Mark: The Right Now Gospel
Pt. 5
“Apostles Chosen and the Unpardonable Sin”
Healing on the Sabbath
Mark 3:1-27 “And He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. 2 So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. 3 And He said to the man who had the withered hand, “Step forward.” 4 Then He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they kept silent. 5 And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other. 6 Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.”
So here again we have a conflict over the Sabbath, which is how chapter 2 ended. Jesus had told the Jews that “the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”
The Pharisees and religious rulers had made the Sabbath a burden instead of the blessing God intended. They had over time taken it to an unbearable extreme with ridiculous man-made rules and regulations God never gave. Jesus put it like this in Matthew’s gospel:
Matt 23:4,24 “For they (Pharisees) bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers…24 Blind guides! You strain your water so you won’t accidentally swallow a gnat, but you swallow a camel!…Mark 7:13 “making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down.”
And once again they’re doing it here when Jesus heals the man with the withered hand. Rather than giving God the glory for a great miracle and rejoicing with the healed man, they are enraged that Jesus dared to do a “work” on the Sabbath!
This is the great blindness of religion with its man-made rules and regulations!
________________
A Great Multitude follows Jesus
7 But Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea. And a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judea 8 and Jerusalem and Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and those from Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard how many things He was doing, came to Him. 9 So He told His disciples that a small boat should be kept ready for Him because of the multitude, lest they should crush Him.”
Mass healing and deliverance
10 For He healed many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about Him to touch Him. 11 And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, “You are the Son of God.” 12 But He sternly warned them that they should not make Him known.”
Speaking of unclean spirits, the NT has several descriptives for the fallen angels in league with Satan–Demons (δαιμόνιον-evil deities), devils, principalities, powers, spiritual wickedness, rulers of darkness, and unclean spirits.
In this case, Mark uses ‘unclean spirit’ to describe them. The word ‘unclean’ (ἀκάθαρτος) means morally impure, polluted, defiled–as opposed to katharós, meaning “clean, purged.” We use the word ‘catharsis’ in English to describe a purifying experience.
Jesus commands these unclean demon spirits “not to make him known.” (Vs 12) One commentator says of this command,
“He sought not vain glory and popular applause, nor did he need the testimony of men or devils; and especially did not choose the testimony of devils, lest his enemies should use it to speak badly of him, as having familiarity with devils, which they did anyway” (Gill).
The Twelve Apostles
Next we have a crucial moment in Jesus’s ministry–the choosing of the 12 Apostles that would later lay the foundation of Christianity and write the Holy NT Scriptures (Paul later included in their number).
13 And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. 14 Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, 15 and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons:”
Luke adds that “He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. 13 And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles:”–Lk 6:12-13
So it was after praying all night long that Jesus chose the twelve Apostles.
They were:
16 Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter; 17 James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, “Sons of Thunder”; 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananite; 19 and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. And they went into a house.”
_________________
These were the men, minus Judas, Paul refers to in Ephesians 2:19-21,
“Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,”
The foundation of the church was laid by the Apostles (with Paul added later) and every true Christian life is built upon that foundation laid by Jesus in His teachings and the apostolic teachings found in the NT epistles.
Paul wrote the Corinthian church, “According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. 11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”–1 Cor 3:10-15
The foundation is laid, now it’s up to every professing believer to build on top of the foundation a genuine Christian life per the teachings of Christ and the Apostles!
This means we no longer need Apostles like the original twelve. Once a foundation is laid you don’t need to lay another one. The word apostle simply means “sent one,” much like we think of a missionary being sent to a foreign mission field. So if you want to say you’re an apostle in that respect, okay. But it is not the same as the original twelve.
_______________
Jesus, the misunderstood One:
20 Then the multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread. 21 But when His own people (his family) heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, “He is out of His mind.”
These family members would include Jesus’ half-brothers, who were James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas (Jude), with additional unnamed sisters also mentioned in the Gospels. These siblings are mentioned in several passages, including when they came to speak with Jesus during his ministry.
James, in particular, is noted as a prominent figure in the early church and is referred to as James the Just in Galatians 1:19. He also wrote the book of James.
And the ‘Judas’ mentioned is actually Jude, who wrote the book of Jude.
What really touches me is how, in the gospels we see his half brothers James and Jude not believing in him. But later they place faith in Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
James opens his epistle with the words, “James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.” And Jude opens his letter with, “Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James.”
But back in Mark 3:21 before their conversion, they accuse him of being ‘out of his mind.’ Throughout His ministry, Jesus had to endure being misunderstood. Is that your experience?
________________
And next he’s not just misunderstood, but is mischaracterized with a very dangerous accusation:
22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebub,” and, “By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons.”
Beelzebub was the name for Satan himself. The scribes are literally accusing Jesus of being in league with, joining hands with, working with Satan himself. This was an expression of supreme contempt!
First, Jesus took this as a teaching opportunity:
23 So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables: “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end. 27 No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house.”
The “strong man” in verse 27 is Satan; his House is this fallen world; the Stronger than the strong man is Christ Jesus, who binds the Evil One, then frees his captives!
________________
Then the next three verses are some of the most misunderstood passages in the NT:
“Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; 29 but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation”— 30 because they said, “He has an unclean spirit.”
This is commonly called ‘the unpardonable sin.’ The million dollar question is, what is it?
Notice, Jesus says that the scribes and Pharisees blasphemed the Holy Spirit. They did this by refusing to acknowledge the clear, obvious works of the Holy Spirit through Jesus. And in so doing they rejected the Holy Spirit’s testimony of Jesus as the very Son of God.
So the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is to reject His testimony of Jesus. Jesus said,
“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.”–John 15:26
When you reject His testimony, his conviction on your heart, his witness of Jesus as the Son of God, you are also rejecting Jesus, which is the sin that will not be forgiven.
NEXT TIME: Parables Describing the Kingdom of God