The King's Community

If you have a Bible, please turn with me to Mark chapter 3.

Mark 3 · chapter mention

If you don't have one, you can put your hand up and we'll have someone give you a Bible.

Today I'll be preaching in English, so if you want to make sure you know what I say,

we actually have an English transcript so they can read along as well,

just in case my accent's too strong for you.

And if you need Chinese translation, we also have that prepared for you as well.

We have been looking into the Gospel according to Mark in the last few weeks,

which is the good news about Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God.

Messiah is referring to the person expected by the Jews to come and set them free.

The Jews were told about the Messiah when they go to the temple,

and they hear it from the teachers of the law.

This is a very important point of today's sermon.

We have only looked at two chapters of Mark,

and already we can see a lot of events have happened,

and people were amazed at what Jesus has said and done.

As today's passage points out,

Jesus was drawing a large crowd of people wherever he goes.

In verse 7 to 8 it says,

As Jesus' popularity grew,

we can also see that sentiment of resentment and opposition

is growing among a group of people.

They were the teachers of law,

the religious heathies.

Their resentment most likely started back from Mark 1.22,

because people were comparing them with Jesus.

The people were amazed at his teaching,

because he taught them as one who had authority,

not as the teachers of the law.

What Jesus said and done has a direct impact to the teachers of the law,

because his arrival will fill their spiritual condition in their heart.

Jesus is pointing out something that is different to what they have been teaching.

Jesus wants everyone to go deeper to understand their spiritual needs,

because in Matthew it says,

Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Today, let's go deeper to find out who belongs to the kingdom of heaven,

who belongs to this new community of the king.

At the beginning of chapter 2,

Jesus was setting up a showdown with the religious heathies.

Steve was reminding us that last week.

This showdown is necessary

because the teachers of the law

were the link between God and his people.

We can even say that they present themselves

as an earthly representation of God

before Jesus came into the scene.

From the showdown between Jesus,

we can see that they are misrepresenting

and giving out wrong information

about who belongs to the kingdom of heaven.

They were busy concerning about things

that weren't that most important.

When they challenged Jesus about blaspheming,

showing that they're concerned about

whether one is saying the right thing at the right time.

When they challenged Jesus about fasting,

showing that they're concerned whether tradition and ritual

have been followed.

When they challenged Jesus about his disciples picking grain,

so that they would suppress basic human needs

to ensure law has not been broken.

Their interpretation of what the law said

was far from accurate,

because when the teachers of the law promoting,

what the teachers of the law promoting

is you belong to the kingdom of God

based on how well you follow the law,

how religious you are,

as if you can get into heaven by your own efforts.

What they're promoting is

if you look right from the outside,

you'll be right with God.

All of their concerns are superficial.

Mark, we call it in chapter 12, 38,

it says,

as he taught,

Jesus said,

watch out for the teachers of the law.

They like to walk around in floating robes

and be greeted with respect in the marketplace

and have the most important seat in the synagogue

and place of honor at banquet.

If you read how Matthew recorded

about the teachers of the law,

you would think that Mark had been very kind to them.

In Matthew 3,

while talking about John the Baptist in verse 7,

it said,

They think that they belong to the kingdom of God

because they are in the right bloodline.

They have Abraham as their ancestor.

Jesus had this to say to them in Matthew 23,

starting in verse 2,

The teachers of the law and Pharisee

sit in Moses' seat,

so you must be careful to do everything they tell you,

but do not do what they do,

for they do not practice what they preach.

They tied up heavy,

cumbersome loads

and put them on others' shoulders,

but they themselves are not willing

to lift a finger to move them.

Jesus' fall in verse 13,

lay out some roles.

Woe to you,

teachers of the law and Pharisee,

you hypocrites!

You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven

in people's face.

You yourself do not enter,

nor will you let those enter

who are trying to.

On the outside,

you are pleased to people as righteous,

but on the inside,

you are full of hypocrites and wickedness.

Jesus said clearly that

because they do not practice what they teach,

appear to be righteous only on the outside,

they do not enter the kingdom of heaven.

They are misrepresenting God

and misrepresenting who belongs to the kingdom of God.

And the worst misrepresentation

is in our passage today,

in Mark 3.22,

when they say that

Jesus is possessed by demons

and is driving out demons

by the prince of demons.

For their knowledge,

they should know who Jesus is,

but they speak against him.

They thought they were speaking against Jesus,

but in fact,

they are speaking against God.

They are speaking against God

because they do not believe who Jesus is,

which means they do not believe

in God who sent Jesus.

When we are looking at this passage,

when Mark mentioned about this incident,

he seems to have interrupted

what he was saying

in verse 20 to 21.

If you turn there and have a look,

Mark was talking about Jesus and his family

in that two verses,

but he jumped on to the incident

between Jesus and the teachers of the law,

especially this group of people from Jerusalem,

between verse 22 and 30.

He then jumped back to Jesus' interaction

with his family

in verse 31 to 35.

Mark did this on purpose

to show us that there is something similar

between the teachers of the law

and Jesus' family.

Let's read again from 22 to 21,

and then we go down to 31 to 33

to go deeper into this issue.

Verse 20,

Then Jesus entered a house

and began a crowd gathered

so that he and his disciples

were not even able to eat.

When his family heard about this,

they went to take charge of him,

for they said,

he is out of his mind.

31,

Then Jesus' mother and brothers arrived.

Sending outside,

they sent someone in to call him.

A crowd was sitting around him

and they told him,

your mother and brothers

are outside looking for you.

Who are my mothers and my brothers?

He asked.

Who are my mothers and my brothers?

He asked.

Such shocking words

to have said to your family,

especially to a Hebrew family

that placed so much value

in their family tradition.

Where their sense of worth,

their personal value,

ties tightly

with what approval they get

from their family.

With culture,

their emphasis collective value,

such as most of Asian

and African culture,

Greek and Italian

and Middle Eastern,

and sometimes even some Australian

when they say,

your home is a castle.

You guys know where they're from.

That shows how old I am.

This is unthinkable

that Jesus gave such a reply.

I said that Mark

had inserted this incident

about the teachers of the law

from Jerusalem

to indicate

there's some similarity

between them and the family.

Family often thinks

that they have privileged access

to their family member.

So Jesus' mother and brothers

waited outside,

waiting for people

to make way for them

to get in.

The older or senior members

often think that

they know better

and they took on

an authoritative position

and they will not listen

or will not

not willing to listen.

Scenorality,

the ranking order

determines who have

the final say

and decide

who should be followed

or who should lead.

A lot of emphasis

has been put on

the outside adherence

of family reputation

concerning only

the outside appearance.

It's often very hard

to convince family member

of anything

because they think

they know better.

The most similar thing

between the teachers

of the law

and the family

is they both

do not believe

who Jesus said

who he really is.

Verse 21 said

that Jesus' family

think he is

out of his mind.

He had gone mad.

Verse 22 say

that the teachers

of the law

think that Jesus

is a bad person

and uses demon

to achieve

his popularity.

They both have

the wrong response

to Jesus

which means

they sat

at the outside circle

instead of

the inside circle

of God.

after Jesus

asked that

unthinkable question

he provided

the answer

in verse 34

to 35.

Then

he looked at

those seated

in a circle

around him

and said

here are my

mothers

and here

are my

mother

and my brothers

whoever

does God's will

is my

brother

and sister

and mother.

to those

seated in a circle

around him

here are my

mother

and my brothers.

Who are these

people?

We know

from earlier

in the passage

that these

are his

disciples.

These are

people that

he called

and came

to him.

In Mark

3 13

Jesus went

out on a

mountainside

and called

to him

those he

wanted

and they

came to

him.

We were

given

account of

how five

out of

these

twelve

disciples

that

Jesus

had

chosen

were

called

and how

they

responded

at the

time

they

were

called.

So

let's

go back

and look

at it

again.

From

chapter 1

verse 16

chapter 1

verse 16

as Jesus

walked beside

the sea

of Galilee

he saw

Simon

and his

Peter

Andrew

casting a

net into

the lake

for they

were fishermen.

Come

follow me

Jesus said

and I

will send

you out

to fish

for people.

At once

they left

the net

and followed

him.

When he

had gone

a little

farther

he saw

James

son of

Zebedee

and his

brother

John

in a

boat

preparing

their

nets.

Without

delay

he

called

them

and they

left

their

father

Zebedee

in a

boat

with

the

high

man

and

followed

him.

After

that

we

were

reminded

that

Simon's

mother

was

sick

and

after

Jesus

raised

her

from

the

sickness

she

started

to

serve

them.

Then

we

go to

chapter 2

chapter

2

verse

13

Once

again

Jesus

went

out

beside

the

lake

a

large

crowd

come

to

him

and

he

began

to

teach

them.

As

he

walked

along

he

saw

Levi

son

of

Alphaeus

sitting

at

the

test

called

Letters

booth.

Follow

me

Jesus

told

him

and

Levi

got

up

and

followed

him.

Levi

was

so

eager

to

introduce

Jesus

and

his

disciples

to

his

friends.

He

holds

a

dinner

at

his

house

afterward.

Their

response

was

immediate.

They

stripped

away,

put

aside

their

career

and

livelihood

as

well as

their

family

to

respond

to

Jesus'

call.

They

did

not

look at

Jesus

and

think

that

he

is

a

mad

man.

And

they

did

not

look

at

Jesus

and

think

that

he

is

a

bad

man.

They

had

the

right

response.

They

looked at

Jesus

as

someone

they

can

entrust

their

life.

They

put

aside

everything

to

follow

and

to

serve

him.

At

the

time

of

their

response,

they

were not

yet

exactly

sure

he

is

the

Messiah,

but

they

came

along

and

they

see

for

themselves.

In

verse

14

said,

they

were

called

so

that

they

will

call

so

that

they

will

be

with

Jesus

and

that

he

might

send

them

out

to

preach

and

to

have

authority

to

drive

out

demons.

As

they

respond

to

Jesus

calling,

they

are

willing

to

let

Jesus

be

the

center

of

their

life

and

live

their

life

circling

Jesus.

Because

they

have

the

right

response,

they

are

seated

in

a

circle

around

him.

Who

are

my

mother

and

brothers

and

brothers

and

brothers

and

brothers

and

brothers

and

brothers

and

mother.

So

what is

the

will

of

God?

In

2 Peter

3,

9,

often

when we

have

communion,

we

actually

talk

about

these

verses.

It

says

that

God

is

patient

with

you,

not

wanting

anyone

to

perish,

but

everyone

to

come

to

repentance.

In

Jesus'

very

first

word

in

Mark,

also

reiterated

the

will

of

God.

The

time

has

come,

the

kingdom

of

God

has

come

near,

repent

and

believe

in

the

good

news.

God

has

been

patient

in

waiting

for

us

to

come

to

a

right

response

to

who

Jesus

really

is.

He

warned

everyone

to

come

to

repentance,

to

have

us

seated

in

a

circle

around

him,

to

listen

to

his

teaching

and

to

have

life

circle

around

him.

Who

belongs

to

the

kingdom

of

God?

Those

that

have

the

right

response

will

be

in

it.

The

right

response

is

to

believe

and

follow

him.

The

right

response

is

to

listen

to

his

teaching.

The

right

response

is

to

obey

the

will

of

God.

The

right

response

is

to

repent

and

believe

in

the

good

news

of

the

kingdom

of

heaven.

Having

the

right

to

respond

will

get

into

the

community

of

Jesus.

It

sounds

so

simple,

isn't

it?

But

it's

that

simple

because

God

has

done

all

the

works

and

fulfilled

all

the

requirements

for

us

through

Jesus.

In

our

passage

today,

we're

in the

middle,

in

chapter

27,

it

says,

no one

can

enter

a

strong

man's

house

without

first

tying

him

up.

Then

he

can

plunder

the

strong

man's

house.

Through

Jesus,

God

has

already

tied

up

Satan,

the

one

that

we

think

is

strong.

It's

impossible

to

try to

get

into

the

community

of

Jesus

in

your

own

effort

by

being

religious

or

by

relying

on

your

lineage.

God

made

the

impossible

possible

in

Jesus.

Believe

in

him

is

all

we

need

to

be

part

of

heaven.

Believe

Jesus

is

God.

Follow

him,

listen

to

his

teaching

and

obey

the

will

of

God.

If

you

have

not

responded

to

Jesus

calling

before,

today

is

an

opportunity

to

put

your

trust

in

him.

If

you

have

responded

to

his

call

but

followed

some

misrepresentation

and

no

longer

seated

around

Jesus,

God

is

patient

with

you.

Repent

and

turn

back

to

Christ

today.