Mark 3:22-23

Passage

The scribes who came down from Jerusalem looked at Jesus and were convinced that He was possessed by the Prince of Demons (Beelzebul).  They said that it was only by the power of the Prince of Demons that a person could cast out demons.  Jesus calls these scribes to Him and asks them how it is that Satan and cast out Satan.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

More people come into contact Jesus and think He is insane.  You might think that I am making a flippant point here, but I’m really not trying to be flippant.  When people come in contact with the Son of God He is so different from the world that they think He is insane.  This shouldn’t surprise us, because the very name we use for God – holy – literally is a word that means “separate” or “different.”  Therefore, they naturally do see Jesus as separate or different from themselves.  Therefore, they think that He is possessed by Satan (Prince of Demons).  After all, if they were religious and Jesus was powerful in a whole different way, then He must be from the other side – or so they conclude.

Why is it such an important point to not miss the fact that when people came in contact with Jesus they automatically knew He was different?  Why is it important to realize that when people came in contact with Jesus they saw someone uniquely separated from them?

Second Thought:

We’re not really through with this point, though.  If people see Jesus as different, then people should see all those who have Jesus as different, too.  If people thought Jesus was insane, then it follows that the world should think of those who have Jesus within them as insane, too.  If Jesus is separate, holy, unique, different, and insane by the standards of the world – then so are His followers.  Those who claim to have Jesus’ Spirit within them will be evaluated under the same conditions.  In the same way that the people looked at Jesus, so the world should look at those who have Jesus within.

Now how does it make you feel to know that the world looked upon Jesus in such a manner?  Does this understanding raise the challenge in any way with respect to being a disciple of Jesus?

Third Thought:

I’ll address the “Satan cast out Satan” tomorrow when I also speak to the “house divided cannot stand” passage that will come in tomorrow’s reading.  So, for today I’ll focus on the fact that the scribes think that only through the power of Satan can the minions of Satan be affected.  How ignorant and short-sighted!  This statement really demonstrates a serious theological point.  If they are claiming that Satan’s minions can only be affected through Satan’s power, then they are claiming God’s power to be less than Satan’s power! 

Of course, there is the possibility that they had already ruled out that Jesus was God, and therefore they weren’t open to the possibility that Jesus was tapping into the power of God.  If that’s the case, then the lesson to be learned is to not close our mind to the possibilities of God.  Either way, we see the scribes as being horribly short-sighted.

When have you ever been closed in mind towards what God was actually doing?  How did you come to realize how closed your mind really was?  What is the danger to closing our mind to any possibility that God could be at work within something?

Passage for Tomorrow: Mark 3:24-26