A Tricky Situation Hunch 27
When Jesus returned home a crowd still gathered, so much so that they were not able to eat. And when his own people heard about this, they went to take charge of him, saying, “He must be out of his mind.” The teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebub! By the prince of demons he drives out demons.” Jesus called them to him and spoke to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. A house divided against itself cannot stand. If Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. 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. I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven.. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.” He said this because they were saying, “He has an evil spirit.”
In a Nutshell
Jesus' disciples were worried. They wanted to take Him away but He ignored them and explained why the teachers of the law were very wrong. His parables countered their lies. They helped His listeners protect themselves from all kinds of deception..
Questions
Why was this a dangerous
situation?
Read the passage through again! Jesus' own friends and family didn't get it. They didn't understand what He was on about. They were so worried that they wanted to say He had flipped. Jesus ignored them. We don't know all about the events described here; we weren't there. Passages like this remind us that the story was first written down for people who had some idea about what had taken place. So we have to be careful; we have to take note of all the details that are given, even though some don't fit easily together … We have to read the bible patiently.
So what do you think Mark might be telling us? Were His friends
completely wrong? Did Jesus look tired? Let's remember that He had come back
home to Capernaum and they didn't understand why, particularly when the crowds
kept coming back. Mark says it was those closest to Him who thought He had
flipped. They were convinced He needed their help. But Jesus knew their
thoughts and ignored them by paying careful attention to what the teachers of
the law from Jerusalem were saying to the crowd. Then He spoke up and put them
right. They told the people of Capernaum to stop listening to Jesus because He
was clearly an employee of the Prince of Demons. Hiding their hatred, they
wanted people to think of Him as God's enemy. Jesus replied. A divided
kingdom is already falling apart. If I am working for the Prince of Demons, how
did he take charge here? If I'm on his side what side are you on? If, as you
say I draw crowds by the Prince of Demons, how did he get control here? Isn't your
job to prevent that?
By saying that Jesus showed He was sad as well as angry. They accused Him of being controlled by evil. Jesus warned them. That kind of comment does not get forgiveness because it's a lie that can only come from the one who hates God. God does no deals with evil. You cannot do worse than accuse the One blessed by God's Spirit of dealing with the devil.