveable breaches of the Sabbath law-----and Jesus needed to die because of them-----so they joined with the Herodians to plot His death…
The pressure on the Lord Jesus was immeasurable. His every move was observed by the masses. And while, there were some believers----for the most part, Jesus was hounded by people, who wanted something from Him-----and the Scribes and the Pharisees were deliberately stirring the pot, by misinterpreting everything He said and did.
Jesus was completely God, so He knew, that what was happening, was the only way, but it was still hard, and it wasn’t yet time for the Cross.
And since He was completely human, too, He would have felt the pain of rejection and hatred, with the same kind of emotional angst, that we would have.
So, He left Capernaum, and went out in the countryside, along the seashore, so that He would be less vulnerable to the pressure from everybody-----but it didn’t really help very much, at all, if anything, the pressure just grew more intense.
The large crowd was composed of throngs of people----there was the Galilean multitude----made up of locals who had seen and heard about all of His miracles.
At the time, the area of Galilee was densely populated----ancient historians, like Josephus, speculated that there were tens of thousands of Galileans present----and then, added to that, were the hundreds of people, who had traveled the 100 mile journey, up from Jerusalem in Judea, and the many more, who had come from Idumea, the Transjordan area and the Phoenician cities of Tyre and Sidon. It was a massive response----and they didn’t have phones, TV, internet, or newspapers----which makes the size of the crowd, even more remarkable. And like all large crowds of people, they were determined that they were going to get their way---even if they had to force Jesus, to give it too them.
The crush of people was so huge, and their neediness was so great, that Jesus was in danger of getting hurt… so He told the disciples to have a boat ready for Him, with one of them manning it -----like you see the get-away car in some old movie. It’s sad, but He wound up having to put some space between Himself and His
‘would-be” followers----
The Lord’s primary objective and responsibility was to preach the Good News of the Kingdom------forgiveness and eternal life, in exchange for repentance and belief. --------------------------physical healing was a secondary blessing------------------------
Some people did come to Him for His teaching, but the truth is, Jesus’ words held little attraction for the multitudes------what they wanted to see and experience, were miracles of healing, that would benefit them, or someone they loved, personally.
Jesus knew that was what they wanted, He knew that they really didn’t understand the necessity for the cross----in John 6:26 after He had fed the 5000 with 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread, He told the crowd, “You are looking for me, not because you want the spiritual blessings I can give you, but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.” The Lord, was careful not to let popularity and success, as the world measures it, divert Him from His main objective. And we have to be careful that we don’t seek the Lord, just for what He can give us.
The picture is one of wild disorder----- The sick, pushed and shoved, to get close to Jesus, so that He would see them or so that they would be able to touch Him. And the demons, who had possessed people’s bodies, already hurting them, with physical injury, psychological trauma and immense spiritual harm, were throwing them down in front of Jesus, yelling His name, in terrifying voices---Son of God, Son of God, You are the Son of God….
There are many schools of thought as to why the demons did this----maybe they couldn’t help themselves, in the presence of the living God, they had no choice but to acknowledge Him----maybe they were trying to escalate the problem with the Pharisees, to hasten Jesus’ death----maybe, they had the evil audacity to try to mock Him----- maybe, they were just trying to use Him, to call attention to themselves-----or maybe it was because they were trying to diffuse His power, (there was an ancient teaching, that said if you knew the name or the quality of a person, then you could have mastery or control over them.) We don’t know why they were screaming His name, but The irony here, is that the demons knew that Jesus was the Son of God, but the multitudes just thought He was a miracle worker, who could alleviate their physical problems.
Jesus forbade the demons to speak, and then He cast them out-----He didn’t want evil spirits, with no love for God, to proclaim His name-----nor did He want to reinforce the popular misconception, and have people jump on the bandwagon, that He had come to be a political and military leader, who would lead the people, in freeing themselves, from Rome’s control. Jesus wanted the time, to teach people to understand, that the kingdom that He was preaching about, could only begin, with the overthrow of sin, in people’s hearts, not with the overthrow of governments.
It was crazy----the sick, the feverish and the crippled, were pushing and grabbing at Jesus and falling all over Him; and the demon-possessed, were malevolently howling His name; and the scribes and Pharisees were watching His every move, just waiting to seize Him, if He stepped wrong----the stress on Him, from His human perspective, must have been unbearable!
How this translates to us, is,….that Jesus understands the craziness of our lives, no matter how harried and frenetic they are--- He understands the pressured treadmill, that most of us race on, as we care for our families, and handle the never-ending chores, that we wake up to, day in and day out. But more than that, He understands what it is, to try and live a life of faith, in a culture, that wants to get everything it can get, because it thinks its entitled to it. He understands what it means to live in a culture, where we have the car running and the doors wide open, in case we need a quick getaway…
And as He is, in all things-----Jesus is our example in how to deal with the pressures of life----1. He got away; 2. He prayed; 3. He shared his life and responsibility with people He trusted.
1. He got away----Jesus withdrew from people to be alone with God---that is an essential component, to our wholeness and well-being. There’s too much activity and noise in our world------from morning to night we are bombarded with the radio and the TV---- and our phones make all kinds of sounds, depending on the nature of the message---phone call, text, email or twitter-----and then there is traffic noise, because we are constantly on the road-----and then add to that, the numerous verbal conversations that we have during the day.
We need to get away---we need silence-----we need quiet time with God. And it isn’t that hard----we just have to be creative and intentional----go for a walk by yourself; get up early, before the family wakes; go early to the car pool line, to the doctor’s office, to lunch with a friend----just sit for a few minutes----no matter how wonderful what ever we’re going to do is----nothing can satisfy us, or soothe us, or calm us down, or fill us with peace, the way time with our Heavenly Father can.
2. He prayed----the parallel passage to this one in Luke 6:12 says, “One of those days, Jesus went out into the hills to pray, and spent the night praying to God.” The underlying truth of this, is overwhelming to me----If Jesus, who is God, had to get away and spend time in prayer----spent the night praying----how much more, do we, mere mortals, adopted into His family, need to spend time praying…. Jesus knew this---so, He spent extended time, exposing His human heart to God’s heart.
Prayer satisfies our greatest need----the need to be with the Lord---to have more and more of Him, to know Him better and better----communion with God is the greatest need of our souls, and prayer is how we can achieve that fellowship.
E. Stanley Jones, describes the effect of prayer on us, like this: “Prayer is not pulling God to my will, but is the aligning of my will to the will of God. Aligned to God’s redemptive will, anything can happen in character, conduct and creativeness. The whole person is heightened by that prayer contact. In that contact, I find health for my body, illumination for my mind and moral and spiritual reinforcement for my soul. Prayer is a time-exposure to God, so I expose myself to God for an hour and a half to two hours a day, asking less and less for things and more and more of Himself. For in having Him, I have everything. He gives me what I need for character, conduct, and creativeness, so I’m rich with His riches, strong in His strength, pure in His purity, and able, in His ability.”
3. He shared His life and responsibility, with people that He trusted----God calls us to Him, in two ways: first, he calls us to faith in Jesus, as our Savior, and second, He calls us to service in His name…. From the 100s of people, who followed Jesus from place to place, Jesus chose 12 men to be His apostles
(He called them for 2 purposes----1st----He wanted them to be with Him, to be His steady and consistent companions. Others might come and go, but those 12 were called to identify their lives with His, and live with Him all the time----- and 2nd, He wanted to give them intense training---He wanted to send them out----He wanted them to be His messengers, which is what the word “apostle” means, He wanted them to tell others about Him----the disciples had been called, so that they could and would, bring others to Him. )
Theologians believe that there were 12 because it corresponded with the 12 tribes of Israel, and showed the continuity between the old religious system and the new one, based on Jesus’ message of fulfillment.
There was Simon Peter and his brother Andrew; there were James and John, the sons of Zebedee; and there was Philip and Bartholomew (also called Nathaniel), Matthew and Thomas; and there was James, son of Alphaeus and Thaddaeus (also called Jude), and there was Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot.
Jesus didn’t choose these men because of their faith---their faith faltered all the time. He didn’t choose them, because of their talent and ability-----no one, stood out with anything, unusually wonderful…And the disciples had a wide range of life experiences and backgrounds, but they didn’t have any more leadership ability than people who weren’t chosen.
But, there was one characteristic that they all shared-----and that was their willingness to obey Jesus, whatever the cost. After Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit and were empowered to carry out special roles, in the growth, of the early church.
Our lesson in this is, that we can’t disqualify ourselves from tasks, that the Lord calls us to, because we don’t think that we have the credentials, or the time, or the ability, or the desire------all we need, is a willing heart and He will equip us with everything else.
II …….Was Misunderstood 3:20-30
At the time that all this was happening, there were 4 opinions about who Jesus was----if you want to know the truth, though, people still have these 4 opinions:
1.Jesus was a miracle worker----They thought that He was either an emissary from God or a tool of the devil----it didn’t matter to people---- all they cared about, was what He could do with His power.
2. Jesus was a madman----They thought that He had lost His sanity---Jesus own family thought that He had lost His mind-----they heard reports that He was so far gone, into religious fervor, that He didn’t take time to eat or to lay down and rest His body.
They knew that He had given up His livelihood, and was going around teaching and preaching, and claiming to be God’s son------and as good as He was and as pure as He’d always been, I think the brothers were having a hard time trusting what they were hearing about Him-----
I think Mary, understood more than the others----but she must have been worried about the schedule and the pace He was keeping ----plus, I think she missed Him----once He started His ministry, their relationship had to have changed-----she didn’t see Him on a daily basis anymore; she didn’t prepare His meals or wash His clothes anymore; He didn’t have time for Her advice anymore or her admonitions----and if she was like me, she might not have been ready for the change---(I know, when Griff got married, as good as I loved Ashley, my changed role was hard to get used to----I wasn’t the only woman in His life anymore and He didn’t need me, in the same way anymore-----and I didn’t have the freedom to tell him what he should and shouldn’t do anymore----it was a major adjustment)
I can imagine, that Mary felt like her world had turned upside down------little did she know, her present concern about Jesus, was just a drop in the bucket… Jesus’ half brothers came down to Capernaum, with the sole intention of forcibly taking Him back to Nazareth and getting Him under control. They loved Him, and they didn’t want to lose Him. They thought they needed to protect Him from Himself…He wasn’t eating; the crowd was so large and so boisterous, his family must have been afraid that He would somehow be trampled or torn apart-----and, they must have thought--who in his right mind would set himself against the religious and government authorities and challenge the very essence of who they were, with nothing but a motley crew of 12 ordinary men as your body guard? They must have been scared for Him, and maybe for themselves, by association.
3. Jesus was demon-possessed----The scribes, who were the highly trained legal experts, voiced this opinion----they were sent out from Jerusalem, apparently with their minds made up, that He was a tool of the devil----since there is no evidence that they ever interviewed Him or the disciples.
And not only did they accuse Him of being possessed by satan, but they said that he was driving demons out of people by satan’s power, not God’s. The Scribes wanted the crowd to believe that Jesus was Himself possessed, because it would disprove His claim of being the Messiah----it would blow His witness-----and would safeguard and strengthen the Scribes’ positions, as the continuing religious authority. This charge, reduced Jesus, to being, nothing more, than a demonized sorcerer, who was steeped in the black arts.
The Scribes couldn’t deny that Jesus was performing exorcisms----in the parallel passage of Matt. 12:22-24 it says, that Jesus had just cast out blind and dumb spirits, from a man, and it had enraged the Scribes…
The Scribes couldn’t deny what they had witnessed, but they were too hard-hearted or too scared, to accept, that it was from God, so they accused Him of utilizing satan’s power…
The truth is, satan cannot stand it, when good things are happening to, with and for God’s people----he will use any means that he can, to discredit them or to get the credit for himself------the more effective we are for the Lord, in our lives, the more extreme will be satan’s attacks against us-----we have to stand firm and know who our enemy is… we have to make sure we have on the full armor of God… and we have to trust the Lord Jesus, to keep him, from the situations, in our lives.
It isn’t our place to talk to satan or his evil minions----only Jesus can do that and win----so we have to turn that over to Him and allow Him to make satan run…
The Scribes accusations against Jesus were ridiculous, they didn’t even make sense-----Jesus pointed out to them----why would satan work against himself---why would satan drive out satan?----it is clear, to us all, that a house divided can’t stand, nor can a kingdom-----they will destroy themselves.
Then Jesus told them what really happened----that, no one, can carry off a strong man’s possessions unless he ties the strong man up first----the strong man is satan----his house, is this earth, where he has been allowed to dominate for a time----his possessions are the helpless victims that he holds in bondage----they are tethered to him, by their own sins. Only a person who is stronger than the strongman can free the victims----and that person is Jesus----He has entered satan’s house and He has tied his hands, and He has freed anybody who wants to be free…
God does allow satan to work in our world, for a time, but rest assured, God is still in control, and one day, satan will be thrown, so far down in the pit, that He will be lost for all eternity---
Jesus went on to tell the Scribes that they needed to back off because they were in danger of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit-----it was a chilling warning, and one the Scribes would have understood, as the “unforgiveable, eternal sin”.
R. Kent Hughes says “that few scripture passages are as consistently misunderstood and misapplied as this one is.” Even people who are unchurched, have heard of it, and a lot of Believers, are so afraid of it, and that they might have committed it, that they talk about it in hushed tones, if they talk about it at all.
What is it? The best way to understand it, is to know what it isn’t…It is not cursing the Holy Spirit; it is not taking the Lord’s name in vain; it is not sexual perversion or adultery or yielding to aberrant lifestyles; it is not even outright disobedience to the Lord-----although all of those things, are vile and offensive, to the Holy Spirit----
Very simply----blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is the ongoing, continual rejection , of the witness of the Holy Spirit, to the fact, that Jesus Christ is God‘s Son, and that He died on a cross and was resurrected, to be our Savior, and that He sits at the right hand of the Father, and that He will one day come back, to take His children home---
--the Scribes were on the very brink of committing this sin----they didn’t know about the cross yet---but they were saying that the Holy Spirit’s witness to the Lord Jesus, as the Messiah, through his teaching and exorcisms and miracles, were really the work of satan, not God----and they kept saying it!!!! So, Jesus told them that if they persisted in that attitude---then, they would cross the unforgiveable line…
Have people committed this sin, the answer is, sadly, yes…
(Several years ago, Ben Haden, converted atheist, ordained Presbyterian pastor, visited a hospital room at 3:30 am, to see a man he had known for many years. The doctor had said the man was dying and knew it, so Pastor Haden asked him how it was between him and the Lord. “OH, he said, “I’ve always believed in God, and I know everything is shipshape.” What do you believe about Jesus?’ Haden asked him. “I’ve known about God all my life,” he said, “and I’ve tried to observe godly standards. I’ve been honest in business and I’ve worked hard.”
“My friend” said Pastor Haden, “and I wouldn’t be here if I weren’t your friend, answer a straight question: How is it between you and Jesus?” To which the man replied, “I’ve never made a place in my life for Jesus. I don’t believe in Jesus. If I were to believe in Jesus, it would upset everything in my philosophy and my life and I would have to rethink everything about me.” “By the grace of God,” Pastor Haden said, “you only have a little bit of time, rethink it.” “No”, said the man. “I will die without Jesus.” “Why then do you think Jesus died?” said Pastor Haden. “Oh, I understand He died for sins,” said the man. “Your sins?” asked Haden. “ Perhaps, perhaps, but its too late in my life to rethink the place of Jesus.” And He died. This knowledgeable man died resolutely rejecting Jesus. He did not believe what we know is the truth---there are many ways to Jesus, but there is only one way to the Father----and that is through salvation, in the Lord Jesus Christ.)
To commit the unforgiveable sin, blasphemy, against the Holy Spirit, requires knowledge. The Scribes studied the scriptures every day-----they were constantly exposed to the truth and were subject to the witness of the Holy Spirit, because He had inspired the scriptures, so Jesus warned them to be careful-----in our world it is the same thing----the person who knows the scriptures and has heard the Word, and has seen the miraculous power of God, as He has used it to change lives, and still, willfully rejects it all----is in danger, of crossing the line and committing it.
The person who is worried about whether they’ve committed it or not, hasn’t, because they care-----and if you care---there is always hope and the possibility of grace.
People who have committed blasphemy, could care less about what they’ve done. (From ancient times, there have been legends about satan, or Lucifer, which was his name before he was thrown from heaven.
This is one of them----one day, a priest noticed in his congregation, a magnificently handsome young man. After the service the young man stayed for confession----he confessed so many and such terrible sins that the priest’s hair stood on end. ‘You must have lived long to have done all that’ the priest said. ‘My name is Lucifer, and I fell from heaven at the beginning of time,’ said the young man. ‘Even so,” said the priest, ‘say that you are sorry, say that you repent, and even you can be forgiven.’ The young man looked at the priest for a moment, and then turned and strode away. He would not and could not say it; so therefore he had to go on still desolate and still damned.”)
There is only one condition, that we have to meet, to be forgiven, and that is repentance. As long as people see hope in the Lord Jesus, as long as they hate their sin, even if the have a hard time leaving it, they can still be forgiven. But if people refuse the Holy Spirit’s guidance repeatedly, and they lose the ability to recognize God’s goodness when they see it, and they have their moral values backward---where to them, evil is good and good is evil-----and when Jesus confronts them and they aren’t conscious of any sin----then, they can’t repent and if they can’t repent, then they can’t be forgiven-----that is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.)
4. Jesus was the Son of God----He was exactly who He said He was----and He proved it over and over as He met the physical, emotional, social and spiritual needs of everybody He came in contact with, without condemnation and accusation, but always, with love and compassion and forgiveness----and as the only open way to the Father.
III. ….Had to Choose 3:31-35
Jesus was back in Capernaum and the crowds were even greater than they had been, when He was there the first time----the multitude was a desperate mix of people--------at the center were the newly chosen 12, loyally hanging on to every word that Jesus spoke. And in contrast to their eager faces, were the arrogant faces of the Scribes, who had just accused Jesus of being in league with the devil, who were also hanging onto and scrutinizing every word that He spoke. There were people in that in crowd who were ecstatic, some who were quizzical, some who were perplexed and some who were livid and blasphemous. Every extreme were represented: from national zealots to collaborating tax collectors and from ignorant fishermen to learned theologians.
And at the periphery of the crush of people, standing anxiously by----was Jesus’ earthly family-----they sent someone to call him outside, so that they could talk Him into coming home with them, so they could help Him, by saving Him from any more embarrassment, and possibly, even from danger. A message was passed from person to person----so that by the time it reached Jesus, many of the throng knew what was happening, and they expected Jesus to comply, and obey, especially His mother…
Nobody was ready for His refusal or His denial….
verbally forsaking His mother and His family---in any culture, would be startling---but in the Hebrew culture, where family was and is so important, it was shocking…Mary must have been crushed and the brothers must have felt betrayed----we are on this side of the cross and we know why Jesus had to say it, and why He had to distance Himself, and it still hurts our feelings to hear it----We love our earthly families----our husbands, our children, our grandchildren, our parents, our siblings, our nieces and nephews and aunts and uncles---but our earthly relationships are just shadows of what our heavenly ones will be like-----the relationships in this world are wonderful, but they will pass away----the relationships that are rooted in Jesus, will last for all eternity. Our earthly families were created so that we would catch just a little glimpse of what heaven will be like, in all its perfection,,,, Right now, we can’t imagine anything being better than what we have right now-----but when we all get to heaven, and we see Jesus---- the allure of the world will disappear and we will be left, with nothing to do, but sing praises to Almighty God.
Jesus wasn’t meaning to wound His mother and His family----and He was certainly not breaking His family ties----he was just making it clear that the relationships in this world will come and go and they will eventually die----but the relationships we have with other believers will be eternal----There is a deeper kinship, there, than flesh and blood----a spiritual kinship which is characterized by obedience to the Father. Obedience is not what originates our relationship with Him, faith is what does that----but obedience to Him, is a sign of it.
Jesus was trying to explain, that there is a new family, which is far superior to the human family. Its ties are far stronger. It’s personality and dynamics are far more satisfying. It’s responsibilities and accountability are far more demanding. And time spent together is far more dear. (We’ve all had experiences, where we have unexpectedly come across a brother or sister in Christ----and spent a few minutes or a few hours with them, and we’ve come away, with an extraordinary feeling of kinship and belonging to each other.)
And when the members of our earthly family are believers too---its more precious than words can express----even Mary, Jesus’ mother had to become a member of the family of God----she had to trust and accept Jesus as her Savior and Lord, in the same way we all have, through repentance and forgiveness-----we don’t know about all of His brothers, but we do know that his brother, James became a believer, and was the author of the book of James, and that he became a leader in the Jerusalem church.
Jesus turned the rejection of His family into a compassionate invitation for them to recognize and understand who He really was----they came to claim Him as their family member, and He challenged them to become members of God’s true family.
His family was standing outside, calling Jesus away from His work. They believed they were helping, not hindering, they didn’t realize that they were trying to block Jesus mission and the task that God had called Him to. None of us would consciously try to block His work, but we do it all the time, when we become thoughtless of Him, by pursuing our own interests and needs.
The conflict between Jesus and His family continues in our lives…Do we avoid Jesus’ claim on us, as the powerful Lord God, by reducing Him to a friendship status. Jesus is our friend and He is our brother, but He is first and foremost, our Lord. And if we treat Him in any way less than our Lord, then we are being disrespectful of His rightful place in the world and in our lives.
We want interesting and uplifting companions, but Jesus wants us to reach out to the unfortunate, the disabled and the sick. We want to know people who can do something for us, and to help us get ahead in this world socially, financially and intellectually, but Jesus wants us to love the poor, the ostracized and the foreigner who doesn’t understand our language or our culture. We want to get to know the people we enjoy being with, on a more intimate basis and spend our time exclusively with them, but Jesus wants us to reach out to everybody we come in contact with and tell them about Him, so that they have a chance for eternity. We desire the company of our earthly families, but Jesus desires for us all to be family.
William Barclay says that our heavenly family is held together by 4 things----we have a common experience of being forgiven sinners---we have a common interest of wanting to know as much about the Lord Jesus as we can----we have a common leader, in the Lord Jesus, that we all need to obey----- and we have a common goal, which is to love Jesus more every day, and to lead people to His kingdom. These 4 things are what bind us together as believers----these 4 things are what make us a family, closer than any DNA can make us and thicker and more intimate than any flesh and blood, bond can expect.
2000 years ago, when Jesus gave His startling answer, he shocked his mother and brothers and everybody who heard Him, with waves that have reverberated down through the centuries-----but it was a therapeutic shock, because it teaches us that when we obey the Lord, then we become members of His family------and this loving obedience to Him, is the key to loving our earthly families in the way we should-----it teaches us to get our priorities straight------love the Lord 1st, and do what He says-----and love our husbands 2nd,, and do what the Lord says--- and love our children 3rd,, and do what the Lord says, in that order, and everything and everyone else, will fall into place, every time.
(Karl Stegall tells the story of his two brothers when they started the the first grade. When the teacher asked them for their birthdates----One said he was born January 1, 1984 and the other one said that he was born April 4, 1984. “That’s impossible,” said the teacher. “No it isn’t said the first brother, “one of us is adopted.” “Which one?” asked the teacher? “We don’t know,” the other brother said, “one day we asked our dad and he just kissed us both and said “I forgot!”
That’s the way it is with God----He adopts us as His children, and then, you can’t tell one of us from the other----we are all His family.
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