He Is Good | Misunderstanding Jesus | Mark 3:20-35 | Coleton Segars

We are in a series titled He Is Good.

And the reason we are titling it, He Is Good, and walking through Mark is because Mark titles his gospel, The Beginning of the Good News of Jesus, and then he works through that particular space, showing the goodness of Jesus.

And so we've been looking at that time and time again, just through each part, the goodness of Jesus.

And one of the things I love about teaching through a book of the Bible is it forces me to teach on passages I've never taught on before, which would this would be one I've never taught on this passage before.

It's a good thing to teach on things I've never taught on before.

It's a double-edged sword, though, because there are times when you are forced to teach on difficult sayings and difficult passages and uh things you'd rather not talk about.

And that's that's this one.

This that's this message.

And uh so as I was preparing it, I it made me think of that um that ATT commercial where the uh surgeon walks into the the room and the surgeon talks to the patient and says, You nervous?

And the patient goes, Uh-huh.

He goes, Yeah, me too.

He goes, Well, I'll see you in there.

Uh that's how I feel about this.

Like, you nervous?

Uh-huh.

Yeah, me too.

Uh, because there's just some things that uh the scriptures call me to do.

I'm supposed to preach the word to encourage, to correct, and rebuke with great gentleness.

The encouragement is, I love you deeply.

Even if you're a guest, love you so much.

Uh the rest of this will be in a correction and a rebuke.

And so I apologize for that.

Um, but if you're nervous, so am I.

But let's get started.

Okay.

The first thing that we see, three things that we see in this passage, we see that Jesus is misunderstood.

Second thing that we see is we see that what Jesus is doing is misunderstood, and then we see that Jesus gives an invitation to those who misunderstand, which realistically is everyone.

And so Jesus is misunderstood, what he's doing is misunderstood, and then what he's offering to everyone who misunderstands.

So the first, we see Jesus being misunderstood.

This is verse 20 through 21.

Jesus entered the house, and again a crowd gathered.

His disciples weren't even able to eat, and then his family heard about this and they went to take charge of him, for they said, He is out of his mind.

And I love that that he his family thinks that he's out of his mind.

Maybe you have a dysfunctional family that thinks you're fan that you're out of your mind.

Uh but to me, um, we don't know exactly what it is that they see in Jesus' life that makes them say this.

Like, whatever this is, that when they heard this, they decided that he was out of his mind.

But to me, as I was thinking about it, I was like, man, you really have to imagine that it it must have been a lot because for the mother of Jesus, Mary, the mother of Jesus, to think that Jesus is out of his mind based on her experiences in life up to this point.

Like she's had an angel show up and be like, you're gonna get pregnant without a man, without ever having sex, you're gonna have a kid.

And so for her to think that Jesus is crazy after the stories she's had to tell to men and women in her day, like, oh yeah, this is from the Holy Spirit, not from a guy.

Like, I mean, she would have had to have sounded crazy in her own right.

And so for her to think that Jesus is crazy to me would be like, man, there must be a lot going on that she's seen after everything she's experienced, from angels visiting her to angels visiting Joseph, to all the prophecies and all the things that have been said about Jesus and everything that she's seen up to this point.

There must be something, everything that's going on in his life, that's making her think that he absolutely has lost his mind.

And again, we don't know exactly what it is, but it's probably all the crowds that are gathering.

It's probably the people that are out to kill him and destroy him, and he's not stopping, he's continuing.

Probably has something to do with the fact that he is healing on the Sabbath and kind of breaking the Sabbath traditions.

Um, he's calling himself the Lord of the Sabbath, he's calling 12 disciples to himself, even though he has no formal training as a rabbi whatsoever.

And so all of these things are kind of piling up, and his family is looking at him and considering and saying, like, he's out of his mind, he's crazy.

And so, out of love for him, out of kindness to him, the people in your life that love you the most, they go to him and they're trying to talk some sense into him.

And I think one of the things that we see in this particular vision of Jesus' life is if we are going to follow Jesus closely at all, truly follow him closely, it is very likely that you are going to be misunderstood in the way that he was.

If it happened to Jesus, it's gonna happen to you.

If you follow him closely and you adapt your life to his life, you are likely gonna be seen as someone who's misunderstood.

When I came to faith, um, this happened to me.

I, and my story was a little crazy.

Like I was drunk the night before, and then the next day I wanted to be only a follower of Jesus and give up everything that was my, it was really that specific.

It was a hard line drawn in between.

And so my parents, uh, when I caught me when I was drunk, and then the next day I want to follow Jesus, I just started confessing not just that sin.

I started confessing like secrets that they didn't know about, lies I'd been keeping, their ears were melting after some of the things that I was telling them, because I was just coming clean on all of these different things.

And uh it was really confusing for them, they didn't understand it, but I wanted to spend all of my time in the church.

I wanted to do all of those things, I wanted to read my Bible, I wanted to buy more Bibles and commentaries.

I just wanted to be all in about Jesus.

I gave up drinking, I gave up partying, I gave up stay anything that I was supposed to give up as a follower of Jesus, I was giving those things up.

And uh I think it was just confusing for them, uh, but I was acting better, and so I think they were like, yay, whatever this is, like we're in.

Um and that was really how it was.

They were thankful.

Um, but when I decided that I was going to quit college baseball to pursue pastoral ministry, that was the break.

It was like everything up to this point has made you a better person.

Like you're you're not drinking as much.

That's good.

I wasn't drinking at all.

Um, you're you're not partying, you're not, you know, not no more parties at our house where people are lying down, you know, in their own vomit, none of that.

That's really good.

But this thing, like that pivot right there, where it was like, this has now become too serious.

Now it's changing the direction of your life.

Now it's doing all of those things.

You were just acting better, and now it's actually changing your life.

And it was one of the hardest conversations I've ever had with my dad, telling him that I was gonna quit baseball, which has been my whole life up to that point, to move to Tennessee to pursue pastoral ministry.

Um, and the truth was they just didn't understand what was going on in my heart, they didn't understand my life.

I was actually trying as best I could to actually follow Jesus, but they didn't understand that.

And to me, uh we've repaired, we're good now.

Um but to me, if you follow Jesus closely, at times your life is going to be misunderstood, and that's the way it's supposed to be.

People saw his life, his own family saw his life, called him weird.

And so if you adapt your life and align your life to his, they will see your life and they will call you weird.

And in my experience with Christians, is that the trap that most people fall into as Christians is trying to avoid that thing.

They do not want to be seen as weird, they do not want to be seen as odd, they do not want to be misunderstood, they want to be culturally relevant to the culture, they want to be Christians, they want to follow Jesus, but they also want to be kind of cool Christians that everybody looks at and it's like they're Christian, but like they're one of those cool ones.

Like that's what they that's what they want to do.

And they fall into this trap of seeking to be culturally relevant while at the same time trying to actually practice and follow the way of Jesus, and their idea comes, I think, from a good space mostly.

What they're trying to do is like, if I if I do weird stuff in Jesus' name, and then people think I'm weird, they're gonna think Jesus is weird and I'm not gonna draw anybody to Jesus.

So if they think I'm weird, they're gonna think he's weird and they're gonna stay away from him.

And so they're like, I need to be a Christian, just not a weird one, so that they're drawn to Jesus.

And I think that's a lie in two ways.

One, I think it really has nothing to do with Jesus and wanting to draw people to Jesus.

I just think people don't want to be seen as weird.

You just don't want to be people be like, you're an odd duck, brother.

Like, you don't want people to say that about you.

And then secondly, I think it's a lie because if you look at Jesus' life, he didn't draw people to himself because of his lack of weirdness or his lack of oddness.

He was odd, people saw that, people said that, he was weird, he was misunderstood, and yet people kept coming to him.

The crowds kept coming to him, and it wasn't because he wasn't weird.

His own family is like, he's out of it, you've lost your freaking mind.

That's what they're actually saying to him.

And the crowds were just pouring in.

And so this idea that, like, well, we can't draw people to Jesus if we act weird or people think we're weird, it's like, well, that's a fallacy because Jesus was constantly drawing people to himself, and people thought that he was actually out of his mind.

They experienced something from Jesus that did make them think he's a little crazy, but it's it was this otherworldly thing that they were experiencing, like when you've been in darkness for so long, and then you walk out into the light, and the light hits you and it blinds you just for a second.

That's what they were experiencing, recognizing the light does help me to see a little bit more.

But I've been walking with something that's been so normal that this thing feels abnormal.

But it was the abnormal thing that they saw in Jesus that ultimately led him to be compelling.

And I think for them, his oddness, Jesus' oddness, his weirdness, his losing his mind space.

I think that was the space for them that actually it was like that weird thing about you is actually pretty compelling.

Carl Bart says that that's the way that the church is supposed to function.

Supposed to be a little weird, but in a compelling way.

This is what he says.

He says the church exists to set up in the world a new sign which is radically dissimilar to the world's own manner, radically dissimilar, not the same, and in which it contradicts it in a way that's full of promise.

And so what he's saying is you're supposed to be a little odd, but your oddness is supposed to be compelling.

And I think historically, if you look at the church, they've tried to do this like we're gonna be odd by like, don't drink, don't dance, don't smoke, don't dip, and or whatever.

There's a whole saying that people have if they grew up Baptist, and I love Baptist, love you.

Um but there was a way like we need to be odd in these ways, and maybe that's good.

I think that's so that's so great.

Um, but I think it's bigger and better than those particular things.

Um because the idea is there's supposed to be this thing about us that is completely different than the way the culture functions.

This is what Rainey was saying earlier.

There is something about the way that we use our money and our generosity that's supposed to be like, I don't know why you give any portion of your money to any organization like the church.

Do you know how corrupt churches can be?

Like, that's crazy.

It's a little odd, but in some sense, it's like, yes, but it's supposed to be this compelling thing that I'm trusting that God is going to advance his kingdom in the world.

Mindy Kaylin, uh, she was she played in the office.

I can't remember what her character was, um, but she was an actress in the office, and uh, she wrote a book uh called Why Not Me, and she talks about this idea of being odd but compelling when she's referencing Steve Carell, who played Michael in the office.

Do you all watch y'all talking about?

Okay, great.

This is what she says about being odd but compelling.

She says, during the filming of The Office, getting Steve, Michael, to talk crap, she didn't say crap, uh, was one of the most difficult seven-year challenges, but I was determined to do it.

A circle of actors could be in a fun, excoriating conversation about, say, politics, and you'd shoot Steve an encouraging look to say, like, hey, come over here.

We've made space for you.

We're trashing so-and-so to build cast rapport.

And the best, and the best he might offer is, wow, if all they say about him or her is true, that is nuts.

And then he would politely excuse himself to go to his trailer.

That's it.

That's all you'd get.

Can you believe that?

He just would not engage.

That's some willpower right there.

I, on the other hand, hear someone briefly mentioning rain, Dwight's fruit, and I'll immediately launch into, oh my God, rain's so horrible.

But Corell is just one of those infuriating, classy guys.

Now, I love Steve Corell.

I have no idea if he's a follower of Jesus.

I'd love for him to be.

If you know him, tell him I believe that.

But my point is like, she's referencing this idea.

Like it's infuriating, but it's like, but it's classy.

There's something about it.

That's like this is different than the way that everybody else operates around us, and it's so easy.

Just jump in here.

We actually want you to talk the way that we talk and to gossip the way that we gossip.

We want you to do that.

And it's infuriating that you don't, but I respect it as well.

And that's what Jesus was to the world.

He was odd and infuriating, but many people were like, but I gotta, I just gotta ask some questions.

I need to go figure out what that's about.

And that's what call brought is saying a radically dissimilar Christian, a radically dissimilar alternative to the world, that's also full of promise that people go, like, I don't understand what that is, but I like it.

And I think for us, that's the way that we're supposed to be.

Our conversations in the world should sound different than the way that non-Christians, unbelievers, whatever the cultural norm is of the day, our conversations should sound different than those.

Our refusal to gossip should be infuriating to gossipers, and there's tons of them, and they live in the church.

They're among you.

But it should be infuriating.

Our jokes should sound different.

We should respond to evil with good.

We should respond to meanness with kindness.

We shouldn't share the fears of the political climate that we're currently in.

And for the love of God, we shouldn't join in every argument on social media about how who should we just don't do that.

Thank you.

We should drink differently.

I'm not saying you shouldn't drink.

You've been to my parties, but I'm just saying you should drink differently.

You should love people differently.

Make commitments and stick with them.

You want to be different in our culture?

Make a commitment and just show up to the thing you said you were gonna be at.

Like that just the fear of better phobo, fear of better offers.

We just wait to the last second.

And it's like, we're just gonna see.

Maybe the president's gonna call.

Or maybe you don't hate the president, you don't want the president.

Anyways.

We should be weirdly generous.

You should be oddly kind.

You should be forgiving, gracious in a way that makes people think that you're weak.

Oh, you forgave them?

That's because you're weak.

Oh, you're gonna be gracious to them, you're a doormat to that person.

It should be seen as weird.

But there's supposed to be this space in there where it's like that's exactly the way that Jesus was experienced.

By his own family, the people closest to him.

He made no sense to them.

His whole life was radically dissimilar, but incredibly compelling.

And I think for us, your following Jesus should make you feel and look a bit odd because he was odd.

But it was done in this way that was so compelling that people wanted it.

So for us, I think if we are going to follow Jesus, I think in this way, if we will choose to actually not fight against looking weird or not not looking misunderstood or not being misunderstood, I think what you do present to the world is something that is different, but maybe it's something different that's actually a lot better than what they're currently experiencing.

And then I would also say that if you want to follow Jesus and experience everything that Jesus has for you and the life that he has for you, you want to experience his joy, his peace, his hope, his faith.

If you want to experience those things, you cannot have Jesus' way with or Jesus' life without actually following Jesus' way.

If you want to experience that life, you actually have to put his way into practice.

And if you refuse to do that, I want the life, I just don't want to follow your way because it's going to make me look weird, then you can't have the other thing.

You'll miss out on actually what he has for you because you're like, he's going, My way is just a little odd.

Do you want it?

It's like, I don't want to be seen as odd.

And it's like, then you really can't have my way of life.

Everything that I have to offer you, you won't experience because you'll never actually walk in it because you're afraid of what people will think of you if you do.

John Tyson, pastor that I love, says this.

He says, Do not fall into the trap of thinking that if you lighten your Christianity to a tolerable version, that you will be accepted by the world and that the gospel will still be powerful.

History has proven again and again this does not work.

And in my experience, what normally happens with people who are like, I want to be a follower of Jesus, I just don't want to be seen as weird.

I want to be a follower of Jesus in a culturally sensitive way.

What normally happens is they don't draw more people to Jesus, they just backslide into oblivion, and then their faith ultimately becomes this background thing that really is good for nothing because it's exactly like the world.

Why would the world ever choose Jesus when you're exactly like us?

What are you offering?

Except now I need to go to church maybe on Sundays.

And so for us, if you want the life of Jesus, you have to follow the way of Jesus, and that way we'll just be misunderstood.

And so there's spaces in our lives, in your business, in your workforce, wherever you're in your school, in your relationships, wherever, where Jesus is his way is going to cause you to be misunderstood and cause you to be odd.

And it is an invitation not only to the world itself to go, hey, here's a radically dissimilar, compelling alternative, but it's also a space that he's calling you into.

I have more life available to you.

It's just on the other side of your vanity.

And so if you can get past that, then you'll actually experience that thing.

I think he's calling us to experience more life.

It's just also you're going to be a little misunderstood.

Second, what Jesus is doing is misunderstood.

What he's doing is misunderstood.

That's what we see in verse 22.

They're calling basically the things that Jesus is doing, they're calling him evil, they're calling what he's doing evil.

Verse 22, teachers of the law said this He's possessed by Beelzebel by the prince of demons, he is casting out demons.

And so again, they are attributing the good that Jesus is doing to the devil and saying he is not God, he is a demon.

He's not filled with the spirit of God, he's filled with a spirit of something demonic.

And to me, this is the challenge of our culture looking at what Jesus says and does and calling it evil instead of righteous, and calling what we want to do righteousness, and calling what the scriptures say or what Jesus wants of us, calling those things sinful.

Okay, here we go.

Our culture does this with what the scriptures say about same-sex relationships.

So to hold to a biblical sexual ethic that we see in the scriptures, if you choose to hold to a biblical sexual ethic that you see in the scriptures, you will not be seen as righteous.

You will be called a home homophobic, uh, you'll be called extreme.

You see this with what the scriptures say about sex or living together inside of in in without actually committing to one another in marriage.

That's seen as outdated and irrelevant.

You hold to that, that's weird, that's that's seen as unwise.

Why?

You can live together.

That makes wise decisions because then you can figure out if you're gonna be perfect partners together.

That seems wise in your own eyes, but yet the scriptures actually talk about that differently.

Our culture does this what the scriptures say about the sanctity of human life and the way that we treat the foreigner and the immigrant to impose what the scriptures say about both of those things, which is either left or right, to impose what the scriptures say about those things, is to to them they would say, you're taking away my God-given right, my American right.

And it's like, so to hold to that is like your to hold to the scripture is wrong in that capacity.

And to do what I to do what's right for me in this capacity or steals my rights is the actual the right thing that I should do.

We see this with the exclusivity of Christ's claims that there's no other way to God except through him.

They don't call that right or righteous or kind for being truthful, they call that narrow-minded.

We see this when the scriptures talk about the reality of a real hell.

That's not seen as like thanks for the warning, it's seen as like you're angry, you're hateful, you're trying to manipulate people.

The culture does this.

They look at Jesus' life, they look at his words, they look at the things that he does, and they choose the ones that they really love, like love your neighbor and all those.

They love that, love us, love, that kind of thing.

But then they look at other things that he says, and it's like, that's evil, that's demonic.

It's super easy to look at the culture and how they do it.

But I really do think that this actually happens in the church as well.

Here are a couple of examples.

Okay, so this is coming at you guys.

I just love you so much, okay?

The church does this too.

Examples like turning the other cheek, love your enemies, don't retaliate.

That's not seen as like, oh, good for you.

That's seen as weakness.

You victim.

Like, what's wrong with you?

You're calling me to be a victim.

Like, no, I'm actually calling you to be faithful to the text.

The scripture is telling you to forgive like other like Jesus forgave you.

That's seen as like, that's cruel.

How could you possibly tell me that I have to forgive that person after what they've done?

That's so cruel of you.

And it's like, but it's here and there's no other option.

We're supposed to forgive the way that we've been forgiven.

Giving a percentage of your income to the local church that you're committed to is seen as like money hungry and money grabbing.

The church would do that.

You're just manipulating us, trying to get our money.

Church is all about money.

It's like, I know, but Jesus spends about you know a quarter of what he talks about and preaches about on money because it really shapes your heart.

To even look at someone lustfully as sin, that's what the scriptures say, and that's seen as like over-the-top legalism.

I've actually had men in my life say to me, like, I can look but not touch.

I'm like, that's gross, bro.

And it's not biblical.

Give to Caesar that which is Caesar's, give to the government that which is the government.

It's like, no way.

I don't have to do that.

And to ask me to do that is to give away my rights.

Pray for your governing leaders.

No one's in leadership that God has not put there.

Uh-uh.

We don't believe that.

We struggle with that.

God has put that per whoever's in the White House in November or whatever, is who God put there.

And it's like, Man, you could start, you could split a church with that doctrine, and it's actually in the Bible.

A lot.

Again, we might not say that Jesus is demonic for saying these things, or the scriptures are demonic for saying those things.

We'd never say that.

We we know enough not to say, oh, Jesus is it has it filled with a demon.

We don't say it with our words, but we live it by our actions.

And we actually uphold, like, here's what I want to do, and I know what the scriptures say, but here's what I want to do.

So this is right and he's wrong.

I'm righteous, he's sinful.

He's calling me to sin by asking me to do this, and I'll never sin against myself because I'm right and he's wrong.

And to directly, as the Pharisees do, to directly say that Jesus is sinful and they are righteous, or to indirectly say that Jesus is sinful and we are righteous, is what Jesus calls the unpardonable sin.

And he says this in 28 to 30.

He says, Truly I tell you, people can't be forgiven all their sins and every slander, all their sins, every slander they utter.

But whoever blasphemes, it's plural, and continues blaspheming against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven.

They're guilty of an eternal ongoing sin.

And he said this because they were saying he has an impure spirit.

That's what Jesus is re referencing is not I struggle with porn, I struggle with sin, I struggle with greed, I struggle with, not that.

He's not talking about struggling with sin.

What he's saying is the unpardonable sin.

The unpardonable sin is to call what is righteous evil and to call evil righteousness, to call sin good and good things bad, those are the unpardonable sin.

And the reason is not because he's unwilling to forgive you of sin, but it's because if you sin but think it's righteousness, you'll never seek forgiveness on it.

And so it's unpardonable, not because he can't pardon it, but because you think it's right and will never seek pardon.

And so which sin does he not forgive?

The ones that you don't think you need forgiveness for.

The ones that you will look at Jesus and go, You're wrong, I'm right.

And so I don't need your forgiveness.

I'm correct, you're wrong.

So it looks like this.

I got a nice visual for you.

Go to the next slide.

There it is.

It looks like this unpardonable sin visual, just for your pleasure.

Jesus says, I'd love to forgive your greediness over your money.

Would you like forgiveness?

And if you say, I'm not greedy, you're wrong for saying I'm greedy.

You just want my money.

If Jesus says, I'd love to forgive you for withholding forgiveness towards your dad, if you say, How dare you say I have to forgive him?

I don't need your forgiveness for that.

I'm right in withholding forgiveness based on what he's done.

You're cruel for suggesting I need to forgive him.

And one more, Jesus says, I'd love to forgive your sexual immorality and your promiscuity.

If you say, I don't need your forgiveness for that, a loving God would never tell me who I can and can't have sex with.

It's not that he isn't offering it, it's not that it's not available, it's not that it's not for you.

It's just you're not seeking pardon.

And so the only unpardonable sin is the sin that we commit and never actually seek pardon.

Every sin, every blasphemy will be forgiven, except the ones that you go, that's not blasphemy.

I'm right, you're wrong.

The only unforgivable sin is the sin that we think we don't need forgiveness for.

And so it leads to this question of like, are there unpardonable sins in your life?

Are there spaces in your life things that you know you're supposed to be doing or not supposed to be doing, that you're actually looking at Jesus and going, You're wrong, I'm right.

You're righteous.

Jesus is evil.

Are there unpardonable sins in your life?

And the tragedy with all of this, one, that's just a hard teaching in general.

But I think it's so good that he says that because we've always seen it as like this one and done.

Have I committed the unpardonable sin?

It's like, I don't know, live long enough.

Let's see.

Dig through your life.

Do you think you're right and he's wrong?

And the tragedy is what Jesus is actually trying to do is seen in the middle of this passage.

What he's actually doing and wanting to do in all of our lives and in this space is he wants to crush evil.

He wants to help us, not hurt us.

He wants to lead us to freedom.

He does never going to sin against us.

He's actually trying to crush evil.

And this is what he says in verse 23 through 27.

He says, How can Satan drive out Satan?

If a kingdom is divided against itself, it cannot stand.

And then in verse 27, no one can enter a strong man's house without first tying him up.

And this is what he's saying he's doing.

Then he can plunder the strong man's house.

And what Jesus is saying right there, he's like, I'm not an evil general commanding my minions.

He goes, I'm just so strong, they gotta do what I say.

And so I have tied up Satan and I've wrapped him into something that he now has no power over me.

Now I can actually free the people that he's stolen things from.

And so I'm just, I'm just over and above him.

I'm not with him and on his team and therefore command his troops.

I just, he just can't say no to me.

And so I can cast out demons with a word because I've tied up the enemy, and now I'm plundering his camp.

And what Jesus is saying, he's like, what I'm actually doing, like, and he's literally doing this, he's looking at people who are racked with sin and racked with evil and racked with all these different things and just overcome and overwhelmed by demonic spirits.

And he's just flicking that stuff out of their lives and he's doing that, and they're saying, that's evil.

And the idea is just leave it in their bodies, just leave it in their lives.

Oh, it's making them cut themselves and want to kill themselves and throw them in the fire and trying to drown themselves, making them hate themselves.

Yeah, just leave that.

Don't enter into their life and do anything good.

If you do that, that's evil.

And he's actually creating this space in their lives where he's seeking to help them.

And what he's saying is like, when I'm speaking, what I'm asking you to do, when I'm moving into your life, what I'm constantly doing, it you were, I am seeking to have good triumph over evil.

I'm I'm trying to allow you to experience God defeating the enemy that's actually in your heart and in your life.

And if you look at what the Holy Spirit is doing by convicting sin in your life, if you look at that and call that evil, don't convict me of that sin.

And he's like, okay, well, I'm not gonna force you, but I'm doing something kind to you.

This conviction is a gift.

It's allowing you to experience something that I'm actually trying to do.

It's it's supposed to be the space that leads you into more freedom, not into greater hurt or harm.

And so what Jesus is trying to do through this whole thing for us and for them is he's trying to present something to us with his words and with his life and what he calls us to do.

He's actually trying to lead us into a space where we experience more goodness and more freedom, not something that actually harms us.

And so to call what he says and does evil is not only to sin, but in many ways it keeps us from experiencing the help that he actually wants to provide to us.

And so he commands our generosity not to take from you, but it's in order to lead you to the freedom of the grip of money that it has in your life, and to lead you to the promised blessing of what God actually wants to bless you with in your life.

He calls us to forgive people and out of unforgiveness to set us free, not to make us a doormat, not to be cruel to us.

He calls us to turn the other cheek because, as the scriptures say, it leaves room for God's retribution and God's retaliation.

And that's actually far worse and far better at the same time.

He's like, actually, you can't punish them enough and you won't be as compassionate.

So leave room for me.

Turn the other cheek so that they'll actually experience my retribution on them.

The biblical sexual ethic, sex, living together outside of marriage, all these different things.

He the command is for our good to build healthier relationships.

There's secular data on this now.

Like the University of Denver just did this whole study on like, does it help you uh stay married?

And it's like, no, the the results are in secular, they're not Christian.

They're saying if you live together, people who live together before they're married or make a commitment together are 50% more likely to wind up in divorce.

All they're doing is pointing out what the scriptures actually say, like, this is for your good.

This is not to hurt you, this is actually to help you.

And so Jesus' word, do we actually have that quote, that data?

Yeah, there we go.

Scott Stanley and Galena Rhodes, uh, it's this article, cohabitation, engagement, divorce.

Marriages of those who moved in together before being engaged were 48% more likely to end the marriages of those who cohabitated before they were actually or after being engaged and already married.

I struggle with reading.

But like, but it's just proving a point.

It's like, look, he's not condemning you over this thing.

He's like, but I'm also not being evil to you by asking you to obey me.

This is, I mean, this is secular data.

And so I think if everything, if we just walk through, tell me the data on people who choose not to forgive and hold grudges, are they happier or are they more unhealthy?

I think the data would suggest that they're probably more unhealthy.

They're more bitter.

And so what Jesus calling, how dare you ask me to forgive him?

That's cruel.

It's like, no, cruelty would be just keep, hold it, become more bitter.

You're gonna love it.

Like, no, you're gonna hate it in your life, and people are gonna hate it being around you.

Jesus' commands and the things that he's asking us to do are often misunderstood, not just by culture, but in the church.

We wind up in this space where it's like, how could he possibly ask me to do that?

And it's like, because he's trying to be kind to you.

And so to misunderstand it in such a way that leads you to go, like, you're evil, and I'm just gonna do whatever I want, is to miss out on what he actually wants to do.

And then you're in danger of a sin that you're not gonna seek pardon for, and the ones that you don't want pardon for will be unpardonable because he's not gonna force his forgiveness on you.

And this leads to the last point, the invitation that Jesus gives to those who misunderstand him.

Verse 31 Jesus' mother and brothers arrived standing outside, and they sent someone in to call him.

A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, Your mother and your brothers are outside looking for you.

Who are my mothers and my brothers?

My mother and brothers.

Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, Here are my mother and my brothers.

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

The invitation that's wrapped into this particular thing.

The invitation that exists in this is that Jesus is offering those who misunderstand him, not only the scribes and the Pharisees that are around him, but also the people on the outside.

The invitation is to those who misunderstand him is to just trust what he's doing and trust what he's saying.

It's not to understanding.

The invitation isn't come in and then understand.

The people sitting around him probably don't understand him either.

It says nothing about like, oh, they just they get everything, they understand everything.

No, some of these people are gonna be shouting crucify him in a couple of weeks.

And so the point isn't like, oh, Jesus just wants everybody to understand.

He goes, No, but to the ones who don't understand, to everyone who misunderstands, you're invited into this space where you can trust me.

And if you will just trust me in the midst of misunderstanding, I will actually care for you as family.

Not only will you be invited into my family, but then even in the midst of your misunderstanding, you don't know what I'm doing, and people are making fun of you because you're like me and that kind of stuff, if you can just trust me in the midst of all of this, I will care for you like family.

And that's the invitation.

The invitation is, if you misunderstand him, the invitation is, can you trust him?

Can you trust him enough to just give him a little bit of space to go, I don't, I don't really understand what you're asking me to do.

I don't really understand that this is the right thing, but like, but can you trust him?

And if you trust him there and sit at his feet, even though you don't understand, if you trust him, he's like, I promise, I will take care of you as if you were my mother, my brother, and my sister.

And so there's this older brother thing that he's doing here.

And Jesus is saying, I will, when he says that, basically, when he says, Whoever does God's will is my brother, my sister, my mother, he doesn't mention father because he's referencing himself as the older brother.

And in Jewish culture, the older brother was supposed to take care of the family.

It was like the father takes care of the family, but really it's the older brother's job to really take care of the family.

And so Jesus is just saying that.

If you can trust me, I will treat you as family, and I will be the proper older brother to you, and I will care for you, even if you don't understand.

And so he proves this in my experience, and at least the most he proves this, that he would take care of us by going to the cross.

Because there's all these in the Old Testament, there's all these terrible older brothers.

There's all these people in there that all the older brothers are like terrible.

They treat their families terrible.

So Cain kills his younger brother, not a strong day as an older brother.

And then the Lord's like, hey, where's he at?

Like, I don't know.

Am I my brother's keeper?

Yes, actually, you're the older brother.

Like, yes, you are his keeper.

And you smashed his head with the rock.

Not great.

You shouldn't have done that.

So Cain's a terrible older brother.

Then you get to Joseph and Genesis, the older brother sell the younger brother off into slavery.

How are you doing at being an older brother?

Not strong.

It's not great.

You sold him into slavery.

Then you get to David's older brothers, and David's older brothers like make fun of him and mock him, and there's a giant out there with Goliath, and David's like, I'll go fight him.

And where his older brother should have been like, No, man, this is my thing.

I'll do it.

And they're like, You're crazy.

You're just here to be seen.

You're nuts.

Get out of here.

So they didn't help him at all against the giant.

And then you get to Jesus' story of the prodigal.

And the prodigal son, the younger brother, goes off and squanders his wealth.

And the older brother was supposed to see the hurt in the father's eyes, to have compassion for his younger brother and move out, leave the comfort of the father's home to go off into wherever the decapolis in order to go find the prodigal and bring him home.

That's the way it was supposed to go.

And so when Jesus is saying, I will be your older brother, I will take care of you as if your family, I will do that for you.

Again, I think you see that the most on the cross.

Unlike Cain, Jesus won't kill us and kill his family members, but rather he will take the death that ultimately leads to our life.

He actually flips Cain on his head and is like, He killed his younger brother.

I will die so that my younger brother, my younger sisters, my people live.

He won't sell his family into slavery, but he shows us that he will give his life to ransom us out of slavery so that we can be free.

Unlike David's brothers who mocked him and refused to help him against the giant, Jesus chose to be mocked on the cross in order to actually free us and save us and defeat the giant of sin, Satan, death, and hell.

And just over and over and over again, you see this space where Jesus is doing this thing for us and proving to us, like, I will care for you.

You might not understand, but I promise you I will care for you.

He didn't stay in the comfort of the Father's house, but he saw all the prodigals down on earth and was like, I will leave the comfort of the Father's home.

I will go seek and save the lost.

I will bring sons and daughters back home, prodigal sons and daughters back home.

And so the invitation is not to understand him.

The invitation is you will probably very likely misunderstand what he asks you to do.

It'll be very difficult.

He is infinite and we're finite.

And so there's a space where we will walk in misunderstanding.

We'll walk in the space with him where we don't understand.

And the invitation is like, but I promise, can you trust me enough?

Because if you can just step into this space that you don't understand and trust me by faith in every aspect of your life, I will actually treat you as family.

I will care for you.

I will make sure that you're provided for.

I will make sure that you're cared for.

And that's what he's offering to us.

So if you follow Jesus, if you follow him, you will be misunderstood like he was.

My encouragement to you is don't run from it, but embrace it.

You will experience his life if you follow his way.

And so is there a space in your life where you're refusing to step forward because you're like, I don't want to be seen as weird with your family, with the people in your life, at your office, in these spaces, at your school, with these conversations.

Are there things that people don't know about you, about the way of Jesus that you follow because you're just nervous of what they would think about you?

He's saying, I'll be your older brother.

I will care for you in the midst of that.

Even if they think that you're odd, I promise I will care for you in the midst of that.

And I'll care for them as well.

If you follow Jesus, you will inevitably misunderstand some of the things that he asks you to do, some of the things that he calls you into.

But he is asking for your good as someone who placed your good over his good and went to the cross so that you could live and that he would die.

You can trust what he's asking you to do, even though you misunderstand it, is actually for your good.

And again, you can trust him as someone ultimately who will care for you, provide for you, like family.

He is not going to call you into something and then sin against you.

He's going to care for you as family.

And so my encouragement to you, I think from this text, is that though you misunderstand, and if you misunderstand, of course you do, that makes a ton of sense.

I misunderstand a lot of the stuff that he says.

And I still, it's very confusing, and that makes sense.

I'm certain Larry does, and everybody else does, who's been Jesus' followers longer longer than I have.

But can you trust him in the midst of it?

Because he says, if you just trust me, I promise I'll care for you in that.

Let me pray.

Father.

Would you help us with these spaces, with the words that you pour into our lives, that you're calling us into, wanting us to follow you, wanting us to step out, wanting us even to be seen as odd to those around us.

That you're actually trying to care for us in the midst of that.

It's not this space that you're calling us out to like Peter.

You didn't call him out on the water to sink and to drown.

You called him out to experience what life with you is like.

Victory over the waves, victory over the storms, walking with you.

And so God, I just pray that you would do that.

In our lives, would you impress upon our hearts and give us the ability to believe that you're faithful to who you say you are, you're the true and better older brother who will care for our needs, provide for us, watch over us, guide us, shape us.

You're the example that we can follow.

And you'll care for us like family.

Help us to trust you in that way.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

If you help set up communion, please come and serve the elements on this side.

This is a space where we get to be reminded every single week.

If you're ever wondering, does he actually have my good in his mind?

Does he actually have my best for me?

Or is he calling me into something worse?

This is a proof consistently to be reminded.

He was willing to lay down his life for you.

Anything he calls you into is first and foremost through that lens.

I'm calling you into this thing that you might not understand.

It's like, yeah, but he was willing to give his life for me.

He was willing to die for me.

His body broken, his blood poured out.

And so for us, it's just a space we get to be reminded and this proof to look at and say, he cared for me enough to die for me.

Certainly what he's calling me into is not a horrible thing that's gonna be for my ruin, but actually it's for my good, because if he was willing to give his life, that's what he's for.

And so for us, take some time and uh in your seats and then talk with him, confess your sin to him.

If you have sins in your life that you have been holding on to and been like, he's wrong, I'm right, I would confess those things.

I would ask for pardon in those spaces.

It's not struggling with sin.

He knows we're gonna struggle with sin.

He just doesn't want us to call sin righteousness and call righteousness sin.

And so take some time, talk with him, and then come and receive the elements as you're ready.