Wednesday evening notes... 10-14-20 Book of Mark, Chapter 3

 
      And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand. 2 And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him. 3 And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth. 4 And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace. 

 They watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath: The critics of Jesus expected Him to heal this man with the withered hand. By their expectation, they admitted that Jesus had the power of God to work miracles. Knowing this, they watched Him closely … so that they might accuse Him. They knew what Jesus could do yet their knowledge didn't draw them to Jesus. It was as if a man could fly, but the authorities wanted to know if he had a pilot's license. He was a threat to the hypocritical institutions of the day… a threat to the power structure… A threat to the powerful !

"No one could miss them, for, in the synagogue, the front seats were the seats of honour and they were sitting there." The religious leaders watched Jesus closely, but with no heart of love for Him. They knew about Jesus, but they did not know Him. They did not wish to….As we well know…

They also knew Jesus would do something when He saw this man in need. In this sense, these critics had more faith than many of us, because we sometimes doubt that Jesus wants to meet the needs of others. But they used this man to bait Jesus and Jesus, out of his unwavering commitment to teaching God’s true word and living by example He willing stepped into the trap laid for him…

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“31 There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him. 32 And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee. 33 And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren? 34 And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! 35 For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother…”

Verse Thoughts

The crowds thronged the Lord Jesus, for they were astonished by the many mighty miracles and great healings that He was performing. Even the unclean spirits recognised Who Jesus was and declared: You are the Son of God. But the Scribes, the Pharisees, the Sadducees and the Herodians hated the Lord Jesus, for He was undermining their authoritarian monopolies and hypocritical practices - for Jesus spoke as one having sovereign authority - but it was a different sort of authority than that which was seen in their religious leaders.

Despite John's testimony that Jesus was the One Who was sent from above.. and in spite of Christ's Own prolonged announcement of His Messianic credentials and heavenly authority, the Lord Jesus was accused by the Jewish leaders of His day.. of casting out demons by the satanic power of Beelzebub. This shocking accusation was identified by Christ Himself as a terrible sin against the Holy Spirit. For the Spirit is the One Who convicts men's hearts of sin, righteousness and judgement.

It is the ministry of the Holy Spirit which guides us into all truth and teaches us all things. It is the Spirit of God Who witnesses to our spirit and Who teaches and trains us to do the good and shun the evil - and it is by the work of the Holy Spirit that we are born from above into the family of God.. and made one with Jesus Christ - our heavenly Lord and earthly brother. To blaspheme the Holy Spirit in this way is to reject the one and only means of salvation, for He is the One Whose witness points to Christ Jesus as Saviour - .

It was from this point in His ministry that Christ started to move at speed toward the cross. This was the point in His life that Jesus began to speak in parables.. for He knew what was in men's hearts, and He knew that He has now been rejected by the religious authorities and would soon become the sacrificial Lamb, Who would take away the sin of the world.

It was at this critical point in His ministry that His mother and young brothers came to see Jesus. He was told: Your mother and Your brothers are outside looking for You! But their search was not to discover the truth of His Messianic claims, repent of their sins and to acknowledge Him as God of gods and King of kings.. for, as we read elsewhere that His siblings mocked Him and did not believe in Him. We also discover elsewhere that His family and friends had arrived on this occasion because they were ashamed of Him and His ministry.. indeed they had come: to take custody of Him; for they were saying, 'He has lost His senses.'

How shocking that even His own family did not understand Who Jesus was and Why He was here. How sad that they too rejected Him in this manner. Do you, like me, have family members who do not believe in Jesus? If so, we are in good company. So did Jesus. And I think this is meant to give us hope.

According to the Apostle John, “not even his brothers believed in him” (John 7:5). That’s incredible. Those who had lived with Jesus for 30 years really did not know him. Not one of Jesus’ brothers is mentioned as a disciple during his pre-crucifixion ministry. But after his resurrection and ascension, there they are in the upper room worshiping him as God (Acts 1:14).

Why didn’t they believe? And what made them change?

To the best of my knowledge The Bible doesn’t answer the first question. But I’ll bet it was difficult to have Jesus for a brother.

First, Jesus would have been without peer in intellect and wisdom. He was astounding temple rabbis by age 12 (Luke 2:42, 47). A sinful, fallen, gifted sibling can be a hard act to follow. Imagine a perfect, gifted sibling.

Second, Jesus’ consistent and extraordinary moral character must have made him odd and unnerving to be around. His siblings would have grown increasingly self-conscious around him, aware of their own sinful, self-obsessed motives and behaviour, while noting that Jesus didn’t seem to exhibit any himself. For sinners, that could be hard to live with.

Third, Jesus was deeply and uniquely loved by Mary and Joseph. How could they not have treated him differently? They knew he was the Lord. Imagine their extraordinary trust in and deference to Jesus as he grew older. No doubt the siblings would have perceived a dimension to the relationship between the oldest child and their parents that was different from what they experienced.

And when swapping family stories it would have been hard to match a star appearing at your brother’s birth.

Jesus out-classed his siblings in every category. How could anyone with an active sin nature not resent being eclipsed by such a phenom-brother? Familiarity breeds contempt when pride rules the heart.

More pain than we know must have been behind Jesus’ words, “a prophet is not without honour except in his hometown and in his own household” (Matthew 13:57).

So as we assess the role our weak, stumbling witness plays in our family members’ unbelief, let’s remember Jesus—not even a perfect witness guarantees that loved ones will see and embrace the gospel. We must humble ourselves and repent when we sin. But let’s remember that the god of this world and in dwelling sin is what blinds the minds of unbelievers (2 Corinthians 4:4).

The story of Jesus’ brothers can actually give us hope for our loved ones. At the time his brothers claimed that Jesus was “out of his mind” (Mark 3:21), it must have appeared very unlikely that they would ever become his disciples. But eventually they did! And not only followers, but leaders and martyrs in the early church.

The God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” shone in their hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of their brother, Jesus (2 Corinthians 4:6).

So take heart! Don’t give up praying for unbelieving family members and friends. Don’t take their resistance as the final word. They may yet believe, and be used significantly in the kingdom!

And while they resist, or if they have died apparently unbelieving, we can trust them to the Judge of all the earth who will be perfectly just (Genesis 18:25). Jesus does not promise that every parent, sibling, or child of a Christian will believe, but does painfully promise that some families will divide over him (Matthew 10:34-39). We can trust him when it happens.

It is moving to hear James refer to his brother as “our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory” (James 2:1). Can you imagine what this phrase meant for James? The Lord of glory had once slept beside him, ate at his dinner table, played with his friends, spoke to him like a brother, endured his unbelief, paid the debt of his sin, and then brought him to faith.

It may have taken 20-30 years of faithful, prayerful witness by the Son of God, but the miracle occurred: his brothers believed. May the Lord of glory grant the same grace to our beloved unbelievers.

But Christ Jesus had been sent by His Father in heaven to carry out God's holy will and to fulfil the Father's precious plan of redemption.

Christ's earthly ministry to His own people - the lost sheep of the house of Israel, was almost over. It was at this pivotal point in His earthly ministry we see Him starting to prepare for an even greater pivotal point.. in the history of the world. As the eternal Son of God He would give His life as the perfect Son of Man for the sin of the world - so that all who do the will of God, by believing in Him.. would become members of His heavenly family - All who believe in Him would be called His mother, His sisters and His brothers.

Christ told us that whoever does the will of GOD is My brother, My sister - My mother. But what is the will of God? What is the will of our heavenly Father? Well, it is God's will that all people are saved and come to knowledge of the truth. It is God's will that in everything we give thanks and glory to the God of our salvation, through Christ the Lord. It is God's will that we come to a knowledge of the truth and that we believe in Him.. and Jesus Christ, Whom He had sent - BY FATIH - and it is God's will that having trusted in Christ for salvation that we present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to the Lord - which is our spiritual worship.

Let us pray…..

We ask this evening that our faith be strengthened each day and our vision be focused on the day of glory. Guide us with every step we take as we go forth in this life. We are grateful for your mercy and your grace tonight as they have touched our lives. We are grateful for the fellowship that we have been given in these trying times and are thankful for our members in this small bible study group may they all be helped in some way by the beauty of your word… We ask for continued “sharing” among us so that we all may be blessed under this roof that you have provided for us.. Give us wisdom so that we may be a help to our brothers and sisters in a way pleasing to you…. Give us strength and health to complete our tasks each day and to spread your love through our example, as did our Lord and Savour Jesus Christ..

We ask these things in Jesus’s name..

Amen