"The Cosmic War And The Ministry Of Jesus”

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.