cripture Reading Mark 3:22-35

SPEAKER_00 0:37

Hello, my name's Amara Redford. I'm in tenth grade, and today I'll be reading Mark 3, 22 through 35. And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying he is possessed by Bezebub, and by the Prince of Demon he casts out the demons. And he called them to him and said to them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand, and if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods unless he first finds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house. Truly I say to you, all sins will be forgiven, the children of man, and whatever blasphemes they utter. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin. For they were saying, He has an unclean spirit. And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, Your mother and your brothers are outside seeking you. And he answered them, Who are my mother and my brothers? And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother. This is the word of the Lord. Thank you.

he Fear Of Confident Wrongness

cribes Label Jesus As Demonic

Divided Kingdom Cannot Stand

inding The Strong Man Image

lasphemy Against The Holy Spirit

esus Redefines Family By Obedience

ope For Tender Consciences

SPEAKER_01 1:51

Thanks be to God. Good job, thank you. Well, hey, my name is Lawrence, one of the pastors here. Before I hop into what we're doing today, um, just a quick couple quick announcements. We have some things coming up. Easter week within just a couple weeks. Um, that week we're gonna kick off kind of right up what we're going up to uh with Good Friday. We're gonna do 48 hours of prayer. So if you'd like to be a part of that experience, we have a room that's gonna be dedicated. There's a sign-up wall out there. Uh, you can go in there, it'll be stations or promptings that you can do, and it's literally all hours for 48 hours. So if you're like the three in the morning crazy person, we got a spot for you. Or if you're a daylight person, we got a spot for you. That's gonna lead itself right up to our Good Friday services. It's not really a service, it's more of an experience that you kind of get to go at your own pace. It'll be in this room. Uh, this room will look totally different, and it is experiential, like you're touching, um, feeling, uh, participating. Uh, a lot of people really love it. It's a kind of go at your own pace. That's gonna be on Good Friday. And then Easter Sunday, we're adding one service. So we'll still have our normal nine o'clock and our 11 o'clock. We're gonna add a 7 a.m. service. Um, so if you want to think about, really think about um what you want to have for breakfast, you should come to service first. And then you can go to breakfast and get the whole day in front of you. It'll be great. And that makes space for other people who are coming here and specifically makes space because that day we're doing uh Easter baptisms. It's so much fun. We're gonna have fun doing it at all of our services. Um, so if that's something you're interested in, but also uh that brings a lot of new people in to celebrate that. So if you are interested in doing that, we have signups out in the lobby. There's the big tub out there, and then also that's uh another reason just to come and to celebrate with people during Easter. So here's for today. Uh, if you're newer with us, we're going through the Gospel of Mark, it's in the New Testament. We're a Bible-teaching church here. We go verse by verse, and so today has to happen. This is one of those that uh that just exposes. I don't get to skip something because if we're going to go something expositorily, verse by verse, it exposes today. Uh, and kind of uh what a lot of people don't really teach on, which can be a misunderstood or just a scary verse. It's really because there's like a particular kind of fear that doesn't come from being far from God. What it does is it comes from realizing that you might be close to him and still be wrong. Like not morally wrong, not rebellious, not obviously broken, but wrong in a way that feels terrifying. Wrong in a way where you are confident, religious, certain, and still opposing God without even knowing it. And that is the fear underneath our verses today. So we've seen Jesus last week. He called the apostles to a mountain, he named them by name. He goes back home, the crowd is crowded around him, and it brings us to this moment. This isn't a story about outsiders shaking their fists at Jesus. It's a story about Bible experts watching him heal people and deciding he must be evil. Which means this text doesn't ask, do you believe in God? It asks, how do you know when it's actually him? Or even pushing to some of us a little bit more. I don't really like how the God that I created in my head is actually living and breathing in reality. And once you feel that question, this passage gets very quiet and very heavy. This passage um, frankly, has unsettled believers for centuries. It's frightened tender consciences, it's challenged religious certainty, and forced the church to wrestle with the possibility that it's possible to be close to Jesus, watching him work and still be dangerously wrong about who he is. Mark begins a section like this. And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, he is possessed by El by Beelzebub and by the prince of demons. He casts out demons. That verse should stop us cold. The scribes are not these random critics, they're not spiritually confused outsiders, they were trained theologians. These are men who know scripture, teach scripture, and literally are tasked with guarding Israel's understanding of God. And Mark tells us that they came down from Jerusalem, which signals something important, that this is not just casual commentary, this is official evaluation. In other words, religious leadership has been paying attention to Jesus and they have reached a conclusion that what makes this moment especially disturbing is that the scribes don't deny Jesus' power. They don't argue that his healings are fake or his exorcisms are staged. They acknowledge that something supernatural is happening, but their accusation is not that Jesus lacks power, but that his power comes from the wrong source. They say he's possessed by Beelzebal. When the scribes say he's possessed by Beelzebel, they're not using colorful language or uh religious trash talk. What they're doing is they're they're literally issuing one of the most severe accusations imaginable within the first century Jewish theology. To our modern ears, Beelzebub just sounds like another name for Satan. But to Jesus's original audience, the word carried layers of cultural and historical and spiritual meaning. Every layer makes this accusation actually heavier. The name Beelzebub likely comes from an older Canaanite deity known as Beelzebub, which means Lord of the Flies. In the Hebrew scriptures, which is the Old Testament, this was a God associated with corruption, decay, disease, and death, flies being the symbols of rot and defilement. And so over time, Jewish theology intentionally mocked the false God by twisting the name. What pagan cultures treated as divine, Israel reframed as disgusting and unclean and demonic. And so by the time of Jesus, Beelzebub had become a title, not just a name. It referred to the chief ruler of demons, the organizing intelligence behind spiritual rebellion against God. And this was not folklore. In the Second Temple Judaism, demons were understood as real, active agents working under this hierarchy of evil authority. And so to accuse someone by acting like Beelzebub was to claim that they were aligned with the highest level of spiritual corruption imaginable. So what this means in context is when the scribes say this about Jesus, they're not saying we disagree with him. They're saying he is operating under the authority of ultimate evil. And that matters. Because in Jewish thought, spiritual authority was never neutral. Power always had a source. And if God wasn't the source, then evil must be. There was no middle category for, you know, misguided but sincere miracle worker. Either God was acting or the enemy was. And here's what makes this accusation especially chilling is the scribes aren't making this claim out of ignorance. They're not, you know, villagers unfamiliar with scripture at the time. These men know the Torah, which is the first five books of the Bible, by memory. They know the prophets, they know the promises of God's coming kingdom, and they know the signs that are associated with it. The Hebrew scriptures repeatedly say that when the gospel's reign breaks in, the oppressed are freed, the captives are released, and the unclean spirits lose their grip. Isaiah, in particular, describes an age of salvation as a time when darkness is driven back and brokenness is healed. And they're literally seeing this with their own eyes, which means the scribes are watching the very things that Scripture said would happen when God's kingdom arrived. And what they do is they conclude this must be demonic. That's the danger Mark wants us to feel. This is not confusion or lack of evidence. This is interpretation driven by fear. What why fear? Well, because if Jesus is acting by the Spirit of God, then everything that the scribes have built, their authority on is about to be literally re-centered around Him. Their role as uh gatekeepers collapse. Their ability to control who's in and who's out evaporates. Their religious system is no longer revolving around experience, it revolves around surrender. And surrender is far more threatening than doubt. So instead of repenting, they reframe reality. They choose a narrative that allows them to remain in control. That yes, something supernatural is happening, but it is not God. This is why Jesus treats this accusation so seriously. In Jewish law, to attribute God's work as to idolatry was not just wrong, it was blasphemy. It was the reversal of truth at the highest level. And so to call Jesus demon-possessed was to say, in effect, God is not here, evil is. And that's why Jesus doesn't respond gently. That's why he doesn't just say, like, hey, let's talk about this. That's why the tone of this passage actually darkens. Because once you label light as darkness, you no longer know how to recognize God when he stands right in front of you. And this is where the text becomes frightening. Not because demons are mentioned, not because um uh uh uh uh, you know, like it's just scary about what he's gonna say, or there's this other kind of mystical thing happening, but because of what it reveals about the human heart, it shows us that religious certainty can become the very thing that blinds people to God's presence. The the scribes are not morally reckless, they're morally convinced, and that conviction unexamined and unyielding becomes resistance to the Spirit of God. And this is the soil in which Jesus' next warning grows. Not a warning meant to terrify the weak, but one to confront those who believe they're already safe. And this is where the weight of the passage begins, I think I believe pressing in. So the scribes, they're witnessing freedom, demons being cast out, people being restored to wholeness. And their conclusion is this is darkness pretending to be light. And that accusation reveals something terrifying that it's possible to see God at work and interpret it as evil if it threatens your framework. And Jesus doesn't ignore this, he doesn't just brush it aside. Mark tells us that then he called him to them to him and said to them in parables. Now, this detail matters. Jesus doesn't just shout across the room, he calls them closer. This is not a rant, this is a confrontation. He wants them near enough to hear clearly. Those of you who are parents, have you ever done that? Like when your kid's doing something, you're like, come here so you can hear everything I'm saying. I'm gonna whisper it in your ears really clearly when I'm smiling, and you're like, oh my gosh, right? And then he asks this question that exposes the internal contradiction of their accusation, uh accusation. How can Satan cast out Satan? Now, the the logic is simple, but it's devastating. If Satan is empowering Jesus to cast out demons, then Satan is working against himself. And Jesus presses this point actually a little bit further. He says, if the kingdom is divided against itself, the kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. See, Jesus is doing more than making an argument here, he's revealing how spiritual reality works, that evil is destructive, not redemptive. Darkness consumes, it does not heal. A bondage multiplies, it does not liberate. And the very fact that people are being freed is evidence that a stronger power is actually entered the scene. And then Jesus delivers the conclusion. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. That that last phrase is key, coming to an end. See, Jesus is not defending himself, he's announcing something cosmic. He's saying, What you are witnessing is not demonic collaboration, it's demonic collapse. In other words, the kingdom of darkness is not managing this moment. Friends, it is losing ground. And then Jesus offers an image that shifts the conversation from logic to relationship. And then indeed he may plunder his house. This verse is dense with meaning, and it's often misunderstood. See, Jesus is not describing human effort or spiritual techniques, he's describing describing an invasion. The strong man here represents Satan as real, powerful. He's this ruler over a dominion marked by bondage and deception. The house represents his territory, and the goods are the people that are held captive. And so Jesus' point is clear. Liberation only happens when someone stronger arrives. You don't free captives by negotiating with the captor. You don't defeat evil by borrowing its power. You defeat it by overpowering it. And so Jesus is saying, what you are watching is the watching me specifically bind the strong man and plunder his house. And this is where the fear of the text begins to sharpen because the scribes aren't ignorant about what they're seeing. They know something extraordinary has been happening, but instead of repenting, instead of re-examining their assumptions, they double down on control. They reinterpret literally here liberation as deception. And here's the terrifying implication that proximity, closeness with God doesn't guarantee humility before Him. And so the scribes are literally close enough to see miracles, but far enough in pride to call them evil. And they're not spiritually distant, they're just spiritually defensive, that their authority, their reputation, and influence depend on them actually being the ones who define on what God can and cannot do. We ever found ourselves there. I'm in charge of defining what God can and cannot do. And that's really why, for a lot of us, this text is so weighty. Because it confronts the possibility that people can be deeply religious, biblically literate, and morally serious, and still resist God when he moves outside of their expectations. The danger is not ignorance, the danger is certainty without surrender. And for modern readers like us, especially thoughtful believers, this is unsettling because it rises uncomfortable questions. Like, could people who love theology still oppose God? Could spiritual confidence over time actually become spiritual blindness? Could defining truth actually become resisting truth himself? And Jesus doesn't soften this confrontation, he doesn't reassure the scribes, he doesn't say, like, hey, okay, I get it. Let's just agree to disagree. Now, what he does is he exposes the spiritual stakes. And it's important to say this clearly: this passage is not meant to make soft-hearted people afraid. This isn't meant to wake up hard-hearted people who think they are already safe. The scribe's sin is not doubt, it's not fear, it's not confusion, it's willful distortion, seeing the work of God and labeling it demonic because it threatens their authority. And this is what comes next: the warning about the unforgivable sin and why it's so serious. Notice this Mark is intentional about placing the warning after the confrontation and not before it. So at this point in the narrative, the pressure, the pressure is converging literally from every side. The crowds are overwhelming, the religious leaders are hostile. Uh, Jesus' own family believes he has lost perspective, and everyone's trying at this point to define them. So, so far, in just these few verses in verses 22 through 27, it tightens the room. But verses 28 through 35 is where the air gets heavy. This is the moment people lean forward, not because they're curious, but because they're uneasy. This is the passage that has haunted late-night prayers, troubled sensitive consciousness, and caused more whispered anxiety amongst any other teaching of Jesus. And that alone should tell us something important that this text is dangerous if misunderstood, and devastating if mishandled. So now he spurks speaks words that feel final. And Mark records Jesus saying this. Not most, not just the respectable ones, not accidental ones, all. Literally, Jesus starts very wide right here. He wants no confusion about the scope of God's mercy, moral failure, rebellion, ignorance, cruelty, profanity, like nothing is too large, too dark, too repeated to fall outside of the reach of forgiveness. And that matters because Jesus is about to say something that sounds like the opposite. He continues in verse 29. But whoever blasphemies against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of eternal sin. This is the line that freezes people. And what makes this statement so terrifying is not just what Jesus says, it's who he says it to and why he says it. Mark immediately, thank goodness, as clarification, he says, For they were saying he has an unclean spirit. That explanation is not optional, it's interpretive. Mark is telling us exactly how to understand what Jesus means by the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. This is not a random warning just dropped into a sermon. It's a direct response to a specific posture, that persistent, willful misattribution of God's work to evil. The scribes aren't confused. They're not asking questions, they're not wrestling with doubt. They have reached a settled conclusion and now are publicly promoting it. They're calling the spirit's liberating work demonic because accepting it would actually require surrender. And that distinction is everything. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is not about saying the wrong words in a moment of anger. Um, it's not about intrusive thoughts, it's not about wrestling with doubts or fears or just seasons overall of wrestling. The very fact, the very fact, friends, that someone is worried that they may have committed this sin is strong evidence that they have not. This sin is not committed by the anxious or the broken, it's committed by the hardened. And the unforgivable nature of the sin is not because God liked. Suddenly becomes unwilling to forgive, it's because the person has placed themselves beyond repentance. They have so thoroughly rejected the Spirit's testimony that they are no longer able to recognize grace as grace. Where forgiveness is available, but it is refused, not once, but as a posture. This is why Jesus' warning was so severe. If you consistently call light darkness, you eventually lose the ability to see light at all. If you repeatedly label God's work as evil, you then cut yourself off from the very means by which forgiveness comes. And that's the internal danger. And this is why and where it's important to say clearly to this room: Jesus is not trying to trap people here, he's trying to wake them up. This warning isn't meant to terrify tender consciousness, it's meant to confront arrogance, certainty. In fact, the structure of Jesus' statement is profoundly merciful. Remember, he says all sins are forgivable before. He names specifically the one posture that refuses forgiveness. So grace isn't narrowed, it's defended. And at this point, the theological tension is intense. Jesus has now drawn a line between ignorance and rebellion, between weakness and willful resistance. And now Mark shifts this scene from theology to relationship, from accusation to actually belonging. This is great. He writes in verse 31. And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. So the timing here is really deliberate. We need to understand that this goes together. It wasn't just like Anseen. Let's start another thing. Right after the most severe warning Jesus ever gives, his family appears. Like the ones who early in the chapter believe that he was out of his mind. They are not enemies of his. They're not concerned. Uh that what they are is they're concerned, they're confused, and they want him back. Back to what? Back to safety, back to normal, back to something that they can understand. And so Mark notes that they're outside. Now that detail also matters. It's not by accident. The spatial language in Mark is really theological language. Those who believe they know Jesus best are physically outside of the circle than those who are on the inside listening to him. And someone inside then tells him, hey, your mother and your brothers are outside seeking you. And this moment is, you know, has heavy expectation. Because in first century Jewish culture, family loyalty, it was sacred. To ignore a mother and brothers would have been unthinkable. So everybody in the room knows exactly what Jesus should do. And then Jesus responds in a way that reshapes everything for us, actually. Says then he answered them, Who are my mother and my brothers? So this is important to understand. This is not rejection. This is actually for us a redefinition. Jesus isn't dishonoring his family here, he's actually expanding the category of family. He looks around at those who are seated near him, disciples, followers, ordinary people listening, and says, Here, here are my mother and my brothers. Whoever does the will of God, he is my mother, my brother and my sister and my mother. This is one of Jesus' most radical statements that he ever makes. And it lands differently, I think, depending on who you are. For some, this feels threatening. For others, it feels like relief. For many, it feels like home. And Jesus isn't saying here that biology doesn't matter. He's saying obedience creates a bond deeper than blood. That the family of God is not built on proximity or familiarity or shared history only. It's built on shared surrender to God's will. And then this is where the entire passage comes together. The scribes represent people who are near God's work, but they refuse God's authority. Jesus says, family represents people who love him but do not yet understand his calling. And the disciples and the listeners represent people who are learning imperfectly to obey. And only one of those groups is called family. Now notice what Jesus does not say. He doesn't say, like, whoever agrees with me intellectually. He doesn't say, whoever feels close to me emotionally. He says, whoever does the will of God. Now I think it's really important to note for some of you, this is not performance-based belonging. This is direction-based belonging. The family of God is made up of people moving toward obedience, not people who have already arrived. Or to put it another way, and to one of our values out there on the wall, a people in process on a journey, moving. This is why this passage is as frightening as it is, ultimately lands with hope. The unforgivable sin warns against hardened resistance. The redefinition of family invites ongoing obedience. One shuts the door permanently and the other opens it daily. And Jesus' final words in this section is not judgment, it's belonging. In a room filled with pressure and misunderstanding and accusation and fear, Jesus draws a circle and says, This is my family, not the perfect, not the powerful, not the confident, but the obedient. And that means that this terrifying text is also one of the most comforting in the gospel because it tells us that as long as we are willing to listen, repent, and follow, we have not crossed the line. We are already home. So at this point, I think that's all I have to say about that.