Mark 3:20–35
Jesus came home and, as usual, a crowd gathered—so many
making demands on him that there wasn’t even time to eat. His friends heard
what was going on and went to rescue him, by force if necessary. They suspected
he was getting carried away with himself.
The religion scholars from Jerusalem came down spreading rumors that he
was working black magic, using devil tricks to impress them with spiritual
power. Jesus confronted their slander with a story: “Does it make sense to send
a devil to catch a devil, to use Satan to get rid of Satan? A constantly
squabbling family disintegrates. If Satan were fighting Satan, there soon
wouldn’t be any Satan left. Do you think it’s possible in broad daylight to
enter the house of an awake, able-bodied man, and walk off with his possessions
unless you tie him up first? Tie him up, though, and you can clean him out.
“Listen to this carefully. I’m warning you. There’s nothing
done or said that can’t be forgiven. But if you persist in your slanders
against God’s Holy Spirit, you are repudiating the very One who forgives,
sawing off the branch on which you’re sitting, severing by your own perversity
all connection with the One who forgives.” He gave this warning because they
were accusing him of being in league with Evil.
Jesus’ Mother and Brothers
Just then his mother and brothers showed up. Standing
outside, they relayed a message that they wanted a word with him. He was
surrounded by the crowd when he was given the message, “Your mother and
brothers and sisters are outside looking for you.”
Jesus responded, “Who do you think are my mother and
brothers?” Looking around, taking in everyone seated around him, he said,
“Right here, right in front of you—my mother and my brothers. Obedience is
thicker than blood. The person who obeys God’s will is my brother and sister
and mother.”
The Message
2 Corinthians 4:13–5:1
We share the same spirit of faith as the one who
wrote the psalm, “I believed; therefore I spoke.” (Psalm 116:10) We
also believe, and that belief leads us to acknowledge that the same God
who resurrected the Lord Jesus will raise us with Jesus and will usher us all
together into His presence. All of this is happening for your good. As
grace is spread to the multitudes, there is a growing sound of thanks being
uttered by those relishing in the glory of God.
So we have no reason to despair. Despite the fact that our
outer humanity is falling apart and decaying, our inner humanity is breathing
in new life every day. You see, the short-lived pains of this life are
creating for us an eternal glory that does not compare to anything we know
here. So we do not set our sights on the things we can see with our
eyes. All of that is fleeting; it will eventually fade away. Instead,
we focus on the things we cannot see, which live on and on.
We know that if our earthly house—a mere tent that can
easily be taken down—is destroyed, we will then live in an eternal home in the
heavens, a building crafted by divine—not human—hands.
The Voice
***
Sermon by Jim Kauth
I
really did not want to preach on these verses from Mark and 2Corinthians! I had
a choice of Biblical readings for this Sunday and Mark and Corinthians where
the least undesirable. I researched possible Bible readings for the Pentecost
season that weren’t listed in the recommended readings for the liturgical year.
I even picked topics dealing with the Holy Spirit and time after time reasons
appeared that prevented any in-depth study of those Spirit related topics in
preparation for this sermon, almost like God’s Holy Spirit was pushing me
toward Mark and Corinthians. I’m a stubborn man but I think God made His point;
God is far, far more stubborn than I am and I truly thank God for that. So here
I am preaching on Mark 3:20-35 and 2Corinthians 4: 13-5:1. I would point out
that this work of the Spirit seems entirely appropriate at this time of the
year as the Pentecost Season is a time to reflect on the works of God’s Holy
Spirit in this world and in our personal lives.
This is my interpretation of these parts
of the Gospels, but “you are responsible for your own interpretation of the
Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy
Spirit are priority in interpretation, you must not relinquish this to a
biblical commentator”, your pastor, me, anyone. Bob
Utley
Let’s
look at Mark 3:20-35, “Jesus came home and as usual a crowd gathered” why? Why
did crowds gather around Jesus?
·
Was
Jesus’ style of preaching so mesmerizing? That was one reason; the Gospels give
us that impression.
·
Did
the crowds gather because of what he was preaching? Yes, for some what
Jesus said was moving and most importantly gave them Hope.
The life of rural and socially low standing
urban citizens was not a life of ease. Roman rule was marked by great latitude
in social, cultural and religious practices but Rome was not forgiving when it came to paying
taxes. Roman taxes were heavy. Only the rich could afford to pay those
burdensome levies on a regular basis. Subsistence farms and many of what we
would call today family farms were sold on the auction block for unpaid taxes.
Many, many farm families went from land owners with a sense of pride and
belonging to tenant farmers feeling hopeless, living on the land they once owned
but now worked for an absentee owner. The fabric of community was stretched
almost to a breaking point. So yes, what Jesus had to say did bring hope.
·
Did
crowds gather around Jesus for the physical healing, YES, think of Jesus as
“Doctors without borders” and “Red Cross” that bring food, doctors and
medicines all rolled up into one person.
Healing drew people, people who were rejected,
people who were marginalized, people hurting emotionally and physically and
people hurting spiritually. Jesus healed them all. Jesus gave people dignity;
He gave a sense of belonging to people who were set outside of community
whether they were tax collectors or lepers.
Jesus included people He did not exclude people, unless
you have experienced this type of excluding you cannot imagine the healing
power of inclusion.
Regrettably many of us do understand exclusion
but have not experienced the healing power of belonging. I think healing was
the single most important reason for “as usual a crowd gathered” around Jesus.
If
you were among the crowd gather around Jesus seeking healing and wealthy
members of congress or religious leaders or their representatives came and said
Jesus was an agent of Satan, that Jesus was doing the devil’s work, what would
you think? Remember neither the religious leaders nor the civil authorities
have done anything to relieve your suffering, you have even less food for you
and your family, your taxes are a greater burden, your level of living has been
dramatically lowered by them, these so called leaders. What would you think of
their accusation?
I
can tell you this, Jesus did not respond to just His accusers; Jesus pitched
His voice so the crowd that was there could hear what He said. His response to
the accusation was for the accusers, the crowd and any person whose door to
their mind and heart was not shut, locked and barred. This time Jesus responded
to the minds of the accusers, pointing out where their logic was faulty. The
faith of Jesus and our faith in Jesus involves everything we are, our mind,
body, emotions and soul and what affects one will affect all the other parts of
ourselves. And while Jesus coolly shreds the accusation and the accusers
through logic He also warns, the spiritual consequences of this accusation,
that Jesus is in league with Satan, rejects God! You reject God at your great
peril. God heals, Jesus heals and the Holy Spirit heals all that is us, body
mind and soul. Satan does not heal, Satan destroys!
An
important part of Jesus’ healing is His attitude toward people. Jesus cares for
people, for us out of great love! We are God’s BELOVED! We are not to be
pitied, we are to be forgiven, God did not send His unique Son to condemn this
world but to save this world. Jesus embraces His relationship with His Divine
Father, Jesus embraces His sonship and Jesus embraces us, “The person who
obeys God’s Will is my brother and sister and mother”, in other words we
are family.
“He
was surrounded by the crowd when he was given the message, your mother and
brothers and sisters are outside looking for you. Jesus responded, who do you
think are my mother and brothers and sisters?” This question is not a
denial of his family through birth by blood; it is an embracing of His God
given family through “Birth from above by water and the Spirit” (John 3)
What
does God want us to understand through this chapter and these verses by Mark?
·
In
Israel,
there was great need for Hope, for love, for healing
·
In
Israel,
their leaders where blind to God’s way, to the peoples suffering.
·
Jesus
healed people through the grace of God, through the Love of God and in this
Love He embraced all, who would obey the Will of God, as family.
·
Jesus
did not conform to the worldview of Israel’s leaders and they were
afraid. These fearful leaders rejected anything and anyone who did not conform
to their outlook.
Has the world changed much?
Paul was a master motivator! We see it
here in 2Corinthians. Paul’s radical vision of this momentous world change
wrought by the death and resurrection of Jesus promises a transformation for
believers; we are transformed - we are being transformed into the
likeness of Jesus.
Yet the
Corinthians displayed less evidence of transformation than did other
congregations! We know from Paul’s first letter to them that their fellowship
was marked by divisions, by doctrinal disputes, by confusion over spiritual
gifts, even by immorality that was winked at by the local body. So how to
motivate these brothers and sisters?
Think of all
the ways we try to motivate others as a coach, a parent, a pastor, a friend, we
make rules, we shame, urge, condemn, we nag, we belittle, we give praise, we
withhold praise, we plan competitions to provide rewards, we withhold rewards
all to get people to do the right thing!
And all are typical of our human understanding of each other. God sees
us differently, understands us differently, so God motivates us differently.
- First God motivates people by example, Jesus’ example. And Paul does just that, often he would say imitate me in this or follow me as I follow Jesus. We Christians motivate other first by example.
- God seeks to create a climate that frees us to respond and to grow in the Word of God, through unconditional love and confidence that we will choose to respond to His Will. Paul also expresses this unconditional love and confidence through out his letters. “I take great pride in you. I am greatly encouraged; in all our troubles my joy knows no bounds” (7:4) This is no pie-in-the-sky confidence, this confidence is grounded in Paul’s total, complete trust in God. Nothing can disrupt God’s plan. The Corinthian have begun to lose confidence in themselves, Paul countered this loss of confidence with his own unshaken confidence in these men and women, Paul would believe until they believed in themselves.
- In this particular portion of 2Corinthians Paul also reveals his own motivations. Paul bears his soul to his brothers and sisters in Christ. “We share the same spirit of faith” not just between each other but also with another child of God who wrote Psalm 116. “I believed; therefore I spoke.”(116:10)
116
is a song of prayer and praise, between verses 8-11 the psalmist drifts back
into prayer. He recognizes that Yahweh had delivered him from death. Yahweh had
dried up his tears, and prevented him from falling before his enemies? The
psalmist pledges that he will render to Yahweh free and joyous service in the
land of life and light. In his time of distress the psalmist had found human
help unreliable. Yet he never lost his faith in God. Paul connects Jesus’
saving grace with the deliverance Yahweh provided to the psalmist and like the
psalmist who believed, Paul believes and therefore speaks praise and offers
thanksgiving prayers. Like the psalmist Paul also pledges free and joyous
service to God and he sees his life as one now lived in the “land of life and
light”.
WOW,
do you see yourself living in the “Land of life and light”? Once again
Paul is saying, “follow me as I follow Jesus”.
Paul sees the world from God’s
perspective; therefore Paul weighs the weight of his suffering against the
weight of God’s promised glory and sees no reason to despair!
- Paul continues to compare heaven and earth and he finds this temporary life lacking. Paul is speaking from experience, Paul knows discouragement and he has experienced God’s comfort and care during these times of despair. Paul like the psalmist of 116 has learned through hard lessons that the things of this world are impermanent and untrustworthy but God does not abandon us, God IS worthy of our complete trust. 5 1We know that if our earthly house—a mere tent that can easily be taken down—is destroyed, we will then live in an eternal home in the heavens, a building crafted by divine—not human—hands.
Why these two readings, are they connected, if so how are
they connected? In chapter three Paul
explains how the Spirit transforms believers so we are conformed to the image
of Jesus. And in this part of 2Cor.4:13-5:1 chapter Paul clarifies that this
change means believers embody Jesus’ death through suffering and participate in
His present, risen life.
What
does it mean to embody Christ? Well, in Mark we clearly see Jesus’ attitude, Jesus cares for
people, for us, out of great love! We are God’s BELOVED! We are not to be
pitied, we are to be forgiven and God did not send His unique Son to condemn
this world but to save this world. Jesus embraces His relationship with His
Divine Father, and Jesus embraces us.
- Will we conform to the likeness of Jesus?
- Will we care out of love?
- Will we forgive?
- Will we embody the death of Jesus through suffering?
- Will we participate in the present life of Jesus, His risen life?
- Will we by example show the world that there is a land of life and light and Jesus is the way to this wonderland?
- Will we choose to live in the land of life and light?
