A house divided

 

Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.  --Matthew 12:30

Back in the days before the internet, young people used to play a game called "telephone."  As telephone service improved and fewer people had party lines (look it up), the name changed to "gossip."  In this game, one person would whisper a phrase into the next person's ear, and that person would whisper the same message to the next person, and so on until the last person would say out loud the phrase that he or she heard.   A message that started out, "Tom says why can't we be friends today" would degenerate into the phrase "Mom says my Aunt Phoebe has the bends, but she's okay."  Each person in line would mis-hear the message, try to reconcile it in their minds so that it becomes a coherent phrase, and then share what they thought they heard.

This game is a lot like the messages going around today about the U.S. Presidential election, but magnified a thousand times.  There are spin doctors and fact checkers, and television and radio commercials that try to crystallize a candidate's position in just 30 seconds.  Most of the electorate don't like the candidate for their own party very much, but they absolutely can't stand the other guy.  We have internet platforms like Facebook and Twitter that magnify messages out of proportion.  That message is posted multiple times, followed by a muted message by some fact checking agency that says something like, "Partially untrue, lacks context," or, "Mostly false."

Solomon once said, "There is nothing new under the sun."  Even back in the days that Jesus walked on the earth there was mis-information.  We see that clearly indicated in the book of Mark, chapter 3, starting in verse 21:

And when His family heard it, they went out to seize Him, for they were saying, "He is out of His mind."  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."  And He called them to Him and said to them in parables, "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.  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."  --Mark 3:21-30

The Family Divided

Let's start by looking at verse 21, and try to understand the context of it.  Word had gotten around that Jesus had the power to cast out demons, to free people of unclean spirits, and to heal physical maladies.  Crowds gathered to witness Jesus in action, and many came for healing and deliverance themselves.  The masses of people gathered to be near Him got so large and so out of control that Jesus and his disciples could not even eat (see Mark 3:20).

At the same time, rumors started circulating that Jesus was not who He said He was.  The scribes and Pharisees started spreading false rumors about Him because they could not reconcile His message and miracles in their own minds.  Here are three memes or viral messages that they started:

He is possessed by Beelzebul (or Beelzebub).  This is a name derived from a Philistine god, formerly worshiped in Ekron, and later adopted by some Abrahamic religions as a major demon.  The name is associated with the Canaanite god Baal (or Ba'al).  I believe this line of thinking implies that the religious leaders were shaking their heads, saying that this phenomenon was the same thing that the Jewish people had been fighting since the time of the Judges (see Judges 2:13).

By the prince of demons He casts out the demons.  This twist of logic assumes that since Jesus stood up to the religious leaders of the day, that He must not be a messenger of God, but of Satan himself.  They did not understand the authority given to Him, so the source of that authority was questioned.

He has an unclean spirit.  This is a kinder, gentler rebuke but it still denies the deity of Christ.  It assumes a sin nature shared by all humanity.  All humanity needs forgiveness of sin; Jesus was human; therefore, Jesus needed to humble Himself before God and seek forgiveness.

When these rumors and accusations reached the House of Joseph, their reaction was alarm.  "He has lost his mind!" they thought.  Tradition tells us that Joseph had passed away by this time, because later in the passage it says His mother and brothers came to take Him away.  I think that Mary may have been confused a bit, but she had to have believed in the deity of Jesus.  Remember the angel who appeared to her before He was born?  His half brothers, however, must have had other ideas, ranging from "He is a disgrace to the family" to "He has desecrated the synagogue and broken the Law of Moses" to "He has lost his ever loving mind."  Jewish law demanded that the sons would take care of their widowed mother when their father died, and Jesus was apparently contributing nothing to this task even though He was her firstborn.  They looked at Jesus through the lens of shame, betrayal, and blasphemy.

The Spirit World Divided

Jesus spoke out about these three accusations and rumors using logic, persuasion, and passion.  Since there is no better commentary on Scripture than Scripture itself, let's look at how Matthew described the sermon.

Knowing their thoughts, He said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.  And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself.  How then will his kingdom stand?  And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out?  Therefore they will be your judges.  But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.  Or how can someone enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man?  Then indeed he may plunder his house.  Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.  Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.  And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come."  --Matthew 12:22-32

Jesus used logic to show that He was not in league with Satan, because Satan would not turn against himself.  Then He aimed the accusations back against His accusers.  If Jesus was sent by God and these religious leaders were attacking His Spirit, then they were committing the unforgivable sin.  It was they who had lost their minds, who had succumbed to evil spirits, and who were beholden to Satan. 

A New Unity of Family and Spirit

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."  --Mark 3: 31-35

Jesus officially cut ties with His family, who were at odds with His mission.  Think about that for a minute.  I want to urge those who believe in the veneration of Mary to hear this.  Mary is not some co-equal with Christ, she has no divine powers, and she certainly is not the "Mother of God."  God pre-existed Mary, but He used her to accomplish His purpose in carrying Jesus in human form.  Jesus was sinless; Mary was a sinner, as we can clearly see in this passage.  Mary and her other sons James, Joses, Judas and Simon were ready to take hold of Jesus, quiet His message, stifle His mission, and perhaps even kill Him.  In fact, two of those brothers, James and Joses, were at the crucifixion (see Mark 15:40) where Jesus entrusted the care of His mother Mary to His beloved disciple John.

Mary repented.  So did James, who tradition says wrote the New Testament book of James.  They helped Jesus gather His flock together, so that His followers could call one another brother and sister.  Sadly, Joses, Judas and Simon fell away; they rejected the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit and were thus cast into utter darkness.

The family of Christ Jesus is not limited to His mother and four brothers.  On the other hand, the family of the Holy Spirit does not include the entire world.  The ones included in God's family are limited to those that do the will of God, repent and believe.  The rest have denied God, rejected Jesus, and have thus blasphemed the Holy Spirit.