‘Crowds follow Jesus – Mark 3: v7-12′

These folks were average Joe’s, no different to you or I, and they see something in Jesus that the religious folk just don’t. The sick wanted to be healed and you can almost picture these people desperate for a touch from Jesus, because they knew it would change their lives.

During this time Jesus cast out demons and they knew that he wasn’t a faker, he was the real thing…Jesus was the son of God. Jesus told the demons not to say anything, and this demonstrates Jesus’ incredible obedience to God and the path that He has to follow to defeat satan.

‘The disciples get appointed – Mark 3: v13-19′

Jesus then goes up a mountain, which he often did when he wanted to be alone with God, away from all of the noise and attention. Jesus took with him the disciples that He had chosen to appoint. He then chose the disciples ‘that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons’ (v14: NIV).

Note that these guys were just like you and me, average people who weren’t superspiritual or perfect and yet Jesus chose them! That’s mind blowing. These guys were firstly going to be with Jesus, before they go out and serve him. They had to spend time with him and learn from him before they set off to do their thing. Sometimes I neglect to spend time alone with God, before I try and do stuff and I fall flat on my face…why? Well because I need to be with him, to learn from him and be changed.

‘Jesus and the evil one – Mark 3: v20-30′

Jesus goes to a house and yet again a huge crowd follow him, the place is so packed that people can hardly move. Jesus’ family think that he is ‘out of his mind’ (v21:NIV), for putting himself in this situation. The religious folk also went along and said that Jesus is possessed by satan and that what he is doing is evil.

Now this gets a reaction from Jesus, immediately he explains why their accusation is ridiculous. Jesus says ‘how can satan drive out satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand’ (v23: NIV). Jesus wanted to show that by driving out demons he was not in league with satan, but that he is against evil. Jesus then warns that ‘whoever blasphemes against the holy spirit will never be forgiven, he is guilty of an eternal sin’. (v29: NIV)

I had to re-read this passage several times, the words ‘never’ and ‘forgiven’ seemed alien to me when referring to Jesus. So I checked this out in a bible commentary and this is thr jist of what it said…Basically, the sin of blaspheming against the holy spirit is the deliberate closing of a persons heart to the holy spirit, by choosing to believe a work of God is a work of satan. It isn’t that God won’t forgive the person but that the person won’t receive god’s forgiveness.

‘We are family – Mark 3:v31-35′

So people are still not getting their heads around the kingdom of God. Jesus has just got a message from someone in the crowd, that his mother and brothers are looking for him. Jesus responds by saying ‘who are my mother and my brothers’? (v33: NIV) and answers his own question by explaining that everyone who loves God in the crowd is his family.

Overall, what stands out for me in this part of chapter 3, is that Jesus wants to be with us, just like he wanted to be with the crowds and his disciples. So lets seize that opportunity and be with him! Following Jesus’ example of spending time alone with God is a must, and this is something I’m trying to build in to my daily life. After all we are family.