Jesus in trouble?

Preached: 6 June 2021 at Christ Church, Billericay

Reading: Mark 3:20-35 

 

 

Celebrity

Jesus is already a celebrity. Here he is having healed a man who was mute, if you read the similar passage in Luke. News of these events travels fast, and people are curious. More than that, in a time when medical science doesn’t exist and doctors can offer no cure for such ailments, miracles, are the only hope. It’s not

surprising then that Jesus has become well known really quickly.

 

Celebrity Pressures

Everyone wants something from him, so crowds gather in no time at all, and He can hardly move around to perform his ministry. There’s also the expectations to consider. “Is this the messiah?” they will be asking. After all, he’s doing and saying the things that the messiah would do and say. Normally, if you entered a house, the host would provide food and drink, but here there are so many people normal hospitality is impossible.

 

Family and Authorities

His family soon get wind of what is going on, as do the authorities.

 

Family

From the family’s point of view, this is not how it is supposed to go. Sons, particularly the eldest sons, are supposed to grow up and join the

family business. That’s how you honour your family, and become a good Jew. They are not supposed to abandon their home and start an itinerant preaching ministry.

 

Mary

Mary’s reaction is particularly interesting, after all she knows that Jesus’s birth was miraculous, and she knows where his interests lie. Remember, when he was twelve, the family had to stop its journey home and return to Jerusalem because Jesus was missing. They found him debating with the scholars in the temple, and He was surprised that they didn’t know where he was. Perhaps difficult teenagers are not such a recent invention, and she had just assumed that it was all a passing fad.

 

Genuine Concerns

What ever her beliefs about her son were, the news she hears convinces the family that Jesus is really in trouble and needs their care. They believe He is having some sort of mental breakdown, so they decide to go and get him

and take him home.

 

Walk of Witness

Sudden religious activity can have that effect on families. I remember when I told my mum I was going on a walk of witness on Good Friday, sometime back in the early 1980s, I was met with a very suspicious response – something along the lines of “Are you sure you haven’t joined a cult?” This is from someone who was considering becoming a missionary in her youth.

A walk of witness is nothing compared to what Jesus is doing.

 

Authorities

The authorities are also concerned about what Jesus is doing. Here is an unknown man going around, apparently healing people and picking up a large following. What is he teaching about God? Is what He is doing true to the faith? He certainly hasn’t been trained by them, that much they do know. How would we react if something like that were to occur now? Miraculous healings occur, and a large gathering of people going to hear someone teaching about Jesus. We’d want to

be sure that they were really from God, and really had the Holy Spirit, wouldn’t we. No doubt, the Archbishop would send some of his experts to review what is going on and report back. That is what the authorities in the temple in Jerusalem did, they dispatched some teachers of the law to go and take a look.

 

Authorities threatened

What they see is the chaos around Jesus and an unauthorised preacher. He’s not one of us, so he must belong to Beelzebub. So, “He is possessed by Beelzebub. By the prince of demons, he is driving out demons.” Hopefully that will make the crowd disperse. Now he’s identified as the enemy, they can do whatever is needed to shut him down.

 

Response

Their statement, like so many political statements throughout the ages, defies logic. Jesus is quick to pick up on this. He knows why He has come, He’s well aware of His mission. A kingdom or a family divided against itself cannot stand. Civil war is not the way to advance a cause. So Jesus concludes that

Satan’s end has come. It’s a clever response. Jesus is saying that, even by their own flawed logic, He is still achieving His mission. Satan’s end is coming.

 

Strong Man

Jesus’s next words give a hint of His mission. The strong man has arrived and is reclaiming his possessions, robbed from Him by Satan. The healings and the exorcisms that people are seeing is a sign that the Kingdom of God has

arrived and Satan’s reign is coming to an end.

 

V28-30

When Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them.” He is addressing the surrounding crowd, teaching them what the Kingdom of God is like. The condemnation that follows “But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.” is

addressed to those who see the good He is doing – healing and releasing the possessed, and instantly attribute it to Satan, as the teachers of the law have. With their attitude and their outlook on life, they are never going to be able to see Jesus for who He is and ask for forgiveness anyway. Mark makes sure we understand this with the comment in v30, ‘He said this because they were saying, “He has an evil spirit.”’

 

Family Arrives

After the ‘discussion’ with the teachers of the law, Jesus’s family arrive. The house is now so full they are not able to all go in, so someone is sent. “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.” they tell Jesus. He is not impressed, instead He uses their visit as an opportunity to teach the crowd that is now sat in front of Him.

 

Spiritual Family

Part of Jesus’s mission is to build a spiritual family, that will look after each other as well as or better than a biological family. His spiritual family will be made up of those who do God’s will.

 

Breaking Traditions

This is groundbreaking stuff. Family in the first century was everything. Breaking free from family was dis-honourable and very much frowned upon. Yet here He is putting people together to make up a new type of family – those who do God’s will.

 

WWJD

This is one of the circumstances where asking "What Would Jesus Do?" Will not get us the best, or even the correct answer. Jesus is NOT trying to break up earthly families. Remember His birth was miraculous, so He’s really only a

half brother to His brothers. Jesus is here on a mission, by claiming to be the strong man, He is already giving clues to who He is. That question “Is this the Messiah?” will get louder and more urgent for the crowd that follows Him

around, and specially, His disciples.

 

A calling on our life

When we experience God’s call on our lives as a young person with few  attachments we can simply go – however great or small, that call is. As I did, despite my mum’s reservations, to attend the walk of witness. In this small thing

I obeyed the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Later in life, with a wife and children to support, any call – which must still be obeyed, cannot be seen as just for me and I cannot go without first understanding how that call affects those I owe responsibilities to. God will make provision for that. We just need to be sure that our lifestyle and our callings are within God's will, and that we continue to obey Him.

Then we will be members of that spiritual Family.