On Line Bible Study - For the week February 2 - 8, 2009

Lesson 373

Mark 3: 20 Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. 21 When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind." 22 And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, "He is possessed by Beelzebub! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons."

23 So Jesus called them and spoke to them in parables: "How can Satan drive out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. 27 In fact, no one can enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can rob his house. 28 I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. 29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin."

30 He said this because they were saying, "He has an evil spirit." 31 Then Jesus' mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, "Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you." 33 "Who are my mother and my brothers?" he asked.

34 Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother."

Some thoughts for your consideration ...

1. "Jesus entered a house" (3:20) might be better translated: Jesus came home.
2. Some editors were so uncomfortable with verse 21 that they changed it from "his family" to "some of his disciples". C.S. Lewis picks up on this theme in some of his writing, stating that either Jesus was a mad man, or he truly was the "Son of God". Jesus' actions and teachings, while authoritative, were also most unorthodox. To come on to the scene and be so different from what people had previously experienced seems to have made people wonder about his very sanity. (Donahue and Harrington point out that this line has a strong ring of authenticity to it in that the Church would never have made up such a charge against Jesus.)
   
3. But in verse 22, the suspicions change from asking if he is normal, "out of his mind", and now - demon possessed. So the stakes get higher.
4. Verse 23 is the first reference in Mark's gospel to "parables". The word comes from two Greek words - para, which means "along side"; and ballein, which means "to throw, or place". The sense of the word is that two different things have been placed along side each other. C. H. Dodd defines "parable" in this way: A 'parable' is a metaphor or simile drawn from nature or common life, arresting the hearer by its vividness or strangeness and leaving the mind in sufficient doubt about its precise applications to tease it into active thought. Is that the effect the parables have on you?
5. Jesus offers two images - the first is of a house "divided against itself". In this case, the problems are internal. Remember the story of Herod in Matthew 14? We will come to this same story in Mark 6 - he married his brother's wife. Internal strife had brought down rulers both Jewish and Roman. The second image Jesus offers is that of an attack by a weak man on the house of one stronger than him. The sense of this image seems to be to tell us that Jesus is not attacking Satan as one who is weaker; rather, Jesus is strong enough to take on the evil spirit.
6. The point of verses 28-29 seems to be this: Don't credit the devil with what the Holy Spirit is doing!. This can be tricky at times, can't it! Are the changes we are experiencing "good news" or "bad news"? In your own life, are you resisting something that is, in truth, God's will for you?
7. The section concludes with the family of Jesus, thus closing the loop - and the question is put to us: Who constitutes the true family of Jesus? If you recall the section just previous to this one, Mark lists the name of the 12 disciples. These are the members of his family, says Jesus - the ones who truly do God's will.