The Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit (Mark 3:7-35 March 1, 2015)

Transcription

1 The Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit The Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit (Mark 3:7-35 March 1, 2015) Mark 3:7-35 Imagine you are walking through King George Square and you see a man telling everyone who passes by I am God. How do you think people would respond to him? I think most would probably decide he was a few cards short of a full deck and just give him a wide berth. Maybe some who are influenced by eastern religions and their idea that we are all gods might reply well bless you I am a god too. But what if we moved our man from King George Square today to Israel in the 1 st century? How would the Jews of that day respond? Have no doubt they would consider such a claim to be blasphemy and worthy of death. To give you an idea of how those Jews would be thinking, consider this scenario. What if you went as a missionary to a tribe in the highlands of PNG that has been totally isolated from the outside world? You spend ten years learning the language and then you read them the Old Testament Genesis to Malachi over and over and over. Finally, it is time to tell them the good news the God of the Old Testament actually left heaven and came to this world 2,000 years ago to save His people. I suspect that if you were a tribesman immersed in the Old Testament your first thought would be but that is impossible! God doesn t come to earth. But if you had to accept God coming to our world that the God of Creation the God of the Exodus the God of Isaiah 40 had come to earth the picture in your mind would probably be pretty close to the image Isaiah saw in Isaiah 6: 1

2 I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory! And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. If God came to earth it would surely be in a show of His immense power and glory. No one would look for a man who was born as an infant, had a mother and brothers, an occupation, who ate and laughed and bled. So, if a flesh and blood man indicated that he was God surely there were only two options as to what is going on. Mad man He is nuts, certifiable. He is mentally ill. He thinks he is God but in reality he is nothing more than a mad man. Bad man He has an angle. He is in it for the adulation or the money or sex. So if you peel back the layers what you find is that on some level he is under the influence of the Father of all lies. Satan is using him to draw men away from the truth. He is a bad man. 2

3 However, the Gospel of Mark is written to convince us that these are not the only options. As difficult as it is to believe in the case of Jesus of Nazareth there is a third option. God man He is telling the truth. He is God. But on every level this is an absolutely incredible statement. And what is more, Jesus not only said I am the God man He also made it crystal clear that if we do not accept this truth we cannot be saved. So here is the point of this morning s message. There is no salvation unless you believe that Jesus is God become man come to save us. The Old Testament describes God as uncreated spirit everywhere one eternal all powerful all knowing. And yet as the Bible unfolds we find that because God is holy there must be punishment for sin. But no angel can bear the sin of a man and no man can bear the sin of another because no man is sinless. So the near unbelievable reality is slowly unveiled that if anyone is going to be saved God Himself must become man a sinless man and die in the place of His sinful people. 3

4 We know this. But even for Christians raised since birth on the truth that Jesus is God this is incredibly hard to wrap our minds around. God man is like saying bright darkness or dry water. God is God man is man everything inside us says God cannot become man. The gulf between God and man is so vast when we try and imagine God becoming man it fries our little neurons. How much more for Jews or Muslims or others schooled since birth in the other worldliness of God? Philip Yancey reminds us that: When Muslims conquered Asia Minor they converted many Christian churches into mosques, carving this stern inscription for the admonition of any remaining Christians: God did not beget and is not begotten. 1 They are saying there is no way Jesus of Nazareth a man who was born was God that is blasphemy. But, brothers and sisters, the gospel we proclaim is that the love of God did cause Him to become man. In the person of the Son He shrank Himself down to become one embryo in the womb of an unwed girl. He was born like any other man. He grew like any other man. He ate, drank, slept, bled like any other man. He had a mother and brothers. He had an occupation. You could touch Him and laugh with Him. He came to die in order to save His people. But when the time came and this God man announced who He was the immediate reaction was He is mad, He is a bad do not listen to His lies. But, here is what we need to understand. If anyone is going to be saved they have to accept the truth about who Jesus of Nazareth is. You cannot accept Him as merely a good moral teacher and get to heaven. We are working our way through the Gospel of Mark. We saw that this book focuses on: 1 Philip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995) p

5 JESUS: THE GOD WHO CAME TO SAVE Jesus: The God who came to save Everything about this declaration incensed the Jews. Mark simply presents this truth for all to see so they can decide for themselves. We have seen that the book of Mark divides up like this: The beginning of the gospel 1:1-15 The heart of the gospel 1:16-10:52 The climax of the gospel 11:1-16:8 We are in a long second section that deals with: The heart of the gospel 1:16-10:52 What we have seen is that the heart of the gospel revolves around the question of who Jesus is. We have seen that: Jesus is Lord 1:16-3:6 But as hard as that was the next truth Jesus presents is an altogether different scale of difficulty. To be saved, we have to understand that: Jesus is God 3:7-8:30 Jesus is not just a good bloke, a great teacher, a phenomenal example. He is the Son of God the God-man. His disciples have to come to know this and believe it. But as soon as they do Jesus ratchets up the degree of difficulty even more. We have to understand that: Jesus is Saviour 8:31-10:52 5

6 As soon as Peter utters His great confession You are the Christ Jesus immediately says yes but the Christ must die and Peter says no way. When you finally accept that Jesus is God the last thing you expect is for God to die. If it is hard to accept a flesh and blood man as God it is so much harder to accept that a man dying on a cross is God. The guy who grew up in a little Palestinian village might be the second most unlikely place to look for God but the last place we would ever look for God is in a condemned criminal dying on a cross. But, this is the heart of our gospel. So this morning we begin a long section that teaches the truth that: Jesus is God 3:7-8:30 Before we look at the text there is a question that comes up again and again. Why didn t Jesus just come right out and say I am God! Make it easy on us when the JW s and Mormons knock on our doors we can turn to Mark 17:8 where Jesus ends the debate forever by saying I am God in every sense the equal of and one with God the Father! The answer seems to be that if Jesus just said this, there was no way the Jews would understand what He meant by this statement. Their preconceptions about God meant that they couldn t grasp what Jesus would be communicating. They might hear the words but their understanding of God meant the idea those words would convey to them would be very different from the idea Jesus was trying to convey. If Jesus simply said Εγώ είµαι ο Θεός I am God they would look and see a flesh and blood man claiming to be God the Father someone who is spirit, who dwells in heaven, who has no beginning, who is not begotten and cannot die. And the immediate thought would be impossible this is blasphemous! If Jesus said this they would have no category to understand such a statement. Instead, Jesus had to educate them about what it meant for God to come from heaven and take on human flesh. He made statements and did miracles that belong only to God He forgave sins He raised the dead. He claimed to be one with God. 6

7 Whereas any Old Testament prophet would always say Thus says the Lord Jesus would said I say unto you. He said things like I saw Satan fall. I cast out Satan. I sent the prophets. I was before Abraham was. I and the Father are One. Experiences that belong only to God. He took titles that point to His deity Son of God, Son of Man, Christ. And slowly these actions and words built a picture of what it means for the Word to become flesh. Yet every time the Jews grasped something of what Jesus was actually saying they declared him mad or bad or both. But here is the reality brothers and sisters. If you do not come to the place where you accept the reality that Jesus is presenting that He is God you cannot be saved. In our passage this morning we begin this long section where Jesus reveals what God in human flesh looks like and we are presented with the question who do we say that He is? Mad man, bad man or God man? So turn with me to Mark 3:7 10: Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him, for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him. We had already seen how great crowds had followed Jesus from Capernaum and the surrounding areas of Galilee. They came for the miracles. They came to see this One who taught with authority. 7

8 Now we find that His fame had spread further. People seemed to come from everywhere. Judea The area of the old southern kingdom. Jerusalem The chief city of Judea and indeed all Palestine. Idumea This area was inhabited mainly by the descendants of the Edomites. It was the homeland of the Herods who ruled Palestine. Beyond the Jordan This refers to the areas of Perea and Decapolis. Along with Galilee, these made up the kingdom of Herod Antipas. Tyre and Sidon This was a common designation referring to Phonecia. The only place in Palestine that is not represented in this list is Samaria. At this point, the Samaritans had no interest in a Jewish Messiah. Jesus is healing and the crowds are crushing in they want to touch Him maybe to be healed maybe just to make sure He is real. But, as we have already seen, Jesus did not just come to heal He came to save. He knows that only those who come to know that He is God can be saved. To find true healing this crowd has to see Him as far more than a miracle worker. The chapters that follow present Jesus as God and His true disciples His true family are those that come to accept this truth. But there was one group there that day who already knew exactly who He was verses 11-12: And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, You are the Son of God. And he strictly ordered them not to make him known. The demons identified Him as the Son of God. What does this title mean? In the Gospels Son of God refers to the fact that Jesus is God in human flesh it is a title of deity that this One is God. This title is used by those who come to know that Jesus is God. For example in Mark 15:39: And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God! 8

9 Jesus was indeed the God man. So here is the picture you have these multitudes pushing in wanting miracles, healing but they don t know who Jesus truly is. At this point only the demons know yet Jesus commands them not to make Him known. Why? Because the crowds and the disciples aren t ready for this truth to be presented so clearly just yet. It is something they have to grow into to understand. If knowing this truth is central to salvation the question to be asked is how will this truth be conveyed to the world? Jesus has a plan for this. Verses 13-19: And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons. He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. Look at verse 14: And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons. These twelve are to be with Jesus watch Him, listen to Him, see His miracles, hear His words that they might come to know who He is. This section ends when Peter finally utters His great confession You are the Christ. Finally, they will know who Jesus is. Jesus then makes it clear that now their great task is to preach the gospel of who Jesus is to the outermost parts of the world. And they were given the authority to perform the signs of an Apostle that men might know the truth of their words. Look at the names on this list. It is an incredible list. Not a Scribe or scholar to be seen. 9

10 No nobles. No generals. Fishermen, outcasts, sinners, zealots. Men with pasts, impetuous men, men who will have times of great failure. And every one of them came to know the truth that Jesus is God except one. Judas. Judas was fine with Jesus as Messiah a King who will bring power to those near Him but He was not fine with Jesus as the God who dies. And so Judas became the son of perdition the most miserable figure in world history the man who betrayed the Son of God. What is the point for us? Later, Jesus tells His men you have a task. To pass the truth of who I am on to others who will tell others who will bring yet others into the Kingdom. You and I don t get to walk the hills of Palestine with Jesus but we have the testimony of those that did. 1 John 1:1 3: That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. I have preached at length on this before but Apostle as an office was limited to the twelve the eleven plus Matthias. Acts 1 makes this very clear. Those who claim the office of Apostle today are mistaken. However, there is a sense in which you and I are apostles in the general sense of sent ones messengers. Do not get me wrong here. While we are not one of the twelve, the foundation of the church, those who can cast out demons we are given the task to tell the world who Jesus of Nazareth is the God man who came to save His people. Like the twelve we are ordinary men and women but we have a great task and a great God to empower us. So this is the introduction to this section that presents Jesus as God. The crowds haven t understood who Jesus is. The demons know who He is but are not permitted to say it. 10

11 The disciples are chosen to be with Him and come to grasp who He is. And now we see an example of the three reactions to the revelation of Jesus as God. First, Mad man Look at verses 20-21: Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, He is out of his mind. Even Jesus family can t quite grasp the truth of who He is at this point. Later they do but not yet. Put yourself in the place of Jesus family. It is hard to know exactly what they thought of Jesus the perfect brother, the perfect Son. Still, it is clear that His family loved Him. They hear that He is out ministering night and day. Missing meals. Crowds after Him. He spends much of His time in the wilderness. They hear that His claims to be the Son of God mean that He has made enemies of the leaders of Israel. Then they hear that He spent all night in prayer when He chose His twelve disciples. Finally, Jesus arrives back in Nazareth and He is swamped by people. They won t even let Him sit down and eat. That was the final straw. Mary and her boys have had enough. They were going to physically seize Him and drag Him away from this ministry for His own good. Why? Because the only explanation they could come to was He is out of His mind He is mad. This Son of God thing shows He has gone too far. Let this sink in for a minute. This is how hard it can be to grasp the truth of the deity of Jesus. 11

12 Even Mary with the insight she was given struggled mightily. Mary understood a great deal. Read Luke 1 and Matthew 1 and you see that she had a pretty good idea of who Jesus was. Gabriel told her He will be the Son of the most High His name will be Jesus because He will save His people. She knew she was a virgin yet the Spirit of God conceived Jesus in her. She saw miracles like turning the water into wine. But it seems that Mary and Jesus brothers still could not grasp the full reality of who He was. A miracle worker yes. A great teacher yes. A messenger from God yes. But the God man? Not at this point. This was a bridge too far and if Jesus believed this then it was all getting out of hand. So they set off to bring Him home by force. It is interesting I haven t met too many people today who want to label Jesus mad. He didn t teach like a mad man. Mad men don t lay down their lives for others. When you read the Gospels you find someone who is anything but mad. He teaches with clarity, sense and power. He lives His life with discipline and direction. And one indisputable fact He performed miracles that mark Him out as special. So others put a different label on Him. Bad man Look at verses 22-23: And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, He is possessed by Beelzebul, and by the prince of demons he casts out the demons. If you are a Scribe what do you do with Jesus? He teaches that He is God. He claims the prerogatives of God such as forgiving sin. If this was all there was the mad man label might persuade many. But what about those miracles? The miracles made the masses think there was something special about Jesus and surely watching the lame walk and the blind see had to give the Scribes pause to ask maybe He is from God? 12

13 The way they explained the miracles to themselves and to the masses was that they have to come from Satan because God would not bless a blasphemer in this way. Jesus response is superb. Verses 23-27: How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. But no one can enter a strong man s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house. In healing the sick, Jesus undid the effects of the fall. In casting out demons, Jesus undid the work of Satan. If Satan were going to empower a bad man it might be to do something spectacular but not undoing His work in this world. He might give them the ability to light up the night sky or move coins with their mind or make a woman disappear. Spectacular but not undoing his work. Satan would not rise up against himself. No the power to overcome Satan can only come from One who is greater than Satan. Jesus is turning their logic around to show who He really is. There is only One capable of overcoming Satan God Himself! His miracles prove He is the God man. Again, I don t find too many people today who label Jesus bad. His selfless teaching. Laying down His life for others. These are not the marks of a bad man. Instead most people choose not to think too deeply about who Jesus is. They prefer to ignore Him rather than deal with His claims. Then Jesus comes to His real point. Verses 28-30: Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin for they were saying, He has an unclean spirit. There is a sin which is unforgiveable the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Clearly, this is a sin you don t want to commit. 13

14 This particular passage has troubled Christians throughout the centuries. I could not tell you how many people have spoken to me over the years worried that they have committed the unpardonable sin that they have blasphemed the Holy Spirit. That they have done something that renders them beyond redemption. It seems that if someone commits a serious sin or struggles to deal with a sin they often think they have blasphemed the Holy Spirit. I have had people tell me they think their divorce or adultery or homosexuality or theft or lying or just about any sin is the unpardonable sin. Unfortunately, all too often verses 28 and 29 are removed from their context. If you leave them in their context their meaning becomes clear. Look at these words again: All sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter. Instead of being a teaching that weighs us down with fear this should fill our hearts with joy. This statement declares that it is possible to have every sin you have committed forgiven Murder, adultery, homosexuality you name it. God stands ready to forgive men any sin they might have committed. Every sin can be forgiven by God except one. Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin. What is this sin? I want to suggest that it is denying the work of the Holy Spirit to reveal that Jesus is the God man sent to save. This blasphemy has to do with the task of the Holy Spirit. Read John 16 and 1 Corinthians 2. It is the task of the Holy Spirit to show men the truth about who Jesus is. I am sure most of you have seen this picture. Most of us see it as gold and white or blue and black some see it as blue and gold. How about a show of hands. Gold and white Blue and black 14

15 Blue and gold I see it very much as gold and white. In actual fact the dress is very much blue and black. By sheer chance the lighting in the first photo is finely balanced between white and blue light meaning our brains interpret the colours differently thus causing the frenzy. If good light fell on this dress we would all see it for what it is: Black and blue. In a sense this is the role of the Holy Spirit. He shines light on Jesus the man and the blinders come off and we see Him for who He is the God man God in human flesh. To deny this illuminating work of the Holy Spirit about who Jesus is this is the unforgiveable sin. To deny that Jesus is the God man this is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. You can t be saved without this truth. I hope you see the irony here. The Scribes accused Jesus of blasphemy for saying He was God. But in reality anyone who says Jesus is not God it is them who commit blasphemy. The Scribes said, He has an unclean spirit He is a bad man. While they remain hardened against the truth they cannot be saved. Is Jesus a mad man or a bad man? An honest appraisal says no. So there is only one other option. God man Look at verses 31-35: And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you. And he answered them, Who are my mother and my brothers? And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother. Before we look at this I need to answer the question who are the brother s of Jesus. 15

16 The context, the usual use of the word and the united testimony of the early church is that they were the children of Mary and Joseph. However, the Catholic church believes that as the Queen of Heaven Mary had to be a perpetual virgin and could not have had any children after Jesus. They claim these brothers were children from a first marriage of Joseph or were cousins of Jesus or anything but Mary s children. Let me simply say every scrap of evidence we have says these were the sons born to Mary and Joseph after Jesus. The word brother used here literally means from the same womb and in this context means they were the flesh and blood brothers of Jesus. The word for cousin is different. Luke 2:7 tells us this: And [Mary] gave birth to her first-born son. The clear indication is that there were other children. Matthew 1:25 adds this: Joseph kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus. Mary was a virgin only until the birth of Jesus. So Mary and Jesus brothers arrived. Remember that back in verse 20, the crowd had gathered around Jesus to such an extent that He and the disciples could not even eat a meal after their long journey. The place was packed. So, as Mary and His brothers arrived, the only thing they could do was to send a message to Jesus. Finally, He got the message, Your mother and your brothers are outside seeking you. Family relationships were very important to a Jew. Therefore, they would have expected Jesus to heed this message to stop what He was doing and go to them. Jesus used this as an opportunity to teach a crucial lesson. He asked, Who are my mother and my brothers? What Jesus is really asking is this, Who is it that becomes my spiritual mother and brothers? Jesus didn t wait for their answer. He simply gave His own answer. He looked at those 16

17 before Him. The disciples and those who were in the process of coming to believe in Him. Behold, these are my mother and my brothers. This is remarkable. What makes someone Jesus s family is faith not blood. His brothers grew up with Him but because they saw Him as a mad man at this point they were not His spiritual brothers they were not His true brothers. Do you realise what this says? You are closer than Jesus flesh and blood. By faith you are Jesus brother. This passage sets the scene for a great question are you Jesus family? In Mark 8:27, Jesus asks this question, Who do you say that I am? And Peter answered and said, You are the Christ. You are the Son of God. You are the God man. No other answer will do. He is not just a prophet, He is not just a good man, not just a good teacher. Only one answer makes you Jesus family. So who do you say that Jesus Christ is? Today, most simply refuse to answer. They would rather not have to ask the hard questions about Jesus. Why? Because they do not want to have to make Him Lord. But we have to answer. His coming to our world demands we answer. Is He a mad man, bad man or God man? Your salvation depends on this. Trusting Him as the God man who came to save is what makes you His family. In this life, we will never understand the full depths of God becoming man but we must believe it. We should also be able to defend it and proclaim it. We should know how to show this truth from the Word of God. We need to stand ready to be an apostle to take this truth to the world because this is the truth that saves. Jesus is not just the God man He is the God man who came to save His people. 17

18 For those who trust that He is God and that His death washes away our sins our passage tells us that: All sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter. And that is great news and worthy of our rejoicing. 18

19 The Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit (Mark 3:7-35 March 1, 2015) Main Point: There is no salvation unless you believe that Jesus is God become man to save us. Read: Mark 3:7-35 How do you think most people would respond to someone who claimed to be God? How would a first century Jew respond to such a claim? Why did they take this so seriously? Why do even Christians struggle with the concept of God become man? Why is salvation impossible apart from God becoming man? Surely if God is God He could just save us? Why do Jews and Muslims think it is impossible? Do you believe you can be saved apart from believing Jesus is God? Is this really as important as pastors make it out to be? Application: How would you explain to someone what it means that Jesus is God? How would you defend the doctrine of the deity of Jesus from Scripture? Why didn t Jesus just say I am God? How did Jesus convey the truth that He was God? What does the title Son of God convey? Why did Jesus command the demons not to make Him known? Why did Jesus call the twelve? What was their task? Application: In what way do we have the same task today? How can you fulfil this task? Is the office of Apostle here today? How would you defend your answer? Why did Jesus choose such ordinary men? How does this encourage you? How do you know the men in v. 21 and v. 31 are Jesus half brothers the sons of Joseph and Mary? Does it matter? Considering all they knew about them why did they think He was out of His mind? 19

20 What does the evidence of Scripture say about Jesus sanity? Does the description mad man fit? Application: How would you answer someone who said Jesus was insane? Why did the Scribes blame Jesus miracles on Satan? Summarise the defence Jesus gave. What does the evidence of Scripture say about Jesus morality? Does the description bad man fit? Application: How would you answer someone who said Jesus was demon influenced? What is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit the unforgiveable sin? Application: How would you counsel someone worried they had committed the unforgiveable sin? What did Jesus men when He said Behold these are my mother and brothers? In what way are we Jesus family? Application: How would you help someone struggling to see Jesus as the God-man? 20