Mark 3:20-30 NKJV
[20] Then the multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread. [21] But when His own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, “He is out of His mind.” [22] And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebub,” and, “By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons.” [23] So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables: “How can Satan cast out Satan? [24] If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. [25] And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. [26] And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end. [27] No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house. [28] “Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; [29] but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation”— [30] because they said, “He has an unclean spirit.”
Jesus is being questioned.
The most important question we have to ask is who is Jesus?
Jesus just does not fit in. He didn’t fit in with society. He didn’t fit in with the Religious leaders. He didn’t even fit in with His own family. This might sound very familiar to those seeking to truly walk the path of Righteousness, the once lost and now found in Christ, robed in Salvation(!), those with the past of a sinful heart to one of conviction and sensitivity to those old sins.
All of these worldly odds were against Him.
CS Lewis has a famous quote about Jesus:
“If Jesus claims to be God and the claim is true, then He is God; and if He claims to be God and the claim is false, then He was a liar or a lunatic. Either His claim is true or false. Therefore, either Jesus is God, or He was a liar or a lunatic.”
Think about this:
As God’s purpose and plan grows, what happens?
Protesting starts. Not with physical violence, but with words. There Is a certain protesting on our beliefs. There will always be protesting to the actual Truth of the Gospel. Then shortly after, the persecution follows.
And for anyone that is building their faith and dependency on Jesus, protesting will come. It will come from places and people that you never thought.
It will come to you personally but it will also come to the Church as a whole.
We see that in the above Scripture (Mark 3:20-30).
Following Jesus as He commands is not any easy thing to do. Yes, He gives us Grace. Yes, He gives us courage and strength. Hope fills the heart, faith springs through the bones. Your thoughts change as the worldly things start to shed from your mind, but there’s always a pulling. There is something that can destroy what the Lord is doing from the outside – by others.
Accusations!
Protesting and persecution always start with an accusation – an assumption or a misunderstanding.
But what is it really?
The enemy of accusation is truth!
So what does the truth do?
Truth shows the conflict of one’s soul. Truth challenges a whole way of life. People are forced to question everything they know.
Doesn’t Scripture say that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life?
The thing about accusations is that they say more about the character of the person doing the accusing than what is being alleged.
Making accusations are a way of avoiding themselves and the condition of their own hearts. Accusation is the act of charging with a crime or offense; the act of accusing of any wrong or injustice. So, what is your crime? What is your offense?
This is a harsh reality as a Follower of Christ:
Those closest to you can be the least supportive of your decision to Follow Christ. The most criticism can come from the dearest to your heart. As much as it hurts our hearts to even think about this, unfortunately it is a hard reality.
Praise God if this hasn’t happened to you, but also Praise God if it has! We must follow Christ anyway.
We bring as many as we can on this journey! We lift and guide hearts and souls to Christ with the same love and mercy He showed us. We sow the seed of the Gospel to every soil we come upon. We do it with a joy in our hearts, knowing what has been done in our lives and what the seed can do in the lives of others!
We cling even harder to the One who has given us freedom and has shown us amazing grace!
Whatever assignment the Host of Heaven assigns, we March out the orders handed down, even if there is no one there to support your efforts.
It was the family of Jesus that first came to Him with accusations.
So what was the family of Jesus’ accusation against Him?
The accusations of Jesus’ family exposes something. It was revealing conflict and division within themselves. Imagine the brothers of Jesus. They knew Him. They shared the same mother. They lived in the same home. How can they believe that He is the Messiah? How can they believe that YOU are a Follower of Jesus Christ!
The fact is, no matter what Jesus says or does, there will be those who just will not believe.
We talk about weapons formed against us.
Isaiah 54:17 NKJV
[17] No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the Lord.
What are some of those weapons?
The weapon of choice will always start with slander to ruin the reputation of those that are serving God. It is the easiest and fastest sin that is committed.
What it does, is it sets to be a character assassin.
Slander means to injure by speaking ill of; false charges or misrepresentations which defame and damage another’s reputation.
Slander is probably one of the hardest sins for you to overcome, despite it being the one that many Christians will commit and not even consider the resulting consequences.
It’s so that we can be on that path to have a better understanding of Whom our Lord is so that we can have a deeper trust. With that deeper trust comes more faith. With more faith comes total dependency. Dependency because of what Jesus did, what He does. Because of His Love, grace and mercy. His justice and wrath.
But it is also important to know and to understand what and who it is that is so desperately trying to pry us off of that very same path.
As Followers of Christ we get accused of many different things. People will talk and have their opinions. They will question you. They will mock and make fun of you. They will lie about you. They will come against you like you have never been attacked before. And, accusation will come from not only those who oppose you, but also from those you love you.
Think about this today:
Protest and persecution for following Jesus is inevitable. It will come at some point and that’s okay. We have to not only expect it, but to prepare our hearts for it.
Who does God say you are in the Precious Salvation of His Son Jesus?
For those who have Repented, Believed and Followed Jesus Christ of Nazareth, titles are given: Child of God; The Branch from the True Vine; A friend of Jesus; Redeemed from sin and death; Justified; A new creation; and, The Righteousness of God.
There are MANY titles we gain when we come to the Throne of Grace in Humility and accept the Free Gift of Salvation!
Don’t allow someone else to try to destroy what the Lord has already made new!
Combat the protest and persecution with the Promises of Heaven handed out by Jesus Christ of Nazareth – the One who sits on the Mighty Right Hand of the Father!
Pastor Ed
