The False Accusation
Mark 3:20-35
When Jesus set out in His ministry with His 12 Disciples there was a tremendous response to His message but an even greater response to the miracles that were being done in the name of God.
Jesus and His 12 Disciples were so busy attending to the needs of the people and proclaiming the Gospel message that they worked without eating. They were swamped by those seeking a miracle and those seeking freedom from spiritual torment.
The response to what Jesus and the Disciples were accomplishing was so huge and their zeal so passionate that onlookers thought they had lost their minds. Even Jesus own Mother and brothers arrived to try to intervene thinking that Jesus had lost His mind.
Mark 3:21
Jesus and the Disciples were obsessed with the work of God but these onlookers thought they were possessed by some kind of evil spirit they called “Beelzebub” the “lord of the dung flies”.
Mark 3:22
Source; pg. 1328-1329 Believers Bible Commentary William MacDonald 1995 Thomas Nelson Publishers Nashville, Tennessee
What a strange accusation to make considering the good that was being done by Jesus and His Disciples.
As always you have to consider the source of the criticism.
It was coming from “the teachers of the law”. Mark 3:22
They were the Jewish religious leaders known as the “Scribes and Pharisees”. What they saw being done was something that was beyond their ability to duplicate. For them these acts by Jesus and the Disciples were incredulous.
Only God can bring about a miracle yet here were Fishermen, a Tax collector, and a Teenager being led by a Carpenter from Nazareth healing multitudes right before their eyes?
The religious leaders took it as an assault on their so called Holy positions as keepers and preachers of God’s word. If these seemingly ordinary men can do these things then what is their excuse for not being able to do it as well?
These reverent men were publicly humiliated and embarrassed by what they saw as droves of people, wave after wave of infirmed were being healed and restored by Jesus and His Disciples.
They had to come up with an explanation so they blamed this “Beelzebub” character as possessing Jesus and His Disciples giving them supernatural power to do this healing.
Jesus responded with incongruity to their accusations by pointing out that it would be out of character for “Satan to drive out Satan” it would be spiritually inconsistent.
“How can Satan drive out Satan?
24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
26 And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come.
27 In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house.
28 Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter,
29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.”
Jesus was putting them straight about the good things that are accomplished by people who put their faith in the power of God’s Holy Spirit to bring about good in the world.
The hypocrisy of these so called religious leaders ran so deep they were willing to give the Devil credit for these unquestionable miracles rather than the God they claimed to serve. Let that sink in.
For them to admit that these miracles were from God would be to admit that Jesus and His Disciples were operating in and through God’s divine power.
That was a power that they claimed to hold the keys to but somehow they had lost the keys and were ashamed to admit it.
Maybe you have experienced this kind of assault on your Christian character for doing some small act of kindness for someone in need?
Maybe you have been the victim of a slander or gossip from supposed religious leaders?
Oh, you teach Sunday school, how behind the times are you?
What you sing in a choir at church, really do they still do that?
You say you serve as an Elder on your church board why, are you religious or something?
If that has happened to you then “Rejoice” for you are in good company.
Jesus said…
Matthew 5:11-12
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Doing good for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is what God made us for that is why He called you out as the “ecclesia”. That is why you who know Christ as your Savior are called Saints. The Hagios – Greek – Sacred ones Sanctified.
Ephesians 2:10 New International Version
10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Not that you are Saints by your own power but by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit promised to you by Jesus. Your Sainthood is demonstrated in your love for others especially for those outside of the church. Be a Jesus nut, it’s who you are!
William MacDonald in his Believers Commentary on the Bible puts it this way;
“Satan is the strong man. The house is his dominion; he is the god of this age. His goods are the people over whom he holds sway. Jesus in the One who binds Satan and plunders his house. At Christ’s Second Advent, Satan will be bound and cast into the bottomless pit for one thousand years. The Saviors casting out demons during His ministry on earth was a forecast of His eventual complete binding of the Devil.”
Source; pg. 1328-1329 Believers Bible Commentary William MacDonald 1995 Thomas Nelson Publishers Nashville, Tennessee
Saints I want you to keep on keeping on for the name of Jesus. Yes there will always be opposition to what we do or how we serve our Master Jesus Christ but do not be deterred. Jesus has already won the battle for us all.
James 2:19 NIV
19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
Fight the good fight Saints. The victory is already won!
Ephesians 6:12 New International Version
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
We dear ones are in a Holy War a Spiritual war against a spiritual enemy. Our fight is not against flesh and blood but against the spirit that opposes Jesus.
So fight as if you have lost your mind and love with an everlasting love as you forgive the unforgivable. Love those who have maligned you or slandered you or see your commitment to the things of God as some kind of blind faith.
Let us all lose our sight in the brilliance that will be the Second coming of Jesus.
27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Luke 10:27
Amen
