Explaining Jesus Away ....

We all have known people who both properly understood and evaluated their ability. For example, we all knew who the best player on our high school basketball team was. Of course, this individual rightfully had confidence in his ability because his performance on the court backed it up. Conversely, we have also known the wannabe athlete – the one who desired to be the best basketball player and deceived himself into believing he was even though he could not dribble the ball. This was also the person who would challenge the star player to a game of one-on-one and lose badly. Then, instead of admitting the truth after badly losing, he would make up excuses such as his shoulder was injured or that he was feeling ill. Sadly, this individual had deceived himself into believing he could play ball and would never admit otherwise even though everyone else saw and knew the truth. In both cases, the individuals were absolutely confident. The problem was that only one of them had the evidence to back it up. Furthermore, as the evidence stacked up, nothing changed. This wannabe athlete did not reconsider his thinking nor humble himself to match reality. He simply maintained his false confidence.  Why? because when our heart decides something is true, our mind gets to work defending it.

In Mark 3:22-30, we see a very similar scenario taking place.  By the time we reach verse 22, Jesus has previously healed on the Sabbath (Mark 1: 21-28), restored a man’s withered hand (Mark 3:1-6), cast out demons (Mark 1:21), and drawn massive crowds (Mark 3:7-12). His power was undeniable and on display for all to see. Yet, just as the non-athlete described above denied his lack of ability, the scribes, due to their hardened hearts, denied  that Jesus’ authority was from God; thus, their minds set out to falsely prove their belief to be true.   Today’s passage, Mark 3:22-30, presents four principles regarding God’s power. The first principle is…  

When the resistant heart cannot deny God’s work, it redefines it. 

By reading the previous passage in Mark, we learn that the crowds surrounding Jesus were getting out of hand. They were reaching a frenzy, a fever pitch (Mark 3:7-12). The attention, the miracles, and the threat to the religious establishment was undeniable. So, how did the scribes respond? They aggressively came down from Jerusalem with an official verdict (Mark 3:2). Now, it is imperative to notice what they did not say. They did not deny that Jesus has power. They did not question whether something supernatural was happening; instead, they reassigned the source of that power from the Holy God of the universe to Satan. Mark 3:22 states in this way: ‘And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying,  “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.”’ So, why would they reassign this power? The obvious answer is that they could not deny this supernatural power existed because it was on full display for all to see; hence, they reassigned the source of the power from God to Satan to excuse them from surrendering to it. Sadly, the scribes had already hardened their hearts towards Jesus and had predetermined to resist Him. 

At this point, you may be asking how this passage applies to us today. To help us understand, let us look together at Hebrews 13:8 which states that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever”. Friend, if you believe that this statement from Holy Scripture is true, you must recognize that He holds the same power now that He previously did during his Earthly ministry; therefore, each of us living today, like those living in the first century, must decide what to do with do with this reality. The choice is yours: will you resist God and redefine His power in your mind as the scribes did? Or, will you answer God's call, submit your life wholly to Him and receive His free gift of eternal life?....

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