Kim Riddlebarger asks, “What, then, should we take with us from this section of Mark?” [Chapter 3:20-35]
The very fact that so many different and diverse people witnessed the miracles of Jesus with their own eyes and yet did not understand his mission or understand who he was, should remind all of us that unless God grants us understanding of spiritual things, we remain blind to them. If we now believe in Jesus, it is because he has granted us faith. Otherwise these things remain hidden.
Remember that even Jesus’ own family thought him insane. His mother and brothers saw the physical strain upon him and thought he had lost it. At least they cared enough to seek to bring Jesus home. The huge crowds are a different story. Those who came to Jesus for healing were so desperate and in such dire straights that they didn’t much care who Jesus was, only that he could heal them. They swarmed around Jesus to the point that he could not eat nor rest. And while Jesus had compassion on them and healed them, the crowds will abandon Jesus the moment he tells them that they cannot save themselves and that they too must take up their cross and follow him.
The Jewish religious leaders hated Jesus because he exposed their self-righteousness, rejected their man- made traditions, and ignored their false interpretation of God’s word. They have already joined with their enemies, begun plotting to kill Jesus, and even accused him of being demon possessed. At this point in Mark’s story, ironically, only the demons knew who Jesus was because Jesus was even then binding the strong man, although Jesus is slowly but surely beginning to reveal himself and the nature of his mission to his disciples.
The point is that when the kingdom of God arrives in the person of Jesus, people are immediately divided. The kingdom makes demands and forces all who encounter it to decide where our allegiance truly lies. As a sign that his kingdom brings judgment upon those who reject him, Jesus will speak to the scribes and Pharisees in parables, in effect, hiding the truth from them in plain sight. Jesus will have compassion upon the sick and suffering, but he’s already begun the process of forming a new Israel, a spiritual family in which all those who place their faith in him thereby obeying his will, becomes his new brothers and sisters.
When the kingdom comes, you either obey Christ’s will and believe his promises, repent of your sins and renounce your own righteous and leave father and mother behind to follow him, or else you remain outside, unable to understand the things of God which are hidden from the wise. Jesus rejects the self- righteous, but welcomes repentant tax-collectors and sinners. He reject the traditions of men, but rewards all those who come to him with empty hands with citizenship in the new Israel, and he now calls you his brothers and sisters and makes you an heir to all the good things he has for those who love him. And so it is with the kingdom of God.
Knowing God through His Word ... Day by Day 