Jesus tied up Satan and plundered his house. What He took was my soul, perhaps your soul. Jesus has the Spiritual Authority to constrict the Enemy & a Spiritual Family love for His followers. Christ exercises His Spiritual dominion over the kingdom of satan throughout the Gospel of Mark.
Today, all over the world, Christ is plundering the strong man’s house and claiming souls as HIS. But ‘The Strong Man’ is not without weapons to try to guard His house…The world and it’s citizens will claim all sorts of wrongs things about the one true God. It’s goal is to depict God falsely…to undermine His authority, grace & goodness.
Ignorance of God is forgivable…but if Christ has revealed Himself to you and yet you deny who He is, specifically His Supernatural / Spirit nature…Let’s see what our Lord says in our text today…
It is that supernatural nature, specifically The Holy Spirit, through who we become part of the family of ‘The One True God’ when we believe The Biblical Gospel of Jesus Christ. Surrender of one’s life to Christ, and recognition of His Lordship makes people a part of a supernatural family. [Bond of The Spirit]
In our passage today it’s Homecoming for Jesus…
Mark 3:20-35
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.”
- At this point Jesus travels to Nazareth and it is a BIG deal [celebrity]
- His extended family, think He has lost His marbles… [Messiah Complex???]
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.”
- Once again the Law of Moses worshiping religious leaders are watching Him
- They claim Jesus is possessed by Satan, who is then commanding his minions
- They can see no way that this is God…has to be something else…
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.”
- For the rest of the passage the Scribes are who Jesus will address
- So Jesus said ‘come here all you scribes and listen to me’…
- He points out their argument makes no sense
- When He refers to Kingdoms & Houses, this represent absolute loyalty
- Satan minions always work for Him
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.”
- If it comes to the point where Satan is taking out his own guys, it’s over
- What is really happening in the supernatural realms is WAR!
- In a war you have to take the leader out of commission to take his stuff
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.”
- Jesus uses the phrase: ‘truly I say to you’, prior to dropping serious truth
- Blaspheme: to speak evil of, to disrespect, mock and show contempt for
- The Scribes were claiming the supernatural power was of evil origin
- They would not know holiness if it smacked them in the face!
31 Then His mother and His brothers arrived, and standing outside they sent word to Him and called Him. 32 A crowd was sitting around Him, and they said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are outside looking for You.”
- The extended family went and got Jesus’ immediate family
- The ‘they’ is the Scribes who are trying to discredit Jesus
- Instead of hearing what Jesus is saying they move on to the next tactic
33 Answering them, He said, “Who are My mother and My brothers?” 34 Looking about at those who were sitting around Him, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother.”
- He answers ‘them’ which is the Scribes…with a question
- The family relationship flows from putting your faith in Christ
- It is a Spirit Bond; that comes from doing God’s will [surrendering to Christ]
- When we are rightly related to God we can be rightly related to each other
- What is real family about? What makes family?
BIG IDEAS:
Walking with God will be mistaken by most as a loss of common sense.
Nonsensical spiritual things will be attributed to Christ. [Non-Biblical things]
There are only two Kingdoms, they have nothing in common & are at war constantly.
Christ engages in supernatural spiritual battle to ‘plunder’ your soul out of darkness.
Denial of the Holy Spiritual Essence of God places one into eternal un-forgiveness.
God’s family is based on the spiritual connection of shared faith in the Biblical Christ.
TRUTH INTO ACTION:
Use Ephesians 6:14-17 to detect and reject false claims about Christ & His Body.
Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. [NLT]
Using 1 John 1:5-6 as a guide, what do you see that is shared between God’s Kingdom and the Kingdom of darkness?
This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. [NLT]
How does Colossians 1:13-14 combine with this passage to define Biblical Salvation?
He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. [NKJV]
Based on this passage and Christ’s words in Matthew 12:30-31, what constitutes ‘The Unforgivable Sin’?
“He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters. Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven.”
Based on Christ’s words & Ephesians 2:19-22, what defines the connection that makes people part of God’s family?
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in Whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. [ESV]