Intro:
It's such a wonderful thing when a child grows up and repeats their
parent's wisdom back to them: “You always say, 'family comes first;
unless there's a work thing.'” “I have said that.” Jesus
turns a lot of things on their head. He does this because his work
is to bring to you things of lasting importance, and to bring you to
what is of the highest importance. Because of this, you can firmly
trust that
Through faith in
Christ you are brought into a lasting family.
Transition: And what
does this family say? Well, it doesn't say that Jesus is out of his
mind. And it doesn't say that Jesus is in league with the devil or
that he has an unclean spirit. In fact,
There
is only one confession of Christ that the Holy Spirit works: Lord.
(Now this one confession can be as short as “Jesus is Lord”, or
as long as the very longest confessions of faith that are a correct
teaching of all that Holy Scripture says. But, at the end of the
day,) - the scribes didn't have it. “And
the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, "He is
possessed by Beelzebul," and "by the prince of demons he
casts out the demons." ”
At first, we're a bit surprised by the name Beelzebul, but think of
how many other titles the devil receives in the Bible – Satan, our
adversary, the evil one, not to mention what we sing in A Mighty
Fortress – the old evil foe. So this is just another of those.
The second part of their attack has to do with his casting out of
demons. As you read Mark, you see how the demons know who Jesus is.
But that's not because Jesus is an agent of the devil, which is the
charge of the scribes.
So
Jesus calls them to him and deals with both of their attacks. First
he deals with the issue of his casting out demons. First he gives
some general knowledge – a nation embroiled in civil war can't
stand. Everyone agrees on that. Then he gives an example – a
household that is divided, will it stand? No. So Jesus says, “Given
that and turning to the case in question – my supposed alliance
with Satan – if in this
particular case Satan
has arisen in my ministry against himself and has divided himself and
his forces, then he is of no effect and is finished. But that
assessment is not true, since Satan is still active and is still a
powerful force, a force that I am dealing with”. Basically - “you
are totally wrong about what I am doing”.
That's why he then
talks about the binding of the strong man. It's a simple comparison:
Satan is the strong man, but Jesus is the stronger man. And the
goods that Jesus carries off from the devil – are those same
believers that he later says are his family. The goods are the
Church, and he carries you off by completing his work of defeating
the devil at the cross, where he shed his blood for your sins.
The
scribes don't have the confession that says Jesus is Lord. They have
the opposite confession. But then Jesus says, “"Truly,
I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and
whatever blasphemies they utter, 29
but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness,
but is guilty of an eternal sin"-- ”.
But we don't have to be confused by this. Mark explains: “for
they were saying, "He has an unclean spirit."
”. That's the difference between the scribes and Jesus' family.
His family also didn't have the confession that Jesus is Lord. But
they would. Jesus' family says he is out of his mind, but would
later believe in him. They call what he is doing bad. And this is
much like what Jesus says of the soldiers who nailed him to the
cross, “Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do.”
But the scribes, in saying that Jesus is an agent of the devil, are
not only saying Jesus is bad but the devil is good. So they are
speaking a blasphemy against what the Holy Spirit does – against
faith. They are praising unbelief. So they are speaking something
worthy of outrage about both Jesus and the Holy Spirit – they
condemn faith and the forgiveness of sins and everything. To condemn
these things is to be cut off from them. But that's what the Holy
Spirit takes away in bringing the right realization of sin and the
right comfort of Christ's cross which takes that sin and gives
Christ's holiness.
Jesus
talks about no less than plundering the devil, and the forgiveness of
sins. What Jesus says to the scribes has to do with things that
last. His words have this in common with today's Epistle, where we
hear, “For
the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are
unseen are eternal.”.
It's important that the Scripture says these things, for we worship
things that don't last all the time. When we say, “yes the Bible
says that's wrong, but that was written so long ago, and I don't feel
it's wrong for me” - that's worshipping the culture, which will
pass away. In fact, all the surrounding culture can do is worship
things that also pass away. But Paul says it so clearly in today's
Epistle. And he can say that because Christ's gifts don't pass away.
Forgiveness of sins doesn't decay; Baptism doesn't expire; and the
Lord's Supper doesn't run dry. And Paul preaches that Jesus brings
you to what is of lasting importance and of greatest importance: “For
we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we
have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the
heavens.” He
brings you to heaven, and he says “we
have a building from God”, for our Lord doesn't just bring you but
he brings the Church.
And the ultimate
issues are two-sided: just as important as God's relationship to you
is, it's just as important that he breaks the claim the devil has on
you because of your sin. He breaks this claim because the blood of
Christ shed on the cross breaks his claim on you. Therefore the Holy
Spirit brings about the trust that relies upon the Father above all
things for the sake of Jesus the Son. And the Holy Spirit brings
about the daily fight against sin and the devil, and all the devil's
lies. Because, as we saw in today's Gospel, all the devil's lies are
really one lie, and this lie always attacks Jesus' salvation for you.
And that's why, with great humility, we identify and fight error in
the Church. And we have a clear word for that: earlier here in Mark
3, Jesus sends the 12 to proclaim the kingdom and also cast out
demons. And so the Church proclaims faith in Jesus and defends
against all evil.
Yes,
the only confession of Jesus which the Holy Spirit produces is: Lord.
No confession at all is not something the Spirit works. No
confession about Jesus is itself a confession against Jesus. But
Jesus' mother and brothers had a confession: they tried to seize him,
saying “he is out of his mind”. But it's not like he can say
that his followers who are gathered around him are family because
they have similar interests, because they get along so well. It's
more than that. And
so Jesus' family
stand outside and call to Jesus. But Jesus' followers are inside
with him. See that comparison of outside and inside?
Jesus with his
family outside and his followers inside doesn't demonstrate how the
Church is to be excluding, but he demonstrates the only way that the
Church is inclusive. First, note that outrage over being inclusive
or not comes from the culture. Second, don't be offended at what
Jesus does when it's something you yourself would do. If someone
wanted to join your chapter of the Lions club but said the club
should change it's activities to include arson, you'd say no. It's
the same thing for those who have no place for the forgiveness of
sins for the sake of Christ alone in the Church (which isn't a club
btw). For only the work of the Holy Spirit includes you into the
Church, no matter your surname.
Because the thing
was, it is up to Jesus to declare who his family is. In many
cultures people say, “family comes first”, and “blood is
thicker than water”. But Jesus points everything to what he has
done for you on the cross and the Spirit that brings about this faith
by which he declares you to be his family.
The Church is only
made through the words and works of God. So we can confidently point
to his Word which hits our ears, to Baptism and to the Lord's Supper
and say – here are the words and works of God. If they are here,
then his Church is here. Take heart, for the Lord has given you
something better than a mere hobby, and joined you to something
better than a mere club; Christ creates a family who by the Holy
Spirit confess his works and words. And his works and words are what
we believe in by the power of the Spirit.
And
so he says, “"Here
are my mother and my brothers! 35
For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and
mother." ”
And he doesn't say that to make our salvation depend on our works.
Doing the will of God is what his believers do; this isn't something
you accidentally do. You don't just blunder into it. It's the
result of the new birth of faith. [Room for an illustration: it's
not like going to the shop and getting yourself a Coke but you get
home and your spouse says, “Oh, you got that Coke for me that I
asked you to get”. “Why, yes”.] You do it because you have
the heart to do it, and this you only have not by being under unclean
spirits but by being under the Holy Spirit, even as Jesus bears the
Spirit and sends the Spirit.
Conclusion: When
Jesus brings you something of lasting importance, he brings you into
a heavenly family. That family has one confession: that Jesus is
Lord. The Holy Spirit brings about that confession, and the devil
fights against it. But that family does the will of the Lord, living
by the forgiveness of sins that is yours by the work of Christ's
cross. Amen.
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