The Master Misunderstood Mark 3:20-30

Mark 3:20-22 20 And He came home, and the crowd gathered again, to such an extent that they could not even eat a meal. 21 When His own people heard of this, they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, "He has lost His senses." 22 The scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, "He is possessed by Beelzebul," and "He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons."

Mark 3:23-27 23 And He called them to Himself and began speaking to them in parables, "How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 "If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 If Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but he is finished! 27 But no one can enter the strong man's house and plunder his property unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house."

Mark 3:28-30 28 "Truly I say to you, all sins shall be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter; 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin" — 30 because they were saying, "He has an unclean spirit."

“Assumicide” The making of bad or false assumptions about others, portraying them in the worst light possible, with the end being damage to if not destruction of a relationship. The killing of a relationship due to the making of bad or false assumptions.

Big Idea If we are faithfully following in the footsteps of Jesus others may question our faculty of mind and our fidelity to God.

If we follow Christ, others will question the faculty of our mind (3:20-21) Their conclusion “Jesus is out of His mind” Why? In Mark 2:5 He claims to God In Mark 3:13-19 He summons men to follow Him everywhere preaching His message. In Mark 3:20 He neglects to take care of Himself. He has forsaken His family trade as a carpenter and is wandering the countryside preaching. He does not “work” for a living but rather “trusts” God to take care of His needs. He draws large crowds, so large that He puts himself in danger of being trampled and crushed (Mark 3:9). To top it off, all the learned, intellectual leaders in Israel believed Jesus to be crazy (Mark 3:22). Maybe they were right?

Matthew 10:34-38 34 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I came to SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW; 36 and A MAN'S ENEMIES WILL BE THE MEMBERS OF HIS HOUSEHOLD. 37 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.”

If we follow Christ, others will question the faculty of our mind (3:20-21) Their conclusion Their “cure” “to bind, secure, seize, take into custody by force”

If we follow Christ, others will question our fidelity to God (3:22-30) The charge (22) “He is a demon!” The counter (23-27) A kingdom divided (24) A house divided (25) An enemy divided (26-27) C. A caution (28-30) Pardonable sins (28) An unpardonable sin (29)

1 Timothy 1:12-14 “12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, 13 even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; 14 and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus.”

Big Idea If we are faithfully following in the footsteps of Jesus others may question our faculty of mind and our fidelity to God.

The Master Misunderstood Mark 3:20-30