Mark 3:20-35

Mark 3:20-35

Jesus returns home from a preaching tour and finds that His ministry has followed Him. People are boundary-less and in any ministry this is part of the work. There has been a shift on the part of many in ministry to make it a profession and less of a calling. Ministers sometimes hide behind staff and doors and secret means of contact. For Jesus, if He wasn't away with the Father then He was available.

The prior testimony of demons may have been the inspiration for the accusation of the scribes. This is not an honest mistake because they were attempting to join with the demonic to undermine Jesus's ministry. Do not think that anything that demons did was a result of worship or adoration. Note also that the scribes came from Jerusalem. This was a 60-mile distance as the crow flies. The accusation was the merger of two forces that oppose Jesus, the demonic and religious elite. If opposition to Jesus to this point was scattered and individual, it has now become the official policy of the religious powers.

Jesus proves the failure of their thinking by showing that a house divided will fall. We don't appreciate this because we do not understand the immensity of the liberation that Jesus brings. When Jesus cured the demon-possessed person it was no minor improvement. It was extreme and radical. The horrible, wretched life of the demon-possessed might change a little for the better as the demon toyed with the person and their loved ones. But what we see when Jesus heals a person is a change so great and complete that they are virtually unrecognizable.

Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit ought to bring holy fear to any heart and cause us to practice extreme care and reverence in all matters related to the things of God. In short, to reject the work of the Holy Spirit, in this case by attributing it to Satan, is unforgivable. Such an action hardens the heart and leads to a cycle of rejection of God making repentance impossible.

Verse 31 and following is likely an explanation of verse 21. Jesus’ kin had a plan for His life and His agenda did not match theirs. To follow the will of the Father meant for Jesus, and for us, that the relationships formed in obedience and being a disciple is stronger and closer than even that of family.

"Lord help me that I may always place my loyalty to You above all else. AMEN"

Mark 3:1-19

Mark 3:1-19

Jesus entered the synagogue and it was known that a man with a useless hand attended there. Jesus’ reputation for acts of kindness is such that His opponents are waiting to see if He will heal on the Sabbath. What an incredible reputation for kindness! Note that the opposition doesn't doubt the miracles or the power of Jesus to heal, they want to see if He will conform to their expectations and traditions. Jesus is angered by the hardness of their heart. It is not doubt that angers the Lord; but rather, hardness of hearts that is the problem. In this case, the hardness of heart was expressed in the attitude that the man with the withered hand was nothing to the religious elite but a tool, a pawn, or a test case. When we care more about how much people prove our theology than their condition, we have become like these religious elite. After the healing, they began to conspire to kill Jesus. Why? Not because of a Sabbath regulation, Jesus has already dealt with that issue, nor because of the healing itself. They want to kill Jesus because He represents a threat to their power structure. The common people are no longer minions and tools; but rather, objects of God's love and care.

Demons began to testify that Jesus is the Son of God. They were the wrong kinds of witnesses and it was the wrong time for such a testimony. Later, Jesus would be charged with being in league with Satan and that charge may have stemmed from this testimony of the demonic. It is sad that demons have a better understanding of who Jesus is than many liberal theologians.

We see also the calling of the twelve. First is to be with the Savior and the second is to be sent out by the Savior. In many cases, we today are a little weak in both of these callings. It is at this point that Simon becomes Peter and the two “Sons of Thunder” James and John are identified. These are the ones who want to call fire down on an unrepentant city. James was the first Apostle to be martyred, perhaps because the “Thunder” would not be silent. Jesus has a tendency to use passionate people. Passionate people are not always loud, but you can never doubt their passion.

"Lord, help me to be passionate about You and Your will. AMEN"