“HE’S OUT OF HIS MIND”
Mark 3:20-35
INTRODUCTION: I’m sure you’ve all seen people do some far-out wacky things and have thought to yourself, “These people must be out of their minds”. Someone risking their life doing a stunt is one thing but what about when it comes to doing God’s will? Today we’ll see that some people thought that Jesus was out of his mind.
1) He’s out of his mind (20-21). Jesus had been teaching in the synagogues and was healing the crippled and demon possessed. Word got out and he began to attract big crowds of people. Wherever he went the crowds followed. They became so enamored with Jesus that it interrupted his daily living. When his family got word of this they made a decision, probably out of genuine concern, to come and take him away. They concluded that he was out of his mind.
Perhaps it befuddled them why he left his humble life of carpentry and took off into the wilderness and then started traveling around teaching and healing. Maybe they thought he was out of his mind for socializing with tax collectors, prostitutes and sinners. Perhaps they had heard the rumors that he was breaking the Sabbath and breaking the traditions of the elders. Considering all that was happening they surmised that he had gone mad.
Paul had this happen to him too. Paul got arrested in Jerusalem. There was a plot to kill him so they transferred Paul to Caesarea. He stayed there for over two years. Then he had a trial before the new Governor, Festus. A few days later King Agrippa came into town and after Festus told him all about what was going on with Paul he wanted to hear Paul for himself.
So Paul talks to him about his life as a Pharisee and about his hope for his people to come to Jesus. He talked about his former persecution of Christians until the Damascus road experience. When he talked about the resurrection of Jesus Festus interrupted and said, “You are out of your mind, Paul! You’re great learning is driving you insane.” (Acts 26:24). Paul went on to explain that he wasn’t insane but that what he was saying was true and reasonable.
Paul, who once persecuted the church, was now one of the biggest advocates for Christ. This drastic change, along with his newfound passion and willingness to suffer for his faith caused some to conclude that he was insane. When a radical change happens and we become zealous about our faith some people, especially those who knew us before we were saved, may conclude that we are out of our mind.
And in some ways, what we do for Jesus will seem crazy. Missionaries who pack up their families and move to Africa would be considered out of their minds. Christians who give 10% or more to the church are out of their minds. People who go to church more than once a week are fanatical and extreme. Our devotion to Jesus will cause some to think that we are out of our minds.
2) He’s possessed (22-30). Christ was performing miracle after miracle, healing the diseased as well as the demon possessed. People were amazed at his teaching and the works he performed and his popularity was growing at an alarming rate. Some were amazed and saw it as proof that Christ was the promised Messiah. This troubled the religious leaders, who also witnessed what Jesus was doing.
The teachers of the law acknowledged that Jesus was casting out demons but since they weren’t willing to believe that Jesus was God’s Son and therefore working in accordance with God’s power so they had to draw another conclusion-it had to be Satan’s power. They also had it out for Jesus and wanted to discredit him with the people. Convincing them that Jesus’ ability came from the devil would do that.
But Jesus blew their ridiculous claim out of the water (23-27). When we are living for Jesus, those who oppose us may make some pretty lame claims against what we’re doing. They will accuse us of having ulterior motives, we will be accused of thinking we’re better than everyone else; we will be accused of being narrow or closed-minded. We will be accused of being haters. Just like Jesus was accused of evil though he was doing good so will we be. Jesus warned us in John 15:18 when he said, “If the world hates you keep in mind that it hated me first”.
Notice that when he was falsely accused Jesus didn’t flip out. He didn’t cuss them out he simply used wisdom and dismantled their argument. This is how we handle our accusers the right way-we use wisdom, logic and tact; all the while maintaining our self-control.
Even though the religious leaders’ accusation was foolish, Jesus lets them know the seriousness of what they were doing (28-30). Jesus specified in verse 28 that man blaspheming man is forgivable but when someone blasphemes the Holy Spirit, that is unforgivable. I think Jesus is stating the severity of having a heart that not only rejects the evidence of the Holy Spirit but rejects it to the point of turning it into something evil.
Fourfold Gospel commentary, “Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is in its nature an eternal sin, for if one rejects the evidence given by the Holy Spirit and ascribes it to Satan, he rejects the only evidence upon which faith can be based; and without faith there is no forgiveness.”
I have talked to Christians who were concerned that they have committed this sin. I believe your concern is evidence that you haven’t. The person who blasphemes the Holy Spirit doesn’t worry about whether or not they have done so. That would be cruel for the person who has done this to have any interest in seeking God thereafter because it would all be for naught. I don’t believe God rejects those who earnestly seek him.
3) The spiritual family (31-35). Now his family members have arrived to do what was stated in vs. 21. On the surface it looks like Jesus is being disrespectful toward his family; especially his mother. Jesus's response would've been further proof to his family that he was out of his mind. Did Jesus dishonor his mother and brothers by saying this? No. His family, albeit probably unknowingly, was trying to pull him away from the Father’s business. They thought he was crazy so they wanted to confront him about that; they wanted to take charge of him (take control of him).
The irony was that Jesus’ actions may have been considered dishonorable from a worldly standpoint (as well as from a religious standpoint with the teachers of the law) but his actions were most honorable from a spiritual standpoint. Jesus was illustrating that he wasn’t to be deterred from doing the Father’s work. He is saying that God’s will supersedes anyone else’s-including his own family’s.
John 7:1-9. Verse five makes it clear his brothers didn’t believe in him. Jesus made it clear to them that he wasn’t going to do things according to how they wanted him to.
Sometimes, the people who are going to try to deter us from doing God’s work will be our own family. Satan knows we can be apt to cater to the desires of the ones we love the most. Satan will try to work through the ones who we are most apt to want to impress or gain the approval or favor from. We need to be prepared to fight against that. God’s will must always win out.
But it’s not that Jesus doesn’t want us to have nothing to do with our family, he doesn’t want us to cut our families off he simply wants us to put him first. And in doing so, we may win our loved ones over to Jesus. At this time, his brothers weren’t in line with what he was doing but later we see that because Jesus stayed true to his Father’s purpose, they came around to join his cause for the kingdom (James, Jude).
Think what would’ve happened if Jesus fulfilled his family’s will instead of the Father’s. We have to be prepared to break “protocol”. We may be considered to be dishonoring the family if we become Christians. We may be going against religious traditions by following Jesus. We may be letting our friends down if we no longer do what we once did. That can be a lot of pressure on us to revert back to our old self. We will be tempted to please our family and friends. We may be afraid of losing these relationships. Will we take those risks? Will we stand firm in our devotion to Christ?
Vs. 34-35. People have found great comfort in being connected to their spiritual family. You may have a family that is opposed to your devotion to Christ or maybe they’re not opposed but they’re not supportive either. If your biological family isn’t saved then they can’t relate to you on a spiritual level. That’s where your spiritual family comes in. There is a spiritual bond that you have with your church family that you can’t have with your biological family. Because of the love and wisdom they have received from Christ they can share that with you.
Some of you have come from dysfunctional families or broken homes. You have missed out on experiencing a healthy family atmosphere. You may have no idea what a normal family looks like. Perhaps you’ve been hurting for a long time because of it. Maybe there’s been an oppressive emptiness because you didn’t receive the nurturing from your parents that you should’ve. Perhaps you’ve spent your life without a mentor, without an adequate roll model to teach you about life. That’s where the church family can help. Your spiritual brother or sister can care for you, challenge you, advise you according to the Spirit of Jesus and the bible along with their experiences in Christ.
It doesn’t mean things are perfect in the spiritual family. Just like a typical family, sometimes there are issues to address. We can be out of our minds-out of the mindset of Christ that is and into our old mindset. But when people are acting in accordance with the spirit of Christ, and if their goal is to do his will then things will be handled appropriately and relationships can grow. In order for the family unit to thrive it needs to work together. This is evident in a literal family as well as a spiritual family. That’s how a healthy church family functions.
CONCLUSION: Living for Jesus isn’t easy. When we face opposition we need to handle it like Jesus did. Some people will think we’re out of our minds for our devotion to Christ. Paul said anyone who wants to live a godly life will be persecuted. Sometimes that persecution comes from our own family. That’s not easy to deal with but there can be solace in knowing that we have a spiritual family we can turn to.
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