The King's Community

Konbanwa. Good evening, everyone.

My name is Takeshi, and I'm one of the student ministers at St. Paul's.

If you are a first-timer, I would like to say a big thank you for coming to church tonight.

Hope you enjoy our time together.

Yeah, they mentioned about that.

Tonight is a special night for me because this is my first time preaching at St. Paul's.

So please make sure be good audience.

So not this way, this way, okay?

Don't fall asleep.

Before I dive into the passage, let me pray for us.

Heavenly Father, thank you for revealing yourself through the Bible, through your words.

Lord, we wouldn't know without your words.

We wouldn't know who is Jesus.

We wouldn't know how much you love us.

Tonight, as we continue in Mark's gospel,

please help us to hear your word clearly so we can follow Jesus.

I pray these things in your mighty name.

Amen.

We'll be reading Mark's gospel in our new series, The Servant King.

The gospel of Mark has two significant messages.

Number one, who is Jesus?

And then number two, what did he come to do?

Chapter 1 to 8 focus on who is Jesus.

And chapters 9 to 16 focus on what did he come to do.

In chapter 3, Mark gives us progress summary of Jesus' ministry.

In verse 8, it says,

Jesus has become so extremely popular with the people.

People are coming from everywhere just to see him.

Not just Chatsut, not just Croydon, not just Central Coast,

not just from the entire of the Central Coast kind of things.

They've heard of the many miracles and healings and the casting out of demons.

However, at the same time,

the hostility of the religious leaders towards Jesus is increasing.

So much so that they have began to plot how they might kill him.

Chapter 3, 6.

It is at this point that Jesus calls his disciples so that he can expand his ministry.

In verse 13 to 19, his 12 disciples, his all 13, are finally chosen.

Today, I'm going to focus on verse 20 to 35.

I wonder, is it just me or did you notice something odd here with the structure of these verses?

Mark began by talking about Jesus' family in verse 20.

Then, in verse 20, the topic changed to the teacher of the law.

And then, suddenly, the focus turned back to Jesus' family again in verse 31.

It's like a commercial on TV.

Your favorite TV show starts, but after a few minutes,

all of a sudden, just jump to commercials with the typical too loud music.

Na-na-na-na-na.

And then, you return back to the TV show again,

just as a commercial, an interruption.

In between, so here, this seems to be an interruption in the story.

This is called Mark's Sandwich.

Mark's Sandwich, it is true.

As everyone knows, a sandwich has two pieces of bread with a filling in the middle.

In the same way, Mark intentionally plays the story of the teacher of the law

in between the story about Jesus' family.

You could say that Jesus' family story in the bread

and the part with the teacher of the law is like the BLT,

or whatever the filling you like.

Mark uses this technique.

A number of, through his gospel.

So why does he use it here?

Last year, Katie and I got into the famous TV series, 24.

I know we are a bit behind of the times.

You know, original TV series started more than 15 years ago.

So, just in case, who's seen it?

He has seen it.

Oh, very encouraging.

Yeah.

For those who haven't, I will explain.

It's basically about the government counter-terrorist unit

who try to protect America from terrorist attacks.

What made us slightly quite addicted to the series,

in that the plot of the story is really, really well written.

The most thrilling part of the drama is when it's the surprising reversal.

For example, a character who you think is a goodie turns to be a buddy

in a complete and unexpected reversal.

Unfortunately or fortunately, since our baby girl arrived, we haven't had much time to watch 24 anymore.

But I wish I could continue to watch.

Anyway, likewise, Mark here used in his sandwich technique to demonstrate a surprising and unexpected reversal.

Those who seem close to God or insiders are, in fact, outsiders who are far from him.

Tonight, I'm going to talk about the reversal of the king's community.

Tonight, I'm going to talk about the reversal of the king's community.

We will have a look at who is the true insider in Jesus' family.

I will start with the teacher of the law, and then coming back to Jesus' own family.

And at the end, we will think about what this means for us today.

So, number one, teacher of the law.

Can you come with me to verse 22?

If you have your Bible, please open your Bible.

And the teacher of the law, who comes down from Jerusalem.

So, my question is here.

Who were the teacher of the law?

In short, they were experts in Old Testament law.

In this passage, the teacher of the law were the Pharisees.

The name Pharisees comes from an Aramaic word, meaning separation from uncleanness before God.

The Pharisees believed in eternal life and that people would be punished by God in accordance with their behavior.

This is why, in Jesus' day, they memorized Old Testament law as well as their oral traditions.

More than 40, more than 400.

To live righteous lives.

They were like walking human Bible.

They were especially passionate about keeping the service.

And lived by very strict rules on many aspects of their lives.

Such as how to wash their hands, what to eat or not to eat.

Even how many steps they were allowed to walk on the service.

Or how many steps today?

Like this?

So, because of their expert knowledge of the work law and their outward appearance,

they were seen by themselves and others are very kindly, a spiritual elite, if you like.

Can you have a look at verse 22 again?

The religious people come down from Jerusalem.

Religious people come down from Jerusalem.

At this point, Jesus now in Galilee, that's a long way from Jerusalem.

It's almost a three-day journey.

In the world, Jerusalem gives us a sense of temple authority.

It's sort of like the company boss who comes back to check on his employees to see if everything is okay.

The religious leaders come down to Galilee to check and accuse Jesus of wrong teaching or unclean behavior.

Now that Jesus was healing the sick on the service and giving people a very different interpretation of the Old Testament,

the Pharisees are starting to get fed up with Jesus.

They believed that they were the only ones who understand the law.

And so they thought that this guy, Jesus, who had no proper education, shouldn't be teaching the people.

This is why the teacher of the law came to and yelled out in verse 22,

He possessed by Beelzebub, by the princess of demons, he's driving out demons.

They come all the way to exclaim to everyone that Jesus was demon-possessed.

It's unclear what the meaning of Beelzebub is because ancient Israel records don't mention it much.

However, it is very clear that the religious leader used this word to judge Jesus

and make the claim that he definitely wasn't Israel God's messenger or prophet.

If he was, then he most definitely wouldn't break the service law.

This is kind of an offshore announcement from the religious leaders

to point out Jesus was an outsider.

So, how does Jesus respond to them?

Can you look at verse 23 with me?

So, Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables.

How can Satan drive out Satan?

Jesus said to them simply,

Jesus points out the flaw in their argument by using a parable about the kingdom.

He said,

If a kingdom is divided, it won't stand.

In fighting along with destroy it, without the enemy even need to come against it.

The same is true of the house.

When a husband and a wife and children are divided against each other,

their house will fall.

Then Jesus points out the foolishness of the religious leaders.

He explains that Satan isn't divided in verse 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.

This is what Jesus has done.

He has come into enemy territory and has bound the strong man.

This is evident in Mark's gospel.

First miracle story in chapter 1,

which was an exorcism.

And then there is a healing of the paralytic in Mark chapter 2,

Mark 2 · chapter mention

which also illustrates what Jesus is saying here.

And that is the mission of Jesus is invade and conquer Satan and plant his possessions.

Jesus is God, so he is stronger than strong man.

Finally,

Jesus stands at the table on the religious leaders in a damning statement.

Have a look at verse 28-29 with me.

Truly,

I tell you,

by the way,

when Jesus speaks like this,

Amen, Amen,

Jesus is making a point that

these are not human words,

but come from divine God's self.

People can be forgiven

all their sins

and every slander they utter,

but whoever blasphemies against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven.

They are guilty of an eternal sin.

So why does Jesus judge them so harshly?

Although the teacher of the law

recognizes Jesus has power to perform miracles,

they deny the source of his power

and claim it to be from Satan rather than God.

Jesus points out that

it is his accused who are guilty of blaspheming

because of their hardness of heart.

Sure,

they understand the law and theology,

including the coming Messiah,

but they still refuse Jesus.

Jesus' accusation of blasphemy

by the religious leaders

was absolutely shocking

to both the leaders themselves

and to the people listening.

Because,

as I talked earlier,

everyone thought

the religious leaders are insiders

who were accepted by God.

However,

here Jesus points out

that isn't so,

they are actually

outsiders

in God's eye

because they don't believe

Jesus as God

and

they

didn't

follow him.

This is a complete

and unexpected

reversal

of the king's community.

family.

So,

let's move on to next point.

Number two,

Jesus' own family.

Let's now look at

Jesus' own family.

Can you have a look at

verses 20 to 21?

And then,

31 to 32 with me.

This is what I said,

Mark's sandwich,

two bread.

verses 20 to 21.

Then,

Jesus entered a house

and again 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 say,

he is out of his mind.

And jump to 31 to 32.

Then Jesus' mother

and brothers arrived.

Standing 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.

Jesus' mother

and brothers

came to take him home

because

they heard from people

that

he was crazy.

Now,

if you are of

Asian heritage

or know about

Asian culture,

this thing

probably makes

more sense.

Generally speaking,

in Asian culture,

family members

are

responsible

for other

family members.

For example,

in Japan,

probably Kihon

might know,

famous celebrities

sometimes

commit

really bad acts

such as

drug use

or violence.

And then,

almost 100%

of the time,

their parents

hold a press conference

to apologize

for their son's

or daughter's

criminal offense.

Of course,

with a 45 degrees

bow

at the maximum

apologize.

This is important

for Japanese people.

Their child's

behavior

is so

intertwined

with the

family

reputation

that

the parents

feel responsible

for what

their child

has done.

Likewise,

Jesus' own

family

probably

felt a

big responsibility

for

Jesus'

behavior.

Unfortunately,

Jesus'

own

family members

didn't believe

that he

was God.

Because

they knew

of Jesus'

previous life

in Galilee,

they just saw

him as just

a family member,

ordinary

compentor,

and thought

he was human

just like

them.

So what

did Jesus

say

to his

own

family?

Let's go

back to

verse 33.

Jesus

says,

Who are

my mother

and my

brothers?

Jesus'

statement

is an

absolutely

shocking

response

in Jesus'

day.

As Steve

mentioned

previously,

it was not

like today's

Australia.

In Jesus'

family

relationship

were the

foundation

of the

society.

Jesus'

own

family

and

everyone

around

him

thought

that

Jesus

and

his

family

were

within

the

same

circle.

In

other words,

that they

were

insiders.

However,

Jesus

exclaims

that

they were

in fact

outsiders.

Jesus'

family members

were standing

outside,

but Jesus

is not

just

referring

to them

being

outsiders

physically,

but being

spiritually

outsiders.

Because

they didn't

believe that

Jesus

was God.

Jesus

tells his

natural

family

that

their

broad

relationship

with him

does not

claim

any

privilege.

This is

another

unexpected

and shocking

reversal

of the

king's

community.

both

the

teacher

of the

law

and

Jesus'

own

family

are not

actually

insiders,

but

outsiders.

Through

marked

sandwich

technique,

the reality

of their

status

is

emphasized

more

shockingly

and draws

the reader's

attention to

consider

one

question.

If the

Pharisees

and

Jesus'

own

family

are not

Jesus'

insiders,

then

who then

are the

insiders?

Who

are Jesus'

true

family?

If the

Pharisees

and

Jesus'

own

family

are not

Jesus'

insiders,

then

whoир

then

are the

insiders?

Who

are

Jesus'

true

family?

So my final point, Jesus' true family.

Please have a look at verse 34 to 35 with me.

Then he looked at those seated in the circle around him and said,

Hear my mother and my brothers.

Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother.

Jesus points out that real insiders are in fact his disciples.

However, Jesus isn't only referring to the 12 disciples that he has just appointed,

but everyone who does God's will.

That's great news.

But what are Jesus' followers expected to do?

The Gospel of John gives us the answer.

So please open your Bible.

John chapter 6, 28 to 29.

John 6 · chapter mention

John chapter 6, 28 to 29.

John 6 · chapter mention

The religious people asked.

Then they asked him,

What must we do to do the works God requires?

Jesus answered,

In short,

Do you remember that Jesus' disciples come from all different backgrounds?

They aren't perfect religious people,

But just ordinary people like us.

Jesus even called tax collectors who lost money.

They were absolutely considered outsiders in religious sense.

But they are loved by Jesus.

Jesus' family members are simply those who respond to his calling with a repentant heart.

So what about us?

Are we insiders or outsiders?

Are we like the Pharisees who thought that their righteous acts,

That our status gives us special standing with Jesus?

Or are we like Jesus' disciples who were ordinary people,

But who obeyed and followed Jesus?

Jesus makes it clear that it is only by repentance and faith that you are welcomed as an insider into Jesus' family,

Into the king's community.

If you haven't decided to follow Jesus yet,

Jesus is calling you tonight.

Jesus doesn't just give us the fancy title,

Jesus' family.

He actually cares for his family.

We know this because Jesus died on the cross and rose again to forgive our sins.

Through his sacrifice,

We too can have eternal life.

One day,

Our lives will continue to an end.

Come to an end.

One day,

We will have to say goodbye to our parents,

Brothers,

Sisters,

Even our wife and husband.

But if you are a member of Jesus' family,

You will continue to have fellowship in heaven.

What a hope.

What a hope.

And great news,

This is for us.

If you decided to follow Jesus a long time ago,

But now you are not sure whether you are still following him tonight,

Jesus is calling you too.

Jesus' invitation is open to everyone.

No matter who you are,

What language you speak,

How well you know the Bible,

Or how many times you have failed to walk with Christ,

I encourage you to make a commitment to follow Jesus tonight.

Jesus is calling you to follow him.

Jesus is inviting you into his family tonight.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for teaching us through your words.

We were far away from you

And didn't know who you are.

We were completely outsiders.

But now we know that you are the one true God

Who sent your only son,

Jesus Christ,

For us.

And tonight,

You are still calling us to follow you

And to be part of your family.

Father,

If there is someone here tonight

Who is wanting to follow you,

Please help them to do so.

If someone is struggling to make a decision,

Please continue to lead them by your spirit.

Thank you for your care and love.

I pray this in your mighty name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.