Mark 3:20-30
Find a way to separate yourself from whatever’s going on around you so you can fully enter into today’s passage. if you haven’t read the introduction to Mark’s Gospel, read it here.
Read Mark 3:20-30 slowly noticing the various characters in the story.
This is a complex passage with lots of moving parts, so it’s important to pay attention to the various threads of the story. First, we notice that Jesus’ popularity with common people is reaching a fever pitch. The craziness of the situation draws the notice of Jesus’ family who, rather than joining him, decide he must be out of his mind and attempt to rein him in.
Second, the religious leaders are so threatened by Jesus that they attribute his miraculous power to Satan himself. In the midst of all the commotion, this accusation is what Jesus chooses to address.
He explains that it makes no sense for Satan to fight against himself. Only someone stronger than evil can render evil powerless, and Jesus is that person. He alone has authority over evil, and he alone has the power to tie up the evil one and rescue those caught in his grip.
Jesus says that everyone must make a crucial choice, and this choice has eternal consequences: believe that Jesus is God and has power over evil and choose freedom from the grip of evil, or believe that Jesus’ clear demonstration of the Kingdom of God is a wicked trick and choose to be bound to a false reality now and for eternity.
Jesus isn’t talking about magic words that if uttered condemn a person forever. He is saying that a continual choice to reject the true God is the ultimate disaster.
Read Mark 3:20-30 again letting Jesus’ final point sink in.
Faith grows from an understanding that God is good, and God loves us so much that he came, in Jesus, to be with us and to give his life to set us free to be with him. Because of that, and because of our daily interactions with God through the Spirit of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, we believe that there is a realm beyond our five senses, and this realm is where our souls belong. Faith causes us to look beyond our current and present circumstances, whether good or difficult, and hold on to the hope that as we yield our lives to Jesus, we will find life beyond anything we could imagine.
What is your image of God? Do you think of God as good, loving, kind, or angry and punitive? Take a few minutes to talk this over with God.
Are you satisfied with your life exactly as it is, or are there parts of you that long for freedom from habits, old hurts or something else? Name these areas and tell Jesus about them.
Do you sense that you were made for more than you are currently experiencing? Are you willing to step out in faith and trust Jesus to lead you into more? Take a moment to consider this and discuss it with Jesus.
If these meditations are helpful to you, please forward them to couple of friends.
Interested in going deeper? Check out The Everyday Jesus Follower’s Guide and blog.
