The priority of the gospel, Mark 3:20-35

Today we are picking up where we left off in Mark’s gospel last time.  As you will recall, Jesus called certain of the disciples away with Him to a mountain, and there He commissioned 12 of them to be His disciples.  These were to be the men who would be closest to Him, to whom He would have intimate fellowship.  He called them apart from the crowds, from the multitudes, from the world to Himself.  They would become closer to Him than even His family.  They would in fact be His family, even the foundation of His body, which is the church.

So keeping that in context, we come now to a couple of events in which this idea of the family of Christ is called into question.  And Jesus responds to those questions with a principle, or the truth of His gospel, which has direct implications for all of those who would be Christ’s disciples, even to us here today.  So to that end, I have entitled today’s message the priority of the gospel.  And we will be examining three principles related to this priority.  First the priority of the spiritual above the physical.  Next the priority of the kingdom of God over the kingdom of darkness.  And third, the priority of the church over the family.

Now let’s start with the priority of the spiritual over the physical and we will begin by looking at the description Mark gives in vs 20.  Jesus and His disciples have come home, that is to Capernaum once again, from the mountain where Jesus  had commissioned the twelve. And immediately, it seems, the crowds learn of His arrival and come to where He is.  In fact, Mark tells us that the enthusiasm to see Jesus is so great on the part of the multitudes, that Jesus and the disciples don’t even have time to eat.  And I believe the text indicates that Jesus willingly engaged with the multitudes, by addressing their needs, having compassion on the lost sheep of Israel.  He was about the Father’s business, even to the exclusion of taking care of His normal daily needs.  

You will recall a similar event,  when Jesus visited with the woman of Samaria, when the disciples had gone into town to get food, and finding Jesus talking with the woman when they returned, they were trying to get Him to eat, and were surprised to hear His response; “I have food to eat that you do not know about.”  And they said, “did someone give Him something to eat while we were gone?”  And He replied, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.”  

So in Jesus’s mind, to do the will of God was spiritual food which was more essential than physical food.  And in this situation in Capernaum, it seems He is employing the same principle.  There is no time even to eat for Jesus, because He is spiritually feeding and being fed in the business of establishing the Kingdom of God. 

Now I think you can understand the principle there, which applies to us as well.  For we are to have the mind of Christ, to follow in His footsteps as He gave us an example.  The business of the Kingdom of God takes priority over earthly desires and even bodily needs.  And that principle was illustrated earlier in the discourse we looked at last week concerning fasting, which Jesus talked about in chapter 2, around vs20 or so. Fasting illustrates the priority of the spiritual over the needs of the physical.  I won’t belabor that point, but I hope you will meditate on the truth of it for yourselves. 

Vs.21 says though that when His own people heard of this, the fact of His unceasing work, not even eating a meal, they went out to take custody of Him, saying, “He has lost His senses.”  Now I don’t know if they were using a colloquialism such as we might use today by saying, “you are out of your mind!”  or if they were seriously thinking that He was going crazy.  I’m leaning towards the latter, because Mark says they didn’t just say it, but they went to get Him and take custody of Him.  In other words, they were going to do an intervention.  And I’m sure that they were sincere in their concern for Him.  But they were sincerely in error.  

Furthermore, let’s elaborate on the phrase; “His own people.”  This could have been friends from the past, perhaps relatives from the old neighborhood, that heard the things being reported about Jesus and thought this is crazy.  We knew Him when He was a little boy.  He always seemed a little different, but this has gone too far.  He’s out of His mind!”  So well intended, but misplaced concern on the part of somewhat condescending neighbors and friends. 

But I think that the context of this chapter indicates that it was more than simply concerned friends from the old neighborhood.  I think vs.31 indicates that it was probably His mother and His brothers.  Now that raises some serious questions.  First of all, it raises the question as to what the status of their spirituality was at that point.  Mary, of course, is revered to the point of practically being worshipped in certain religions today.  But Mary had to come to salvation, and she had to come to sanctification, just as everyone does.  Mary was a person with weaknesses and sins just as every man and woman on the face of the earth.  The Bible tells us that there is none righteous, no not even one.  Not even Mary.  

Furthermore, it means that she had other sons and daughters.  In Matt. 13:55-56 we read the people of Caperanum asking,  "Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things?”  So not only do we that Jesus had brothers and sisters, but in John 7:5 we see that they did not believe that He was the Christ, the Son of God.  John 7:5 “For not even His brothers were believing in Him.”  As Mark indicates here in our text, they thought He was delusional. They thought He was acting irrationally.  And somehow or another, it seems that they prevailed upon HIs mother to join with them in rescuing Jesus from this self destructive illusion He was suffering under.   Now we will see Jesus’s answer to that in a moment.  

But in the interim, Mark shows us another scene, presumably going on at that time, in which the scribes sent down from Jerusalem to investigate Jesus and His claims, come to the conclusion and even start broadcasting their claim that Jesus is possessed by the devil himself.  Mark 3:22 The scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, "He is possessed by Beelzebul," and "He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.”

They see the marvelous things that He was doing, and moved to jealousy, they spew hateful lies, trying to undermine His ministry.  In fact, their hatred moves them to do something blasphemous, to impugn the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and say that instead it is something demonic.  In fact, they use a name for Satan which is Beelzebul, which is a variation of the “Lord of the Flies”, or “Lord of the dung heap.”  They want to associate Christ with the lowest, vilest name for Satan that they know of, as if to vilify Christ even more.

Now  this passage illustrates the second principle; that is the priority, or superiority, of the kingdom of God over the kingdom of darkness.  Let’s start by considering Jesus’s response.  First He asks the question, “How can Satan cast out Satan?”  And He answers His own question with an illustration, or a simple parable.  “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.”  So the parable is a house divided against itself, or a kingdom divided against itself.  In both cases He is talking about the ruler of the house, or the ruler of the kingdom.  We see that illustrated in the case of a husband and wife becoming divisive and argumentative, and then finally ending in divorce, don’t we?  A house divided cannot stand.  It is ruined.  

So it is in the spiritual realm, or kingdom or house.  If in Satan’s house is one who casts out Satan’s demons, then the ruin of that house is imminent.  And so Jesus says in vs.26, “If Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but he is finished!”  So in other words, what you are accusing Me of is not reasonable. 

Then He gives another illustration which shows the superiority of His gospel.  They attributed a lie to His ministry, saying He had a demon.  Now He shows them the truth of His ministry.  And that is that He is vastly superior than Satan, and that is why He is able to cast out demons.  Vs.27, “But no one can enter the strong man’s house and plunder his property unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house.”

What He is saying is that Satan is the prince of this world, the prince of darkness.  He has held captive in his realm the souls of men.  They are held captive by sin and the whole world is in darkness because of it.  So Jesus says that He could not free people from Satan’s dominion unless He first binds the strong man, that is Satan.  He cannot take away Satan’s property unless He is stronger and overpowers Satan.  So He frees men from demonic possession not by the power of Satan, but because His own power is superior.  As Col 1:13 says, “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.”  

And in the next chapter of Colossians this transfer is explained further.  Col 2:15  “When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.”  That’s speaking of His ascension and taking of His throne at the right hand of the Father.  Christ broke Satan’s powerful hold on us by taking away our penalty of sin.  At this point, Christ has not died for sins, but He is still able to free men from the dominion of Satan because of His sovereignty as the Son of God.  And the lesser angels know that, and that is why they are submissive to Him.

But the Lord isn’t done with these scribes yet.  He has refuted their accusation, He has explained His power, but now He will rebuke their blasphemy.   He says in vs.28 "Truly I say to you, all sins shall be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter;  but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin"--  because they were saying, "He has an unclean spirit.”

Now this verse has given rise to a lot of questions concerning the unpardonable sin.  And some have perhaps taught things which are not taught in this passage, with the result that it causes naive Christians undue concern.  Note first of all the phrase, “all sins will be forgiven the sons of men and whatever blasphemes they utter.”  Now that statement stands alone as truth.  We see no evidence in scripture of a sin so vile that it cannot be forgiven.  Peter denied Christ three times with cursing.  David was guilty of adultery, lying and murder.  Paul was guilty of persecuting Christians to death. And yet all were forgiven.  Because the grace of God is greater than all our sins.  If a man or woman repents, there is forgiveness.  1John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

So let no one convince you that there is a sin too great for God to forgive, because that would limit the righteousness of Jesus Christ as insufficient.  And that cannot be true. How then can you never find forgiveness for your sins?  If you never turn to Him in repentance who has the power of forgiveness.  If you continually harden your heart against the conviction of the Holy Spirit, and you die in your sins, then you will die unforgiven.  So when you blaspheme against the Holy Spirit it is to deny His sanctifying work, and to trample it under foot and consider it worthless.  Though the Spirit’s job is to convict you of sin, you deny you have sin.  Though He convicts you of the need for salvation, you tell yourself that you do not need saving.  And as such you die in your sins, unforgiven.  That is the unpardonable sin.  You deny the Lord as your Savior of whom the Spirit bears witness.

Mark adds that Jesus said this because they were saying that He had an unclean spirit.  In other words, they were casting aspersions upon His family ties.  He was not the Son of God, they said, but the son of the devil.  And as such they denied themselves the possibility of salvation, because as the son of the devil He could not ever save.  But as the Son of God He ever lives to give salvation to those who believe.  Hebrews 7:25 “Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”

Well, speaking of family, Mark turns our attention once again to His mother and brothers who have finally come to take Jesus home with them.  And in this passage we see the final priority, that of the church over the family.   As Jesus is in the home of presumably Simon Peter, His mother and His brothers arrive outside and send Him a message to come home with them.  And as the crowd is sitting around Him, listening to His teaching, someone said, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are outside looking for You.”  

And Jesus’s answer is quite shocking.  Answering them, He *said, “Who are My mother and My brothers?” Looking about at those who were sitting around Him, He *said, “Behold My mother and My brothers!  For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother.”

There is a natural assumption, is there not, that family comes first?  I have seen very powerful men, whom you could not get an appointment with if you tried, drop everything, put an important business meeting on hold because they got a phone call from one of their children. This is natural.  It is normal.  But though it is a natural condition, it does not necessarily make it spiritual principle.  In fact, in the case of the Jews we find that this family association worked against them in spiritual matters.  You will remember that they relied upon their being descendants of their father Abraham for their salvation.  They relied upon their material, physical inheritance as Israelites to supply their spiritual salvation.  But as I argued at the beginning, the physical does not supply the spiritual, but the spiritual supplies the physical.  It was the faith like that of Abraham that is able to save, not the physical relation to Abraham.  

Jesus actually makes several references in His gospel to the physical relationship of family versus the spiritual relationship to God.  For example, In Luke 14:26 Jesus said, "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.”

Let me break that down for you very simply.  This is not just some sort of hyperbole on the part of Jesus.  This is a vital principle of the gospel.  And this is it really simply; the family of God takes priority over the family of man.  The church takes priority over the family.  If you can explain Luke 14:26 any other way, then I would be glad to hear it.  But I think it is clear what Jesus is saying.  He says it another way in Matt. 10:37 "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.”

Listen folks, if we are not careful, we can make our family into an idol that comes before God.  God demands that He be first.  Jesus said in Matthew 22:37, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’  That’s the priority.  Jesus has to have preeminence above every family tie, above every earthly relation, above every human responsibility.   

That goes against our grain, doesn’t it?  It goes against our nature.  Against our wisdom.  But the Bible speaks of a heavenly wisdom that supercedes that of the natural wisdom of man.  “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.”

I think we are all guilty of putting natural affections above spiritual affections.  I could really dig into this, but I think we are all intelligent people here.  I think we should be able to make the application where necessary. 

But I would ask you to consider something important to this principle.  Why do we go to church?  Is it to just hear a preacher preach a message? You can do that online or on television.  Is it just to fellowship with like minded people? You can do that in a bar or at a soccer game.  Is it just to sing songs?  You can do that by listening to the radio.  I think that this question underscores one of the most misunderstood principles in the gospel.  And that is the priority of church. 

Let me try to explain it this way. Church is the submission of the physical to the spiritual.  It is illustrated by the Sabbath rest, in which the physical acts of supplying your food, or work or physical needs ceased in order to establish the preeminence of your spiritual needs.  So church is physically submitting your body to the spiritual body.  It is an act of physical sacrifice and offering of yourself to God.  And I think it is articulated in Romans 12:1,2  “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”  

When we physically present our bodies to the Lord’s body, to His church, then we give Him our spiritual service of worship.  We are confessing when we come to church our spiritual dependency upon Him to supply every need. We are establishing the spiritual priority over the needs or desires of the  physical.  We are putting action to our faith, in which the demands of this life are subjected to the priority of the life of God.  And if we love God, then as we learned in 1 John, we will keep His commandments, to love His body, to love one another, and not forsake the assembling of ourselves together.

Notice that is what Jesus concludes this principle about family with; a lesson on the necessity of obedience.  It was not the physical relationships that constituted family, but the spiritual relationship to God.  And if you are a member of His family, then you will obey Him. “For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother.”

Listen, Jesus said there will be many people, let me repeat that, many people, that will say unto Him “Lord, Lord!”  And yet He will say to them, “I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.”  If we call Him Lord, then we must do the things which He says.

Though we are not saved on the basis of our works, we are known as belonging to His family by our works.  We do as He did.  We do the Father’s will.  And so the sons of God look like, and act like the Father.

You will remember that when Jesus was a young boy, about 12, and His family went to Jerusalem, later on when they had started to return home they discovered that He was not with the caravan.  And so His mother and father looked all over Jerusalem for Him and finally found Him in the temple.  And His parents asked Him why did you do this to us?  Why did you cause us this concern?  And remember His answer?  “Did you not know I had to be in My Father’s house?”  Jesus showed by His actions the priority of HIs spiritual family through His attendance to the things of God.

And I’ll give you one more example of that as we draw this to a close.  Jesus on the cross was attended to by His mother and the disciple John.  And you will remember that Jesus before He died looked at His mother and said, “Woman, behold your son.”  Then He *said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” From that hour the disciple took her into his own household.

Now we have already seen that Mary had other sons and daughters.  What was the point of this exchange then?  The point was to show the priority of the spiritual relationship over the physical relationship.  Mary and John were related by faith, which was a greater relationship than what she had with her sons, who were as yet unbelieving.  And so it is with our faith.  Our faith has resulted in becoming a new creation; old things are passed away, and all things become new.  And so there are no priorities in our lives.  The priority of the spiritual above the physical.  The priority of the kingdom of God over the kingdom of darkness.  And the priority of the church over human familial relationships.  

God wants all of you, and He wants to make all things subjected to Jesus Christ.  There can be no idols competing with the Lord in your life.  “You shall have no other gods before Me.”  Let us examine our priorities today.  And put the Lord in first place not only in word, but in deed.