Jesus - God's Son on Mission - Mark 3:20-35

Sermon Series: Spare Me the Details - Just Give Me Jesus

In examining last week's text we said that being a disciple of Jesus was not simply an act of falling on Him nor was it simply an act of falling before Him, but that being a true disciple of Jesus meant following after Him.  It is through our continuous fellowship with Him and following after Him that He equips us to be sent out by Him to proclaim His message and do acts of service in His Name.  Having defined Jesus' call to discipleship in our text last week, this week we will see Mark helping His readers know for sure who it is they had been called to follow.  Mark articulates two important traits of Jesus that we must know if we are going to be His disciples. 

(Before I jump into an explanation of the text let me make sure that I provide a brief explanation of the literary technique Mark is using here.  In this passage Mark uses a sandwich technique to make his point.  He uses two short and very similar narratives on the outside of a larger narrative.  The two short, similar narratives (3:20-21, 31-35) make the same point but the primary point is located between those narratives (3:22-30).  The primary point in the middle helps to drive home the secondary point made up by the shorter narratives.)

In chapter 3, verses 20-21 and 31-35 Mark reveals the first of two important traits of Jesus that we must know if we are going to be His disciples - His persistence to be on mission.  Take a look at what is taking place in these verses.  In both sets of verses Jesus is surrounded by a crowd (vs. 20, 32).  While we have noted that the crowds that followed Jesus were not made up entirely of His disciples there were individuals present who would be exposed to Jesus' message and who represented those who would become His disciples.  The crowds following Jesus must have troubled Jesus' family, for in both sets of verses members of Jesus family show up (vs. 21, 31) and Mark tells us that they weren't there to affirm Jesus or to encourage Him to continue doing the things He had been doing - teaching and healing.  Instead, in both sets of verses Mark reveals that Jesus' family had intentions of putting an end to what Jesus was doing.  In verse 21, Mark says that Jesus' family went out "to seize Him."  The language Mark used here is very strong and the implication of the word Mark used is that Jesus' family went out to take hold of and control of Jesus.  Jesus' family had come out in order to exert their power over Him and to take Him away because they believed that He was "out of His mind."   Later in verse 32 the crowd communicates to Jesus that His family is outside "seeking" Him.  Again the language Mark uses is very strong and carries implications that the family was doing more than just looking for Him, they were looking for Him in order that they might exert their will on Him.  At this point in the gospel of Mark we know that the scribes, Pharisees, and other religious leaders are opposed to Jesus.  We know that there are some whose only desire is to use Jesus.  There are some in the crowds who are only willing to recognize His position and authority.  And there are a very few others who are called His disciples.  We would expect those who should know Him best and who should be the closest to Him to be in the group of disciples.  If not a part of that group then at the worst we would expect them to be a part of the group that uses Jesus or only acknowledges who He is.  But never would we expect that members of His family would be opposed to Him or make such aggressive attempts to stop His work of proclaiming the gospel and making disciples.  But this is exactly what His family attempts to do.  But in verses 33-35 Jesus demonstrates His persistence to be on mission.  Jesus responds to the crowd's announcement that His family is outside seeking Him by asking a question, "Who are my mother and brothers?"  Jesus isn't expecting an answer - it's more of a rhetorical question.  Then "looking about at those who sat around Him, He said, 'Here are my mother and my brothers!  For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.'"  Jesus looks at the those who are sitting around Him (being with Him).  These individuals are the reason that Jesus came.  They were His mission field.  And when Jesus answers that they are His family (the one's who are doing the will of God) He lets them know where His allegiance lies.  Jesus' intentions aren't to go out and be placed under the control of His biological family.  He isn't going to go out and be subdued by them.  The ones who should be the closest and most loyal to His cause aren't going to pull Him away from His mission.  He would persistently work for and strive towards making disciples - regardless of who rose up against Him.  

Because Jesus showed great persistence to be on mission - we as His disciples should have the same persistence.  And the only way we can have that same persistence is to have a mission mindset.  As disciples of Christ we ought to always be thinking about how we can be making disciples - if we don't we may find ourselves trying to bind the work of Jesus and standing in His way.  We would never want to believe this but ask yourself how you would respond in a handful of different scenarios.  Imagine that there is a man in your church who has been offered an incredible job promotion that will require him to move to a different city, but will greatly increase his title, his influence, and his income.  What  would you say to that man if he turned the promotion down because he and his family help to take care of the widow who lives next door, maintaining her yard, doing her grocery shopping, and making sure she gets to all of her doctor appointments?  Or imagine that there is a young couple from your church living in a nice neighborhood in town.  What would you say to them if they decided to sell their house so that they could move into a much smaller house in a 'rougher' neighborhood where they could be a witness for Christ among those who need to hear about Him?    Imagine that there is a successful single business man who has been saving up for a new BMW sports car.  Imagine him meeting a recovering drug addict who visited your church and who just got a job and is trying to turn His life around.  What would you say to that young man who went out and bought two Hyundai sedans instead of the BMW sports car and gave one of the cars to the recovering addict and allowed him to move in with him so that he could help disciple the recovering addict and help him live his life for the glory of God?  What would you, as a believer in Christ say to these individuals?  "Don't do that!  You're being crazy!"  But are they?  Really?  Or are they living out their mission mindset?  For too many of us (those who profess to be followers of Christ - those who should be closest to Him) there are things that have become a hindrance for us persistently being about the mission of making disciples.  We have allowed things like our family or the pursuit of the American dream to cloud our minds.  And the unfortunate result is that it sometimes results in us trying to take control of Christ, trying to bind Him, and trying to prevent His work from going forward.  If one of Jesus' traits was His persistence to be on mission, then as disciples of Christ, that ought to be one of our traits as well.  So that begs the question - "How do we develop a mission mindset?"  I believe Mark answers that question in the middle portion of this text, verses 22-30.

In  verses 22-30 Mark reveals the second of two important traits of Jesus that we must know if we are going to be His disciples - His God given power and authority.  In these verses we don't find Jesus in an encounter with members of His family but instead with some of the scribes from Jerusalem.  These scribes come bringing increased opposition.  (Up until this point their opposition has come in the form of asking questions and testing Jesus - now they bring an incredibly harsh accusation.)  The scribes make the following accusation, "'He is possessed by Beelzebul,' and 'by the prince of demons He casts out the demons.'"  Their accusation is that Jesus is a man possessed by Satan and that He is using the power and authority of Satan to cast out the unclean spirits that He encounters.  (While the name Beelzebul is never used of Satan in the Old Testament, it is clear that this is what Jesus believed them to be accusing Him of based on His response in verse 23.)  Having heard the accusations Jesus calls the scribes to Himself and begins to present them with truth.  He first asks the scribes a question, "How can Satan cast out Satan?  If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.  And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.  And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to and end."  Jesus explains that logically their accusations make no sense at all.  A kingdom/house that has opposing parties within itself will never be able to accomplish it's purposes.  There will be too much strife within and the opposition taking place within will actually prevent the kingdom from working toward a common goal.  Satan already has a hold on those who are possessed by unclean spirits.  What good would it do if one possessed by Satan came and cast out those unclean spirits?  They would be losing possession of those which they had already taken command of.  Such an accusation was foolish and could not be true.  Then Jesus tells a parable saying, "no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man.  Then indeed he may plunder his house."  Jesus says that the only way a person is able to take possessions sealed up in the house of a strong man is if that person is first able to bind or tie up the strong man.  If the person can successfully do that, then he can take whatever he would like.  This was in fact what Jesus was doing.  Jesus had come into the strong man's (Satan's) dwelling place (earth) and He was demonstrating His power and authority and the future binding that would take place by casting out unclean spirits (taking possession of those belonging to Satan).  The truth wasn't in the accusations of the scribes - rather the truth was that Jesus was God's Son, with God given power and authority, and this was the means by which Jesus was doing His ministry.  Jesus is the binder of Satan (the earth's strong man) and He has come to free those help captive by sin and Satan, and to reclaim them as His own.  

Jesus then follows this explanation to the scribes with a very serious warning.  Jesus says in verse 28, "Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin."  Jesus declares here that all sins can be forgiven except for one - there is one sin that Jesus says has eternal consequences, one sin that forgiveness can't be granted for.  But then Jesus never names the sin.  The sin is a sin that Isaiah the prophet had warned about and which these scribes had just committed.  Isaiah 5:20 warns "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness . . ."   Those who never come to the realization that Jesus is God's Son, those who never understand that He is the only Savior from sin, those who would attribute Jesus power and authority to Satan rather than recognizing that Jesus is God's Son with God's power and authority are without hope.  Forgiveness can be extended for murder.  Forgiveness can be extended for adultery.  Forgiveness can be extended for sexual immorality.  But Jesus says forgiveness is never extended for those who are convinced that Jesus is One under the power, influence, and control of Satan.  (As a note of encouragement - there are no examples in the Bible of individuals seeking forgiveness and not being granted it.  Those who are willing to seek forgiveness are not beyond the potential of repentance and faith.)  What adds to the weight of this warning is that Jesus doesn't address this warning to unrighteous sinners and tax collectors.  Jesus issues this warning to the religious leaders - to those who were sure of their right standing with God.  Which means those of us who call ourselves 'Christians' ought not to glance over this warning believing that it can't apply to us.  Instead we ought to be seriously asking ourselves, "Am I guilty of this sin?" and then looking seriously for evidence.  How arrogant do we look if we aren't willing to examine ourselves to see if this might be a sin that we are guilty of?

Notice in this portion of the text that Jesus is the binder of Satan.  Keeping this in mind, doesn't it look silly to find Jesus' family attempting to bind Him in the verses surrounding this passage?  But we said that we are sometimes guilty of doing the same thing.  The answer we said was making sure that we have a mission mindset.  But then we asked the question, "How do we develop a mission mindset?"  And the answer is - we have to buy into the Binder.  This was the mistake that caused the scribes to receive the strong warning from Jesus, they had not bought into Him as God's Son with God-given power and authority, who was on mission to bind Satan, release his captives, and make transform them into His disciples.  And the same will be true for us.  If we don't buy into Jesus, if we aren't convinced that He is God's Son and we aren't convinced of His mission, then we will (1) be without any hope for salvation and (2) never develop a mission mindset that will keep us persistently on mission.  

Mark is so gracious in his gospel to explain this to his readers.  He hinted at it in chapter 1 in verses 9-13.  We said that in the baptism narrative (vs. 9-11) Mark demonstrated that Jesus was God's Son.  Then in the brief wilderness narrative (vs. 12-13) we said that Mark demonstrated that Jesus was the conqueror of Satan [see the blog entry "May I Introduce You to Jesus - Mark 1:1-13"].  But that was just 5 short verses.  Here in Mark's gospel we get the privilege of seeing Mark expound on those ideas and to really demonstrate for his readers two incredibly important traits of Jesus that we have to know and understand if we are really going to be His disciples.

Questions for Small Group Discussion

1. Read Mark 3:20-21, 31-35.  In those verses we see Jesus' family trying to get control of Him and to get Him off the mission He had been sent by His Father to accomplish.  But we saw His persistence to be on mission and His commitment to make disciples despite the attempts of His family.  What are some of the things that keep us from being persistently on mission?

2. Have we been guilty of anything that has hindered the work of the gospel from going forward?  If so, why (What were we thinking at the time)?  Have we ever been hindered by someone from doing the work of the gospel?  What was the person's explanation for standing in the way?

3. Read Mark 3:22-30.  In those verses we see that the scribes had not bought into Jesus (specifically His God-given power or authority).  As a result they made some very strong accusations about where they believed Jesus derived His power and authority, resulting in a very strong warning from Jesus about their blasphemy and it's eternal consequences.  Is there anything about Jesus that we haven't bought into or the 'church' hasn't bought into?  If so, what are consequences?

4. What step of faith does this passage of scripture require us to take as individuals and as a small group?  How do we work this out on mission?