Mark 3:20–27
And the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.” And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.” And he called them to him, and spoke to them in parables, “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 his end has come. But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered.
Jesus has been on a bit of a retreat, teaching the crowds, gathering disciples and assembling his core team of twelve. Now he is straight back into action.
It is action which completely confuses his family and confronts the religious leaders. ‘Who does he think he is?’, ‘What is he doing?’ and ‘Where will it all lead to?’
Wherever Jesus is, evil personalised in the name of Satan or the Devil is never far away. He was there in the wilderness temptations, he will be there in Gethsemane at Jesus’ arrest, (‘but this is your hour, and the power of darkness’ Luke 22: 53). Here we see Jesus in open conflict with him.
Jesus was ‘casting out demons’. Now you can think of a demon as a sort of fallen angel serving Satan, as the actual touch of Satan himself or simply as a form of impersonal human destructiveness that has got a grip on a person’s life. Addiction, obsession or possession, they are all dark and destructive. Jesus’ mission is to cast out, to cleanse and to re-claim lives.
The scribes would have seen demons being cast out before, but they had not seen anyone do it like Jesus did it. They had not seen such power, such victory. Moreover, they are the ones from Jerusalem and the Temple. They are the accredited and recognised scribes. Jesus is very different and he is certainly not one of them so they can only assume, he must be with the other side, the dark side.
Jesus is not Darth Vader and makes it crystal clear; he is not Satan’s ally but his absolute enemy. He is rising up against, breaking into the house of and setting free the captives of evil.
I once worked with a woman who had been captive to drink… until Jesus set her free.
I once knew a man still under the shadow of child abuse.
Two nurses living in a flat filled with frightening happenings.
A young boy suffering with the psychological impact of bullying.
A teenage girl self-harming.
A man who was demon possessed.
There was darkness then and there is darkness now. Jesus liberated them then and he is still doing it.
So the big conflict, light versus darkness, healing versus destructiveness, Jesus versus Satan, it begins. And in the background another little battlefield is just opening up. The scribes against Jesus, the religious power of Jerusalem against a simple preacher man from Galilee.
I’ve never really liked the old Victorian hymn, ‘Onward Christian Soldiers’. Partly because it is just so long but mainly because it’s a bit militaristic. But I do think it has got a point:
Jesus has been on a bit of a retreat, teaching the crowds, gathering disciples and assembling his core team of twelve. Now he is straight back into action.
It is action which completely confuses his family and confronts the religious leaders. ‘Who does he think he is?’, ‘What is he doing?’ and ‘Where will it all lead to?’
Wherever Jesus is, evil personalised in the name of Satan or the Devil is never far away. He was there in the wilderness temptations, he will be there in Gethsemane at Jesus’ arrest, (‘but this is your hour, and the power of darkness’ Luke 22: 53). Here we see Jesus in open conflict with him.
Jesus was ‘casting out demons’. Now you can think of a demon as a sort of fallen angel serving Satan, as the actual touch of Satan himself or simply as a form of impersonal human destructiveness that has got a grip on a person’s life. Addiction, obsession or possession, they are all dark and destructive. Jesus’ mission is to cast out, to cleanse and to re-claim lives.
The scribes would have seen demons being cast out before, but they had not seen anyone do it like Jesus did it. They had not seen such power, such victory. Moreover, they are the ones from Jerusalem and the Temple. They are the accredited and recognised scribes. Jesus is very different and he is certainly not one of them so they can only assume, he must be with the other side, the dark side.
Jesus is not Darth Vader and makes it crystal clear; he is not Satan’s ally but his absolute enemy. He is rising up against, breaking into the house of and setting free the captives of evil.
I once worked with a woman who had been captive to drink… until Jesus set her free.
I once knew a man still under the shadow of child abuse.
Two nurses living in a flat filled with frightening happenings.
A young boy suffering with the psychological impact of bullying.
A teenage girl self-harming.
A man who was demon possessed.
There was darkness then and there is darkness now. Jesus liberated them then and he is still doing it.
So the big conflict, light versus darkness, healing versus destructiveness, Jesus versus Satan, it begins. And in the background another little battlefield is just opening up. The scribes against Jesus, the religious power of Jerusalem against a simple preacher man from Galilee.
I’ve never really liked the old Victorian hymn, ‘Onward Christian Soldiers’. Partly because it is just so long but mainly because it’s a bit militaristic. But I do think it has got a point:
‘Onward Christian soldiers,
Marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus
Going on before.’
Lord Jesus,
Help me to be a light in the darkness,
A love in the hardness,
A gift in the selfishness.
Help me to set people free,
When they are bound by evil.
Amen.