If you have a Bible, please turn with me to Mark chapter 3.
If you don't have one, you can put your hand up and we'll have someone give you a Bible.
Today I'll be preaching in English, so if you want to make sure you know what I say,
we actually have an English transcript so they can read along as well,
just in case my accent's too strong for you.
And if you need Chinese translation, we also have that prepared for you as well.
We have been looking into the Gospel according to Mark in the last few weeks,
which is the good news about Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God.
Messiah is referring to the person expected by the Jews to come and set them free.
The Jews were told about the Messiah when they go to the temple,
and they hear it from the teachers of the law.
This is a very important point of today's sermon.
We have only looked at two chapters of Mark,
and already we can see a lot of events have happened,
and people were amazed at what Jesus has said and done.
As today's passage points out,
Jesus was drawing a large crowd of people wherever he goes.
In verse 7 to 8 it says,
As Jesus' popularity grew,
we can also see that sentiment of resentment and opposition
is growing among a group of people.
They were the teachers of law,
the religious heathies.
Their resentment most likely started back from Mark 1.22,
because people were comparing them with Jesus.
The people were amazed at his teaching,
because he taught them as one who had authority,
not as the teachers of the law.
What Jesus said and done has a direct impact to the teachers of the law,
because his arrival will fill their spiritual condition in their heart.
Jesus is pointing out something that is different to what they have been teaching.
Jesus wants everyone to go deeper to understand their spiritual needs,
because in Matthew it says,
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Today, let's go deeper to find out who belongs to the kingdom of heaven,
who belongs to this new community of the king.
At the beginning of chapter 2,
Jesus was setting up a showdown with the religious heathies.
Steve was reminding us that last week.
This showdown is necessary
because the teachers of the law
were the link between God and his people.
We can even say that they present themselves
as an earthly representation of God
before Jesus came into the scene.
From the showdown between Jesus,
we can see that they are misrepresenting
and giving out wrong information
about who belongs to the kingdom of heaven.
They were busy concerning about things
that weren't that most important.
When they challenged Jesus about blaspheming,
showing that they're concerned about
whether one is saying the right thing at the right time.
When they challenged Jesus about fasting,
showing that they're concerned whether tradition and ritual
have been followed.
When they challenged Jesus about his disciples picking grain,
so that they would suppress basic human needs
to ensure law has not been broken.
Their interpretation of what the law said
was far from accurate,
because when the teachers of the law promoting,
what the teachers of the law promoting
is you belong to the kingdom of God
based on how well you follow the law,
how religious you are,
as if you can get into heaven by your own efforts.
What they're promoting is
if you look right from the outside,
you'll be right with God.
All of their concerns are superficial.
Mark, we call it in chapter 12, 38,
it says,
as he taught,
Jesus said,
watch out for the teachers of the law.
They like to walk around in floating robes
and be greeted with respect in the marketplace
and have the most important seat in the synagogue
and place of honor at banquet.
If you read how Matthew recorded
about the teachers of the law,
you would think that Mark had been very kind to them.
In Matthew 3,
while talking about John the Baptist in verse 7,
it said,
They think that they belong to the kingdom of God
because they are in the right bloodline.
They have Abraham as their ancestor.
Jesus had this to say to them in Matthew 23,
starting in verse 2,
The teachers of the law and Pharisee
sit in Moses' seat,
so you must be careful to do everything they tell you,
but do not do what they do,
for they do not practice what they preach.
They tied up heavy,
cumbersome loads
and put them on others' shoulders,
but they themselves are not willing
to lift a finger to move them.
Jesus' fall in verse 13,
lay out some roles.
Woe to you,
teachers of the law and Pharisee,
you hypocrites!
You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven
in people's face.
You yourself do not enter,
nor will you let those enter
who are trying to.
On the outside,
you are pleased to people as righteous,
but on the inside,
you are full of hypocrites and wickedness.
Jesus said clearly that
because they do not practice what they teach,
appear to be righteous only on the outside,
they do not enter the kingdom of heaven.
They are misrepresenting God
and misrepresenting who belongs to the kingdom of God.
And the worst misrepresentation
is in our passage today,
in Mark 3.22,
when they say that
Jesus is possessed by demons
and is driving out demons
by the prince of demons.
For their knowledge,
they should know who Jesus is,
but they speak against him.
They thought they were speaking against Jesus,
but in fact,
they are speaking against God.
They are speaking against God
because they do not believe who Jesus is,
which means they do not believe
in God who sent Jesus.
When we are looking at this passage,
when Mark mentioned about this incident,
he seems to have interrupted
what he was saying
in verse 20 to 21.
If you turn there and have a look,
Mark was talking about Jesus and his family
in that two verses,
but he jumped on to the incident
between Jesus and the teachers of the law,
especially this group of people from Jerusalem,
between verse 22 and 30.
He then jumped back to Jesus' interaction
with his family
in verse 31 to 35.
Mark did this on purpose
to show us that there is something similar
between the teachers of the law
and Jesus' family.
Let's read again from 22 to 21,
and then we go down to 31 to 33
to go deeper into this issue.
Verse 20,
Then Jesus entered a house
and began a crowd gathered
so that he and his disciples
were not even able to eat.
When his family heard about this,
they went to take charge of him,
for they said,
he is out of his mind.
31,
Then Jesus' mother and brothers arrived.
Sending outside,
they sent someone in to call him.
A crowd was sitting around him
and they told him,
your mother and brothers
are outside looking for you.
Who are my mothers and my brothers?
He asked.
Who are my mothers and my brothers?
He asked.
Such shocking words
to have said to your family,
especially to a Hebrew family
that placed so much value
in their family tradition.
Where their sense of worth,
their personal value,
ties tightly
with what approval they get
from their family.
With culture,
their emphasis collective value,
such as most of Asian
and African culture,
Greek and Italian
and Middle Eastern,
and sometimes even some Australian
when they say,
your home is a castle.
You guys know where they're from.
That shows how old I am.
This is unthinkable
that Jesus gave such a reply.
I said that Mark
had inserted this incident
about the teachers of the law
from Jerusalem
to indicate
there's some similarity
between them and the family.
Family often thinks
that they have privileged access
to their family member.
So Jesus' mother and brothers
waited outside,
waiting for people
to make way for them
to get in.
The older or senior members
often think that
they know better
and they took on
an authoritative position
and they will not listen
or will not
not willing to listen.
Scenorality,
the ranking order
determines who have
the final say
and decide
who should be followed
or who should lead.
A lot of emphasis
has been put on
the outside adherence
of family reputation
concerning only
the outside appearance.
It's often very hard
to convince family member
of anything
because they think
they know better.
The most similar thing
between the teachers
of the law
and the family
is they both
do not believe
who Jesus said
who he really is.
Verse 21 said
that Jesus' family
think he is
out of his mind.
He had gone mad.
Verse 22 say
that the teachers
of the law
think that Jesus
is a bad person
and uses demon
to achieve
his popularity.
They both have
the wrong response
to Jesus
which means
they sat
at the outside circle
instead of
the inside circle
of God.
after Jesus
asked that
unthinkable question
he provided
the answer
in verse 34
to 35.
Then
he looked at
those seated
in a circle
around him
and said
here are my
mothers
and here
are my
mother
and my brothers
whoever
does God's will
is my
brother
and sister
and mother.
to those
seated in a circle
around him
here are my
mother
and my brothers.
Who are these
people?
We know
from earlier
in the passage
that these
are his
disciples.
These are
people that
he called
and came
to him.
In Mark
3 13
Jesus went
out on a
mountainside
and called
to him
those he
wanted
and they
came to
him.
We were
given
account of
how five
out of
these
twelve
disciples
that
Jesus
had
chosen
were
called
and how
they
responded
at the
time
they
were
called.
So
let's
go back
and look
at it
again.
From
chapter 1
verse 16
chapter 1
verse 16
as Jesus
walked beside
the sea
of Galilee
he saw
Simon
and his
Peter
Andrew
casting a
net into
the lake
for they
were fishermen.
Come
follow me
Jesus said
and I
will send
you out
to fish
for people.
At once
they left
the net
and followed
him.
When he
had gone
a little
farther
he saw
James
son of
Zebedee
and his
brother
John
in a
boat
preparing
their
nets.
Without
delay
he
called
them
and they
left
their
father
Zebedee
in a
boat
with
the
high
man
and
followed
him.
After
that
we
were
reminded
that
Simon's
mother
was
sick
and
after
Jesus
raised
her
from
the
sickness
she
started
to
serve
them.
Then
we
go to
chapter 2
chapter
2
verse
13
Once
again
Jesus
went
out
beside
the
lake
a
large
crowd
come
to
him
and
he
began
to
teach
them.
As
he
walked
along
he
saw
Levi
son
of
Alphaeus
sitting
at
the
test
called
Letters
booth.
Follow
me
Jesus
told
him
and
Levi
got
up
and
followed
him.
Levi
was
so
eager
to
introduce
Jesus
and
his
disciples
to
his
friends.
He
holds
a
dinner
at
his
house
afterward.
Their
response
was
immediate.
They
stripped
away,
put
aside
their
career
and
livelihood
as
well as
their
family
to
respond
to
Jesus'
call.
They
did
not
look at
Jesus
and
think
that
he
is
a
mad
man.
And
they
did
not
look
at
Jesus
and
think
that
he
is
a
bad
man.
They
had
the
right
response.
They
looked at
Jesus
as
someone
they
can
entrust
their
life.
They
put
aside
everything
to
follow
and
to
serve
him.
At
the
time
of
their
response,
they
were not
yet
exactly
sure
he
is
the
Messiah,
but
they
came
along
and
they
see
for
themselves.
In
verse
14
said,
they
were
called
so
that
they
will
call
so
that
they
will
be
with
Jesus
and
that
he
might
send
them
out
to
preach
and
to
have
authority
to
drive
out
demons.
As
they
respond
to
Jesus
calling,
they
are
willing
to
let
Jesus
be
the
center
of
their
life
and
live
their
life
circling
Jesus.
Because
they
have
the
right
response,
they
are
seated
in
a
circle
around
him.
Who
are
my
mother
and
brothers
and
brothers
and
brothers
and
brothers
and
brothers
and
brothers
and
mother.
So
what is
the
will
of
God?
In
2 Peter
3,
9,
often
when we
have
communion,
we
actually
talk
about
these
verses.
It
says
that
God
is
patient
with
you,
not
wanting
anyone
to
perish,
but
everyone
to
come
to
repentance.
In
Jesus'
very
first
word
in
Mark,
also
reiterated
the
will
of
God.
The
time
has
come,
the
kingdom
of
God
has
come
near,
repent
and
believe
in
the
good
news.
God
has
been
patient
in
waiting
for
us
to
come
to
a
right
response
to
who
Jesus
really
is.
He
warned
everyone
to
come
to
repentance,
to
have
us
seated
in
a
circle
around
him,
to
listen
to
his
teaching
and
to
have
life
circle
around
him.
Who
belongs
to
the
kingdom
of
God?
Those
that
have
the
right
response
will
be
in
it.
The
right
response
is
to
believe
and
follow
him.
The
right
response
is
to
listen
to
his
teaching.
The
right
response
is
to
obey
the
will
of
God.
The
right
response
is
to
repent
and
believe
in
the
good
news
of
the
kingdom
of
heaven.
Having
the
right
to
respond
will
get
into
the
community
of
Jesus.
It
sounds
so
simple,
isn't
it?
But
it's
that
simple
because
God
has
done
all
the
works
and
fulfilled
all
the
requirements
for
us
through
Jesus.
In
our
passage
today,
we're
in the
middle,
in
chapter
27,
it
says,
no one
can
enter
a
strong
man's
house
without
first
tying
him
up.
Then
he
can
plunder
the
strong
man's
house.
Through
Jesus,
God
has
already
tied
up
Satan,
the
one
that
we
think
is
strong.
It's
impossible
to
try to
get
into
the
community
of
Jesus
in
your
own
effort
by
being
religious
or
by
relying
on
your
lineage.
God
made
the
impossible
possible
in
Jesus.
Believe
in
him
is
all
we
need
to
be
part
of
heaven.
Believe
Jesus
is
God.
Follow
him,
listen
to
his
teaching
and
obey
the
will
of
God.
If
you
have
not
responded
to
Jesus
calling
before,
today
is
an
opportunity
to
put
your
trust
in
him.
If
you
have
responded
to
his
call
but
followed
some
misrepresentation
and
no
longer
seated
around
Jesus,
God
is
patient
with
you.
Repent
and
turn
back
to
Christ
today.