You can’t choose your family…
Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, ‘He is out of his mind.’
And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, ‘He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.’
So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: ‘How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house. Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.’
He said this because they were saying, ‘He has an impure spirit.’
Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. A crowd was sitting round him, and they told him, ‘Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.’
‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ he asked.
Then he looked at those seated in a circle round him and said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.’
Mark 3:20–35 (NIVUK)
So far in Mark’s gospel, Jesus has been baptised, He has been tempted in the desert, and He has preached, healed, and cast out demons. As Jesus returns home, all this has drawn quite a crowd, even to the point that He and His disciples can’t even sit down to eat, nor can Jesus’ family get to Him.
Rather than celebrate that Jesus, the Son of God, has come, Jesus’ family want to “take charge of Him”. They want to grab Him and give Him a good talking to. “He’s out of His mind,” they say.
To be fair to Jesus’ family here, He has been causing quite a scene. He’s spoken directly to demons. He’s disregarded the Old Testament laws and even claimed to be “Lord of the Sabbath”. He was even forgiving people’s sins. Jesus’ family think He has gone completely off the rails and fallen for some weird kind of spiritual crusade in an extremely public way. “He’s out of His mind,” they say.
The teachers of the law aren’t on Jesus’ side either. They couldn’t ignore the wonders and miracles they had seen Jesus perform, but they refused to believe that He was the Son of God. The only logical conclusion was that this Jesus must be out of His mind—He must be crazy. Possessed by a demon, in this case.
So, with that context, let’s see how Jesus responds to all this opposition and judgment from the people around Him.
Jesus calls us to first look at ourselves
Jesus warns us against underestimating Satan
Jesus brings all believers into His family
1. Jesus calls us to first look at ourselves
And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, ‘He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.’
So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: ‘How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come.
Mark 3:22–26 (NIVUK)
Jesus’ response is effectively saying, “Who are you calling crazy, crazy?”
The teachers of the law are threatened by what Jesus is doing and they can’t understand what Jesus is really saying and showing to them. God would never disregard the Old Testament law, but Jesus did. God would never come into the world as a mere human being, but Jesus has. God would never have students that aren’t the best of the best, but Jesus has fishermen and a tax collector in His inner circle. God would never simply forgive sins with a word without asking for a sacrifice, but Jesus has been.
All of the signs that Jesus is showing are pointing towards His identity as the Son of God who has come into the world. But, because they refuse to believe, the teachers come to the opposite conclusion.
Jesus even explains with clear logic: why would Satan drive himself away? That would be completely counter productive, like kicking an own goal. Satan does not act against himself. Think about it, guys. Are you hearing yourselves?
It’s completely crazy to label the Son of God as a demon-possessed heretic, but that’s where their lack of faith leads them. The truth actually makes pretty good sense, but it takes a bit of a stretch of faith to get there. But it’s an even further stretch to conclude something else.
So, what have you heard people say about Jesus?
Jesus is just a good moral example. Would a good moral example suffer and die for the sins of the world?
Jesus wasn’t a real person. Would there be vast amounts of historical evidence and at least four matching accounts of a person that never truly existed?
Jesus isn’t for me. Would God have come into the world as a human being or promised His Spirit if He didn’t want to relate with us? Would He have given us access to eternal life if He didn’t want us to be with Him forever?
Thanks to the Holy Spirit working in us, we know the truth about Jesus: that He is the Son of God who came into the world to save us from sin and death through His own suffering, and that He is with us even now through His Spirit as He has promised. Any conclusion that isn’t this truth is an even further stretch to make.
In this instance, the ones who called Jesus crazy were the crazy ones. So, before we label Jesus, or anyone for that matter, Jesus asks that we look at ourselves first.
2. Jesus warns against underestimating Satan
In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house. Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.’
He said this because they were saying, ‘He has an impure spirit.’
Mark 3:27–30 (NIVUK)
Jesus describes Satan as a strong man who is hard to take down. “But,” Jesus says, “if you can tie up the strong man, you can plunder his house.” What is Jesus getting at?
Satan’s sole aim is to keep us trapped under the weight of sin—held captive by it, restricted by it, separated from God by it. By coming into the world, Jesus entered the strong man’s house. Satan is rightly understood as the ruler of this world (John 12:31), but he only has the power and authority that God allows him to have (Job 1:12).
Satan used all of his ammunition against Jesus—he had turned people against Jesus, made Him public enemy number one, caused Him to feel alone and under intense pressure. Satan uses the same tactics against us. Jesus was able to withstand all of it. Even when Jesus finally died, He was still on the pathway to victory—the victory that was won three days later. Jesus’ resurrection—His defeat of suffering and death forever—tied down the strong man. He can still throw darts at us, as Luther might say, but he can’t hold us captive under sin any longer.
Satan is not to be underestimated—he is a strong man—but he can’t match the power of the risen Lord.
This all becomes very real for us when we are confronted by our sin. When we acknowledge and recognize the sin that exists in us, we have two options: repent or reject God’s grace. To reject God’s grace is to blaspheme against the Holy Spirit, calling God a liar and a fraud. Jesus says that is the only kind of sin that is unforgivable, but we need to make sure we hear Jesus correctly.
Forgiveness is available to anyone who asks for it. To ask for forgiveness is to acknowledge that wrong has been done. For forgiveness to take place, repentance has to come first. If there is no repentance, there is no forgiveness. We are careful to explain this in our liturgy: “I forgive the sins of all of you who repent and believe…”
To blaspheme against the Holy Spirit means to reject God and His grace. It means to refuse to believe that you need it. It means to be unrepentant. Where there is no repentance, forgiveness can’t take place.
On the other hand, to be forgiven, all we need to do is ask and accept. There is no payment required because Jesus has been there before us and covered the tab. In doing so, He has tied down the strong man and set us free from our sin in the process. Satan is a strong man and he does have power in this world, but he has been defeated by a stronger opponent.
3. Jesus brings all believers into His family
Then he looked at those seated in a circle round him and said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.’
Mark 3:34–35 (NIVUK)
Back to Jesus’ family—the ones that earlier had bluntly said, “He’s out of his mind.” He’s attracted so much attention that He couldn’t even sit to eat with His disciples, and now He is dragging this crowd home. Jesus’ family are understandably not too pleased.
If you have a family member that is widely known in the community, people often make that connection and make a certain judgment of you. As a member of a fairly well-known family in the Lutheran Church myself, I’ve experienced this kind of thing. I often get the question, “Are you musical like dad?” Thankfully, I have a lot of respect and love for my dad, so I don’t mind being associated with him.
It would be different if I was the brother of some guy who had been going around the country claiming to be the Son of God, speaking to demons, and forgiving sins. I’d be doing my best to avoid being connected with someone so controversial.
When Jesus looks around and calls His followers His family, it’s not all good news. Being Jesus’ brother or sister means being associated with Him and labelled the same way. If they said Jesus was out of His mind, they say the same thing about you. This is why Jesus’ biological family were so keen to take charge of him.
When we face harsh judgment because of our faith, our association with Jesus or with the church, we should reflect on this question: whose opinion matters more? If my friends, family, or colleagues think I’ve lost my mind, but Jesus calls me His brother or sister, who should I stick with?
Other people in this world will judge us harshly just as we judge them, but Jesus doesn’t judge us that way at all. He paid the price for your sin, He made you His own at the font, and He gives you Himself at the altar. That’s the kind of person I want to be associated with. That’s the kind of man I want to be in a relationship with. That’s the kind of Father we all have by our adoption in Christ.
So, before we call others crazy, Jesus calls us to take a look at ourselves first. He reminds us that Satan is a strong man, but he has been defeated by an even stronger opponent who then freely and graciously invites us into His family. May we remain in Him as He remains in us by His Spirit. Amen.
