Part 4 - The Gospel according to Mark

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And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying he is the elel by the prince of demons he casts out demons good morning church it's good to see you this morning we're going to be continuing this morning in our series through the gospel of Mark and if you've been traveling along with us for a little while you'll know that the overarching theme as we're journeying through the gospel of Mark is Jesus's question to his disciples in Mark 8:29 his question to the disciples when he said who do you say I am and if you got your Bibles there this morning we're looking at Mark chap 3 and as I've already read verse 22 we get this outrageous claim from the scribes from Jerusalem the scribes who came down from Jerusalem was saying he is possessed by be elel and by the prince of demons he casts out demons in other words they're saying Jesus is a man possessed by none other than Satan before we dive into this this morning would you join me in prayer dear heavenly father we thank you for your word Lord we thank you for how accessible it is Lord thank you that we can read all the things recorded for us in these gospels about Jesus's Ministry Lord God we thank you for the way that you by your Holy Spirit reveal to us what it is that you wanting to say to each and every one of us through your word and our prayer this morning is that you would open our hearts not only to hear from you but to respond as well we pray this in the name of Jesus Christ amen we've got a big claim to deal with this morning the claim of desribes that Jesus was was a man possessed by Satan and if you were here last week you're probably rightly sitting in the pews going Dylan how on Earth did we get here if I remember correctly when I left church last week Dave finished quite nicely by reminding us that Jesus is the forgiver of our sins that's what we looked at last week we we looked at Jesus healing the paralytic who got lowered through the roof and highlighted that Jesus is the forgiver of our sins how then do you start this morning with this claim from the scribes that he's a man possessed by Satan it's helpful for us to do a brief overview of some of the events which have happened between then and here it's all recorded in Mark and I encourage you this week do a quick read through Mark chapter 3 but then each day do a slower read there's lots to pick up through this chapter but as a quick overview of what's happened between the time that Jesus healed the paralytic to this outrageous claim Jesus had dinner but it wasn't just a standard dinner he had dinner with tax collectors and sinners that upset the Pharisees okay Jesus was then going about his business and he was questioned by the Pharisees about why he and his disciples weren't strictly adhering to the religious laws of fasting and following the Sabbath he then healed a man with a withered hand we're going to come to that in a moment and he chose his 12 disciples this all occurs in as recorded in Mark before we get this claim and I think it's helpful before we address this claim too much to actually build a little bit of context for ourselves let's situate ourselves within the passage if you got your Bibles there Mark 3 1:2 again he being Jesus entered the synagogue and a man was there with a withered hand and they watched Jesus being the Pharisees to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath so that they might accuse him what's going on here as we enter chapter 3 of Mark's gospel we see that it's the Sabbath Jesus has come to synagogue there's a man with a withed hand and there's the Pharisees and the Pharisees aren't just there doing their normal thing they're watching intently they're looking closely at Jesus to see whether or not on this sabbath day he is going to heal the man with the withered hand I love that that rhymes they're looking intently to see what Jesus is going to do because they want to accuse him of wrongdoing and as we read this I found it interesting that just by being there by being intent we can conclude that the Pharisees expected Jesus to heal this man we expected it they were waiting for the opportunity to accuse Jesus I wonder why we're going to do a overview of chapters 1 and two but quite simply they expected it because they had realized they had been watching Jesus for a little while they had realized that physical healings were a key part of Jesus's Ministry Mark 1:21 we see that Jesus healed a with an unclean Spirit we see that he wasn't just stopped there he went on and healed many people with various different sicknesses that's recorded in Mark 1 129 he then continued he cleansed a leper Mark 140 and as we saw last week he healed a paralytic Mark 21 and so they had seen Jesus doing these miraculous healings and so they expected they sat there in anticipation waiting for Jesus to heal the man with a withered hand on the Sabbath and they hoped to be able to accuse him of wrongdoing why because the religious tradition the religious law the way that they saw it was you're not allowed to do any work including healing anyone on that day and yet whilst they're there they've highlighted that Jesus has a Ministry of healing people physically but they've missed the point remember when I said that in between this time Jesus had dinner but it was with the tax collectors and the Sinners Jesus summarized his purpose in that statement if you look at Mark 2:16-17 we see this as Jesus was eating they said to his disciples why does he eat with tax collectors and Sinners and when Jesus heard it he said to them those who are well have no need of a physician but those who are sick I have not come to call the righteous but the Sinners we see in that question that these Pharisees these scribes they expected that if Jesus is the son of God if he is truly the Messiah then surely he should be having dinner with those who are righteous and yet here he was eating with tax collectors and sinners it didn't make sense they went if Jesus is who he says he is surely he should be eating with us we do everything we follow the law we've got it all together why is he over there Jesus says I'm not here for those who are healthy those who are healthy don't need doctors I'm here for the sick I didn't come to call the righteous but the Sinners see the Pharisees got the first part right physical healing was very prominent in Jesus's Ministry we see a little bit further on from the withered hand story we're going to come back to this but we see see in Mark 3 9-10 that Jesus had to tell his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd lest they crush him for he had healed many so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him word had gotten out Jesus was doing miraculous healing the Pharisees thought that they had him and yet let's read this story in full again he being Jesus entered the synagogue and a man was there with a withered hand and they watched Jesus to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath so that they might accuse him and he said to the man with the withered hand come here and he said to them is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm to Save a Life or to kill kill but they were silent and he looked around at them with anger grieved at their Hardness of Heart and said to the man stretch out your hand he stretched it out and his hand was restored the Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the herodin against him how to destroy him what's going on here the Pharisees missed the point it's not a hard question right if Jesus was here this morning and asked is it better to do good or bad I would hope that we as a church wouldn't sit in silence I would hope that we would say yeah it's good to heal that man's hand but see the Pharisees they were so bogged down not into concerning God's will but in following tradition and law see God's will never God's law never said you cannot heal someone on this particular day it said the Sabbath day is a day of rest but then tradition for the Pharisees said well if it means rest then no work and healing that kind of comes into work so we just can't do any of that they got bogged down in the wrong details they had highlighted one part of Jesus's Ministry and yet neglected the teaching that went with it neglected his main purpose Jesus's message throughout all of this was you were sick you're sinful repent and believe in the gospel his message articulated so clearly at that dinner was I am here to call all Sinners to me to share the good news that I am their healer over the last couple of weeks even this morning we've heard a fair bit about these Pharisees and scribes and so I think it's important for us to understand why it is that they're acting in this particular way because if we do that we can have a bit more of a solid foundation as to why they make the claim that they do about who Jesus is very very simply the Pharisees were a group of Jews who strictly obeyed Jewish tradition and written law and the scribes generally they were Pharisees too but the scribes were educated people dedicated to studying copying and teaching scripture originally their hearts were in the right place they wanted to follow God and everything he had commanded they wanted to make sure that they were right with God but the problem that we see pop up again and again in their interactions with Jesus is that they thought they were so good at this they thought they had put in so many foolproof barriers they thought that they were doing so well that they themselves were righteous they were so good at observing law and tradition that they were right with God that they no longer was sinful and in no longer need of healing and the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying he is possessed by the El and by the prince of demons he casts out demons with this context with this understanding this claim gets a little bit bit more confusing because we know that the people making this claim they weren't just ordinary local scribes and we know that they weren't uneducated minorities within civilization the fact that we're told here that these are scribes who came from Jerusalem tells us that they were an official party sent from the place where the most teaching ing was done the Hub of Judaism and they were sent to observe and assess Jesus and his ministry these were some of the most educated students of scripture they spent hours and days and months and years copying and writing and teaching God's word their words carried significant way and of Jesus they say he is he is possessed by be elel their words to the Son of God the Messiah that they had read so much about in scripture and long awaited for where this man is possessed by Satan seems crazy that they could get it so wrong especially when we read in verse 11 of chapter 3 that the unclean spirits are still testifying every time they see Jesus every time he draws them out they make this declaration you are the Son of God describes these scripture Scholars say that he is possessed by be El and yet I love I think it's so encouraging that Jesus is quick to highlight the flaw in their assessment but he doesn't do it through convoluted means he doesn't write them an essay for why they're wrong he uses very simple logic would you read with me chapter 323 to 27 and he being Jesus called them to him and said to them in Parables which is stories 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 binds the strong man then indeed he may funder his house what is Jesus's response quite simply it's guys what you're saying doesn't make sense why would Satan undermine his own work why why if Satan's trying to build a kingdom would he then ensure that it's divided against itself and will crumble it doesn't make sense and in so doing He suggests something he says it doesn't track what you're saying I can't be possessed by Satan and casting out demons but that leaves another option what does track if I Jesus and the Son of God wouldn't it make sense that I would be casting out demons that I would subdue Satan tying him up so that I can plunder his house so that I can offer healing and forgiveness to all of humanity who is currently held captive by sin wouldn't it make sense that I would confront Satan in order to forgive and to heal my creation after this he shares a fairly weighty warning with these scribes verses 28 to30 says truly I say to you all sins will be forgiven the children of men and whatever BL blasphemies they utter but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness but his guilty of an eternal sin for they were saying he has an unclean Spirit notice here Jesus didn't say you've done the unthinkable you've done the unforgivable sin you're condemned I'm walking away no that's not his words his words are be careful cuz I don't want you to keep going down the path that you're going he highlights this idea of an unforgivable sin the unforgivable sin that is the rejection of the holy spirit's testimony of who Jesus is I found a quote during the week that I thought was really helpful in unpacking this it said the blasphemy the blasphemy of the holy spirit will never be for for not because it is a sin too big for God to forgive but because it is an attitude of heart that cares nothing for God's forgiveness it never has forgiveness because it never wants forgiveness God's way remember the story about the man with the withered hand what were Jesus's words after the Pharisees wouldn't answer answer his question he looked around at them with anger grieved at the hardness of their heart Jesus is warning the scribes he's warning the Pharisees where's your heart at don't Harden it don't reject me don't reject who I am don't reject the testimony of the Holy Spirit I'm here to heal and forgive you but only if you accept me if you want nothing to do with me that's fine but that is the unforgivable sin and so what does this all mean for you and me we've heard some stories we've seen the Pharisees we've seen a claim about Jesus which was very easily disproven first truth is objective see Church Jesus isn't whoever we want him to be Jesus isn't whoever we believe that Jesus is the overarching theme of our series is Jesus's question who do you say I am the reality is that each and every one of us in this room each and every one of us who ever lives on this Earth will have to make a decision DEC ision as to who we say Jus is but our statement what we believe doesn't become truth truth is objective there is a truth about who Jesus is and what we believe about Jesus will either align with this truth or it will reject this truth truth is objective and so for each of us not only do we need to wrestle with who we say that Jesus is but we also need to ensure that what we believe is based on who Jesus tells us he is secondly if Jesus came to call the Sinners if he came to share the good news with those that are sick that he is the Healer then there's an implication in that and the implication is that all of humanity is sick is sinful and so if sin is a heart sickness that all of humanity has you me and everyone else it's worthwhile considering how we respond to this news are our hearts soft open and ready to receive or are they hardened and I think I think that when it comes to sickness I've looked at it in a physical way as well as a spiritual way I think there's a danger to swing to one of two extremes I'm going to share in a moment in a physical way how I swing to both extremes I'd love to say that I'm in the middle but it's so easy to do I believe there's two extremes that we need to be cautious of when we realized that we're sick one of them happened on Friday night at youth group we were playing dodgeball I had the realization that I no longer as young as I once was okay we were playing dodgeball and there was some good friendly competition and I jumped and I I dodged the ball which I thought was impressive but when I came down I twisted my ankle and I got back up I was like no it'll be fine continued running on it life was good and then I got home and I was like oh that's a little bit tender but it'll be all right went to sleep woke up the next morning saw that it was swollen went I should maybe do something about that but I've got plans today so I just went off and did my plans life was good was out all day walking on it doing whatever came home that night it was even more swollen and z in her loving nature said I think you should probably do something about that and so we bandaged it wrapped it up iced it and I woke up this morning nowhere near as swollen we have the tendency sometimes it's an extreme but we have the tendency to downplay the severity of our sickness and put off treatment that was in a very physical way but let's look at it from a spiritual perspective I believe there's a danger for us to downplay the severity of our sin and to put off treatment in the most extreme example for those who don't believe in Jesus they might know about him but their decision which is Theirs to make Jesus is a liar and a lunatic I don't care what he has to say I can live my life however I want when I die that's just it who cares I'm just going to make the best of it here and now but truth is objective and so even if this is what we believe the Bible tells us that the truth is that the penalty of sin is death that there is a consequence for our sin that we are sick and that we need healing we can put off the treatment in that extent but maybe also we're a Christian we have been for a little while but we downplay the severity of that one sin in our life we pretend like it's all good we go Jesus you can have access to every other aspect of my life except this one that's for me but if we downplay the severity of our sickness if there is objective truth then the sickness is still there if we put off treatment it doesn't help us the objective truth is we are sick and Jesus is the one who brings full and Lasting healing the other side of this pendulum is what is commonly known as the man flu we can exaggerate the extent of our sickness and become so overwhelmed by the symptoms that we feel hopeless if I get a flu symptoms are cough sore throat bad nose a little bit tired right and yet for me personally the man flu is a real thing okay my symptoms are sore throat can't do anything I've got to watch movies lay in bed you know Z Z's a great wife she'll get everything sort of for me it's terrible but we can do that right we can overe exaggerate the extent of our sickness and become overwhelmed by the sickness we can make things seem worse than they actually are now let's look at it from a spirit spiritual perspective maybe there's that one sin that you're struggling with have been for a little while and it just seems like this treatment the healing of Jesus it's it's not working it's not happening fast enough my my Pain's still here I'm still struggling with this I've accepted Jesus into my life but I'm just what's going on maybe we start to spiral in that space start to question whether or not Jesus is even actually doing anything the truth is church at this side of Eternity we will all still struggle with sin we are completely freed completely righteous by the blood of Jesus Christ and yet this side of Eternity still sinful we hold on to the promise that when Jesus returns sin will be dealt with once and for all maybe we can get a bit anxious has God really forgiven me for the to it in prayer God you know that thing I did 12 years ago I I just I I know I've given it to every single day but I just don't feel like you forgive me yet can can you please just maybe we can be overwhelmed we can be worried that we've committed this unforgivable sin if you've accepted Jesus into your life if you're seeking his Redemptive work if the Holy Spirit at work within you then you haven't the unforgivable sin is not to receive Jesus's forgiveness not to receive the testimony of who Jesus is by spirit so what's the objective truth we are sick we're completely healed completely free and yet this side of Eternity until Jesus comes again we are sick but Jesus brings full and Lasting healing he promises to walk alongside us to fill us with his holy spirit to be at work in our lives to bring healing so don't be discouraged don't downplay the severity of sin Jesus's message was clear you're sick repent and believe the good news but also don't exaggerate don't get overwhelmed by the sickness the sinful estate of men Jesus's promise is that it is finished that anyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life would you pray with me Heavenly Father we thank you that you are God we thank you for Jesus and his ministry we thank you for the fact that it's recorded in the gospels for us and Lord God we thank you that Jesus is the one who brings healing for Spiritual sickness Lord God wherever each and every one of us is at this morning my prayer is that you would speak to our hearts Lord help us not to harden our hearts to think that we've got it all under control Lord would you soften our hearts to give to you our sin to ask you into our lives to seek your forgiveness and your heal we thank you that you have made it possible for this to happen and we pray that as we continue to Journey Through the days weeks years ahead Lord that you would keep our hearts soft Lord that you would help us to continue to seek you to grow in you Lord we thank you for your healing that is complete and ongoing in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.