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Scripture Reading: Mark 3:22-35
In Mark 3:7-35 we see five auxiliary acts for the Slave-Savior’s gospel service: averting the crowd’s pressing (Mark 3:7-12), appointing the apostles to preach (Mark 3:13-19), not eating because of the urgent need (Mark 3:20-21), binding Satan and plundering his house by the Holy Spirit (Mark 3:22-30), and not remaining in the relationship of the natural life but in that of the spiritual life (Mark 3:31-35). In the foregoing message we covered the first three of these auxiliary acts. In this message we shall consider the last two — the binding of Satan and the Lord’s not remaining in the relationship of the natural life.
According to 3:21, the Lord’s “relatives went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, He is beside Himself.” This exclamation expressing natural concern on the part of the Slave-Savior’s relatives regarding Him opened the way for the scribes to blaspheme Him. Verse 22 says, “And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, He has Beelzebub, and by the ruler of the demons He casts out the demons.” This was a word of blasphemy ushered in by the expression of natural concern in verse 21.
Because the Lord’s relatives could not understand Him, they said that He was beside Himself. This saying opened the door for the scribes, the opposers, to defame the Lord. The scribes could have said, “You see, even his relatives say that he is beside himself. Do you know why he is beside himself? He is beside himself because he has a demon, and this demon is Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.” The Slave-Savior cast out demons, the evil workers for the dark kingdom of Satan; yet the opposers said that He did it by the ruler of the demons. What subtlety of the evil one, who motivated these evil opposers to say this! They were his co-workers and were even one with him.
Beelzebub means the lord of flies, the name of a god of the Ekronites (2 Kings 1:2). It was changed in contempt by the Jews to Baalzebel, which means lord of the dunghill, and was used for the ruler of the demons (Matt. 12:24; Luke 11:15, 18-19). The scribes reviled the Slave-Savior by saying that He cast out demons by the ruler of demons. This most blasphemous name expressed their strongest objection and rejection.
No doubt, the name Beelzebub refers to the Devil. The Devil is lord of flies and lord of the dunghill. The scribes could not have chosen a worse term with which to defame the Lord Jesus. They said not only that He had a demon, but that He was under Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons. This blasphemy was so serious that the Lord later indicated that it was unforgivable, being a blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (Mark 3:28-30).
We need to remember that the door for such a defamation was opened by the word of the Lord’s relatives, their word that He was beside Himself. They accused the Lord of being abnormal, and this gave opportunity for the scribes to defame Him. The scribes could have said, “He certainly is abnormal, for he has a demon, Beelzebub.” From this we see that it is possible for our relatives’ natural love for us to open the door for Satan to come in.
Mark 3:23-25 says, “And calling them to Himself, He said to them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan? And if a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom is not able to stand; and if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.” The Lord’s word here indicates that Satan has not only a house but also a kingdom. His house is a house of sin (1 John 3:8, 10), and his kingdom is a kingdom of darkness (Col. 1:13). Sinners belong both to Satan’s house and to his kingdom. The demons belong to his kingdom and possess people for his kingdom. Satan is the ruler of this world (John 12:31) and the ruler of the power of the air (Eph. 2:2). He has his authority (Acts 26:18) and his angels (Matt. 25:41), who are his subordinates as principalities, powers, and rulers of the darkness of this world (Eph. 6:12). Hence, Satan has his kingdom, the authority of darkness (Col. 1:13).
We have seen that Satan has both a house and a kingdom. Satan’s kingdom is against God’s kingdom, and Satan’s house is against God’s house.
In Mark 3:26 the Lord points out that if “Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he is not able to stand, but has an end.” Then He continues in verse 27, “But no one can enter into the house of the strong one to plunder his goods unless he first bind the strong one, and then he will plunder his house.” The “goods” here are sinners kept in Satan’s house for his kingdom. The Slave-Savior bound Satan, the strong one, and entered into his house to plunder his goods so that the sinners might be brought into the house of God (Eph. 2:19) through regeneration for the kingdom of God (John 3:5). While the Slave-Savior was doing the gospel service, He was binding the strong one, Satan. The gospel service is a warfare to destroy Satan and his kingdom of darkness.
The Lord’s word in verse 27 indicates that while He was preaching the gospel, He was binding the strong one in order to destroy his kingdom by plundering his house. In other words, the Lord’s preaching was a plundering. Satan has captured all sinners and has placed them into his house, which is a prison. Hence, all sinners have become Satan’s captives. But the Lord Jesus, who has the power of the Spirit, has come to preach the gospel. He has come to plunder Satan’s house and to release his captives.
If we did not have the Lord’s word recorded in verse 27, we would not realize that when we preach the gospel we should plunder Satan’s house. We may think that gospel preaching is simply a matter of soul winning, a matter of saving lost sinners. The Lord, however, has a different concept concerning the preaching of the gospel. His concept is that the preaching of the gospel to save sinners is the plundering of Satan’s house to release his captives. To be sure, this plundering destroys Satan’s kingdom.
The word in 3:27 corresponds to the Lord’s word to Paul in Acts 26:18: “To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light and from the authority of Satan to God.” When Paul was called by God to preach the gospel, he was told to turn people from darkness to light and from the authority of Satan to God. The authority of Satan is simply the kingdom of Satan. Today when we preach the gospel to sinners, we also should turn them, Satan’s captives, from the authority of darkness unto God and His kingdom.
In Mark 3:28 and 29 the Lord went on to say to the scribes, “Truly I say to you, that all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and blasphemies, whatever they may blaspheme; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit has no forgiveness forever, but is guilty of an everlasting sin.” The Lord’s word here concerning the Holy Spirit indicates that the Slave-Savior’s gospel service, especially in the casting out of demons to destroy the dark kingdom of Satan, was by the Holy Spirit. The Lord had been anointed by the Spirit and He was continually led by the Spirit in His move (1, Luke 4:18; Mark 1:12).
As He was preaching the gospel, the Lord was destroying the kingdom of Satan by the power of the Holy Spirit. At the time of His baptism He denied Himself, having Himself buried in the waters of death. The Lord would not do anything by His own power, strength, or energy. On the contrary, He did everything by the Holy Spirit. In particular, by the Holy Spirit He preached the gospel in order to plunder Satan’s house and destroy his kingdom.
Matthew 12:28 indicates that when the Lord Jesus was destroying Satan’s kingdom by preaching the gospel, He was bringing in the kingdom of God: “But if I by the Spirit of God cast out demons, then the kingdom of God is come upon you.” The Spirit of God is the power of the kingdom of God. Where the Spirit of God is in power, there the kingdom of God is, and there the demons have no ground.
How wonderful is the auxiliary act for the Slave-Savior’s gospel service described in Mark 3:22-30! From what is portrayed here we learn that when we preach the gospel we need to pray to contact God as our source so that we may receive more of the Holy Spirit and be empowered by the Holy Spirit. Then as we preach the gospel we shall plunder Satan’s house and destroy his kingdom. This is a great matter, and it is very important that we all see it.
The gospel service is not only a matter of preaching; the gospel service also involves fighting and plundering. Sinners are the “goods” captured by Satan and kept in the stronghold of his house. Hence, not only do unbelievers need to be convinced and subdued, but also Satan’s house needs to be plundered so that they may be released from their captivity. In order to release those held captive by Satan in his prison, we need power and authority. The Holy Spirit is our authority and power. From the Lord’s auxiliary act here we realize our need to be empowered by the Holy Spirit in order to preach the gospel.
In 3:28 and 29 the Lord says that all sins will be forgiven the sons of men and all blasphemies. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit “has no forgiveness forever, but is guilty of an everlasting sin,” a sin that will not be forgiven forever. The blasphemy against the Holy Spirit differs from insulting the Spirit (Heb. 10:29). To insult the Spirit is to disobey Him willfully. Many believers do this. If they confess this sin, they will be forgiven and cleansed by the Lord’s blood (1 John 1:7, 9). But to blaspheme the Holy Spirit is to slander Him, as the scribes did in Mark 3:22. It was by the Holy Spirit that the Lord cast out a demon. But the scribes seeing it said that He cast out demons by Beelzebub, ruler of the demons. This was blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
In the economy of the Triune God, the Father conceived the plan of redemption (Eph. 1:5, 9), the Son accomplished redemption according to the Father’s plan (1 Pet. 2:24; Gal. 1:4), and the Spirit reaches sinners to apply the redemption accomplished by the Son (1 Cor. 6:11; 1 Pet. 1:2). If a sinner blasphemes the Son as Saul of Tarsus did, the Spirit still has the ground to work upon him and cause him to repent and believe in the Son that he may be forgiven (see 1 Tim. 1:13-16). But if a sinner blasphemes the Spirit, the Spirit will have no ground to work upon him, and there will be none left to cause him to repent and believe. Hence, it is impossible for such a person to be forgiven. This is not only logical, according to reason, but governmental according to God’s administrative principle, as revealed here by the Lord’s word.
In 3:31-35 we see the fifth auxiliary act for the Slave-Savior’s gospel service: not remaining in the relationship of the natural life but in that of the spiritual life. Mark 3:31 and 32 say, “And His mother and His brothers came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him. And a crowd sat around Him, and they said to Him, Behold, your mother and your brothers and your sisters are outside seeking you.” After the opposers’ blasphemy, instigated by Satan, the relatives of the Slave-Savior came again to trouble Him by their natural concern for Him. Undoubtedly, this also was motivated by the evil one.
According to verses 33 through 35, the Lord said, “Who is My mother and My brothers? And looking around at those sitting in a circle around Him, He says, Behold, My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God, this is My brother and sister and mother.” The Lord’s word here indicates His rejection of His relatives’ natural concern. In order to defeat the evil one’s schemes and fulfill His gospel service, He would not remain in the relationship of the natural life. This displayed His absoluteness for God in His humanity.
Looking at those sitting in a circle around Him, the Lord declared, “Behold, My mother and My brothers!” Then He went on to say that whoever does the will of God is His brother, sister, and mother. Here we see that the Lord’s relationship with His followers is not in the flesh but in the spirit. Whoever does the will of His Father is His brother for helping, His sister for sympathizing, and His mother for tenderly loving.
Through His gospel service the Slave-Savior was making the believing sinners His spiritual relatives, those who became His many brothers (Rom. 8:29; Heb. 2:11) in the house of God (Heb. 3:5) and His many members for the building up of His mystical Body (Eph. 5:30; 1 Cor. 12:12) to do the will of God.
Today the Roman Catholic Church considers Mary the mother of God. But here the Lord Jesus denied His natural relationship with His mother and said that the one who does the will of God is His mother. This indicates that a sister who does God’s will may have the boldness to declare that she is a mother to the Lord Jesus. Furthermore, it is not presumptuous for all of us to say with boldness that we are the Lord’s brothers.
In 3:31-35 we see that the Slave-Savior did not remain in the relationship of the natural life. Instead, His relationship with His followers was of the spiritual life. From this auxiliary act we see that in order to be powerful in God’s ministry we need to deny the natural relationships. The greatest entanglement to God’s ministry is the natural relationship with father or mother, husband or wife, children or relatives. By denying the natural relationship the Lord Jesus avoided this entanglement.
In these five auxiliary acts for the Slave-Savior’s gospel service we see that there is no ground for the natural concept, the natural understanding, or the natural relationship. In these auxiliary acts everything is spiritual, holy, and divine, altogether contrary to the human concept. If we would follow the Lord to have these auxiliary acts today, we should not give ground to natural concepts or relationships. In order to follow the Lord in these matters, everything must be spiritual, divine, holy, and according to God. Then we shall have the standing and the boldness to carry out God’s work.
I hope that we all, especially the young ones, will be helped and impressed by these auxiliary acts for the Lord’s gospel service. In particular, we need to be impressed never to consider the Lord’s recovery, the Lord’s ministry, and the Lord’s move in a natural way. We should not measure the things of the recovery according to the natural understanding.
All the events recorded in the Gospel of Mark took place under the Lord’s sovereignty. First, in 1:14-45 we have five matters that form the contents of the Slave-Savior’s gospel service. Then in 2:1—3:6 we have five incidents that show us the ways of carrying out the gospel service. As we have seen, we also have the five auxiliary acts in 3:7-35. These five cases, five incidents, and five acts, happened according to God’s sovereignty in an excellent sequence. If we see these matters, we shall know how to carry out God’s ministry. If we see the contents, the ways, and the acts, we shall know what the Lord’s gospel service is, we shall know how to carry out this service, and we shall know how to have the ground, the position, for doing God’s work.
