Gtcotr/ss013121
You know, not everyone believes in the divine will and purpose of God. Some people only believe in what they can see or explain, what they feel, or what they want.
The
way of the world, even in all the wisdom of man, seems blind to the divine. The world endeavors to explain away the unexplainable.
Often those unable to discern the divine element attribute something foul to
the process in order to discourage its continuance. In other words:
·
If
it cannot be understood it must be bad and it needs to stop.
· If it cannot be controlled, it needs to be killed.
The
accounts of controversaries in the Bible usually divide people into three basic
groups.
·
Group 1: Those who believe in, support, and follow God’s divine
interventions, and never want to stop.
·
Group 2: The well-meaning people who just don’t believe it for whatever reason and want it to stop.
· Group 3: People who really don’t care about anything else but staying in power … People who, if they cannot control it, want to kill it.
In
Moses’ day:
·
There
were people from all walks of life, Hebrew and Egyptian, who believed Moses was
a great man sent from God and they were excited to follow him.
o Exodus 12:38 A mixed multitude went up with them also …
o Exodus 11:3b Moses was
a very great man in Egypt …
o When people accept a
divine element, unanswered questions cease to be their main focus.
§ How did Jesus walk on
water? I can’t explain it …
§ How did Jesus multiply
the fish and loaves? I don’t know.
§ What made the Red Sea
part? It was by divine intervention. But I don’t know how it all happened.
o Some people believed
Moses was sent from God and they were excited about following him into the wilderness, with no mention of food or water.
o These were the Group 1
people … I believe … let’s go!
·
Then
there were the elders of Israel who were well meaning but they wanted Moses to
stop aggravating Pharaoh because Pharaoh was making it harder on them and the
Children of Israel.
o Exodus 5:20-21 You
have made our burden greater …
o These are the Group 2
people … no divine connection to the moment.
§ I don’t necessarily
dislike you, and you probably mean well … but Moses, you need to stop …
§ You’re just making
things worse for everybody.
·
And
finally there was Pharaoh and his court in Group 3.
o Those who did not know
and didn’t care how Moses was doing what he was doing.
o They had magicians who
could do the same.
o They had absolutely no
divine connection.
o Moses had too much
influence and so they wanted to kill him, and his followers.
o Hard hearted people in
positions of power with no concern for anyone else.
o Angry beyond reason and unafraid of offending God - if God even existed at all.
It
was the same in the days of John the Baptist and also the same for the Apostle Paul
and even for Jesus.
·
Some
people love you and support you …
·
Some
people like you but don’t agree with you …
· While other people hate you and want to hurt you and anyone who supports you.
With these thoughts in mind, we are going to continue our series in the Gospel of Mark this morning and put our focus on Jesus as we read our text and consider which group we want to be in. Is it possible God is doing something He didn’t consult about beforehand? It happens …
Mark 3 NKJV
13 ¶ And He went up on the
mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to
Him.
14 Then He appointed twelve,
that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach,
15 and to have power to heal
sicknesses and to cast out demons:
16
Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter;
17
James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom
He gave the name Boanerges, that is, “Sons of Thunder”;
18
Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of
Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananite;
19 and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. And they went into a house.
Most likely the choices Jesus made did not agree with everyone there. But they were after all His choices. God had a plan and Jesus had a chance to participate … and so did the disciples … even Judas Iscariot.
Jesus called those He wanted. He appointed, and anointed them, and then they went into the house.
21 But when His own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, “He is out of His mind.”
The NLT says when His family heard what He was doing, they came to take Him away saying Jesus was not in His right mind. We know this happened out of concern as verse 31 indicates, which is also in agreement with Matthew 12 and Luke 8. They believed Jesus was out of His mind; doing things harmful to Himself and others; carrying on like a crazy man; exhibiting insane behavior. He needed to stop! Or rather, somebody needed to stop Him.
This account also reveals the three basic groups earlier mentioned.
Group 1: The followers and supporters of Jesus.
Group 2: Well meaning close family and friends. They like Jesus but they don’t agree with Him and they want Him to stop.
More than simply being a nuisance, Jesus’ family considered Him to be a danger to Himself and to others who followed Him. This has got to stop before somebody gets hurt. Maybe they wondered if Jesus knew He could get stoned to death or cause others to get hurt or lose their jobs.
If the family could have succeeded in having Jesus declared incompetent, mentally impaired, crazy, or insane, then perhaps He would be spared arrest and public execution for saying and doing things seen as unlawful.
“The charge of derangement on
account of attention to religion has not been confined to our Saviour. Let a
man be made deeply sensible of his sins, and spend much of his time in prayer,
and have no relish for the ordinary amusements or business of life; or let a
Christian be much impressed with his obligation to devote himself to God, and
act as if he believed there was an eternity, and warn his neighbours of their
danger; or let a minister show uncommon zeal, and waste his strength in the
service of his Master, and the world is not slow to call it derangement. … At
the same time, men may endanger themselves on the bosom of the deep, or in the
bowels of the earth, for wealth; or may plunge into the vortex of fashion, and
folly, and vice, and break in upon the hours of repose, and neglect their
duties to their family, and the demands of business, and in the view of the
world it is wisdom, and proof of a sane mind! Such is the consistency of
boasted reason; such the wisdom and prudence of worldly men!”
(Barnes)
Group 3: National leaders from Jerusalem came hoping to destroy Jesus’ credibility imagining that if they did, people would stop following Him.
22 ¶ And the scribes who came
down from Jerusalem said, “He has
Beelzebub,” and, “By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons.”
It is so evident when one individual or group hates and wants to destroy another. They will manufacture any accusation, no matter how ridiculous it is. And they will stop at nothing. Later Jesus asked His accusers a question:
John 10 NKJV
31 Then the Jews took up
stones again to stone Him.
32 Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?”
Jesus was helping people … He blessed the poor, healed the sick, fed the hungry, had compassion on widows, and loved children … what was so bad about that? Well: it could not be explained, taxed, or controlled, so it had to be stopped and stopped at all costs.
We must allow for divine interventions in life which challenge us and rise above the wisdom of this world and the designs of men. Those who have never experienced the unexplainable or embraced a wisdom greater than their own, have not yet met God. They may know about Him and they may talk about Him, but I fear they have not met Him.
The divine will and purpose of God is greater than the good we intend or the bad we deserve. No one can calculate a person’s value to God but God.
How has the message from Mark challenged me today?
1.
I want to know which group I’m in.
a. Do I love and obey Jesus
even when I don’t understand?
b. Do I like the thought
of Jesus and heaven but reserve the right to have and share my own opinion?
c. Do I hate it and want
to destroy it when it does not favor me?
2.
No one can calculate a person’s value to God but
God.
a. I am not going to limit
God’s will to my wisdom.
b. I’m going to put
everyone else in God’s hands and just work on myself and my responsibilities.
3.
We could all use a little more divine insanity.
a. I want to experience
things I can’t explain.
b. Witness more miracles
and hear a fresh word from God.
c. Be overwhelmed with
joy and break out in dancing like David.
d. I want to wake with
hope for unseen realities that keeps me excited all day long.
e. To not be disappointed
in the little things I cannot control.
f. Have unwavering faith in the good will of God for myself, my family, my neighbors, my nation, and the lost souls throughout the world.
That’s
how the message from Mark challenged me today … What were your take-a-ways?
