Crumbs89

 

Crumbs 89

Authenticity

Scripture Mark 3:20-34New International Version 20 Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. 21 When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.” 22 And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.” 23 So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. 27 In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house. 28 Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.” 30 He said this because they were saying, “He has an impure spirit.” 31 Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.” 33 “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked. 34 Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!

Crumbs

Is Jesus authentic? By this I mean, is He who He says He is , the fulfilment of prophecy, the Messiah. The son of man, the son of God ?

Two answers are mentioned in this passage. The theological academics of His day confronted by a teaching that contradicted their schemes of thought sees the Devil as a source of Christ’s authority over demons. Jesus points out the divisive folly of such a scheme He then develops the point that one who sees Satan as the source of God’s work is cutting themselves off from the possibility of salvation. How can we be forgiven if we see the work of God as evil?

We must be very careful thinking too much about the devil and ascribing actions to the him that may be caused by our own folly. We should be aware of the cunning nature of temptation but our focus should be on Jesus. Jesus’ family come to a different conclusion that is not so drastic or deadly as that of the scribes. They said He was mad. There is reason to hope they came to a better conclusion later on. The epistle of James is believed to be written by our Lord’s brother. His mother was part of the early church.

Nevertheless in this situation Jesus point’s to a deeper family relation, the love that bonds his followers to each other and to Him. To cling to our prejudices and thereby deny Him is spiritually fatal. To ascribe madness to what we have not grasped is foolish but to accept Him for who He says He is, is to enter His circle of love.

1. Questions

2. What about our Lord’s deeds and words convinces you of His authenticity ?

3. How does Jesus as Son of man and Son of God affect us ?

4. How may do we deal with a family that is hostile or dismissive of our beliefs?