WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.259 it'll come and read God's word for us and then I'll pray before I preach. 00:00:06.320 --> 00:00:16.740 Hello. We are today, as Steve has said, Mark chapter 3 verses 20 to 35. That's page 1005 on the Blue Bibles. 00:00:16.739 --> 00:00:46.719 Let's read. 00:00:46.740 --> 00:00:56.179 So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables. 00:00:57.060 --> 00:01:03.680 How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 00:01:04.219 --> 00:01:07.920 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 00:01:07.920 --> 00:01:15.400 And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand. His end has come. 00:01:15.400 --> 00:01:20.140 In fact, no one can enter a strongman's house without first tying him up. 00:01:20.680 --> 00:01:28.380 Then he can plunder the strongman's house. Truly, I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter. 00:01:28.880 --> 00:01:32.600 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. 00:01:33.240 --> 00:01:35.380 They are guilty of an eternal sin. 00:01:35.379 --> 00:01:39.379 He said this because they were saying he has an impure spirit. 00:01:39.379 --> 00:01:45.859 Then Jesus' mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. 00:01:46.399 --> 00:01:51.399 A crowd was sitting around him and they told him, your mother and your brother are outside looking for you. 00:01:52.019 --> 00:01:54.399 Who are my mother and my brothers? He asked. 00:01:55.159 --> 00:02:00.459 Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, here are my mother and my brothers. 00:02:00.959 --> 00:02:04.459 Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother. 00:02:04.459 --> 00:02:05.640 So this is the word of the Lord. 00:02:06.919 --> 00:02:09.579 Thank you so much, Theodore. Let's keep that passage open. 00:02:09.739 --> 00:02:13.299 We're going to work our way through it. Let me pray for us as we come to God's word. 00:02:13.359 --> 00:02:13.780 Let me pray. 00:02:15.959 --> 00:02:21.240 Oh, Heavenly Father, how we thank you that none of us are here to share our own good ideas, 00:02:21.959 --> 00:02:25.699 let alone me and mine, but that we're here to listen to you. 00:02:25.699 --> 00:02:33.739 And that with joyful confidence, we know that as your word is open, your spirit is at work and you speak to us. 00:02:34.399 --> 00:02:36.799 How we pray this morning that you might make us good listeners. 00:02:37.819 --> 00:02:41.060 How we pray, please, Lord, that you might encourage us and strengthen us. 00:02:41.659 --> 00:02:43.459 Rebuke us even where we might need that. 00:02:44.179 --> 00:02:47.459 That we might love you and trust you and live our lives for your praise and glory. 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:50.019 In Jesus' name. Amen. 00:02:50.019 --> 00:02:50.239 Amen. 00:02:50.240 --> 00:03:02.820 Our passage this morning invites us to ask a very simple and straightforward but really important question of who is Jesus? 00:03:03.939 --> 00:03:06.320 Now, you might be sat there thinking, brilliant. 00:03:07.160 --> 00:03:08.879 I know the answer to that one, Steve. 00:03:09.580 --> 00:03:11.560 Jesus is the Son of God. 00:03:11.960 --> 00:03:17.340 So you went and did GCSERE at school and you think, I've nailed this. 00:03:17.400 --> 00:03:19.760 I know that he is the Son of God, which of course is right. 00:03:19.759 --> 00:03:27.560 But if you take a look at chapter 3 and verse 11, you'll find that the demons call Jesus the Son of God and they're rebuked for it. 00:03:28.179 --> 00:03:30.579 So there must be a little bit more to it than just that. 00:03:31.620 --> 00:03:35.439 And that's because I think when Mark asks us the question, who is Jesus? 00:03:35.620 --> 00:03:39.000 Really what he's asking us is a relational question. 00:03:39.719 --> 00:03:42.519 He's asking us how we relate to Jesus. 00:03:43.319 --> 00:03:48.019 Not sort of who is Jesus in the abstract, but who is Jesus to you? 00:03:48.020 --> 00:03:50.939 Let me try and explain with an analogy. 00:03:51.100 --> 00:03:53.280 It's not a perfect one, but hopefully it will make the point. 00:03:53.400 --> 00:04:00.040 Imagine that you come through the doors of church in the morning and I welcome you and you're there with a friend. 00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:06.480 And I point to your friend and I look at you in the eye and I say, who is this? 00:04:07.520 --> 00:04:08.340 Who is this? 00:04:08.340 --> 00:04:12.659 Well, presumably in that, I mean, I know in a British setting that's a bit rude, isn't it? 00:04:12.680 --> 00:04:16.680 So I'd couch it in some nice sort of friendly British terms, but you know what I mean. 00:04:17.199 --> 00:04:20.500 So what in that setting am I expecting for you to tell me? 00:04:21.100 --> 00:04:24.420 Well, yes, you might tell me their name and that would be a useful thing to know. 00:04:24.699 --> 00:04:30.160 But I would also expect you to tell me how it is that you are there with them, how you relate to them. 00:04:30.160 --> 00:04:31.400 Oh, this is my brother. 00:04:32.320 --> 00:04:33.980 This is my long lost friend. 00:04:34.600 --> 00:04:35.820 This is my colleague. 00:04:36.540 --> 00:04:37.820 This is my granddaughter. 00:04:38.680 --> 00:04:44.460 Because when I ask that question, what I'm really asking you is, who is this person in relationship with you? 00:04:44.660 --> 00:04:45.740 Who are they to you? 00:04:46.540 --> 00:04:51.460 And that really captures something of what Mark is trying to get us to ask this morning as we look at this passage. 00:04:51.840 --> 00:04:54.960 He doesn't want you just to think in the abstract, oh, who is Jesus? 00:04:55.100 --> 00:04:56.300 Oh, he's the son of God. 00:04:56.300 --> 00:04:57.300 I know that tick. 00:04:57.460 --> 00:05:00.079 No, he's asking you, who is Jesus to you? 00:05:01.300 --> 00:05:02.079 Who is he to you? 00:05:03.100 --> 00:05:08.720 The focus of this relational knowing comes through these encounters that Jesus has with two groups of people in our passage. 00:05:09.139 --> 00:05:10.520 The first is with his family. 00:05:11.259 --> 00:05:14.800 And the other is with this delegation of religious leaders that have come from Jerusalem. 00:05:15.240 --> 00:05:23.420 And I just want to spend our time considering those two groups and then thinking together how Jesus expects us to answer that question and what he would like us to say. 00:05:23.420 --> 00:05:26.600 So let's first think about Jesus' family. 00:05:27.360 --> 00:05:29.620 If you were to ask Jesus' family, who is Jesus? 00:05:29.759 --> 00:05:30.939 They would give you this answer. 00:05:31.500 --> 00:05:36.759 Oh, Jesus is our brother and we've come to get him or we've come to take control of him. 00:05:37.759 --> 00:05:44.200 This whole section that we've just read is pinned between two encounters between Jesus and his family. 00:05:44.199 --> 00:05:55.099 In verses 20 and 21 and then again in verse 30 and 32, Jesus is talking about his relationship with his family or his family are talking about their relationship with him. 00:05:55.920 --> 00:06:03.039 And the action takes place in what verse 20 refers to as a house, which is probably better translated home. 00:06:03.839 --> 00:06:10.800 Meaning in all probability, Jesus here is back in Capernaum and back in the home that had the roof dug through in chapter two. 00:06:10.800 --> 00:06:13.400 Jesus now is near his family. 00:06:14.780 --> 00:06:17.020 He's come back after one of his ministry trips. 00:06:17.699 --> 00:06:23.840 And if you look down at verse 21, you'll notice that Jesus' family come to take charge of him, saying at the end of the verse that he's out of his mind. 00:06:24.460 --> 00:06:25.879 Let me read the verse to you. 00:06:26.199 --> 00:06:31.980 When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said he is out of his mind. 00:06:33.000 --> 00:06:39.319 It seems that this assessment that they've made about Jesus is something to do with the fact that he's not been able to eat in verse 20. 00:06:39.719 --> 00:06:42.519 He's so busy that he's not been able to eat. 00:06:43.800 --> 00:06:48.279 You can perhaps imagine the conversation, can't you, around the dinner table in Jesus' family home. 00:06:48.480 --> 00:06:49.899 Have you heard Jesus is back in town? 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:51.319 Oh yeah, I've heard he's back in town. 00:06:51.699 --> 00:06:52.899 Have you heard that he's not eating? 00:06:53.540 --> 00:06:54.860 Oh yeah, I've heard that he's not eating. 00:06:54.939 --> 00:06:55.740 Aren't you worried about that? 00:06:55.800 --> 00:06:56.719 Yeah, I'm worried about that. 00:06:56.740 --> 00:06:57.759 Don't you think we should do something about that? 00:06:57.779 --> 00:06:58.879 Yeah, I think we should do something about that. 00:06:58.879 --> 00:06:59.319 Let's go. 00:06:59.879 --> 00:07:00.620 And they go and get it. 00:07:00.620 --> 00:07:08.439 It's interesting when they get there in verse 31, they stand outside the house and summon Jesus to come out. 00:07:08.800 --> 00:07:10.860 It's an interesting kind of power play, isn't it? 00:07:10.860 --> 00:07:17.800 They assume that their presence outside of the house and their instructions sent in will be enough to gather him. 00:07:18.420 --> 00:07:26.199 But actually it fails dramatically, so much so that Jesus even denies that they're his real mother and brothers because of the way they're dealing with him. 00:07:26.199 --> 00:07:35.699 There's a guy that I see at most mornings walking his dog in Queen's Park. 00:07:35.800 --> 00:07:37.680 It's a German shepherd dog like that. 00:07:38.620 --> 00:07:40.199 He's a nice guy. 00:07:41.060 --> 00:07:46.579 We say hello, which means I think in London terms we're probably best of friends, I think, as far as I can tell. 00:07:46.579 --> 00:07:57.919 Well, I imagine this guy, when he bought the German shepherd dog, he thought he was buying a nice, cute, fluffy pet that would be a lovely companion on walks around Queen's Park. 00:07:58.479 --> 00:08:04.740 I can imagine him sort of watching YouTube videos of really well-behaved German shepherds thinking, oh, that's going to be lovely, isn't it? 00:08:04.759 --> 00:08:08.419 I'm going to have lovely walks around the park with this beautiful, fluffy dog. 00:08:08.420 --> 00:08:17.740 But what he has actually got is a dog that has a completely different mind, a mind totally of its own, a dog which takes him for walks. 00:08:18.240 --> 00:08:24.100 It's actually not so much that my friend has got a pet, but the pet has got an owner who he is really in charge of. 00:08:24.960 --> 00:08:29.819 And in a sense, in a hopefully non-irreverent way, that's what these brothers think about Jesus. 00:08:31.080 --> 00:08:35.659 They think they've got a pet saviour, a pet divinity, 00:08:35.659 --> 00:08:42.939 someone that they can give instructions to, someone who every now and again will probably need a bit of intervention and a bit of direction. 00:08:43.620 --> 00:08:44.539 A cute Jesus. 00:08:45.219 --> 00:08:50.759 A cute Jesus who would come home, sit around the dinner table and submit himself to their plans. 00:08:51.480 --> 00:08:55.740 He would accomplish their dreams, he would heal their broken hearts, fix their finances. 00:08:56.500 --> 00:08:57.779 And Jesus says, no, no, no, no, no. 00:08:59.199 --> 00:09:00.720 That leash is not mine. 00:09:01.299 --> 00:09:02.339 I am not your pet. 00:09:02.340 --> 00:09:06.200 You don't get to tell me that I am out of my mind. 00:09:06.820 --> 00:09:09.240 You don't get to tell me to rein it in. 00:09:09.500 --> 00:09:11.879 You don't get to query my mission. 00:09:12.040 --> 00:09:13.280 I am not your boy. 00:09:13.960 --> 00:09:18.200 I'm your Lord, your King, your God. 00:09:20.399 --> 00:09:22.879 I wonder, it happens like this, doesn't it? 00:09:22.940 --> 00:09:31.500 So often Christians can be so eager for their friends to meet with Jesus that they introduce him like this kind of pet divinity. 00:09:33.259 --> 00:09:39.639 You know, he's full of just gentleness and love towards you and he's come to bless your plans. 00:09:39.759 --> 00:09:41.980 He's come to stand with you at the difficult moments. 00:09:41.980 --> 00:09:47.580 Of course, I'm not going to tell you that Jesus is not full of love and kindness. 00:09:47.920 --> 00:09:49.000 Of course he is. 00:09:50.039 --> 00:09:55.060 But if you answer the question of who is Jesus with, oh, he's my boy, he's in my corner, he's got my back. 00:09:55.820 --> 00:09:57.080 We've not really understood him. 00:09:57.980 --> 00:10:02.639 If that's all you know about Jesus, you haven't really understood who he is. 00:10:02.639 --> 00:10:08.220 And it's perhaps more important than just saying, oh, you've got that wrong. 00:10:08.439 --> 00:10:09.580 It's more important than that. 00:10:09.879 --> 00:10:13.899 In a way, if you answer the question like that, if that's who Jesus is to you, 00:10:14.279 --> 00:10:18.360 then your whole understanding of reality is twisted and corrupted. 00:10:19.019 --> 00:10:24.559 Because if you think like that about Jesus, what you're thinking is that you're the God of God. 00:10:24.559 --> 00:10:30.879 But yeah, you're thinking that when you encounter God in flesh, you get to tell him what to do. 00:10:31.219 --> 00:10:32.179 Of course you don't, do you? 00:10:33.059 --> 00:10:34.599 That seat is not your seat. 00:10:35.500 --> 00:10:36.539 You are not on the throne. 00:10:36.539 --> 00:10:44.579 It seems in the context here that the people most likely to make this mistake about Jesus are the people who know him best. 00:10:45.879 --> 00:10:47.620 The brothers who've grown up with him. 00:10:48.639 --> 00:10:51.559 Perhaps church kids who can't remember not knowing Jesus. 00:10:52.599 --> 00:10:55.360 People for whom the Christian life is more really like a culture. 00:10:55.500 --> 00:10:56.579 It's the posters on the wall. 00:10:56.759 --> 00:10:58.299 It's the songs on the radio. 00:10:58.559 --> 00:11:01.019 It's the place that we visit at big life events. 00:11:01.439 --> 00:11:03.519 It's the person that you turn to in a crisis. 00:11:03.519 --> 00:11:06.600 When in reality, Jesus says, no, no, no, no, no. 00:11:07.399 --> 00:11:08.500 I am Lord. 00:11:09.000 --> 00:11:10.220 I am King. 00:11:10.879 --> 00:11:12.240 You are not my brother. 00:11:12.379 --> 00:11:13.240 You are not my mother. 00:11:13.360 --> 00:11:14.720 You don't get to tell me what to do. 00:11:14.860 --> 00:11:16.559 I rule and I reign. 00:11:18.960 --> 00:11:20.079 It's interesting, isn't it? 00:11:20.079 --> 00:11:23.159 I think the Roman Catholic Church finds these verses very difficult. 00:11:24.240 --> 00:11:27.899 Roman Catholic Church has imagined that Jesus' mother is better than this. 00:11:28.480 --> 00:11:32.899 An insider with the person of Jesus simply because of her relationship with him. 00:11:32.899 --> 00:11:34.240 As his mother. 00:11:35.139 --> 00:11:37.139 But Jesus says clearly here, doesn't he? 00:11:37.740 --> 00:11:39.799 Even Mary has to bow the knee. 00:11:40.819 --> 00:11:44.019 Repent of her sins and come to Christ as Savior and Lord. 00:11:45.579 --> 00:11:47.139 We're going to come back to some of those ideas. 00:11:47.240 --> 00:11:50.559 But before we do, let's move on to think about the second answer to the who is Jesus question. 00:11:51.000 --> 00:11:53.559 And that's the answer of the teachers of the law in verse 22. 00:11:53.840 --> 00:11:57.679 And they say Jesus is a demonic wizard and should be shunned. 00:11:57.799 --> 00:11:59.000 Something like that, at least. 00:11:59.000 --> 00:12:05.840 If you look down at verse 22, you're told that a delegation of religious officials have arrived from Jerusalem. 00:12:06.440 --> 00:12:11.539 Of course, that's just exactly what you would expect because Jesus has been healing so many people. 00:12:11.879 --> 00:12:13.700 He's been causing a big fuss. 00:12:14.100 --> 00:12:15.460 Everyone will have heard about him. 00:12:15.460 --> 00:12:17.840 And so word has found its way to Jerusalem. 00:12:18.340 --> 00:12:21.660 A delegation are sent north to pass verdicts on Jesus. 00:12:21.800 --> 00:12:22.660 And that's what they do. 00:12:23.200 --> 00:12:28.580 End of verse 22, they say he is possessed by Beelzebul, the prince of demons. 00:12:28.980 --> 00:12:31.139 By the prince of demons, he's driving out demons. 00:12:32.420 --> 00:12:36.300 This is obviously a step further, isn't it, than he is out of his mind in verse 21. 00:12:36.960 --> 00:12:40.080 Here, their accusation is that Jesus is some kind of dark magician. 00:12:40.080 --> 00:12:43.520 In touch with forces, but not in a good way. 00:12:44.800 --> 00:12:50.840 I don't know quite where you're up to, but if you're concerned about the historical accuracy of Mark's account, 00:12:51.580 --> 00:12:58.180 this idea of Jesus being a magician is repeated through lots of contemporary histories of the time. 00:12:58.980 --> 00:13:06.040 It means, doesn't it, that at the very least, even the people who oppose Jesus don't deny that he is doing some things which are very difficult to explain. 00:13:07.620 --> 00:13:08.440 They couldn't. 00:13:08.440 --> 00:13:12.320 They're surrounded, aren't they, by the evidence of Jesus' miraculous works. 00:13:13.280 --> 00:13:16.560 But despite being surrounded by the evidence, it hasn't helped them. 00:13:17.520 --> 00:13:21.180 It means, too, doesn't it, if you're not just concerned about the historical accuracy of Mark, 00:13:21.220 --> 00:13:29.540 if you think the reason I'm not a Christian is because Jesus hasn't demonstrated to me in power one of these kind of signs that I see in the New Testament. 00:13:29.539 --> 00:13:39.719 If you think that, well, it seems that history is against you, too, because people who see the signs don't necessarily put their faith in Jesus. 00:13:40.860 --> 00:13:42.379 Signs don't lead to faith. 00:13:42.860 --> 00:13:46.419 They lead to alternative explanations, and that's what's happening here. 00:13:46.419 --> 00:13:50.099 Really, there are two accusations being leveled at Jesus. 00:13:50.299 --> 00:13:54.639 One is that he is possessed by Beelzebul, a colloquial name for the devil. 00:13:55.039 --> 00:14:01.860 The other is that it is by that power that he is driving out demons, and that's the force that is at work in him. 00:14:02.620 --> 00:14:10.500 But Jesus points out that it is completely illogical, because if Satan is driving out Satan, then evil is set against evil, and it will just disappear. 00:14:11.580 --> 00:14:18.580 To make his point, he uses this parable that we looked at with the kids of a house or a kingdom, where a civil war inevitably brings a collapse. 00:14:18.580 --> 00:14:19.820 Look at verse 24. 00:14:21.300 --> 00:14:24.759 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 00:14:25.480 --> 00:14:28.920 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 00:14:28.919 --> 00:14:33.299 And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand. 00:14:33.379 --> 00:14:34.179 His end has come. 00:14:35.579 --> 00:14:47.099 In other words, Jesus says, don't think about the devil as an evil force, but really as a king of a kingdom, a sort of dynasty, a dynasty that has a sort of purpose and unity. 00:14:47.500 --> 00:14:48.559 It's a house. 00:14:49.059 --> 00:14:57.439 And if that house or dynasty is fighting against itself, then you really don't need to worry about its power, because it will automatically undermine itself. 00:14:58.919 --> 00:15:01.039 But Jesus doesn't just leave it there, does he? 00:15:01.059 --> 00:15:03.000 If you look down, it actually gets quite difficult. 00:15:03.240 --> 00:15:10.219 He says, listen, if you identify me as being demon-possessed, that's a really serious accusation. 00:15:11.500 --> 00:15:21.639 To look at the work of Jesus, the work that he is doing in the power of the Spirit, and to call that the devil's work, cuts you off from salvation itself. 00:15:21.639 --> 00:15:27.960 Jesus' work is not done in the power of the devil, but by the power of God, the Spirit who dwells in Jesus. 00:15:28.639 --> 00:15:37.019 And to look at what the Spirit is doing in Christ, and to call it the work of the devil, or the spirit of the devil, that, says Jesus, is an unforgivable sin. 00:15:37.240 --> 00:15:37.860 Verse 29. 00:15:38.899 --> 00:15:40.100 Blasphemy against the Spirit. 00:15:40.100 --> 00:15:50.639 Now, I don't know how much you've read the Bible, but it sounds kind of strange, doesn't it, to have an unforgivable sin, when forgiveness and the message of forgiveness is at the center of the Scriptures. 00:15:51.940 --> 00:15:57.100 But here's point is not that the sin is so bad that it is beyond the forces of redemption. 00:15:57.560 --> 00:16:01.759 Rather, it is beyond forgiveness because it shuns the only hope of forgiveness. 00:16:01.759 --> 00:16:08.899 In other words, this is not the accidental sin of a well-meaning believer, or even the wayward sin of an unbeliever. 00:16:09.279 --> 00:16:18.000 Instead, this is a heart that is so hard and so callous, it looks at what has been done in the power of the Spirit and says, that is evil. 00:16:19.939 --> 00:16:26.259 And to say that, says Jesus, is not an accidental sin, it's an unforgivable one, because it's a heart that will not turn. 00:16:27.200 --> 00:16:31.299 It's a heart that looks forgiveness in the face and says, I don't want anything to do with that. 00:16:31.759 --> 00:16:33.200 And it remains unforgiven. 00:16:34.379 --> 00:16:39.379 You can ask me more about that over coffee if you want to at the end, but don't miss the thread of what's happening here. 00:16:39.899 --> 00:16:45.019 The big point really is not so much about this unforgivable sin, but the intention, I think, of the Jewish leaders. 00:16:46.120 --> 00:16:47.179 Think about it for a moment. 00:16:47.659 --> 00:16:49.559 What do you think the Jewish leaders intended to do? 00:16:50.679 --> 00:16:52.399 Surely they knew this was illogical, right? 00:16:53.299 --> 00:16:59.319 Surely they knew that to look at what Jesus was doing and say that's been done in the power of the devil, that makes absolutely no sense, does it? 00:16:59.360 --> 00:17:00.700 They know that. 00:17:00.700 --> 00:17:03.400 They're not thinking that they're right. 00:17:03.540 --> 00:17:04.779 It's stupid, isn't it? 00:17:05.160 --> 00:17:06.259 Jesus points that out to them. 00:17:06.299 --> 00:17:07.279 So why do they say it? 00:17:07.640 --> 00:17:09.100 What are they trying to achieve? 00:17:10.039 --> 00:17:13.019 Well, notice really their intention is to discredit Jesus. 00:17:13.900 --> 00:17:16.779 They want to rubbish Jesus and what he's doing. 00:17:17.080 --> 00:17:19.220 They want to stop people listening to Jesus. 00:17:19.220 --> 00:17:26.400 You see, to go back to our illustration that I started with at the beginning, this sort of greeting at the door of church. 00:17:27.059 --> 00:17:31.220 You bring somebody in and I point at them and say, who is this? 00:17:31.259 --> 00:17:32.640 And look at you for an answer. 00:17:33.100 --> 00:17:36.860 And you really don't want me to have anything to do with that person who you're bringing in. 00:17:36.960 --> 00:17:40.400 You want me not to like them, not to say anything else to them. 00:17:40.420 --> 00:17:40.920 What do you say? 00:17:40.920 --> 00:17:45.340 You say something like, oh, this is Derek. 00:17:46.700 --> 00:17:48.460 He has something worse than COVID. 00:17:49.400 --> 00:17:51.620 He looks to me like he's about to sneeze. 00:17:52.259 --> 00:17:52.380 Right? 00:17:52.860 --> 00:17:53.940 What am I going to do then? 00:17:54.360 --> 00:17:56.120 I'm going to back right off. 00:17:56.800 --> 00:17:59.300 I'm going to be, you know, well, you know, I don't want anything to do with him. 00:17:59.920 --> 00:18:00.080 Yeah? 00:18:00.399 --> 00:18:01.599 That's what's going on here. 00:18:03.000 --> 00:18:06.139 Jesus is possessed by Beelzebul, they say. 00:18:06.659 --> 00:18:08.259 Don't have anything to do with him. 00:18:08.839 --> 00:18:09.960 Steer clear of him. 00:18:10.619 --> 00:18:14.779 The religious leaders are jealous of Jesus and they're trying to get the crowds as well to hate him. 00:18:15.099 --> 00:18:16.279 So they discredit him. 00:18:17.259 --> 00:18:20.879 Now, when you see it like that, you see that people do that all the time, don't you, to Jesus? 00:18:22.460 --> 00:18:29.240 I think it's probably difficult to find anybody who would say that Jesus was demon possessed and to rubbish Jesus like that. 00:18:30.879 --> 00:18:32.519 So we discredit him in other ways. 00:18:33.319 --> 00:18:34.720 We say, oh, the miracles didn't happen. 00:18:34.779 --> 00:18:35.539 He didn't do those. 00:18:36.480 --> 00:18:38.159 Oh, Jesus never really claimed to be God. 00:18:38.659 --> 00:18:39.980 Jesus was just a good teacher. 00:18:40.500 --> 00:18:42.599 Oh, we can't really be sure about what Jesus said. 00:18:43.480 --> 00:18:46.039 Lots of people say those sorts of things all the time about Jesus. 00:18:46.279 --> 00:18:48.939 And their intention is not really to deal with the facts. 00:18:48.939 --> 00:18:51.579 It's just to discredit Jesus so they don't have to listen to him. 00:18:53.039 --> 00:18:55.099 It's how other religions treat Jesus as well. 00:18:56.199 --> 00:18:58.159 You know, Islam says that Jesus was just a man. 00:18:58.439 --> 00:18:59.879 Oh, you don't need to worry too much about Jesus. 00:18:59.880 --> 00:19:00.840 This is an interesting guy. 00:19:00.920 --> 00:19:02.120 You might want to read what he said. 00:19:02.220 --> 00:19:03.760 But he was just a man. 00:19:04.860 --> 00:19:07.360 But Jesus never claimed to be just a man. 00:19:08.780 --> 00:19:14.640 Muhammad comes along 600 years after Christ and says that the eyewitnesses were wrong, which is an incredible claim. 00:19:15.680 --> 00:19:17.440 It's easily proved to be illogical. 00:19:17.840 --> 00:19:19.500 But actually, that's not the point, is it? 00:19:19.540 --> 00:19:21.240 They just want to discredit Jesus. 00:19:21.320 --> 00:19:22.220 You don't need to listen to him. 00:19:22.680 --> 00:19:23.740 You don't need to take him seriously. 00:19:23.740 --> 00:19:27.460 Secularists or atheists would do the same. 00:19:28.160 --> 00:19:34.160 You know, they'll tell you, listen, all that stuff about walking on water, healing the sick, feeding thousands of people at the same time. 00:19:34.380 --> 00:19:37.839 The idea of somebody dying and then walking out of the tomb is utterly ridiculous. 00:19:38.420 --> 00:19:38.980 Nobody does that. 00:19:39.019 --> 00:19:39.700 You know, don't you? 00:19:39.759 --> 00:19:40.259 Look around you. 00:19:40.319 --> 00:19:41.359 Those things don't happen. 00:19:42.720 --> 00:19:43.880 The stories must be made up. 00:19:43.880 --> 00:19:51.980 Jesus perhaps has a few good ideas, but you don't need to take him really that seriously because most of the stuff around him is just, you know, it's just fluff. 00:19:52.060 --> 00:19:52.760 It's just made up. 00:19:53.640 --> 00:19:56.280 But, of course, that completely neglects the evidence of history. 00:19:57.240 --> 00:20:02.640 It's so patronizing, isn't it, to look back and say, you know, those sorts of things don't happen, so they couldn't have happened. 00:20:02.920 --> 00:20:07.740 Of course, the people in that day knew that those sorts of things didn't normally happen, right? 00:20:07.900 --> 00:20:10.480 That's why they wrote them down, because it was unusual. 00:20:10.480 --> 00:20:16.099 But, of course, secular atheism isn't trying to get you to engage with the facts. 00:20:16.599 --> 00:20:21.579 They're trying, like the teachers of the law, to get you to walk away, to discredit Jesus. 00:20:23.360 --> 00:20:26.240 Friends, can I ask us this morning to be wise to this? 00:20:26.940 --> 00:20:30.940 You and I live in a world which will do all it can to discredit Jesus. 00:20:31.880 --> 00:20:38.099 If you're not a Christian this morning, it is likely that you have not engaged with the facts about who Jesus is, 00:20:38.099 --> 00:20:42.539 but just really a whole load of perceptions which are designed to discredit him. 00:20:43.579 --> 00:20:53.579 And if you're a Christian this morning, you need to take seriously the fact that you live in a world that discredits Jesus and doesn't want you to listen to him. 00:20:54.339 --> 00:21:00.879 And that means that the battle for the Christian life is not so much the battle for the evidence, because that is utterly overwhelming. 00:21:00.880 --> 00:21:12.260 It means that your battle for the Christian life is about your willingness to identify with a person that everybody else discredits and considers rubbish. 00:21:13.320 --> 00:21:19.340 Will you align yourself with someone who our culture thinks is silly or even dangerous? 00:21:19.339 --> 00:21:27.199 Now we've nearly finished, but I want us to close by thinking about who Jesus really is in relation to us. 00:21:27.459 --> 00:21:33.339 I want us to see that the answer isn't just a trite, the son of God, that the demons say in verse 11, but something much more personal than that. 00:21:33.779 --> 00:21:36.259 You see, what Mark wants you to see about Jesus is this. 00:21:36.720 --> 00:21:40.179 Jesus is the stronger man who sets me free. 00:21:41.000 --> 00:21:42.439 Look down at verse 27. 00:21:42.899 --> 00:21:43.959 Notice what he says. 00:21:43.960 --> 00:21:49.120 In fact, no one can enter a strong man's house without first tying him up. 00:21:49.620 --> 00:21:52.840 Then he can plunder the strong man's house. 00:21:53.539 --> 00:21:55.759 Just work through this parable with me. 00:21:56.259 --> 00:21:58.640 In the parable, the strong man is the devil. 00:21:59.400 --> 00:22:04.840 And the devil here has a house, a house that is full of possessions, plunder, as he's called it. 00:22:05.079 --> 00:22:07.960 And the plunder is not really pretty pigs. 00:22:08.460 --> 00:22:12.000 The plunder is people, hostages, if you like. 00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:18.119 Hostages who are held captive by the strength of the strong man who owns the home. 00:22:18.539 --> 00:22:22.259 They can't get out and no one can get in to get them out. 00:22:22.940 --> 00:22:24.420 No one can enter, says Jesus. 00:22:25.900 --> 00:22:30.559 But there is, of course, one way that you get the plunder out of a strong man's house. 00:22:30.740 --> 00:22:35.980 And that is by the strength of a stronger man who comes and ties him up. 00:22:36.160 --> 00:22:38.000 And then the house is free to be plundered. 00:22:38.000 --> 00:22:43.619 This is Jesus' explanation of who he is in relation to you and me. 00:22:44.539 --> 00:22:52.500 Jesus says to you and I, listen, by your very nature, you are born into a world where you are under the dominion of Satan. 00:22:53.180 --> 00:22:56.200 You are locked into a strong man's house. 00:22:57.299 --> 00:23:01.559 You know, the religious leaders come here to Jesus and say, Jesus is demon possessed. 00:23:01.559 --> 00:23:03.899 And Jesus says, no, I'm not. 00:23:04.359 --> 00:23:07.559 You are under the captivity of Satan himself. 00:23:09.619 --> 00:23:13.759 You're hostages of the devil in a kingdom of darkness ruled by a wicked and strong king. 00:23:14.960 --> 00:23:18.319 Now, you might say to me, wow, wow, that's so strong, Steve. 00:23:18.679 --> 00:23:19.619 I'm not bound. 00:23:19.700 --> 00:23:20.299 I'm not captive. 00:23:20.720 --> 00:23:22.720 I'm free to do what I want. 00:23:22.720 --> 00:23:32.160 But let me say to you, don't mistake our freedom to sin with a freedom from sin. 00:23:32.440 --> 00:23:32.480 Right? 00:23:32.579 --> 00:23:34.240 Don't mistake the two. 00:23:34.380 --> 00:23:35.319 It's not the same, is it? 00:23:35.680 --> 00:23:45.420 The ability that we have to get away with wicked stuff is not the same as being free to get away from wicked stuff, is it? 00:23:45.880 --> 00:23:47.039 You know that, don't you? 00:23:47.039 --> 00:23:53.960 Just the fact that you can do something doesn't mean that you can get away from the presence of it. 00:23:54.539 --> 00:23:58.480 The things that we do wrong are piled on us like a burden. 00:23:59.200 --> 00:24:00.619 And you don't need me to persuade you of that. 00:24:00.700 --> 00:24:02.039 You only need to think about it. 00:24:03.279 --> 00:24:04.819 The things that we feel guilty of. 00:24:06.119 --> 00:24:11.200 And Jesus' picture here is of being hostages in a house of wickedness. 00:24:11.559 --> 00:24:14.819 And it's designed to capture that reality that we all experience. 00:24:14.819 --> 00:24:19.299 It's probably worth saying as well, this isn't just a one verse point. 00:24:20.039 --> 00:24:22.139 This is the consistent witness of the scriptures. 00:24:22.919 --> 00:24:27.700 That outside of Christ, Jesus says that we are slaves to sin. 00:24:28.519 --> 00:24:32.839 Anyone who sins is a slave to sin, says Jesus in John's gospel. 00:24:33.879 --> 00:24:36.939 The book of Romans talks about us being under the rule of sin. 00:24:37.599 --> 00:24:38.919 Slaves to wickedness. 00:24:39.419 --> 00:24:43.299 Ephesians says that we follow the ways of the world and the ruler of the kingdom of the air. 00:24:43.299 --> 00:24:46.779 Peter talks about being slaves of depravity. 00:24:47.419 --> 00:24:51.720 The book of Titus talks about being enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. 00:24:52.919 --> 00:24:56.019 Now those things aren't meant to mean that we're all as bad as we could be. 00:24:56.460 --> 00:24:58.099 You say, actually I do some good stuff, Steve. 00:24:58.879 --> 00:25:01.440 Well, yeah, no, none of those are meant to say that you're as bad as you could be. 00:25:01.779 --> 00:25:04.819 You know, the sun gets in through the shutters of this house. 00:25:04.819 --> 00:25:11.299 We're not all locked in the same dark corner, but we're still all in there by nature and there's no escape. 00:25:12.119 --> 00:25:14.000 Of course, you know that, don't you, if you've tried. 00:25:14.779 --> 00:25:19.859 The burden of guilt and shame, the sense of pointlessness and futility. 00:25:19.859 --> 00:25:29.000 The idea that kind of just screwing up, trying to put it right, carrying on with the burden of it being done and then eventually dying. 00:25:30.219 --> 00:25:31.379 It's a hostage. 00:25:31.539 --> 00:25:32.139 It's a burden. 00:25:33.399 --> 00:25:35.759 But listen to what Jesus says in verse 27. 00:25:35.759 --> 00:25:40.460 He says, in effect, listen, I'm stronger than the strong man who's held you captive. 00:25:41.980 --> 00:25:43.920 In fact, the reality is I've tied him up. 00:25:44.799 --> 00:25:45.960 I've bound him. 00:25:46.680 --> 00:25:51.400 And right now I am here plundering his kingdom and liberating hostages for glory. 00:25:52.299 --> 00:25:53.099 Do you want out? 00:25:53.779 --> 00:25:54.379 Do you want to come? 00:25:55.759 --> 00:26:00.539 Interestingly, in the context, it seems that the means of liberation is the forgiveness of verse 28. 00:26:01.680 --> 00:26:04.220 Jesus can liberate all sin and slander. 00:26:04.220 --> 00:26:08.740 That means that the guilt is the binding, isn't it? 00:26:09.559 --> 00:26:12.819 The binding that the devil has done is to do with our moral guilt. 00:26:13.160 --> 00:26:15.900 And the freedom that Christ offers is the freedom of the cross. 00:26:16.259 --> 00:26:22.299 Where ironically, Jesus is the stronger man whose strength is in the weakness of death. 00:26:23.319 --> 00:26:28.700 And Jesus' binding of the devil is even as he is being bound to the cross. 00:26:29.960 --> 00:26:32.920 Paul puts it like this in Colossians 1 verse 13. 00:26:32.920 --> 00:26:42.200 He says, for he, that is Jesus, has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the son he loves. 00:26:42.860 --> 00:26:46.660 In whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 00:26:47.580 --> 00:26:49.640 That's the good news that Jesus is talking about. 00:26:49.640 --> 00:27:02.980 Notice just with me how this works in the passage. 00:27:02.980 --> 00:27:06.640 So I said to you that verses 20 and 21 are about his family. 00:27:06.800 --> 00:27:10.440 And then verses 31 down to verse 33 are also about his family. 00:27:10.440 --> 00:27:17.860 They're like the bookends that hold this account of demon possession and the accusation of demon possession and then the work of Satan. 00:27:18.240 --> 00:27:21.660 Well, those bookends are then themselves bookended, aren't they? 00:27:21.720 --> 00:27:26.900 So if you look at verse 34, it's Jesus looking around and saying, who are my mother and my brothers? 00:27:27.000 --> 00:27:29.580 It's anybody who does my father's will. 00:27:30.160 --> 00:27:34.039 And that bit mirrors the bit before it, which is the calling of the disciples. 00:27:34.039 --> 00:27:37.659 In other words, Jesus is saying, listen, I've got a new family. 00:27:38.099 --> 00:27:39.559 I've got a new house. 00:27:39.920 --> 00:27:44.859 I am liberating you from this house to come to my house, my kingdom, my way. 00:27:46.259 --> 00:27:50.440 In other words, to be a Christian in Mark 3 is not just to have your sins forgiven. 00:27:50.819 --> 00:27:55.039 It's not even just to be liberated from the captivity and bondage to sin. 00:27:55.039 --> 00:28:04.240 No, being a Christian in Mark 3 is being liberated to live with God in his house, in his kingdom. 00:28:06.759 --> 00:28:11.480 I wonder if just for the last time I could imagine that greeting at the door of church again. 00:28:11.559 --> 00:28:13.319 But this time it's not you walking in. 00:28:14.519 --> 00:28:17.139 It's Jesus walking in and he's walking in with you. 00:28:17.140 --> 00:28:27.080 And the father points to you and says to Jesus, who's this? 00:28:28.180 --> 00:28:29.220 Who's this? 00:28:30.200 --> 00:28:37.300 And Jesus replies, that's my brother, my sister, my mother. 00:28:37.940 --> 00:28:40.900 They were lost, but I found them. 00:28:41.800 --> 00:28:45.000 They were in captivity, but I freed them. 00:28:45.000 --> 00:28:51.039 They were in chains, defeated, locked up, held. 00:28:52.059 --> 00:28:57.660 But I tied up the strong man and I've rescued them through my death on the cross. 00:28:57.980 --> 00:29:02.220 And now I've brought them home to live with us. 00:29:03.160 --> 00:29:05.980 Listen, that's what Mark wants you to find about Jesus. 00:29:06.940 --> 00:29:10.240 That he is this binder of Satan who alone can set you free. 00:29:10.240 --> 00:29:15.440 And for us as a church, he wants us to know, listen, this is the age of liberation. 00:29:16.259 --> 00:29:19.319 We live in the age of liberation. 00:29:19.839 --> 00:29:26.940 The time in which Jesus has bound Satan and the gospel is rescuing people from his clutches. 00:29:28.339 --> 00:29:32.220 This is the picture in Revelation 20, this binding of Satan. 00:29:32.220 --> 00:29:35.839 This is the day of salvation that Paul talks about in Corinthians. 00:29:36.259 --> 00:29:41.680 The day when Satan's house is there for the getting, for the plundering. 00:29:42.799 --> 00:29:45.700 And so we preach this message of freedom in Jesus Christ. 00:29:46.480 --> 00:29:49.860 Come, be rescued by Jesus the liberator. 00:29:50.539 --> 00:29:51.980 He will set you free. 00:29:51.980 --> 00:29:56.259 And if you're a Christian this morning, that's your story. 00:29:57.120 --> 00:30:00.019 You have been set free by Jesus Christ. 00:30:00.980 --> 00:30:04.400 Let's have a moment first for silent prayer and then I will pray. 00:30:04.940 --> 00:30:07.339 And then I'll invite the band up and we can sing together. 00:30:07.339 --> 00:30:07.460 Amen. 00:30:21.980 --> 00:30:37.740 Heavenly Father, we thank you so much that Jesus is the stronger man. 00:30:38.740 --> 00:30:47.500 Who even in the weakness of death, even in the bondage of the cross, is able to set us free. 00:30:47.500 --> 00:30:54.759 He has the power and the strength, not only to defeat our sin, but to defeat Satan himself. 00:30:55.920 --> 00:30:56.839 Binding him. 00:30:58.019 --> 00:30:59.160 That we might be set free. 00:31:00.440 --> 00:31:04.880 Please, Lord, we want to pray for anybody this morning for whom that has not been their experience. 00:31:05.079 --> 00:31:07.019 May they find that even now. 00:31:08.039 --> 00:31:13.140 May they turn to you in their hearts and say, Jesus, set me free from sin. 00:31:13.140 --> 00:31:19.360 And for those of us who've been Christians for a long time, Lord, we want to rejoice that you've set us free. 00:31:20.200 --> 00:31:22.940 We want to enjoy the freedom that you've given us. 00:31:23.060 --> 00:31:24.200 We want to revel in it. 00:31:24.259 --> 00:31:25.420 We want to delight in it. 00:31:25.480 --> 00:31:26.860 We want to praise you for it. 00:31:27.340 --> 00:31:32.180 We want to pray that you might forgive us that so often we find ourselves wandering back to that old house. 00:31:32.759 --> 00:31:34.060 Wondering what it was like in there. 00:31:34.860 --> 00:31:35.680 Please forgive us. 00:31:35.759 --> 00:31:36.480 Show us mercy. 00:31:37.180 --> 00:31:40.460 And help us to live in the freedom of the spirit for the sake of your glory. 00:31:41.020 --> 00:31:42.080 In Jesus name. 00:31:42.080 --> 00:31:43.020 Amen. 00:31:43.140 --> 00:31:43.880 Amen.