In Jesus Holy Name June 9, 2024 Redeemer
Text: Mark 3:28-29
“The Cosmic War and the Ministry of Jesus”
Today’s Gospel reading brings us to a challenge very early in the ministry of Jesus. Jesus has returned to his new adopted home town of Capernaum. Jesus healed a paralyzed man after his friends had lowered him through the roof of a house and forgave the man his sins. That was too much for the Pharisees. Now, the “teachers of the law” from Jerusalem must find a way to “cancel” Him and His ministry. The crowds where increasing, and Jesus was becoming a danger to their theological world and position.
Mark writes: “When ever the evil spirits saw Jesus they fell down before Him and cried out “You are the Son of God”. Obviously this was a problem for the Pharisees. Because their attempts to “cancel” Jesus did not work, they sought to totally discredit His miracles by accusing Him of casting out evil spirits by using the power of Satan. We see the same attempt to “cancel” people in our own culture. This is an old strategy of Satan to destroy people that never goes away.
This week Colleen and I attended not only a high school graduation but an 8th grade promotion. During the 8th grade promotion one of the speakers, an 8th grade girl, was reminding students of how in Jr. High students often experience rejection by others. She said: “Jr. High students can be cruel with their words if “you don’t wear the correct “dress”; or they have a different accent or skin color; or they make fun of you if your teeth aren’t perfect, all designed to hurt, because that person doesn’t “fit” our little group.”
She went on to encourage students to “reject such behavior with “kindness” or just a smile,” she said. Obviously she was selected to be a student speaker because other students had experienced her acts of kindness. Kindness is one of the fruits of the Spirit and she was using it during her Jr. High years to help fellow students who had been canceled.
When Jesus is healing the sick and casting out demons, Jesus was effectively saying: “This is what happens when God is running the world. This is what it looks like when God is King of the earth. The time has arrived. God’s power is breaking into the present time. To encounter Jesus was to encounter God’s rule in human form, because Jesus is the dwelling place of God. (Leonard Sweet Jesus Theography p. 168-169) This 8th grade girl was simply telling her fellow students this is what God is doing through His people.
The Pharisees were trying everything to constantly discredit Jesus in the public square.
To cause doubt in the public mind the Pharisees claimed that Jesus was healing people by the power of Satan. Jesus asked a simple question. “How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself it can not stand, the end has come.” Jesus said: “If it is by the Spirit of God that I cast our demons, then the kingdom, (the rule) of God has come upon you.” His point: “The casting out demons is a demonstration of the power of the Holy Spirit, which is the very power of God.” “These miracles can mean only one thing: that the One, who is stronger than Satan, namely God, has arrived.” (Jesus in the Church’s Gospels by Reumann p. 204-205)
This discussion between Jesus and the Pharisees is a warning against Satan’s lies and God’s ultimate judgment for those who reject the work of the Holy Spirit in the person of His Son, Jesus. The work and miracles of Jesus cannot be separated from the Holy Spirit. All the work that Jesus does in the Gospels was accomplished by the power of the Holy Spirit flowing through Him. To reject Jesus, is to reject and blaspheme the Holy Spirit. This is the unforgivable sin. (ibid. Reumann p.332)
The Apostle Paul understood this truth and writes; “God was pleased to have all of His full deity dwell in Jesus, and through Jesus reconcile all things to Himself …by making peace through His blood shed on the cross.” Colossians 1:19
These events in Capernaum and Galilee are part of the ongoing battle over the control of the earth and God’s chosen people. The cosmic battle between God and Satan, the fallen angel began his attacks against God’s creation, centuries ago in the Garden of Eden. This cosmic war has just shifted to this Galilean village. God’s creation was perfect. Human beings were created perfect in the image of God with the ability to love, reason and with the gift of free will. Satan hates God and His authority, therefore he seeks to destroy God’s creation and God’s chosen people.
Somewhere along the way, a massive change has occurred in the universe. Genesis 1 tells us that when God finished with creation, He declared it “very good.” On that day there was no crime, no poverty, no sickness, and no death. There were no broken homes, no latchkey children, no abusive husbands, no drug pushers, no murderers, and no child molesters. What God created was pure, perfect, and pristine in its beauty. The whole earth was a place of peace and tranquility. (quote from Snake Eyes a sermon by Rev. Ken Prichard Genesis 3 March 6, 2008)
Something has gone wrong with that same world. Now, the roses have thorns and we have bombs powerful enough to kill 10 or 20 million people at a time. What happened to the paradise God created? The Bible answers that question with the little word sin. Sin has happened to the world and nothing has been right or worked ever since. Human nature seeks selfish power and control.
The author of sin is Satan. “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made” (Genesis 3:1a).
There are some things we know and some things we don’t know about this truth. We know that the serpent is the devil (see Revelation 12:9).
I believe that Eve had no idea what is about to happen. Why should she? She’s quite literally in paradise. She wasn’t expecting to encounter a talking serpent or to be tempted to commit the first sin. She wasn’t looking for the serpent but the serpent was definitely looking for her. When she spots the serpent, she doesn’t recoil in fear. Why should she? What is there to fear in paradise? Everything and every animal was perfect. The serpent’s first move is brilliant. In essence, he challenges Eve to a game of Bible Trivia. “Did God really say….”
Satan promised liberation & equality with God but Adam and Eve would have to both doubt and disobey God’s word. Which they did. What they got was slavery, sin, shame, death, and a Pandoras Box. A Pandoras’ Box opens when human beings mess with the rules of creation. Plagues happen when humans change the rules of God’s creation; whether it is to enhance genetic viruses through gain-of-function or by erasing the male and female gender. Satan lies because it is his nature to lie. He is the first and great deceiver. All Satan’s apples have worms.
Sin has a way of catching up with us, no matter how hard we try to outrun it. A good example comes from two college chemistry students. They had done quite well on their quizzes, midterms and labs, so they didn't give much thought to the uncoming final exam.
They were so confident they decided to go up to the University of Virginia and party with some friends on the weekend before their final exam, which was to take place on Monday. Due to their hangovers they overslept all day Sunday and didn't make it back to Duke until early Monday morning.
Rather than taking the final at that time, they decided to find their professor after the final and explain to him why they missed the exam. They told him that they went up to UVA for the weekend, and had planned to come back in time to study, but that they had a flat tire on the way back and didn't have a spare. They explained that they couldn't get help for such a long time that they were necessarily late getting back to campus. The professor thought this over and agreed that they could make up the final on the following day.
The two guys were elated and relieved. So, they studied that night and went in the next day at the time the professor had planned for them to take the final exam. He placed them in separate rooms and handed each of them a test booklet and told them to begin. They looked at the first problem, which was something simple about polarity and solutions and was worth 5 points on the test. They thought that the exam was going to be easy.
They did that problem and then turned the page. They were unprepared, however, for what they saw on the next page. It read: "(95 points) Which tire was flat on your car?" Their sin had found them out. (J. Mike Minnix a sermon illustration)
All of us have committed sins, small or large, which catch up with us at one time or another. What is difficult, is imagining a sin which God will never, ever forgive. After all, the Father sent His only Son into this world that the world through Him might be saved. Yet, the Bible clearly states that there is one sin which is totally and absolutely unforgivable. If you commit this sin, there is no possibility of ever being forgiven..
The words of Jesus are a warning about rejecting the work of the Holy Spirit and remaining in that total denial all the days of your life. One of the responsibilities of the Holy Spirit is to convict us of our sin, our broken commandments and warn us about the judgment of God against sin. (John 16:8)
The Cosmic War, the battle for our souls was over the moment God promised Adam and Eve forgiveness. The ultimate defeat of Satan happened at the death and resurrection of Jesus, but he continues his guerrilla war. The Father knew if Jesus was to succeed in redeeming us, He had to be One of us.
He was born as are all humans. His mother’s name was Mary. As a man, Jesus had to fulfill the laws we could not. He had to resist the temptations we do not. His death on the cross was an act of substitution. He took the punishment of God’s wrath against our broken commandments. When the Father said that His Son would die upon a cross, He meant it. Jesus promised that He would rise from death and defeat the grip Satan held over human hearts. He did. He kept His promise.
God keeps His promises and that's why you can believe Jesus when He says: Don’t reject the work of the Holy Spirit.
