Sharing Bread Mark 3:22-30

SHARING BREAD

²² And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, "He is possessed by Beelzebub! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons."

²³ So Jesus called them and spoke to them in parables: "How can Satan drive out Satan? ²⁴ If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. ²⁵ If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. ²⁶ And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. ²⁷ In fact, no one can enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can rob his house. ²⁸ I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. ²⁹ But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin."

³⁰ He said this because they were saying, "He has an evil spirit."

Mark 3:22-30 (NIV)

First His family says “He is out of His mind” and now the teachers of the law are impudently claiming He is demonically possessed and driving out demons with Satan’s power.  It is amazing how low people can go when they are casting verbal stones is it not?  There was no arguing the fact that Christ had cast out demons - proof was present - therefore the enemy sought to twist and distort our Lord’s miraculous works.  Satan never voluntarily abandons his possessions.  Someone stronger, Someone with more authority must come and overpower him. That Someone is Jesus, the Victor.

Satan is a creature of immense vengeance doing anything he can to keep us from rightly worshipping and serving God.  He is always on the prowl to devour – to make us like one of his own.  Not a pretty picture.  If he can’t get us to stop our worship of the Almighty - of the Great “I AM” - he attempts to diminish or distract us from it.  He hates God being worshipped because he craves it so himself.  Indeed, he desires to be God.  The five “I will’s” of the devil are synonymous with the “I will’s” of the King of Babylon clearly presented in Isaiah -  Satan being the real power behind that pagan king:

¹² How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn!  You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! ¹³ You said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. ¹⁴ I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High."   Isaiah 14:12-14 (NIV)

Remember as well what the adversary tempts Jesus with in a vain effort to get our Lord to fall prostrate at his unholy feet – all the kingdoms of the world:

⁸ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ⁹ "All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me." ¹⁰ Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'" Matt 4:8-10 (NIV)

Surely, the Most High God inhabits the praise of His people and the most low creature is revolted by this worship.  Praise and worship is the voice of faith and the enemy abhors it.

¹⁵ Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise--the fruit of lips that confess his name.   Heb 13:15 (NIV)

Jesus counters the teachers of the law’s inane accusations with reason – how like Him!  Rather than avoiding or shunning the opposition, our Lord calls them to Him to hear His retort and refute their charges.  What would it possibly behoove Satan to fight against himself?  How would his kingdom of darkness stand much less advance if he were in constant opposition battling evil against evil?  Don’t you know Jesus wanted to say “Really people…..think about what you are accusatorily spouting?”

Satan - depicted by Jesus as the strong man - whose houses are filled with sin, sickness, sorrow and death.  He does not give up his residences without a battle.  It is he, the root of all evil, which must be tied up to set the captive free.  Jesus, our Victor, disarmed Satan’s power over those who would believe in Him by the cross.  The victory belongs to all believers – we do not have to give the adversary an inch.  Remember, everything Satan stands for is death.  All sin carries with it a death sentence if you will play it out to the end – death to relationships, death to fullness of joy, death to character and on and on the list goes.  Seriously….what have we ever gained from sin but death and destruction? 

“No more let sin and sorrow grow, Nor thorns infest the ground.  He comes to make His blessings flow Far as the curse is found, far as the curse is found, Far as, far as, the curse is found.”   Isaac Watts

Lastly, Jesus issues us a strong warning – a solemn affirmation:  all the blasphemies against God are open to God’s gracious forgiveness with one exception the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit the achieving power behind what His Hand produces.  In light of the context, this has more to do with a prevailing attitude of defiant hostility toward God that rejects His saving power toward man rather than an isolated act or utterance.  It is to prefer darkness after being exposed to the light.  It is the persistent attitude of willful unbelief as evidenced by Judas the turncoat disciple.  It is sadly sin against the last remedy rendering it unpardonable.

What I glean from this:

·       Jesus is the Victor Who has disarmed the powers and authorities by the cross:  ¹³When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, ¹⁴ having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. ¹⁵ And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.   Col 2:13-15 (NIV)

·       Satan does not give up without a fierce fight yet Jesus is stronger still.

·       I am to worship God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.  Worship is the voice of faith.