Opposing Jesus (Mark 3:20-35)
Opposing Jesus
Mark 3:20-35
Introduction
Jesus draws opposition. The world hated him. That isn’t a surprise—any country that is being invaded will hate the invaders. But the unique thing about Jesus is that there is no reason to hate him. He is perfect in every way. He loves perfectly. He speaks perfectly. He is perfectly suffused with the Spirit of God, and therefore bears all the virtues of the Spirit to perfection. He always acted and spoke in a perfectly loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled way. He is the epitome of what the Psalms call “the righteous.”
The world’s hatred against Jesus was even prophesied in the OT. Psalm 35 speaks of God’s judgment upon the wicked. Psalm 35:19 says, “Let not those who rejoice over me who are wrongfully my foes, and let not those wink the eye who hate me without cause.” Jesus cites this Psalm in John 15:25 as being fulfilled in the Pharisee’s hatred of Jesus. It was an irrational hatred, a hatred driven by envy, a hatred which would kill their own messiah. But it wasn’t just the Pharisees. Apparently, Jesus own family was opposed to him. They thought he was crazy, and so they set out to stop him.
Yet even today, people oppose Jesus. Some people think that his teaching is simply crazy. “There are contradictions in Jesus teaching and in the Bible. He probably never even existed. Scripture is just a made up conglomeration of random teachings by hallucinating men. We need to stop this madness because it’s really messing up people.” Still other think that his teaching is evil. “Why would anyone believe such absurdities? Why would the Father require the death of his Son? Isn’t that child abuse? How could he love someone by condemning their behavior? Isn’t that hate? Whatever love is, that isn’t love. I don’t want anything to do with that Jesus. In fact, I’ll set myself against him.”
Now, lets step back and notice something about how Mark is structured. Structure is important because it clues us into the purpose of the author. Mark 3:6 denotes the end of the first major section in Mark which was concerned with two things: establish who Jesus is and show that his people and their leaders reject him. It is amazing, isn’t it, how quickly the Pharisees form their opinion of Jesus. From the outset of the gospel, Mark has efficiently made his point: Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and the leaders of Israel are set against him to destroy him.
Then, in Mark 3:7 he dramatically pivots. To this point, Jesus has openly held himself out to the people, but now he withdraws. While the crowds continue to grow, their understanding of who he is flounders. With the appointing of the twelve (3:13-19) Mark now begins a new movement in the unfolding story, which will close once Jesus sends out those same twelve in Mark 6:7-13. Jesus will establish his kingdom through them as they extend Jesus’ ministry to the ends of the earth. They share in a measure of his authority because they have been let into who he is. The Spirit that is on Jesus is also put on them so that they can do the things he does.
Yet this section is filled with confusion as to Jesus’ true identity. His family doesn’t understand who he is. The Jerusalem Scribes say he’s a liar and the devil’s dupe. He speaks in veiled parables and only explains himself to his disciples in private. His own disciples do not understand when he calms the storm. The raising of Jairus’ daughter is in private and they laugh at him when he says he will heal her. His own hometown, Nazareth, rejects him with a marvelous unbelief.
So, two things are happening here. First, the mystery is becoming thicker. It is almost like a thick fog is descending onto the people of Israel as Jesus continues his ministry. Everyone misses it. His own family, the religious institution, the mourners, the crowd. Second, the seed of the kingdom is being planted. Jesus is beginning to let a small group of people into his inner circle. The twelve, and even then, sometimes only the three. And it is they who will begin to see who Jesus is. They are with Jesus. They understand the parables. They see him calm the storm. They see him cast out the legion of demons from the Gerasene demoniac. They see him raise Jairus’ daughter.
Jesus has amassed a mountain of evidence that he is who he claims to be. Not only did he have the OT and John the Baptist, but he also had proven who he was by his works. John 5:36, “The testimony I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.” His works bore witness to who he was. So, Jesus told them, “If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father” (John 10:37-38). The works of Christ are plentiful evidence of who he is.
It shouts one message, “Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God.” He is true God of true God. He is God himself. Yet, as the evidence has mounted, the proper responses is conspicuously absent. While the demons know who he is, and while the OT testifies to who he is, and while his miracles witness to his identity, Israel does not.
Mark places our account in this context. It’s constructed like a sandwich.
- Vv20-21 – Jesus’ Family
- Vv22-30 – The Unforgivable Sin
- Vv31-35 – Jesus’ Family
Mark does this on purpose in order to show us this: Jesus is not understandable by human means. Of all the people in the world who should have seen Jesus for who he was, it was his own family and the Bible experts. But both of them set themselves against Jesus. But who are those who truly comprehend Jesus? Jesus will supply us with the answer in v35: “Whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.” Those whom he calls to himself. Those who repent and believe. Those who do God’s will. They comprehend him.
I. “He Is Out Of His Mind” (3:20-21)
We cannot understand who Jesus is by human means, and Mark first shows this through Jesus’ natural family. It says he went home—that is, he went to “the house,” probably Peter’s house in Capernaum. And, as always, there is a crowd. They heard he was there and were drawn to see him. The crowd had crown so large that they weren’t even able to eat. They were so busy helping, serving, or simply trying to get around that they could not go out and buy something or prepare something at home.
His family hears of it. Jesus obviously had a mother, Mary, but he also had a Father, Joseph. After Jesus was born, Mary and Joseph would have had normal marital relations like any couple and they had other children. They were Jesus’ half-brothers, related to him through Mary but not Joseph. They would have lived in Nazareth, which is about a 25 mile walk to Capernaum. What do they hear? Context would seem to demand that they heard not only that he had gathered a crowd, but also that the crowd was so large that he had trouble taking care of himself. So, they set out, it says, “to seize him.” That’s a violent word. Elsewhere in Mark it is used to describe arresting someone. They wanted to go get him, grab hold of him, restrain him, and forcefully stop what he was doing. This probably wasn’t literal. They mean it in the same way as, “I need to put a stop to this.” They were going to talk to him. Talk some sense into him. Convince him of the better and more moderate way.
They wanted to seize him because they “were saying”—imperfect verb, continuous, progressive action—“he is out of his mind.” They would sit at home and talk about him to each other. The more they heard, the more they talked about it, the more they came to the conclusion that Jesus was off his rocker. He was nutty. Fanatical. Unbalanced. Screwy. Bananas. No doubt they heard of what he did. “What did he say? He has authority to forgive sins? What? He ate with Levi? He’s fighting with the scribes? He’s crazy!” So they go out to seize him. To stop him. Whether it was well-motivated or because they were concerned for the honor of their family name, they had made their conclusion and went out to stop it.
The activity of Christ makes no sense to those who do not believe in him. As Paul would later teach, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor 2:14). People look at what we teach and what we do and they conclude about us as well, “They’re crazy! Get up at 6 or 7am on a Sunday? Don’t they even care about their health? Don’t they ever have any fun? And don’t even get me started on what they teach over there! They say that we’re all sinners and that we need to turn away from sin and trust in a guy who lived 2000 years ago! They’re out of their mind! We need to seize them and put a stop to this.”
Human relationship to Jesus makes no difference. Of all the people who should have seen who Jesus was, it should have been his family. They lived with him day in/day out for 30 years! They should have known and seen who he is. How could they possibly miss it? Yet when they saw his ministry, they concluded nothing more than that he was insane, out of his mind, loopy. In the same way, many people today have a merely human relationship to Jesus. They come to church, but they don’t trust him. Their parents are Christians, but they don’t believe in him. Just because you are a Christian does not imply anyone else in your life must or will be too. Jesus calls who he wills. John 1:12-13, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”
II. “He Has a Demon” (3:22-30)
In a similar way, not only family relationship, but also religious prowess does not guarantee a relationship to Jesus. It makes no difference. In fact, in some ways those in that position are put in an even more dangerous position.
As the family is traveling to Capernaum, Mark takes us to another scene: yet another confrontation with the Scribes. It says that the Scribes from Jerusalem came down to him. These are the big boys. According to Deuteronomy 13, if a city was led astray by a false prophet, there had to be a careful inquiry into the case. So this is what they are doing—seeing how deeply the Jesus rot went. But they didn’t come with an honest and willing mind. They came with predetermined conclusions. Mark 3:6 tells us that they had already made up their minds. They wanted to destroy him. But he had the heart of the crowds.
So, they “were saying”—just like Jesus’ family, imperfect progressive action, habitual and ongoing communication—“He is possessed by Beelzebul” and “By the prince of demons he casts out demons.” While his family thought he was insane, the scribes said he was demonic. “This man cannot be from God. He claims the authority to forgive. He accepts those that Moses deems unacceptable. He breaks the Sabbath. He deserves death! Clearly God cannot be at work through him. Yet he does have spiritual power, this much is obvious, so it must be Satan behind it all.” They had to dissuade the crowds from being convinced about Jesus, so they slandered him—blasphemed against him and the power at work through him.
So, Jesus responds as the good teacher. He “called them.” He summons them to himself. “Come, let us reason together.” He asks them, “How can Satan cast out Satan?” Tell me, scribes, why would Satan do something like that? If he is trying to enslave people, why would he undermine his own operation? Clearly that would be counter productive. Why? “If a kingdom divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.” When a nation is dominated by warring factions over control of power it is not a nation which can stand. It will topple and eat itself.
Similarly: “And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.” As with nations, so with household. When a husband and a wife always fight, or the kids always vie for power and independence, that household is a household that will fall. We all know this. Successful nations, successful household are ones that are dominated by a common vision and under a common authority. And Satan is a clever king—he does not fight with himself, even if he gives the appearance. “If Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end.” In other words, look at how I’m casting out demons. Satan’s kingdom is toppling. Do you think that Satan would topple his own kingdom? Nobody would do that.
If that isn’t the proper explanation for what Jesus is doing, what is? V27: “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.” If someone is standing guard in full armor, you can’t get into his house unless you first disarm him and tie him up. Then you can go in and take whatever you want. This was common knowledge. Even Isaiah 49:22ff said the same thing: “Can the prey be taken from the mighty, or the captives of a tyrant be rescued?” Can you rescue prisoners unless you first defeat the tyrant? No! But the Lord will: v25: “Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken and the prey of the tyrant be rescued, for I will contend with those who contend with you, and I will save your children.” No, Satan has not been divided. Rather, someone more powerful than Satan is here. And that someone is Yahweh himself. I am plundering the captives, setting the prisoners free, taking the spoil from his kingdom in conquest.
But was there any hope that the Scribes would see? No. Jesus warns them. Vv28-30 READ. Because they were saying that he was possessed, they evidenced a heart so radically hardened that they would never see. Jesus says, “I’ll forgive sin and blasphemy, no matter what it is. But blasphemy against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness. It is an eternal sin.” You’ve seen all my works. You’ve heard my teaching. You have irrefutable proof that I am who I claim to be. And yet you have seen all that and you have said that it all comes from Satan. That is hardness of heart so radical that you never will turn and repent and find forgiveness. “It is impossible…to restore them again to repentance.” (Hebrews 6).
Where did the Spirit come from? Doesn’t that seem a bit out of left field? The last time the Spirit of God was mentioned was 1:9-13 where the Spirit of God descends upon Jesus and drives him into the wilderness. Remember Isaiah is Mark’s favorite book, and Isaiah always presents the Messiah as having the power of the Holy Spirit.
- Isaiah 11:2 – “the Spirit of God shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.”
- Isaiah 42:1 – “Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.”
- Isaiah 48:16 [the servant speaking] – “Draw near to me, hear this: from the beginning I have not spoken in secret, from the time it came to be I have been there.” And now the Lord God has sent me, and his Spirit.”
- Isaiah 61:1 – “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.”
The Messiah always came with the Spirit. Jesus always did all he did by the Spirit. So to attribute Jesus’ power to Satan was to say that the Spirit is Satan, which was to say that God is Satan. That is radical blasphemy. No wonder Isaiah himself says, Isaiah 63:10, “But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit; therefore he turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them.”
Now, we will take the whole sermon next week to talk about the unforgivable sin. For now, learn this lesson from the Scribes: Religious accomplishment and prowess makes no difference with Jesus. You can be a Bible scholar and still say that Jesus’ work comes from Satan. You can completely miss him. I don’t care who you are. I don’t care if you have a bible degree. I don’t care if you are renowned in the church, or if you have been a member as long as you can remember, or if you have planted a thousand churches—none of those things make you know Jesus. No merely human relationship to Jesus is sufficient. We must know him and come to him and walk with him.
The blindness of the Scribes in light of the evidence tells us something very important about understanding what Jesus is. It is a moral problem, not an intellectual problem. It is a heart-deficiency, not a brain-deficiency. It is a deficiency in the morality and the humility of the Pharisees. That’s important because many people think that’s the way to get people to believe in Jesus. Just teach them more. If I can only give them more evidence, more arguments, clearer arguments, louder preaching, then they’ll believe. They won’t. Jesus said, even if someone was to raise from the dead, they still would not believe. Let them listen to Moses.
III. “Your Mother and Brothers are Seeking You” (3:31-35)
So, we’ve seen those who think he’s crazy and those who think he’s demonic. How do we know him savingly?
Finally, Jesus’ family shows up. And, in a moment of literary brilliance, they stand outside while the disciples are “sitting around him” in the house. This is a metaphorical depiction of what we’ve already talked about: his family is “outside” the house of God. They are set against him. And they send someone to him with a message and they call to him. So they tell him, interrupting his message.
Rather than seeing it as an inconvenience, Jesus seizes the opportunity to make the point: “Who are my mother and my brothers?” Now, Jesus is not disowning his family here. He had a tender relationship with his mother at least. He always kept the fifth commandment. His question is more pointed than that: “My family is outside, you say. But who is really my family? Are my family those who are related to me by blood? Or is there something different that relates people to me?” Or, perhaps differently, “What is the most important way of relating to me? Is it natural? Or is it spiritual?”
Then he looks at his disciples sitting around him—no doubt the Twelve, primarily—and says, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.” A relationship to Jesus transcends all human relationships. It does not nullify human relationships, but it is higher than human relationships. Jesus redefines who is family in the most meaningful sense.
That is why we are called “Children of God.” That is why the Apostles always called the saints “Brothers.” That isn’t just something we call each other when we’ve forgotten one another’s names. Romans 8:15 – “We have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.” Romans 8:29, “Those whom he foreknew he predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” God is creating a family around his Son. That family is the most important family there is.
So, what does it mean to truly have a relationship to Jesus? It means to do the will of God! He creates his family by working in them to cause them to do the will of God. What is that will? Repent. Believe. Trust in Jesus and obey his commandments. Look around! These are your mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, children. This is our family.
Conclusion
No merely human relationship to Jesus is sufficient. Some of us are trusting in our family relationships to be right with Jesus. That is not sufficient. Kids, just because your mom and dad are Christians does not mean that automatically makes you a Christian too. You have to trust in Jesus for yourself. You have to repent of your own sins. Your parents cannot do that for you. Don’t trust in your relationship to your parents to be forgiven of your sins. They can’t forgive you like you need to be forgiven. You need to trust in Jesus.
Many others today, because they were baptized as infants, trust in their parents’ faith to save them. That is also error. Baptism does not bring one into the kingdom. The presence of God’s Spirit does. Do not trust in that to save you.
Still others trust in their relationship to the church to save them. We treat the church like a life raft, that if I just get in I’m safe no matter what. But this is also not true. Each one—every individual—must stand before Christ one day. Either we will stand with our own, insufficient righteousness, or we will stand with Christ’s sufficient righteousness. But we cannot take the righteousness of others in our place. We must trust in Christ alone.
Still others trust in their religious prowess, knowledge, or accomplishments to be right with God. May it never be the case here! Without a saving faith in Jesus, your Bible degree will only be the anchor around your neck to drag your into condemnation. Without a saving relationship to Jesus, church membership is just performance. Without a saving relationship to Jesus, baptism just got you wet and the Lord’s Supper is an insufficient snack. Without a saving relationship to Jesus, we will be left saying on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not.” You must trust him. You must know him. You must throw yourself on him.
In other words, we must do his will. That’s who is in Jesus’ family.