Mark No.7 Reactions to Jesus

All I'm wasting to your hands, the times that I've been through. All I'm wasting to your hands, the way that I should know. All I do, I always have to say.

Father, I place into your hands, my friends and family. Father, I place into your hands, the things that trouble me. Father, I place into your hands, the person I would be.

For I know, I always can trust you. To see your face, we love to hear your voice. Oh, we love to sing your praise, and in your name rejoice.

Oh, we love to walk with you, and in your presence rest. Oh, we know, we always can trust you. Believe with you, for I do the things you do.

Father, I want to speak the words that you are speaking to. Father, I want to love the ones that you will draw to you. For I know.

At the back, please follow the request of our senior steward and just come and sit towards the front here. It will make things a lot easier in a few moments' time. Father, I place into your hands, the things that I've known to do.

Father, I place into your hands, the times that guide me through. Father, I place into your hands, the way that I should go. For I know, I always can trust you.

Let's turn in God's word to Mark's gospel in chapter 3. If you have the NIV version with you, would you read with me from the 20th verse? If you're new to the tab, as I say, we're glad to have you. We'd like you to go to our welcome desk afterwards where we've got a little pack from myself and Tim, and one or two things that will interest you, including a preaching program which indicates to you that it's our practice here at the tab to make our way through a particular book or passage of scripture more often than not. Occasionally, there's some exceptions.

At the moment, we're enjoying making our way through Mark's gospel, and we've reached the point that I've just itemized verse 20 of chapter 3. Join with me. Then Jesus entered a house, and again 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.

And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, He is possessed by Beelzebub. By the prince of demons, he is driving out demons. 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. In fact, no one can enter a strongman's house and carry off his possessions, unless he first ties up the strongman. Then he can rob his house.

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.

He said this because they were saying, He has an evil spirit. Now let's just stop there. Move forward to Colossians.

There's a verse that's just flying in from the back of my mind, which I want to try to highlight, if I can just locate it in the first or second chapter of that epistle. Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians, you remember, is the order. And we read of our Lord Jesus, who on the cross of Calvary did remarkable things.

Let me read to you from verse 19. Colossians 119, For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Jesus, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through the blood, His blood shed on the cross. Our Lord Jesus making peace by His blood shed on the cross.

Pick up from the 13th verse of the next chapter, which is really the one that I was trying to highlight. It's now just come clear. When you were dead in your sins, Colossians 2.13, and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ.

He forgave us all our sins, having cancelled the written code with its regulations that was against us, and that stood opposed to us. He took it away, nailing it to the cross. Now the key verse, for the context of what I want to share in a moment.

And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. Well, who is Jesus? Who do men say that I am? You remember the question that He raised at Caesarea Philippi? The most important issue that confronts you and me, this is no pulpit exaggeration at all, the most vital question to be placed in front of you of any thinking person today, be he British or from any other country or culture, is the question that asks, who is Jesus? Who is the Lord Jesus Christ? He's the man who, by sex history, B.C., A.D., swing on His date of birth. He said that reaction to Him was something that would actually control where you and I spend eternity.

Our response to who Jesus is, is something that will govern our attitude to every aspect of our lives. There is no question I repeat, more fundamental, more basic, more important than this one. Who is Jesus? Our address this morning is entitled Reactions to Jesus.

I could have put in a subtitle. Two options, one danger. Two options, one danger.

Because here, in the context, is the variety of reaction to our Lord Jesus. C.S. Lewis, you remember, is well known, and the quotation well worn, for saying that Jesus was either a liar or a lunatic or He was the Lord. You could express that in another way.

He was either mad, insane, bad, influenced by evil, or He was God. There really is no fourth option. Jesus, we've gathered from Mark's Gospel, is a man who came out of the wilderness, having been baptized by John, identifying himself in the waters of the Jordan with human sinfulness, anticipating that absolute identification three years later when He will be pinned to a cross.

The wilderness for 40 days, then He comes back and He starts His preaching ministry. His message is so vital it needs to be perpetuated, so He called disciples, you remember? So that when He is no longer corporeally, that means bodily present, His message will continue to be re-echoed. His message is so vexatious that there is opposition to it.

Thus the context of this chapter, which I'll open up more carefully in a moment. Vexatious because there will be a head-on collision between the forces of righteousness, which Jesus represents, and the forces of evil. His ministry is so vital, so vexatious, and also so vibrant, that it will cause a rift amongst His relatives.

And here in this particular context, you find Jesus' relatives all at sea in terms of what to make of Jesus. Not only that, you find the religious elite from Jerusalem, verse 22, equally confused. And the issue is, what do you think of Jesus? And gathering together the response of both relatives and the religious people from Jerusalem, Jesus lays down the most somber teaching that ever fell from His lips.

And He spoke about how to blaspheme in such a fashion that far from reaching heaven, you would go to hell. Now if you put that lot together, you can understand my claiming already to have justified the comment in my introduction when I said the question and the answer you give to what you think of Jesus is the most important in life. Well, let's have a look at the family.

The family resolution of the problem of Jesus. Do you have trouble with your family? Somebody said that you're saddled with your relatives, but thank God you can choose your friends. Well, that's a little barbed.

Here is our Lord Jesus saddled with His relatives, and they're anxious. They're anxious about Jesus because they're not too sure that He's in His right mind. If you study the history of the royal families in our country, for there have been other households besides the Windsor one, you'll discover that insanity was something that actually has reproduced itself time and time again within royal households.

Because there is a measure of inbreeding, of marrying of close relatives, with the net result that sometimes you get genetic problems which transfer themselves or show themselves in the status of mentally ill people. Does it surprise you to learn from me that the family of Jesus thought that He was out of His mind? You see, He's coming from the wilderness and He started to preach. But He's not only come in the wilderness and started to preach.

As far as they are concerned, by contrast, He has left the honorable job of being a carpenter. He's left security and stability, and in favor of doing what was safe, He is now doing what is obviously dangerous. He's not a trained rabbi, and He's on a collision course with the religious aristocracy in Jerusalem.

He's already upset their local representatives. And what He has to say conflicts with the dictates of Caesar, whose power controls Palestine, which is part of the Roman Empire. Put that lot together, and you can begin to understand the conundrum that Jesus presented His relatives.

Not excusing their conclusion, but at least giving it you from their perspective. When they hear about this, what He has been doing, the calling of a bunch of men, some of whom are very questionable to be His closest colleagues. He's got a tax collector in there, He's got a nationalist in terms of wanting to overthrow the authority of Rome He's concerned, and He's got some ordinary fishermen.

He's transferred His social milieu, He's transferred His social background to this unpromising group of men. And Jesus' relatives come to the conclusion there is only one way to explain Him. He is out of His mind.

If you read the parallel verse in Matthew's Gospel, you will gather that actually they came not just to see Him, but also to speak to Him. Presumably to do what has been done in the history of the royalty in our country. To sequester Him away, to take Him from the place of publicity to the place of privacy where He will no longer be an embarrassment.

Jesus, out of His mind. No wonder on one occasion He said that a man's foes are those of his own household. Jesus had problems with His relatives.

The year is yet to be when someone more sensitive than the relatives of Jesus will take up his pen and write to the Philippian church. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. The incongruity of it, out of His mind.

Man, woman, nephew, cousin, mother, brother. You have got to have something of the mind of this man whose sanity you are questioning actually infused into you. You have got to know something of his attitudes.

You have got to align yourself with his convictions. Out of His mind. He is the most balanced mind, possesses the most balanced mind of any man who ever came into this world.

Is Jesus an embarrassment to you? What He said? What He represented? You see, it's not just the relatives of yesteryear that we are pinpointing as we apply this message. It's everyone who gets a bit embarrassed about Jesus. The family resolution.

He is out of His mind. What about the clerical contribution? I mean, if the family can't get it right, surely the theologians can. Verse 22.

The teachers of the law. We have come across them earlier in previous chapters. These are a bunch of men who actually have their headquarters in the Great Sanhedrin in the Holy City.

And they are identified as coming down from Jerusalem. Coming down to Galilee, to Capernaum, where is the center of activity of our Lord Jesus at this point. Now they have got their heads together.

God bless theologians when they get their heads together. They have come up with two things. They are both nonsense.

This is their theological contribution. It's not that He is out of His mind. That He has got a vacant spot in there.

But what is in His mind has actually come from an evil force. So He does not represent a mental vacuum. He actually illustrates a person possessed by the devil.

They use the colloquial expression for Satan in those days. Beelzebub. Possessed by Beelzebub.

So that's number one. He is possessed by Beelzebub. And number two, which makes the logic even more absurd.

It's by the superior authority He has in the realm of evil. That He is able to address lesser demonic powers and exorcise them. Because you remember this is plainly what Jesus has been doing.

He has not only been healing the sick. He has identified a condition which He does not associate directly with mental illness. But rather suggests that this has as its cause this bizarre behavior pattern.

The force of evil in the life of an individual. So Jesus has been exorcising demons. So the theological contribution of these men from Jerusalem is.

Actually He is controlled by a superior evil force. And that authority that He has gives Him an ability to cast out lesser evil powers. Which is plum crazy.

As Jesus points out. Verse 23. How can Satan drive out Satan? You know is there a sort of civil war going on in the kingdom of evil? Have you got one demon warring against another? Because this is exactly what will be happening.

If your explanation of the authority and power that is locked up in my life is accurate. If a kingdom is divided against itself that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself that house cannot stand.

If Satan opposes himself and is divided he cannot stand. His end has come. The utter absurdity.

Our beloved Lord is neither insane. Nor is he demon possessed. Let's just pause a moment.

Because whenever you talk in terms of demon possession. The more sophisticated people are claiming to be so in the 20th century. They react against this and they say well this is just you know the world of the 1st century AD.

This is the primitive people speaking. This is their culture. This is what they understood.

You know they weren't cavemen in those days. There were some very great thinkers. Some very great philosophers.

Some very great doctors. And amongst the latter profession. Was the man who edited the 3rd gospel.

Time and time again Dr. Luke will say in terms of the ministry of Jesus. That not only did he heal the sick. He cast out demons.

Making a distinction between those who have physical illness. And those whose I quote again my words. Bizarre behavior patterns have to be explained from another category.

The world in which our Lord Jesus lived. Has the authority of the teaching of Jesus behind it. To make the conclusion that in that world as in the 20th century.

There are evil forces. Not just the forces of righteousness but the forces of evil. The Bible speaks about the world as being impregnated with unrighteous forces.

Which are headed up by Satan himself. Bizarre. How do you understand man today? How do you understand Bosnia? How do you understand Rwanda? How do you understand the bestiality with which one man can treat another man? How do you understand pedophiles? People who will take children and exploit them for their own advantage? Do animals engage in that sort of thing? You see I tell you that man is incapable of explanation.

In terms of the way that he behaves. At a general pattern throughout the world today. And down the corridors of history.

Without you posit that there are in our world evil forces. Which can affect a whole country. Witness the rise of Nazism.

The paroxysms of Hitler. The bizarre uncontrolled behavior of that man. Witness Idi Amin.

From Ugandan history. And a host of others. Witness at perhaps not such a well known level.

Many people who sometimes find themselves uncontrollably doing 101 different things. Which seems to degrade humanity at its best. How do you understand this behavior? And I say outside of the category.

That our Lord here allows. There is no explanation. A man is exposed.

To evil forces. As well as to divine forces. Principalities.

And powers. If a man can be possessed by the Holy Spirit. A man can also be possessed by evil spirits.

That does not mean that you can explain every bad piece of behavior. On the part of a man or woman in those categories. But you have to make an allowance for that possibility.

And this is what our Lord is here saying. There is within the phenomenon of life. Evil forces.

And one of the things that I have come to do. Is to face the principle of evil himself. Eyeball to eyeball.

I come to represent the kingdom of righteousness. In the wilderness I have these temptations. But the temptations do not stop there.

For when I come to disperse the Holy Spirit. There is a knee jerk reaction from the forces of evil. And time and time again.

Into the ministry of our Lord Jesus. Not only comes the subtle repeated temptations of the devil. But manifestations of his power.

In the lives of ordinary wretched human beings. And our Lord will use his dominical authority. He will speak about his supreme power.

And so he makes a veiled reference to Satan here. 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. Unpack that.

What does it mean? Well we have had these illustrations. Already in the ministry of our Lord Jesus. Accosting demon forces.

And liberating wretched people. Who have been so badly controlled. And our Lord is saying.

What I am doing at this moment. Is showing. That my authority.

Is greater than the authority of Satan's. I am commencing the work. Of binding the strong man.

Now what happened at the cross? Well I brought you to that verse did I not from Colossians. Here is our beloved Lord. On the cross of Calvary.

He hangs there between heaven and hell. Let loose against him. And this is the greatest conflict of all time.

Here is our Lord Jesus. Taking Satan by his tail so to speak. Here he is binding him.

Despoiling principalities and powers. Showing that he the Lord Jesus. Will in his crucifixion.

And consequent on his resurrection. Have the ability. To pronounce.

His Lordship. In our world. And stake his claim.

That the kingdom of this world. Shall become. The kingdom.

Of God's Christ. And he shall reign. Forever.

And ever. So our Lord disentangles. The clumsy theology.

Of the clergy. Who in terms of answering the question. Who is Jesus? Are putting in an option.

That is just not acceptable. At any logical level. He is a representative of Satan.

How can he be? He is doing such good. Then our Lord. And with this I conclude.

Brings together these two options. As to who he is. Insane.

Demon possessed. And he makes a dominical admonition. That is he utters a warning.

The severest as I say. That fell from his lips. That if you get it wrong.

As to who Jesus is. You perhaps will find. The consequence of your mistake.

Not only trailing you in life. But also through into eternity. I tell you the truth.

Verse 28. The first time Jesus uses. What is translated I think much more powerfully.

In the authorized version. Verily verily. This is the phraseology.

The phraseology that you don't find. In rabbinic literature at that time. It is Jesus asserting.

What I have called his dominical authority. He is taking upon himself. The right to speak in the name of God.

Who am I? I am one filled with the Holy Spirit. Empowered by the Holy Ghost. Who speaks with the authority.

Of God himself. And if you get this wrong. If you persistently refuse to believe this.

Then actually what you are doing. Is taking the name of God in vain. You are sinking into the sin of blasphemy.

Against the Holy Spirit. Over which there is no forgiveness. Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit.

Will never be forgiven. He is guilty of. An eternal sin.

Jesus speaks the word of warning. To his family. And to the clergy.

But the application. He puts down for all time. For you.

For me. You say. I very often worry about this.

I worry that in some moment. Of anxiety. Some sinful occasion in my life.

I said something against the blessed name of God. Against the person of Jesus Christ. Am I therefore in this category? Does that mean then that I have committed a sin that will never be forgiven? And my answer is.

That if you ask the question. You are indicating to me. And I have scripture as my evidence.

That you have not committed this sin. For the man who commits this sort of sin. Is represented by the people who came down from the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem.

And accosted Jesus on this occasion. You see they weren't bothered. They couldn't to use a Hebrew expression.

They couldn't care a fig. You see they rejected him. They had attributed the work of the Holy Spirit to the devil himself.

They never went back upon this as far as we know. They were firm in their conviction. It didn't trouble them one little bit.

If you are troubled in this area. I tell you. There is no way that you can be guilty.

Of this sin. You see the fact of the matter is this. As William Barclay puts this very beautifully.

So long as a man sees loveliness in Christ. So long as he hates his sin even if he cannot leave it. Even if he is in the mud and the mire.

He can still be forgiven. It is only when he has made himself such that the sight of Christ is nothing to him. That he has shut himself out forever from the love of God.

And then even the incarnation itself is unable to move his heart. What do you think of Jesus? It really is the most important question. I wish I could impress upon you.

I wish I could climb into your convictions and imprint this indelibly upon your mind. What do you think of Jesus Christ? Your reaction to the question who is Jesus is the most important question in the world. Insane.

There is not a semblance of insanity. The most balanced mind. The most glorious truth flowed from his lips.

Demon possessed. That sort of option could have only been planted in the minds of a person by the devil himself. No indication of this whatsoever.

Completely the opposite. Who is Jesus? He is a man who speaks with dominical authority. Who never quotes anyone else.

Who always says I say unto you. Because he is the mouthpiece of God. Partaking of the very essence of God.

He is the man filled with the Holy Spirit. He is the man who comes from the wilderness of the world. In order to make an impact upon society.

And to bring back to himself those for whom he will eventually die. On Calvary's cruel cross. Is this Jesus? Your Lord? And Master? Are you living close to him? Will he affect what you do today? His day? Sunday? The day of the resurrection? Will you be thinking of him later when you leave the church? Will you be thinking of him this evening when perhaps some of you, though not all.

Could be here present. Will he be controlling the way that you live tomorrow? You see this is another way in which you give a response to my question. It's not just a theological verbal response.

I believe Jesus is the son of God. Partakes of the essence of God. Died on the cross of Calvary to save my sins and so on and so forth.

Very important, the creedal statement. But it's how you live. In the light of what you believe about Jesus.

Which is so very very vital. So very very important. The family got it wrong.

Though they corrected their opinion later on. The clergy got it wrong and it seems as though they never did make any correction. Have you got it right? Is the Lord Jesus your friend? Your savior? Let's sing about him.

I'd like us to sing about the cross and we're going to bring bread and wine to you. When I survey the wondrous cross. I can't believe that they haven't put that in this hymn book.

Sorry? Give it me again. My hearing is going. 755.

Thank you very much. Let's sing it very thoughtfully. We bring you bread and wine.

Not because you confess this church as your local church. But as you confess the Lord Jesus as your savior. Listen to the first verse being played.

Then as we distribute these emblems. Only take them and in a moment eat and drink. If the Lord Jesus is in your estimation.

Who I have preached him to be. Not only from my conviction. But from the foundation of Holy Scripture.

Thank you. Remain seated. Our heavenly father we come around this table this morning.

And count it a great privilege to be obedient to your command. We come around to do this in remembrance of you. We come because we love you.

Father this morning we've been reminded again. Of that great sacrifice that you went to Calvary. And there you defeated Satan.

And all his evil powers. You mastered him. And showed that you were the supreme victor.

And father this morning we thank you for what you've done. That because of that we can come. And seek forgiveness of our sins.

Because of what you did. And achieved for us at Calvary. Father we want to tell you this morning.

That we know that you are the saviour of the world. And more than that you are our saviour. My saviour.

Father I thank you for all that you mean to me this morning. And we pray that everybody here now. In the silence of this beautiful sanctuary.

That we may thank you. For all that you have done for us. And all that you mean for us.

And we pray that you will enable us. To live in a way that may be pleasing to you. We thank you for this portion of bread.

Which reminds us of the broken perfect body. Of our Lord Jesus Christ. And we take it in deep remembrance.

And deep gratitude for all that you have done for us. For Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.

So our Lord Jesus. Anticipating that tremendous struggle. With the forces of evil.

The consequences positive that would flow. For our benefits. In the company of his disciples.

In the upper room takes a piece of bread. And as his body will be brutally torn and lacerated. So he breaks the bread.

And says to his beloved family take it. This is my body. Broken for you.

We have peace through the blood of the cross. We thank you this morning dear Lord Jesus. That our peace.

Was won. Because of your obedience. Thank you this morning that.

As we have listened to who you are. We thank you Lord that you're not just. Somebody out of the book.

You're somebody who dwells within our hearts. We thank you this morning that your. Precious blood was shed.

That we might have that peace. No condemnation now I dread. Jesus and all in him is mine.

Alive in him. My living head. And clothed in righteousness divine.

Thank you Lord for that precious blood. Thank you for giving yourself for each one of us. Thank you Lord that the arms of love that compass me.

Would all mankind embrace. Lord we bless you this morning. And thank you for this simple remembrance.

Of your tremendous love. But we thank you for the peace that we have. Through the blood of the cross of Jesus.

Amen. The cup which we bless. Is it not our communion in the blood of Christ.

Our Lord Jesus with his disciples. After a significant time had elapsed. Between the giving of the bread.

And the taking of the penultimate. Cup of the Passover. He holds the cup in front of him.

And in front of the disciples. And says this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Shed for many for the remission of sin.

This do you as after you drink it in remembrance of me. I will be done. Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. On earth as it is in heaven.

Hallowed be thy name. Give us this day. Our daily bread.

Hallowed be thy name. Hallowed be thy name. Give us this day.

Our daily bread. Give us this day. Our daily bread.