Either Jesus calls you into his kingdom or you reject him

How do you all feel about fairweather fans? You know the type. You never hear them talk about the team until its championship time and then suddenly they’re wearing the jersey and the hat and acting like they’ve been the biggest fan their whole life. But then next season the team isn’t doing well and you don’t hear a peep from them. They’re in until they’re out. And usually the terrible seasons are that great filtering time when you find out who the real fans are. The ones who still fly their flag when the team is 0-10, that’s a real fan. There’s some filtering going on to see who’s pretending to be in and who’s really in. Jesus is going to start engaging in some filtering in our passage today. Who is really a part of his kingdom and who is merely pretending?

Transition - We have a large text this morning.

Text – Mark 3:7-35 , which can be found in your pew Bible on page 787

I want to read a few verses from it and make some comments before reading the rest of it.

READ Mark 3:7-12

This is a summary passage. It’s describing what has resulted from the past several chapters of Jesus’ work. It sounds like he has reached the peak of his ministry. He’s surrounded by crowds everywhere he goes. They have come from places all over Israel and even outside of Israel to hear him. He has been healing countless people. The demons are falling down before him and declaring that he is the son of God. All of this is because of the authority he has been demonstrating up until now in both his miracles and his teaching. It’s hard to imagine a better response to Jesus’ ministry. And this summary acts like a transition point. Jesus has been preaching repentance and he is calling people out of Satan’s kingdom into his kingdom. We’ve talked about that over and over. But when we look at the enormous crowd of people following Jesus from everywhere. We must wonder, are all of these people a part of his kingdom? Or are there some who are in and some who are out?

Let’s look again at our outline for Mark.

We’ve seen this one multiple times and you know that we’re in the portion of Mark concerning the authority of Christ. But let me zoom in a little bit and break that section down.

Here we see Mark’s authority section has three parts. First, Jesus demonstrates his authority. We saw that in the previous sermons. He has authority over disease, over demons, over purity, over the Sabbath, over traditions, and so on. But now we’re moving into the next section concerning his authority. Who is going to come under his authority? The kingdom of God is the reign of God over those obeying his authority. So kingdom and authority are closely related. So we ask, who is in and who is out of this kingdom? Who joyfully comes under this authority and who rebelliously stays out?

Jesus is going to begin making those distinctions in the rest of our text this morning.

Main Point – Either Jesus calls you into his kingdom or you reject him

Read Mark 3:13-35

Prayer

Jesus is going to start making some distinctions among his followers by setting aside some and not others.

Point #1 – Jesus uses his authority to call people into his kingdom and send them (vs. 13-19)

We just came from a scene where people are crowding all around Jesus. He can barely move. There is a potential that he will genuinely be crushed and the only escape is to get into a boat to push out away from these people. The text doesn’t tell us, but we assume he made it into the boat and escaped the crowds. Then he finds his way off to a mountain away from the crowds. Why does Jesus go to this mountain? What is he going to do there? He goes up in vs 13 and he leaves in vs 20. The only thing he accomplishes in between is filtering out his followers. Jesus is intentionally sifting them. By the end of this mountain trip, there are going to be some who are in and some who are out. How will Jesus determine who makes the cut? What criteria must they meet to be his follower and not merely one of the crowd. Let’s read vs. 13.

READ VS 13

That’s it. He calls to him whomever he desires. He looks at the crowd and says, “I want those people”. And how do they respond? When he calls them. They come to him. It’s exactly like how he called each of the disciples previously. “Simon, Andrew, follow me” and immediately they followed him. “James, John, follow me” and they followed him. “Levi, follow me” and he rose and followed him. And here, “he called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him”. If Jesus wants someone to be a part of his kingdom, he simply calls them in. They don’t earn their way in. They don’t meet certain qualifications. The only thing necessary is for Jesus to will it. What does he do with these people?

READ VS 14-15

It’s not entirely clear if he only calls 12 men onto the mountain or if he calls a lot of people and then out of those people he picks 12. I’m inclined to believe it’s the latter. But he picks 12, again simply because he desires them not because they’re something special, and he sets them aside as people he has a special plan for. First he wants them to be with him. Then he wants them to go out and preach and cast out demons.

Mark is not being subtle here. Jesus is clearly taking his authority and his mission that he has demonstrated in all the verses leading up to this and is giving it to his followers. What are the two things that Jesus has been doing consistently up until now? Everywhere he goes he’s preaching. And everywhere he goes he’s casting out demons. Why? Because Jesus is entering into Satan’s kingdom, he’s doing battle with Satan [pow, pow, punch the demons] and he’s calling people out of that kingdom by preaching repentance. And all along the way he is showing us that he has unique authority and power to do this. Now he is saying to these 12, I want you to go into that kingdom to do battle with Satan [pow, pow, punch the demons] and call people out through preaching repentance. And I’m going to give my authority to you so you can do it.

And how are they going to become equipped to do these things? They’re first going to just be with Jesus. This is discipleship 101. How does Jesus make disciples? He simply asks them to come be with him. Be with him as he walks around Galilee. Be with him as he eats his meals. Be with him while he preaches. Be with when he goes to the grocery store. It’s fascinatingly informal. But remarkably effective. He’s calling them to a quantity of time, not necessarily a quality of time.

Let me explain what I mean by that. When we think discipleship, we often think of moments, lessons, or events that are set aside specifically for discipleship and of a very high quality. Quantity of time is different. It is simply a long consistent exposure to someone that makes you similar to them. If Silvi and I start to develop similar mannerisms and phrases and even patterns of thinking, it’s not because we went to an event to learn how to be like each other. We simply spend such an enormous amount of time together that it rubs off. Jesus doesn’t say, I have these 5 perfect seminars you’re going to attend and then you’ll be like me. That would be quality time. He simply states, you’ll be with me, everywhere, for three and a half years. This is how discipleship happens. Being discipled by Jesus means we spend lots of time with him. We’re regularly in our Bible. We’re regularly listening to it taught. We’re regularly talking about him. Is every time we open the Word an incredible light from heaven moment that alters the course of our lives? No. Lots of times it’s mundane. But every time we listen to Christ’s words, who he is starts to rub off on us.

Discipleship is a lot like a tea bag. You wouldn’t take a tea bag and dip it into hot water for one second and remove it. If you did that 2 or 3 times then tasted the water, you’d assume you must have a bad teabag and it doesn’t work. You leave the bag in. You let it steep. And over time the water becomes flavored like tea. Or another way to think of it is that many years ago I used to work at Texas Roadhouse. And I had to wear specific t-shirts to work. Over time those shirts started to collect the scent of the restaurant. Maybe at first I could wash the smell out, but over time there was absolutely nothing I could do to get the smell out of those shirts. I wasn’t spraying my shirt with Texas Roadhouse scented perfume every month or so, but rather I had spent so much time in the restaurant that the scent was absorbed and became a part of the shirt. If we want to gain the scent of Jesus or the flavor of Jesus, it requires time to be with him.

Jesus called these men to be with him. Who does he call?

READ VS 16-19

This section makes for some great Bible trivia. But Mark doesn’t tell us things with no purpose. He mentions the names of all these men that his readers would know. He called Peter, do you all know Peter? Yeah, yeah. He’s great. And he called James, do you all know him? Oh yeah, James is wonderful. And he goes down the list naming all of the great men of God from the first century, with a smiling, nodding audience of readers. But then he arrives at verse 19 and you hear the record scratch (vvv!). He called Judas Iscariot? The one that handed him over to be killed? Mark writes “who betrayed him” assuming that all of his readers know the story. But maybe the people who had heard of Judas assumed that he was some outsider who swooped in and attacked Jesus at an opportune time. But here Mark says, “No, Jesus specifically called Judas to be with him.” This is a bit of a shocker.

Now, I’m going to table my thoughts on Judas until a little bit later. We’ll get back to him.

We’ve already seen Jesus start to set aside those who are in, but who are those who are out?

Point #2 – Those who reject his authority are outside his kingdom (vs 22-30)

READ VS 22

We’ve been slowly seeing escalating tension between Jesus and his opponents. First it was with the scribes who had a problem with him. Next we saw it escalate to the Pharisees who the scribes worked for. Now we see scribes coming down from Jerusalem. Jerusalem is like the religious HQ of Israel. They’re sending in the big dogs. To put in more modern terms, it’s as if first Jesus was in trouble with the local security guards, but then next the local and state police got involved, but now they’re sending in the feds to deal with Jesus. The feds are coming in from Jerusalem and they’ve got a problem with Jesus. They can’t deny that he casts out demons or that he heals people. Those things are very evident. But they can try to sway people by accusing him of having demonic power. That would be an excellent strategy. This guy has power and people are drawn to him, but if that power is from Satan, maybe people will back away. So that’s what they do. They accuse him of being possessed by Beelzebul which is just an ancient Jewish way of referencing Satan. As always Jesus has a very simple and logical reply that tears their case to the ground.

READ VS 23-26

His first reply is, “That doesn’t make any sense. Why would Satan attack his own team?” That’s like if all of the best football players started getting the flu and someone who doesn’t like the coach starts accusing him of giving it to them. It’s a ridiculous accusation. Next Jesus says, almost humorously, that if Satan fights himself his kingdom will end! As if to tell the scribes, “Well, if I'm working for Satan and am also working to destroy Satan then you should let me keep doing what I’m doing because then I’ll be able to tear down the kingdom of Satan. It will finally come to an end!” The scribes have not thought through their argument very well. So Jesus will tell them what he is actually accomplishing.

READ VS 27

Instead of being someone inside the house fighting with the others inside the house. Jesus claims that he is someone from outside the house and he has come to plunder it or to steal from it. But to do that he must first defeat the opposition. He has to incapacitate the one guarding the house. Or as he phrases it he has to bind the strong man. Jesus is entering the kingdom of Satan or the “house of the strongman”  to save people or “plunder” them. Their argument is weak and Jesus dismantles it, but he’s concerned about something deeper going on that he wants to expose.

READ VS 28-30

If you’ve ever heard these words before then you’ve probably experienced a moment or two of terror when you realize Jesus is saying there is a sin that will never be forgiven. There is a sin so horrible that to commit it means there’s no turning back. And this has kept many people up at night wondering if it was them. Have they done the unforgivable? Maybe you’ve wondered the same thing yourself. Jesus says he’ll forgive absolutely anything, except this one thing. What exactly is it?

Praise God for Mark. He added verse 30 for us. Jesus finishes talking and then Mark as the narrator adds in “for they were saying ‘He has an unclean spirit’.” OK. So the unforgivable sin is related to their accusations that Jesus was working for the devil. But why is that an unforgivable thing to say? What’s unique about it? Jesus says that the specific thing that sets this type of blasphemy apart from any other things they may have said, was that this one is specifically against the Holy Spirit. And what have we learned about the Holy Spirit so far in Mark? At Jesus’ baptism, the Holy Spirit is the one who descends on him, expressing the fact that God has chosen him and will empower Jesus for his ministry. Where did Jesus get his authority? Who commissioned him for this mission just like commissioned the 12 for theirs? God did. God sent Jesus on the mission. God gave Jesus the authority. And the Holy Spirit is the evidence of that. So for the scribes to accuse Jesus of being from Satan is to say, “Your authority is illegitimate and you do not have authority over me.” BOOM! That’s the sin Jesus has been talking about. To look at Jesus and say, “I don’t need to submit to you. You do not have authority over me.”

Friends, I pray that none of you rebel in this way. Too often people think of Jesus as someone who is merely there to encourage you and say nice things to you. He’s just a grandpa who you can leave alone for years at a time and then just show up when you want something and he’s so nice he’ll help you out. Jesus is the authority in your life. He loves you, yes, but he cares about what you’re doing right now. He cares about the choices you make. He is your king and that means he is the one who determines how you use your time. He determines how you use your money. He determines how you act in the workplace. He determines how you act in the privacy of your home. He is our authority. To look at him with disregard and claim that you’ll come to him if you need something, but until then you’re in charge of yourself is damning! It won’t just lead you to a life that’s a little less happy. It will damn you! Jesus’ warning to the scribes is severe and I hope I’m capturing that in the tone I have right now. His authority is not optional for you if you feel like it.

I have tried hard to argue that this book is from God. All of it. And if it’s from God then that means that this book has authority over us. Jesus expresses his authority over us through this word. When you don’t open it, you’re declaring that you’re uninterested in Jesus’ authority. Worse, when you know what it says, but still don’t think you need to do it, you’re proclaiming that your authority over yourself is higher than Jesus’ authority over you. That’s a dangerous path to walk on. All those who have been freed from Satan also are now under Jesus’ authority.

How can I know then if I have been freed from Satan and am a part of God’s kingdom?

Point #3 – The will of God defines who’s in the kingdom, not proximity (vs. 20-21, 31-35)

If you’ve been following along carefully, you may have noticed that I skipped a few verses. I haven't read verses 20-21 yet. I saved them for now because they were meant to be read together with the final verses of the chapter. What you’ll see as we go through the book of Mark is that he likes to start a story, interrupt it with a different story, then he’ll complete the first story. Scholars have a real fancy name for this. They call it the Markan sandwich. He does it about half a dozen times in his book and this is our first encounter with it. The story in the middle is often a key to helping you understand the outsides. Let me read the bottom slice of bread here first before we read the top slice later.

READ VS 20-21

So Jesus comes down from the mountain with his disciples and immediately the crowds surround him again. There’s no time or space to even get food. Jesus’ family apparently here’s about all of this ordeal from Nazareth. That’s 25+ miles away. It would take them about 2 days to walk out to Jesus in Capernaum. They’re worried about him. He’s supposed to be just a simple rural labor worker with them and here he’s being crushed by crowds and hiding in boats and he can’t escape and he can’t eat. Whatever he’s out here doing and saying needs to stop because it’s craziness.  So they’re on their way to “seize” him. That’s a term for taking him by force. It’s probably not on the level of kidnapping, but it’s pretty close. This story is interrupted by the conversation with the Pharisees but resumes afterwards. What happens when they get there?

READ VS 31-32

They show up at the house and they want him to come out. They are his family and they have a right to their son and their brother. You know how that is when you go to a party you’re not supposed to be at and then your mom shows up at the door. Someone shouts, “Your mom’s here!” and that’s bad news. You’d probably rather have heard someone say that cops are here. You gotta go, buddy. She’s in charge and she’s going to remind you of it. But Jesus doesn’t go. What does he do?

READ VS 33-35

This response seems borderline disrespectful. “Who’s my mom?” Is Jesus really pleading ignorance here? He’s not. He obviously knows who his family is. But what he is doing is denying that they have a special right over him. They think that being Jesus’ family allows them to claim him. You must come away with us. Why? Because we’ve been with you your whole life. They changed Jesus’ diapers and wiped his snotty nose as a child. The time and energy that they invested in him means that they get to be with him. But Jesus is thinking big picture. When it comes to who is with him in his kingdom, it’s not about who has been next to him the longest. It’s not about being close to him in proximity. Crowds were close to him everywhere he went. Judas was close to Jesus in proximity for years. The one and only defining feature of being in his kingdom is doing the will of God.

Who were the ones that Jesus chose on the mountain? He chose whomever he willed. Now we ask, who is in the kingdom? It’s whomever does his will. Being around Jesus doesn’t make you a Christian. Visiting Jesus once or twice a year doesn’t make you a Christian. Tossing some money at Jesus occasionally or helping Jesus out here and there doesn’t make you a Christian. Saying you really like Jesus doesn’t make you a Christian. Maybe you had a mountaintop experience with Jesus a long time ago and you think, I’m sure I’m fine. I went to Jesus. Yeah? Well so did Judas Iscariot.

You become a Christian if Jesus calls you and if you then do his will. A Christian is someone who says you’re my authority. I am not my own authority. If you want to know if you’re in the kingdom, then evaluate your life. Was there a time when Jesus called you? And have you been doing his will and submitting to his authority since then? Are you living out the mission that he commissioned you for?

I know that we’d all like to live in a way that thinks, everyone is fine. I’m fine. You’re fine. I’m sure everybody is right with God. I’m sure everyone will be forgiven of all their sins. Look at these big crowds around Jesus. I bet everyone is good. But Jesus himself declares that is not the case. He wants to save. He is compassionate and he wants to forgive. But he is also the authority. And unless you come under that authority, you will not enter his kingdom. Jesus loved people enough to say hard things to them and similarly I say these because I love you church and I want to see Jesus’ be your authority and see you doing his will.

Prayer