Who is the strongest person you know?
Some of my fondest memories are from when my children were little. But I used to get so jealous when my first child, Jasmyn, would run to my wife every time she was hurt! That is until one day, when a handy man was working on the house. As soon as he fired up his electric saw, and it buzzed loudly throughout the house, my daughter jumped out of her mother’s arms and ran toward me for protection! I was the strongest person she knew!
However, these days have been slowly fading as my son has been growing taller than me. Up until recently, I was okay with it, because I could still take him, but now he’s getting strong!
Today, my message is titled, ‘The Strongman is Bound!”
So far Mark has recorded for us the powerful beginning of Jesus’ ministry. He has been preaching about the Kingdom of God, and demonstrating his authority through miraculous healing and casting out demons. Now in this passage, Mark gives us a summary of how those around were responding to the miraculous nature of his ministry. He does this by contrasting three groups of people, (1) His natural family, (2) the leaders represented by the scribes, and (3) His followers. Check out how each of these groups respond to the success of His ministry and more importantly, check out Jesus handles their responses:
20 Then he went ehome, and the crowd gathered again, fso that they could not even eat. 21 gAnd when hhis family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He iis out of his mind.”
22 And jthe scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, k“He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” 23 lAnd he called them to him 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 will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. 27 But mno one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. nThen indeed he may plunder his house.
28 o“Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, 29 but whoever pblasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— 30 for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”
31 qAnd his mother and his rbrothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. 32 And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers3 are outside, seeking you.” 33 And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And slooking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 tFor whoever udoes the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”
“He is out of his mind”(v.20-21).
As Jesus came back to his hometown, to Peter’s house, a large crowd gathers around him and his disciples. He is so busy with the crowd that He and His disciple don’t even have time to eat. Keep in mind that this is Jesus, he is our model, he has modeled for us getting away from the crowd to be along with the Father and he also models his willingness to serve, even without food. Point? A balanced life and ministry does not mean that we are always comfortable and everything is convenient.
While Jesus’ popularity is growing with some in the community, there are also some who were telling His family, “He is out of his mind”(v.21). His Mother and brother went out to “seize” him. This is one of those family interventions! Jesus wasn’t an easy person to live with, his power and passion made him an uncomfortable person to have in their family.They intended to ‘seize,’ meaning to ‘bind’ him, and bring him back home, back to his senses.
“He is possessed by Beelzebul” (v. 22).
Meanwhile, the scribes also come into His hometown, down from Jerusalem. They responded to Jesus’ growing popularity and ministry with accusations that could potentially give reasons for arrest.
The Scribes accused him of being possessed by Beelzebul and exorcizing demons by the power of the prince of demons! They were accusing him of employing sorcery, and relying on Satan himself to cast out demons. They were claiming that Jesus was a fraud. Whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD, and according to the Law, sorcerers were to be put to death.
A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand (v. 23-26).
Jesus responds to the scribes with two mini-parables. The first is the Parable of the Divided Kingdom. Jesus said, “How can Satan cast out Satan?” Their reasoning contradicted itself. A kingdom divided cannot stand in war.
The strong man has been bound (v. 27)
The second parable is the Parable of the Strong Man Bound. Jesus said,
“But 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”(v. 27).
Jesus’ authority to cast out demons came not from Satan, but rather, Jesus came into the world, Satan’s house, and bound him. How did Jesus bound him? By resisting his temptations in the desert! Can we resist the devil the same way?
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you” (James 4:7-9).
The key is (1) Resist the devil –he will flee, and (2) draw near to God!—God will draw near to you! Jesus has defeated the strong man! He has bound him from having authority over anyone who will draw near to God!
“For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith!” (1John 5:4).
Your mother and brother are seeking you
Mark now returns the scene to Jesus’ mother and brothers who have come to ‘seize’ Him and bring him home to his senses. Notice that they are standing on the outside. It is important to realize that his brothers they don’t understand his ministry! And they don’t believe his claims!
Who are my mother and my brothers?
As they call for Him, Jesus responds by asking, “Who are my mother and brothers?”(v.33). Again, I say, it wasn’t easy to live with Jesus! If we are following Jesus closely, there will come times in our walk when many will not understand.
When I became a Christian, my mother and others, struggled with my faith. They though I was losing my mind! When I became a pastor they thought I was losing my mind! When I lost everything I owned because of the ministry they thought I was losing my mind—You know, I don’t blame them, I thought I was losing my mind too! Oh, but there is nothing like hearing the voice of the Lord! When we announced that we were moving to Yucca they thought we were losing our mind again—But my first concern is not pleasing my family, but pleasing the Lord! And the only way to please the Lord is by faith! Faith to follow where he leads! Faith to live as he lived! Faith to believe he will provide what I need to do what he wants me to do!
It is not until after the resurrection, when they see him alive, that they understand and believe. But both James and Jude become leaders in the early church and author the letter of James and Jude. In each of these letters, neither of these brothers refer to Jesus as their brother, but rather as their Lord!
Beware of Blaspheme of the Holy Spirit!
28 Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”—30 for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”
Jesus issued a serious warning to those who accused Him of doing His works by the power of an unclean spirit! There are two claims made here, (1) All sin will be forgiven! And (2) blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is one sin that will not be forgiven.
God will forgive all other sins! You can sin against yourself, you can sin against another, and you can sin against God—but you cannot blaspheme the Holy Spirit! You can lie, steal, covet, even murder and be forgiven of any sin you are willing to confess! But you cannot blaspheme the Holy Spirit!
But what does it mean to blaspheme the Holy Spirit?
It is to deny the witness of Christ that the Holy Spirit bears to our hearts!
“But when the Helper [Holy Spirit] comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me” (Jn 15:26).
Jesus told his disciples that it was good that he would leave them, so that he could send us the Holy Spirit! The first, and primary ministry of the Holy Spirit is to bear witness of who Jesus is and what he has done for us! Theologians call this ‘illumination’. We cannot come to faith without the illumination of the Holy Spirit! Our hearts are too dark! We need the light of Christ to be shone into our hearts by the Holy Spirit!
This is why I pray the same prayer every time I open God’s word, for my own reading, our while I am preaching, and I discovered it when I was looking for a verse that I could pray with my children when I read the Bible with them before bedtime:
“Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from your law!” (Psalm 119:18)
Our eyes need to be opened if we are to see Jesus, and our eyes need to be continuously opened if we are going to see all that God wants to speak to us.
These men who accused Jesus were standing on the edge—though they studied the scriptures, they refused the illumination of the Holy Spirit! Though Jesus taught them--they refused the illumination of the Holy Spirit! Though Jesus healed, performed miracles and even casted out demons—They refused the illumination of the Holy Spirit!
Yesterday morning I was studying these scriptures, and trying to enter into the mindset of these scribes. I had a wonderful conversation with Brian, and we were talking about the witness of the Holy Spirit. He said, “Pastor, God will never betray the free will of man!” That’s it! Jesus did everything he could to show them the wonderful things contained in the Law they studied, but he would not betray their free will to believe, or disbelieve—it was their choice!
Is the Holy Spirit trying to shine light in your life? Maybe it is to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, who came to save you! Will you listen now? Maybe it is to believe that Jesus the Son of God has paid for ALL of your sin! Everything—I mean everything is forgiven for those who will confess their sin! Maybe it is believe that Jesus the Son of God has bound the strong man of this world—He has overcome the world—it no longer has power over you—you are free!
This message was given April 9, 2017 at Living Water Chapel in Yucca Valley California. It is part of the Son of God--Servant of Man series on the Gospel of Mark.
No comments:
Post a Comment