Mark 3:31-35

[snapstur]

@Shield> ok, let's go ahead and get started

GentleDove> ok

@Shield> thanks everyone for coming to this edition of the CCNet server meeting and Bible study

@Shield> I would like to start out with just a few thoughts before we launch into our ongoing study of Mark

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@Shield> With that, let's open in prayer.

@Shield> Father, thank you for this day and for your direction in our lives.

GentleDove> yes Lord

@Shield> May the few moments we spend together be fruitful in drawing us closer to you.

@Shield> May we be challenged in our thinking and in our application of your Word.

@Shield> in Jesus name we pray, amen

@Shield> If you have been with us over the past several week, you will recall that we have been studying the Gospel of Mark

@Shield> It is a gospel which carries a sense of urgency, of immediacy

@Shield> Most likely, it served as a source for its synoptic counterparts, as well as the fourth gospel

@Shield> Currently we find ourselves embedded in the throes of Mark 3, nearing its completion.

@Shield> Last week Bethel did a fine job of leading us up to verse 30

@Shield> I am sure we all realize that the thought of the text does not end with verse 30, however.

@Shield> rather, it carries through into one of the hard sayings of Jesus

@Shield> a passage that is difficult to interpret, and often difficult for Christians, especially those of us in the 21st century West to accept.

@Shield> So rather than gloss it over, I wish to spend the remainder of our time working through it as best we can.

@Shield> It is important that we recall a bit of foreshadowing to verse 30

@Shield> that is to say, there is a bit of narrative earlier on, that gives us some critical clues for interpretation and for understanding the overall narrative

@Shield> so let's read together some select passages with my limited commentary...

@Shield> Mark 3:7 Jesus departed with his disciples to the sea, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him;

@Shield> Mark 3:8 hearing all that he was doing, they came to him in great numbers from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and the region around Tyre and Sidon.

@Shield> Mark 3:9 He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him;

@Shield> Mark 3:10 for he had cured many, so that all who had diseases pressed upon him to touch him.

@Shield> by the way, "many" in the Greek refers to great crowds

@Shield> it is a reference to multitudes

@Shield> naturally, word had gotten out, notwithstanding his insistence that those healed not tell others just yet

@Shield> Mark 3:11 Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, "You are the Son of God!"

@Shield> Mark 3:12 But he sternly ordered them not to make him known.

@Shield> yet the confrontations were witnessed by the crowds who pressed in on him

@Shield> then a bit later on the mountain he appoints his twelve apostles, including the one who would betray him in the end.

@Shield> he gave them a commission to go out and preach

@Shield> and to have authority to drive out demons

@Shield> and then he gathered in a house with his disciples, but the crowds were so great, they could not even eat

@Shield> and here is the part I want you to see as a point of foreshadowing...

@Shield> watch closely...

@Shield> Mark 3:21 When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, "He has gone out of his mind."

@Shield> the translation I have been using is the New Revised Standard Version

@Shield> most other translations actually say, "they were saying"

@Shield> meaning his family

@Shield> either way, his family had set off to find him

@Shield> I almost get the image of "doctors in white lab coats"

@Shield> and this sets the stage for what is about to happen

@Shield> in the meantime the teachers of the law accused him of being possessed by Beelzebub

@Shield> or Satan
@Shield> fast-forward to tonight's text

@Shield> he is having a discussion, a confrontation really, about blasphemy of the Holy Spirit

@Shield> and then it happens

@Shield> almost on cue

@Shield> Mark 3:31 Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him.

@Shield> if we were not aware of verse 21....

@Shield> if we just started reading...

@Shield> then it would seem that this is such a nice, pastoral scene

@Shield> his family is coming to see him!

@Shield> surely they want to support his ministry, encourage him, be a part of what he is doing, yes?
@Shield> but read on...

@Shield> Mark 3:32 A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, "Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you."

@Shield> now if this were me....

@Shield> I would be saying, "hey! let em through!"

@Shield> or, "Wait here folks, hold that thought. I gotta go see Mom and my brothers..."

@Shield> but that is not what happens

@Shield> Mark 3:33 And he replied, "Who are my mother and my brothers?"

@Shield> this is a rhetorical question, and his listeners would have understood this.

@Shield> of course he knows who is mother and brothers are

@Shield> but he asked it rhetorically as a device, especially given his prophetic understanding of their intent to haul him away and talk sense into him.

@Shield> I imagine he paused.

@Shield> I imagine he lowered his voice just enough to cause them to lean forward.

@Shield> Mark 3:34 And looking at those who sat around him, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers!

@Shield> Mark 3:35 Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother."

@Shield> At first blush, it looks like he is disowning his earthly family, or at least giving them a roundabout rebuke

@Shield> but I don't think that is what is happening here.

@Shield> Master Teacher that he is, I think he is employing a very real situation, close to his heart, to make a point to his listeners, including his own family.

@Shield> His earthly family thought he basically needed help and they were there to give it. This was a product of their profound misunderstanding of his nature, his work, and his role.

@Shield> For his nature, his work, and his role is fundamentally infused in the will of God.

@Shield> for indeed he is the Son of God.

@Shield> indeed he came to earth as Immanuel, God with us, to make himself known.

@Shield> indeed, he is our Redeemer, sent to set the world to rights, and to be the propitiation for our sins.

@Shield> Our Savior.

@Shield> At that moment, even his disciples did not fully understand this.

@Shield> his apostles, sent though they were to preach and to cast out demons, did not fully comprehend his nature and his work.

@Shield> hence their profound betrayals in the moments leading up to his passion and crucifixion.

@Shield> So we must ask today as well

@Shield> who indeed is the brother or sister, or shall I say, the family member with Jesus?

@Shield> who indeed.

@Shield> All the theological a***en in the world will serve no purpose, unless we do the will of God.

@Shield> think on these things

@Shield> let's pray

@Shield> Our Father and our God

@Shield> Are we really any different than Jesus earthly family?

@Shield> His disciples?

@Shield> his apostles and the crowds that clamored for his attention?

@Shield> We seek him out asking for healing, for financial help, for relationship help, for all manner of things

@Shield> and that is all well and good...

@Shield> but speaking only for myself, Lord

@Shield> Please grant me the passion to seek your will.

@Shield> so that my words, my thoughts, my meditations, my actions, my habits, my conduct and attitudes, all those things I do when I think no one is watching....

@Shield> so that they may come into line with your will.

@Shield> give me courage, even at the expense of my own pride, to do your will.

@Shield> amen

@Shield> thanks for coming folks

@Shield> have a nice evening

RenewedSpirit> amen

Realistic-Dreamer> amen

GentleDove> amen---good study

@Shield> as always, we welcome your feedback

@Shield> you may go to www.christian-chat.net and select #thechapel at the channel feedback form to let us know what you think

Snapstur> amen

Flute> amen

Deacon> Amen

GentleDove> amen