Whose The Strong Man Now?

Scripture: Mark 3:20 - 27 (reading Mark 3:7 - 27) Call to worship - Psalm 138

Theme: "You are the Son of God"

This sermon focuses on two main points 1. The Supernatural is Real 2. Jesus Is the Stronger Man (Messiah - Son of God)

INTRO:

Grace and peace from God our Father and from His Son - Jesus Christ - Our Savior and LORD who came to take away all of our sins!

Have you ever been so busy that you forgot to take lunch? Or else you have been so busy that there was not any time for lunch? I think we all have had such times. We have been at work and we got so caught up in finishing a project or working with a customer that before we knew it lunch time had already come and gone. Or else, we found ourselves having to finish something that we decided that today we would just skip lunch and perhaps get a snack at a later time.

After healing the man with the Withered hand the news of Jesus' ability to teach and to heal started spreading throughout the area. People began talking about what they had seen and heard. And why wouldn't they? When great miracles of God start happening people start talking. They invite others to come and be in on all the action. There is a basic human desire to see something unusual and supernatural happening; especially if that something is people getting freed from the bondages of sin and disease.

Verse 7 and verse 20 tell us that people were coming from everywhere to see Jesus. They either wanted to receive their own healing, a healing for a family member or friend or they wanted to hear Jesus share the Good News. There was something different about Jesus. He spoke differently than the Pharisees and the scribes. There was a supernatural authority in his voice and his words spoke deep into the hearts, minds and souls of those who heard him.

It was in the mist of all of this happening that Jesus began to organize his ministry team. We see in verses 13 - 19 how Jesus began to put this team together. St. Luke tells us that prior to all of this Jesus had a team meeting with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. After a night of prayer, Jesus gathered up his followers and chose 12 of them to be His Apostles (Luke 6:12). He gave these 12 disciples the power and mission to preach the Good News and to cast out demons. We also know later on that Jesus gave them the power to heal as well (Luke 9:1 - 6). These were not the only ones that Jesus would give such power but these were the ones that Jesus gave the calling of being an Apostle.

Jesus' ministry team was now set. He and the 12 would travel around the land of Israel, preaching the Gospel, healing people and casting out demons. The time for God's people to be rescued and redeemed was now a reality. God in flesh was walking among His creation, living with His people, teaching and freeing them from the penalty and powers of evil. The plan of salvation that began back in Genesis chapter three was now being realized. The power and presence of God through Jesus and His Holy Spirit was now in full swing.

Verse 20 tells us that even when Jesus went back to his own house the crowds kept following him. He and his disciples were kept so busy teaching, healing and casting out evil spirits that they barely had time to eat. St. Mark has this amazing way of sharing Jesus' story with us that includes these little tidbits of information. Jesus' ministry was not just going well, it was going so well that there was hardly time to take care of the simple things like lunch.

But all of this wonderful news did not go unnoticed by either those who humanly opposed Jesus or the Prince of Evil - Satan himself. When Jesus started healing people, casting out demons and pulling together a discipleship team, Satan knew that he and his kingdom were in trouble. That is part of the message that Mark shares with us here. It is a reminder to anyone who reads the Bible and who does their best to follow Jesus and Share the Good News that it is also very likely that they too will have to face some battles. Satan, the one that the scribes call Beelzebul was not give up without a fight.

St. Mark shares this passage to teach us some important truths this morning.

I. Jesus reminds us that we are dealing in the realm of the Supernatural