The Ministry of Jesus in Galilee

Mark 1:16—8:30

A New King (1:16—3:6).

Kingdom is Near (1:15)

1. Popularity (1:16-45).

2. Conflict (2:1—3:6).

Jewish Leaders Reject Him (3:6)

A New Kingdom (3:7—6:6)

Kingdom Has Small Beginnings (4:3)

1. Continued Conflict (3:7-35).

   1. Jesus Withdraws (3:7-12).

   2. Twelve Chosen (3:13-19).

   3. Answering Critics (3:20-30).

      1. Word got out that Jesus was in this house (3:20-21).

         1. They were so crowded that they couldn’t even eat their lunch.

         2. It is unclear who “His own people” are—KJV says friends, NIV and ESV say family.

         3. If it were His family, then the events later on (3:31) wouldn’t make much sense, unless they were His extended family or people for His hometown.

         4. Though we do know from John 7:5 that His brothers did not believe in Him (yet – at least James and Jude convert).

         5. Whatever the case, they heard about what He was up to.

         6. If you heard some off-the-wall stories about a relative or close friend of yours, wouldn’t you be concerned and want to take care of him?

         7. So they thought He was out of His mind, and either wanted to help Him or perhaps to keep Him from embarrassing them.

         8. His own were critical of Him.

      2. Where did His power come from? (3:22-27).

         1. Who was Beelzebub?

            1. Milton and Bunyan have Beelzebub being Satan’s right hand man.

            2. But it is clear that Beelzebub is meant to be Satan himself.

            3. He is the ruler of the demons, and Jesus says, “How can Satan cast out Satan?”

            4. The Greek here is really Beelzebul.

            5. It is connected to that ancient false God Baal.

            6. Some translators have tried to make a connection to Baal-Zebub (2 Kgs 1:2), the Philistine god that King Ahaziah was going to petition concerning his health.

            7. It is likely that the Jews took Baal-Zebub, which means “lord of flies,” and twisted it to Beelzebul, which means “lord of dung/filth,” as a reference to Satan.

            8. Being a lord of flies meant that this god would help in driving out these pests.

            9. So Beelzebub is another name the Jews have assigned to the devil.

         2. The scribes came down from Jerusalem to accuse Jesus (3:22).

            1. They were continuing to grasp at straws.

            2. They failed to pin Him on any violation of the Law and they could not deny the miracles He performed.

            3. So if He is able to do these mighty works, they surmise that there must be an evil power involved.

         3. Jesus then gives three brief parables or proverbs to expose how ridiculous this assertion was (3:23-27).

            1. Divided kingdoms and houses will fall eventually.

            2. We see this all the way back in the Tower of Babel (Gen. 11) – when God confused their languages, they were divided and could not work together.

            3. There are so many principles we can take from these proverbs.

            4. A country divided against itself will not stand—how divided is America?

            5. A divided church will not stand, either. That’s one reason why denominationalism is inherently wrong. We are divided if we recognize it or not.

            6. Unfortunately, Satan is already aware of this wisdom, and his kingdom stands—or at least it did not fall to in-fighting.

            7. The third parable is about a robber—you don’t break into a man’s house unless you have a plan for dealing with the strong man inside.

            8. Jesus is the plunderer in this parable and Satan is the strong man.

            9. Jesus, in casting out these demons, is tying up the strong man Satan so that He can do His work.

            10. His work is destroying Satan’s kingdom/house to establish His own.

         4. The unpardonable sin (3:28-30).

            1. What does it mean to blaspheme the Holy Spirit?

            2. We might worry about this because we do not want to be guilty of something that cannot be forgiven.

            3. There is so much debate on this topic, so many different ideas.

            4. One commentator in quoting an old preacher said: “If you’re worried that you’ve committed it, you haven’t.” Such worry shows your heart is not irreversibly hardened like the Pharisees.