The Unpardonable Sin Series

The Gospel of Mark # 9 – “The Unpardonable Sin”

Mark 3:20-35

Intro –

1. ILL – The following series of advertisements reportedly appeared in a daily newspaper: Monday: "The Rev. A.J. Jones has one color TV set for sale. Telephone 626-1313 after 7 p.m. and ask for Mrs. Donnelley who lives with him, cheap." Tuesday: "We regret any embarrassment caused to Rev. Jones by a typographical error in yesterday's paper. The ad should have read: 'The Rev. A.J. Jones has one color TV set for sale, cheap...Telephone 626-1313 and ask for Mrs. Donnelley, who lives with him after 7 p.m.'" Wednesday: "The Rev. A.J. Jones informs us that he has received several annoying telephone calls because of an incorrect ad in yesterday's paper. It should have read: 'The Rev. A.J. Jones has one color TV set for sale, cheap. Telephone 626-1313 after 7 p.m. and ask for Mrs. Donnelley who loves with him.'" Thursday: "Please take notice that I, the Rev. A.J. Jones, have no color TV set for sale; I have smashed it. Don't call 626-1313 anymore. I have not been carrying on with Mrs. Donnelley. She was, until yesterday, my housekeeper.'" Friday: "Wanted: a housekeeper. Usual housekeeping duties. Good pay. Love in, Rev. A.J. Jones. Telephone 626- 1313.'" Mistakes are inevitable in the publishing business.

2. Have you ever been misunderstood? It’s no fun is it?

3. In our text today, Jesus was misunderstood by His family & his foes. Also, one of the statements He makes continues to be misunderstood even today.

4. TEXT – Mark 3:20-35 (read).

5. In the Gospels, Jesus was loved by some & grossly misunderstood by others. This has continued down through the ages. People have often misunderstood who Jesus is!

6. C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, “I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to... Now it seems to me obvious that He was neither a lunatic nor a fiend: and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God.”

7. In our text, Notice how Jesus was misunderstood –

a. His family & friends – vs. 21 “He is out of His mind!” *Because He wasn’t eating.

b. His foes – vs. 22 “He is possessed by Beelzebub!” *Because He wouldn’t conform.

8. Whenever Jesus came up against demonic powers, He silenced them (Mark 1:25, 34, 3:11).

9. Why? He would not allow a demon to influence people concerning who He was, He would only allow His own words & works to show His true character.

10. In our text, Jesus clears up some misunderstandings the people of His day had about Him.

I. Jesus Clears up the Misunderstanding about His True Foe – Vs. 23-30

Believe it or not, the Pharisees & Sadducees were not Jesus’ real enemies! In fact, Jesus loved them as much & died for their sins as equally as He did for His Apostles.

However, they were being used by Jesus’ & our true enemy – Satan.

A. Jesus speaks of an undeniable enemy – vs. 23-27

*Jesus calls His attackers to Him and He totally destroys their arguments. His uses 3 illustrations from life that prove Satan cannot be in the business of casting out Satan.

1. A secular illustration – “A kingdom divided”

a. When there is civil war & strife within a kingdom, the stability of that kingdom is compromised & more likely to fall. For a kingdom to be strong it must be united.

b. Satan is out to win the battle between himself & the Lord. He is not going to do anything to weaken himself in that fight. For him to cast out his own demons would be counterproductive.

2. A social illustration – “A house divided”