Sin Defined – Gospel of Mark 3

MARK ^3:1-35

SIN DEFINED

Because:

1. Man opposed to Sabbath V^{s 1-12}
2. Flesh and Blood (spirits) V^{s 13-27}
3. Possessed by Beelzebub V^{s 28-35}

1. Man opposed to Sabbath – V^{s 1-12}

Human existence is defined as people of culture, religion, education and political systems, etc., all of which is opposed to Sabbath.

Sabbath is a special day in the week, which must be devoted to the Kingdom of God, which is Christ’s teaching the healing by the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus could not heal or teach without violating the Jewish theocracy. In the New Testament, Jesus uses the Jewish theocracy, governance, etc., to reveal human opposition to spiritual things.

Our whole human existence is opposed to spiritual life.

Jesus preached in many Jewish synagogues on the Sabbath throughout Galilee and Judea; casting out demons. He cleansed people of their sins – thus revealing Himself as the Savior with His gift of the Spirit, the New Life in Christ.

To the leper in Mark 1⁴¹ He said:

“Be thou cleansed but show thyself to the priest” throwing a challenge to the modern world, rich and poor – to match this divine power which cleanses sin.

He said: “Son, thy sins be forgiven thee” – Mark 2⁵

But the whole human existence is completely unconcerned and impotent, ignorant and powerless with regards to the cleansing power of the Spirit. This is how far rejecting God (Sabbath) has gone. Yet this is a matter of life and death.

In Mark, 2⁹; Jesus having removed the man’s sin, said : “Arise and take thy bed, walk”

In Mark 2¹⁵ – Jesus identified himself with those who felt the guilt of sin, having rejected God’s authority (the Sabbath); the tax collectors, prostitutes, etc.; yet the whole human existence has rejected God as did the Jews.

Thus, in this 3^rd Chapter; Jesus draws the line between Sabbath – (spiritual things) and everything else which animates man such as religion, education, culture, sports, entertainment, etc.) All of which describe human existence.

To the man with a withered arm, Jesus said: “stand forth” and he then asked the audience; “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath (ie., to cleanse sin) or to do evil (ie., not spiritual but keep the law).

Our whole human existence is represented by law.

Jesus looked at them all, saw their earthly modern existence and ignorance and was grieved.

But proceeded with the proof: ”stretch forth thy hand” – and the hand was restored – this is after having cleanses the man of his sins by His Word alone.

As the Pharisees and Herodians were against Him at the time, so is the world today, both rich and poor are too busy to take a serious approach to the Word.

2. Flesh and Blood (spirits) – V^{s 13-27}

Human existence therefore is sinful – this means, is animated by spirits ordinarily referred to as “flesh and blood”.

It would be a terrible offence to teach directly that spirits are the ones which animate all human existences, here referred to as demons. Jesus lets human thoughts arrive on this truth by itself.

Against all these different spirits, ie., flesh and blood, is the One Spirit from God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth. This is the Holy Spirit, who alone unites all believers into one Spiritual body of Christ, though flesh is still within us, warring against the New Life of the Spirit in Christ.

Those with the gift of the Holy Spirit from God are referred to as disciples who have received the one and only teaching of the Apostles who are individually named here and have written the New Testament as it was delivered to them by our Lord and Savior.

These Apostles were commissioned to heal the sick as proof of God’s divine power of the Gospel to cleanse flesh and blood from sin; that is, cast out demons (spirits) from men’s hearts. So God’s Word, (the Holy Spirit) cleanses men and women from sin.

In Vs 20, Jesus is back in Capernaum with huge crowds, bigger than those mentioned in Chapter 2 Vs 1. The Scribes and all educated lawyers drawn from the capital and other areas had come to convict Jesus of any legal violation but they could not identify any particular violation of law. Fearful of his fame, and his divine power, these leaders connected all His acts with evil spirits. They asserted; “He has Beelzebub”, meaning, in connection with this ruler of demons, does he cast out demons.

This assertion made it easy for Jesus to state exactly what animated flesh and blood – in form of a question – which we must individually answer:

“How can satan, cast out satan?” – He could as well have asked : How can a demon cast out a demon?

Then Jesus went on to prove what really these spirits are; that is, the deceit or lies of the world consisting of the social, economic and religious activities, all of which, though beneficial to our lives, do not go beyond our earthly habitation.

V21: Satan cannot drive out Satan. This means, no human being can drive demons out of flesh and blood – they are one and the same. No type of education, laws of any country, religion, culture, parenting, etc., can drive out hatred, murder, poverty, greed, death, etc., the results of spirits which they cause. Only the Holy Spirit can drive all these spirits out of man and a new nature occurs.

These spirits demonstrate clearly how inept or unstable a human life is without Christ.

All human efforts or spirits to bring about stability in the world are contradictory in themselves – they war against each other. They compete against each other and finally eliminate themselves thus, adhering to the universal principle which stands; “Divided they cannot stand” – for when one half destroys the other, both end in ruin. This is our world and our lives.

Therefore, flesh and blood is sin – reference to our spirits (many) and they cannot stand. Opposition to Jesus upsets all human logic, proud as we may always be with our education, riches, abilities, etc., there is in each of us a seed of destruction, the many spirits unless we are born anew by the Holy Spirit.

3. Possessed by Beelzebub V^{s 28-35}

Human victory is only in Jesus. Flesh and blood is the polite word for spirits which animate human existence which is made up of our careers, education, politics, culture, sports, religion, etc., the list is endless.

Jesus refers to all these as spirits – in one word – Satan because they draw us to death and only Christ, the Gospel, leads to eternal life. Satan is the strong one. (See Jesus’ temptation after his baptism). These spirits take up man’s whole heart and thoughts away from God the Creator.

God’s kingdom (Christ) came into the world to save mankind from the grip of these spirits.

Satan is a powerful robber, his house is the graveyard, a place where he stores his plundering. The goods which Satan sells to humans are the demons (spirits), which are the lies of this world, because they tempt human souls continuously by making the earthly habitation more important than the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Satan’s power is what appears as dependency and security in this world, and then a man puts all his soul into these things. Christ reveals to man that he is entirely dependent on God’s mercy, who sends the rain in its season and also gives the breath of life to all living things. And it is Jesus who drives these spirits out of men and kindles the new life through faith in Him giving man a new spirit.

So we have Jesus’ teaching summarized as the Holy Spirit.

“Amen, I say to you, that all sinful acts (spirits) shall be remitted (ie., cleansed) for the sons of men who accept Jesus as the Savior; but whosoever blasphemes (rejects) the Holy Spirit has no remission, because he is filled up with unclean spirits (flesh and blood) – Vs. 28,29.

Mark summarizes what Jesus has been teaching about the Holy Spirit – compared to the unclean spirits of the world which produce unbelief or the unpardonable sin. He invited these educated people and held a meeting with them because of what they had stated that he was out of his mind and that he is with Beelzebub – Vs. 22.

Also as a result of these accusations, Jesus’ relatives had also come to see him because they had heard that he was out of his mind.

Jesus in his reply utilizes the untimely and ill-advised interruption (visitation of his relatives) to define and impress upon the people the most momentous truth – the Holy Spirit compared to all earthly teaching and pursuits. So Jesus asked the educated, “Who is my mother or my brethren?”

He looked around, among those seated and there was no answer. They could not give any because there was no earthly relationship that could hold man’s existence together in unity. Then he told them the bond of human existence.

Here we must pause and think who really is your mother and your brother; or rather, who really is the closest person to you. This dramatic question lends a deeper significance to the unity of human existence where there is none.

Here now is the terse, perfect answer which should lift all people from flesh and blood, the world, etc., to the fundamental truth of our human existence.

In Matthew 12⁴⁹, Jesus distinguished his disciples form the rest of the crowd (flesh and blood) by holding his hand over his disciples. He said, “Behold, my mother and my brethren”. These are exactly the same words used here in Vs. 33 but on different occasions.

Flesh and blood deceitfully magnifies earthly ties, relationships, work, modern life, etc., and these have been placed above the heavenly spiritual ties.

Men have loved wife, father, children, etc., more than Christ. This is what flesh and blood or the spirits do.

God sent Christ with a new teaching which alone can save humanity from eternal death – the gift of the Spirit which bond never dies.

Author: Apollo Kikule, akikule@gmail.com, Blog: ancienttruth.net