To view the original version click here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2008/02/mark-320-35-family-of-god.html
To view the 2015 version, click here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2015/02/mark-320-35-family-of-god.html
To view the 2024 Alberni Valley Ministries version, click here: https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2024/04/mark-320-35-family-of-god.html
Today’s passage is about family. I have been thinking about family quite a bit lately. Yesterday was my birthday. I had a great time with my nuclear family here. When that Humbolt hockey bus accident happened near Nipawin, Saskatchewan, I thought of everyone I know and love there. Krys mentioned how everyone in Saskatchewan really is family. It is a tight knit community. And while we were still grieving that we were then drawn to grieve with our #TorontoStrong family. I went to that memorial last Sunday after church here. Also relating to family, Move Day was last week, as you know, and we were told that we are leaving you our church family here and we will miss you a lot even as we are moving very close to our extended family near where we, especially Susan grew up. I have been thinking a lot about family lately,
Mark Chapter 3, you’ll notice, is also about family – Jesus’ family. 3:20: “Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat.” Verse 21, “When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, ‘He is out of his mind.’”
Jesus is portrayed here as almost a workaholic (not quite because of course Jesus’ shows through the dessert temptation account that he does not give into temptation – cf. Lk 4; Jas 1:13). He is working late and he takes his work home with him and his work right now is casting demons out of people and he has a lot of work to do.
Can you imagine the scene? It is dinnertime. He comes to a home to eat with his 12 closest disciples, and there is so much going on. There are so many people crowding into the house that they aren’t even able to take time to eat. There must be people everywhere. This must be so noisy – and Jesus is working away – he and his disciples are ploughing through people healing them, casting out demons and doing what needs to be done.
His family no doubt is worried about his health. They are no doubt worried because he’s not eating anything. They are no doubt worried because he is not taking enough time for himself. He is not taking time to relax. He is just working, working, working – without a break – this can’t possibly be healthy can it? Is it any wonder that his mother and brothers, throw up their hands when they hear all of this and say, Verse 21,“He is out of his mind” – “he’s crazy” – “he’s nuts.”[1]
How do you respond to those whom you love who won’t stop working? Well, Jesus’ family decided that it is time to go and take charge of him. They are going to make him rest and take care of himself. (Now this is interesting because the Greek word KRATESAI is actually the same word that is used when you or the police go to ARREST someone. So this is serious.) They are concerned about him and if Jesus won’t take care of himself, they will take matters into their own hands; they will take charge of him because, as they understand it, “he is out of his mind.”
“He is demon possessed,” the teachers of the Law say. “He is [even] possessed by Beelzebub…the prince of demons,”[2] Verse 22 records the learned, esteemed, intelligent, and respected teachers as saying – “[It is] by the prince of demons [that] he is driving out demons.”
So this is interesting. Both Jesus’ family and the religious experts agree that Jesus is not acting normally here. He is out of his mind; he is demon-possessed. And again, in this crazy scene, we can probably understand what they are saying to some degree, can’t we?
Jesus understands and he answers the teachers who –unlike his biological family (cf. 3:31-32)[3] - are right there, near, or even in the house with him and his disciples. Jesus understands what they are saying.
Now what the Pharisees might actually be doing here –unlike his family- is probably more than just looking out for his well-being. What they might be doing is probably more than just mocking him or writing him off. What they might be actually in the process of doing is gathering evidence or at least inspiration to formulate an official charge against him.
In our society today we think nothing of people using the language of demon-possession and witchcraft: we hear it everyday on TV, radio, in pop culture and in casual colloquial language. It is so common that many times we don’t even twig when we hear it but it was different in Jesus’ day (cf. Dt. 18:10; 1 Sam 28:9; 2 Ki 19:22; 2 Chr 33:6; Micah 5:12; Na 3:4; Gal 5:20).
Witchcraft is a serious crime. It is a sin punishable by death (cf. 1 Sam 28:9).[4] These religious teachers cannot be left to make these remarks unchallenged. It must be addressed. They are in essence accusing Jesus of divination, of witchcraft, of sorcery, and in those days people won’t stand by and let that evil go unchecked.
And Jesus won’t let these accusations go unchecked; he speaks to them in a couple of very short parables or metaphors.
Verse 23ff: “So Jesus called them and spoke to them in parables: ‘How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come.”
Think about it in terms of our world today…
There is of course ISIS, ISIL, IS or whatever it is called now that has been created out of the divisions we made when our allies invaded Iraq and sponsored wars in Syria. Or there is Libya. Did you know that before Canada began bombing that country it was one of, if not the most stable and prosperous country in all of Africa and now they are so divided that they even have two rival governments in two rival cities and people are now dying there daily. Let us not forget Ukraine. Hundreds of thousands are dead and still dying and millions fled and are still fleeing after our allies toppled their elected government in a coup. The country is divided. It is now broke and fighting a civil war. Divided countries cannot stand. This is what Jesus is saying right in this parable.
We remember Afghanistan. Afghanistan is still torn apart. Afghanistan had been polarized for many years; so when we -and our allies- launched our attacks on their country, the country didn’t stand.[5] Civilians are still dying. A divided house cannot stand. How can they ever be liberated, if they cannot even be united? How can we ever be liberated if we are not united?
And this is the kind of thing that is playing out in our very houses here today. If husband and wife aren’t on the same page, how can their children grow up in the strength of a solid family? If mom won’t stop yelling at dad and dad does stop coming home altogether, how can little Janet learn to be kind to her future husband and how can little John learn to stick it out when life gets difficult? If the house is divided, how can it stand?[6]
We’ve seen in this country, Canada, very quickly, the results of divided houses, haven’t we? Many houses are no longer standing: “Between 1965 and 1988, Canada's divorce rate went from being one of the lowest among industrialized nations to being one of the highest.”[7] Divided houses do not stand.
This is what Jesus is telling his accusers. He is saying that if he is on the same side as Beelzebub, if he is on the same side as the devil, he wouldn’t attack him because then he would be in essence – if he WAS working for the devil – by attacking him, he would be destroying himself.
If Jesus were working for the devil why would he cast devils out? He wouldn’t. And since he isn’t, why would he let them continue to play in Rec Room of the demon-possessed man’s soul? He wouldn’t. He doesn’t. Jesus comes out stern and commanding and orders that Rec Room cleared.
There can be many reasons and motives for the Pharisees to accuse Jesus of working for the enemy but he lets them know that their argument doesn’t make any sense.
Jesus uses the analogy also of robbing a house. Jesus says that, Verse 27, “In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can rob his house.”
If Jesus were on the same side as the devil, why would he even want to rob the devil of his prize? He wouldn’t. If he was working for the devil, then he would not be freeing this man from Satan’s power; because by casting out the demons, he is weakening the Republic of Evil and in the process strengthening the Kingdom of God and when one is at war, one tries to kill one’s enemies and one’s not allies. And this is what Jesus is saying: Jesus is showing those present that indeed he is intentionally attacking the devil’s dominion, freeing his captives, liberating his territory and in these stories Jesus is reminding us, in effect, that no one intentionally kills with ‘friendly fire.’ If Jesus were on the same side as Satan, he says in this parable, he would not rob him of his prize. Instead, as Jesus is more powerful than Satan, by freeing the demon-possessed man, he binds the metaphorical strong man and robs his house.
Jesus makes his point. He makes his point well. We realise, as we have seen, that divided houses cannot stand. Houses cannot be robbed without first taking care of the security guard. But Jesus doesn’t stop at making this point.
You’ll notice that this story doesn’t end here. Jesus now has some strong words for the people who are accusing him of working for the Beelzebub. He says, Verses 28-30, “I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.”[8] He said this because they were saying, “He has an evil spirit.”
So do you see what the author of Mark here is doing as he relates this story about Jesus? He is showing us that Jesus is warning the Pharisees not to say that he is demon-possessed. He is telling them point blank that all other sins will be forgiven – EXCEPT for blaspheming the Holy Spirit – He says that there is no sin as bad as this one that they may be committing here. Calling the Holy Spirit evil, rejecting God in this way. There is nothing worse Mark tells us that Jesus says here.[9]
But what about Jesus’ family? Remember that as the Pharisees said ‘he has an evil spirit (v. 30)’, his own family said that he was ‘out of his mind (v. 21)’ and they came to take charge of, or even ‘arrest’ him; what about his flesh and blood relatives?
What does Jesus say when they arrive to ‘take charge of him (v.21)?’ Verse 31. You’ll notice that they even don’t come in. It says that they are still standing outside. They don’t even come into where Jesus and his disciples are working. They don’t come in to arrest him, to take him home. They, instead, want Jesus to come out to them.
I’ve seen people act like that more than once. They come even a very long way to take control of someone and then refuse to even come in but instead try to force their target to come out. People who do that, they can’t be up to any good, can they?
Jesus’ family, vv. 31 & 32, send someone in and the crowd tells Jesus that his family- his flesh and blood – those who think he’s out of his mind for doing the will of God – those who gave birth to and those who grew up with him – Jesus’ family is here. The crowd tells Jesus, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”
What does Jesus reply? This is important to our story, I think. Jesus replies, verse 33ff, “‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’…Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother.’”
Jesus denies his mother and brothers. Jesus doesn’t go out to his family in this story. He denies them. His mother and brothers are not supporting Jesus doing the work of God and he is not acknowledging them.
Just like Jesus told the Pharisees, that “whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven” because they said he has an evil spirit. He says of his mother and brothers, who went out to take charge of him, “Who are my mother and brothers?” They are not those who are my flesh and blood if they are opposing the work and the will of God!
My family, Jesus says, is “whoever does God’s will.” In our passage here today, the author of Mark has revealed a great truth to us. The family of God is not necessarily the educated, the theologians, the scholars and the pastors. The family of God is not necessarily those who are born into the churches, Christian families and their loved ones.[10] The family of God is quite simply those who do the will of God, which, of course, we discern as we pray and read Scripture.
So today, as we have looked at divided houses –those of the parable: of the Jewish teachers,[11] of Jesus’ own biological family – as we have looked at these divided houses, I think we need to consider something ourselves. Are we really members of the family of God, or are we more like some of the others represented here?
Are we like the Pharisees? They knew a lot about God, probably more than anyone but they thought they knew better than Jesus. Do we think we know more than God? Do we reject, by our words and/or actions, that Jesus Christ is real in our society today? Do we treat what he says and what he does as if it is not truly of God? This is what the Pharisees did in today’s story. Are we like them?
Or are we like his biological family? They grew up with him. They knew him but they wanted to ‘take charge’ of him. Do we ever want to ‘take charge’ of Jesus, like his family whom Jesus even refused to acknowledge in this story? Do we ever try to ‘take charge’ of Jesus and mould him to our idea of what Jesus and God should be rather than to let him make himself know to us? This is what his biological family was doing in this story. Are we like them?
Or are we like his true family, his real family, the family of God? …the disciples and others with them here who were doing what Jesus was telling them to do? Do we in our daily lives discern through prayer and Scripture the will of God, and seek to do it? Because it is only then that we will we truly be Jesus’ brother and sister and mother. It is only then will we truly be a part of the family of God. And this is what Jesus wants. He wants us all to be members of his family and heirs in His kingdom.
Let us pray…
[1] Cf. C.L. Mitton. The Gospel According to Mark. London: Epworth, 1957, p. 26: “If they reveal his family's failure to understand him, they are also a measure of their concern for him.”
[2] Cf. Williamson Jr. Interpretation: Mar., Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1983, p.84. Beelzebub literally means, “Lord of the flies”; this was a derogatory term derived from ‘Beelzebul’, which was the name of a Canaanite deity. By Jesus’ time the words had come to be associated with the accuser, Satan, the prince of demons. Cf. also RCH Lenski. The Interpretation of St Mark’s Gospel. Minneapolis, Augsburg Publishing House, 1964, p.148.
[3] Walter W. Wessel Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Mark/ Introduction to Mark, Book Version: 4.0.2 suggests that the family is probably in Narareth but Jesus himself in Capernaum. RCH Lenski, pp.5-20 discusses the idea that he is possibly even in the house of John Mark himself. Lamar Williamson Jr., p.83, points out Jesus may now be at the house of Simon and Andrew. Either way his blood family does not appear to be actually with him now, cf. v.31.
[4] Cf. also Gal 5:20 for a NT comment on its seriousness
[5] Esp. re: drugs which had been albeit eliminated as a problem before our invasion according the UN and other sources: http://opioids.com/afghanistan/index.html Andrew North BBC correspondent in Kabul, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/ 3476377.stm states that since the invasion “an opium farmer may be earning 10 times as much as the government soldier or policeman whose job it is to enforce the law against growing the crop.” And the number of civilian deaths has greatly risen as a direct result as well: http://www.unknownnews.net/casualties.html
[6] CBC put our rate at almost 40% in 2002: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2004/05/04/divorce040504.html cf. Ambert, Dr. Anne Maire DIVORCE: FACTS, FIGURES AND CONSEQUENCES. Child and Family Canada. http://www.cfc-efc.ca/docs/vanif/00005_en.htm
[7] http://family.jrank.org/pages/191/Canada-Divorce.html">Canada - Divorce
[8] Walter W. Wessel Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Mark/ Book Version: 4.0.2l: The words of v. 29—"will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin"—have caused great anxiety and pain in the history of the church. Many have wondered whether they have committed the "unpardonable sin." Surely what Jesus is speaking of here is not an isolated act but a settled condition of the soul—the result of a long history of repeated and willful acts of sin. And if the person involved cannot be forgiven it is not so much that God refuses to forgive as it is the sinner refuses to allow him. Ryle's famous words are great reassurance to any who might be anxious about this sin: "There is such a thing as a sin which is never forgiven. But those who are troubled about it are most unlikely to have committed it" (J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels [New York: Revell], 2:59). On the other hand, those who actually do commit the sin are so dominated by evil that it is unlikely that they would be aware of it
[9] Ibid: "because they were saying, `He has an evil spirit'"—suggests an explanation for the unforgivable sin. Jesus had done what any unprejudiced person would have acknowledged as a good thing. He had freed an unfortunate man from the power and bondage of evil (cf. Matt 12:22; Luke 11:14). This he did through the power of the Holy Spirit, but the teachers of the law ascribed it to the power of Satan. Taylor (p. 244) says that the sin described here is "a perversion of spirit which, in defiance of moral values elects to call light darkness." Further, Mitton says, "To call what is good evil (Isa 5:20) when you know well that it is good because prejudice and ill will hold you in bondage, that is the worst sin of all. The tragedy of the `hardening of heart' (as in Mk 3:5) is that it makes men capable of committing just this sin" (Gospel of Mark, p. 28). Perkins, Pheme. NIB VIII: The Gospel of Mark, p. 547: The evangelist’s comment in V. 30 shows that the judgement saying is directed against those who have charged Jesus with using Satan’s power.”
[10] Grant, F.C. The Gospel According to St. Mark. Vol. 7. IB. New York: Abingdon, 1951, p. 694: “In place of broken family relations, ostracism and persecution, was the close and intimate relation to the Son of God.”
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