20 Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that
they could not even eat. 21 And when his family heard it, they went out to
seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”
Blasphemy Against the
Holy Spirit
22 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.” 23 And he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can
Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom
cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not
be able to stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided,
he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. 27 But no one can enter a strong
man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then
indeed he may plunder his house.
28 “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”— 30 for they were saying, “He has
an unclean spirit.”
Jesus' Mother and
Brothers
31 And his mother and his brothers came, and standing
outside they sent to him and called him. 32 And a crowd was sitting around him,
and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers [2] are outside, seeking
you.” 33 And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And
looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my
brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and
mother.” (Mark 3:20-35 (ESV)
For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and
sister and mother.
It’s a hard text, familial strife and houses divided. Jesus
knew what he was talking about when he said that his gospel would tear families
apart. That he did not come to bring peace but a sword. Here Jesus is at the
height of his ministry. Crowds are flocking to him from all over, Jesus and his
disciples don’t hardly have the time to recline at a table and eat in a
civilized manner. The people are catching on that he is claiming to be a bit
more than a prophet, and it sounds a lot like blasphemy. A person reading this
text is really given the two options for the unbeliever in relation to Jesus.
Not a good teacher, not a prophet, but if he is not God himself, the savior of
the world the stronger man who has bound the strong man to plunder his goods,
you and I and make us to be his brother sister and mother, then he is a lunatic
or a charlatan.
There were many who like Mary in the house of her sister
Martha did the will of God and sat at his feet to listen to him, who believed
him and received him, who heard his gospel and saw him cast out the demons, heal
the sick and make the lame to run. And to this day those united by the bonds of his blood, born from above in
the water and the word, these people share a familial love, they are brothers
and sisters of Christ and therefore brothers and sisters, even mothers. A love
that the world doesn’t understand, a love that can turn mother against
daughter, son against father. And so we even have the very family of Jesus,
Mary and his brothers.
It’s crazy to think on this, how Mary could have such a hard
time believing. Perhaps here we get an idea of how impossible it is for us to
do the will of God. This is what Luther gets at when he says in the explanation
to the third article of the creed, “I believe I cannot by my own reason and
strength believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or
come to him, but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, sanctified
me with his gifts.” Here is Mary, who we praise in the Magnificat as the most blessed of women, chosen to be the
Theotokus, God Bearer as it is said, in the deep recesses of mystery this woman
gave birth to God, gave birth to her own creator. We think it is amazing that
she gave birth as a virgin, and it is, but that only served that greater
paradox of time and eternity that occurred in the incarnation. And so willingly
too. She was there when the wise men knelt in the grotto to pay homage to the
God of Gods, she was there to hear the
words of Saint Simeon’s Song the first time it was ever sung. She was there
when all the booze ran dry and Jesus changed the water to wine. You have to ask
yourself. How? How can this be the one who thinks Jesus is out of his mind, who
goes along with her children and says we
have to go get your brother, you know he was always a little touched in the head?
What bewitchment causes the mother of God to doubt the word of her son?
Now perhaps we understand a little about this talk of strong
men, and plunder. This is God’s creation. But we ought not ever doubt the power
of the prince of the air, the prince of this world as Jesus calls him the destroyer,
it was not complete tomfoolery when he offered Jesus all the kingdoms of this
world. We do not fight against flesh and blood, Paul says in Ephesians, “but
against rulers and authorities, against cosmic powers over this present
darkness, against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” These
forces of evil dominate this world, but not Jesus. He tosses them out of people
as if they were nothing more than a ten pound sack of flour. And they say he
uses the black arts, that it is by beelzebul that he does this. They accuse
him, in essence to be one of the necromancing diviners of fortune that kneeled
at marries feet in the grotto to worship the God suckling at her breast, the
wise men as we call them that made their living in the black arts for the likes
of Nebuchadnezzar. Men like Simon the Magician of Acts 8, or the seven sons of
Sceva, and Bar-Jesus of Acts thirteen whom Paul Blinds, Jewish itinerants and
rollers of bones who were famous for their work in the black arts. They say
Jesus has an unclean Spirit, and this is how he does what he does. They know
better, these scribes that have come down from Jerusalem about a 1000 feet
above sea level to this town of Capernaum that is actually below sea level.
They can hear the words of Jesus, the gospel preached to the poor, they can see
the kingdom of God breaking in. But it is an affront to their own authority as
shepherds of Israel, the authority with which they beat and abused the sheep
rather than feed the sheep. For this reason Jesus says they are blaspheming the
Holy Spirit the sin for which there is no forgiveness. Hardening their hearts
against the gospel, turning away from forgiveness and refusing it so that they
can hold on to their prestige, their pride, so that they can save their lives
as they know it and preserve their empires of dirt and death.
But no, what is happening is a stronger man has broken in,
Jesus, the Son of God himself has bound Satan and is plundering his house. The
kingdom of God is in the midst of a hostile takeover of Satan’s dominions, and
the treasure of the house is not silver or gold, diamonds or pearls for which
slaves at the time could be purchased and for which they themselves could
purchase their freedom. No, the treasures of the house are the slaves of sin,
death and the devil, born as children of the wrath of God, under bondage to
sin, people who never do the good that they would, but bad they would not. And
this describes even Mary and the brothers of Jesus. People who cannot by their
own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ their Lord and savior or come to
him, but who then are called by the gospel. People of flesh and blood, us men
and women. We are the treasures that Jesus comes to plunder, to take to be his,
that the will of God would be done in our lives, that we would believe we have
been ransomed and purchased with his holy precious blood and innocent suffering
and death to become his brothers and sisters and mothers, purchased with his
blood who fell in battle for us, only to overcome this world of death, and rise
again to the new life in which we now walk because the treasure he plundered
with his death is you, his brother, his sister, his mother. Now the peace of
God that surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ
Jesus our Lord. Amen.
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