“THE PRICE AND PRIORITY OF FOLLOWING JESUS #4-AN INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP”
MARK 3:31-35
INTRO: If we can live one day with Jesus, we can live every day with Him,
each one as it comes. Immanuel, a name for Christ, means "God with
us." Human life was meant to be dramatic. We are meant to be God-
inhabited. Our religion is not organized around keeping God at a
distance. It allows us to go see him when we want. If I really want God
to be with me, then my life will be extremely different from ordinary
human life. The outcome will be far greater than the efforts. -- Ingrid
Trobisch in The Confident Woman. Christianity Today, Vol. 41, no. 3.
Psalms 16:8 says, “I have set the Lord always before me: because he
is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.” What is missing in many of
the lives of God’s people today is a closeness and an intimacy with
God. The Lord desires His people to enjoy intimacy with Him. The
word intimacy means a relationship “characterized by pronounced
closeness of friendship or association. Deeply personal…” (Funk &
Wagnalls Standard Desk Dictionary, Volume 1, A-M, p. 341). Amy
Carmichael wrote: “I believe that if we are to be and to do for others
what God means us to be and to do, we must not let Adoration and
Worship slip into second place, "For it is the central service asked by
God of human souls; and its neglect is responsible for much lack of
spiritual depth and power." Perhaps we may find here the reason why
we so often run dry. We do not give time enough to what makes for
depth, and so we are shallow; a wind, quite a little wind, can ruffle
our surface; a little hot sun, and all the moisture in us evaporates. It
should not be so.” -- Amy Carmichael in Edges of His Ways.
Christianity Today, Vol. 39, no. 13.
Mark 3 records for us two controversies that the Lord Jesus faced. In
vv. 22-30, the critics of Jesus accuse Him of being demon possessed.
V22 says, “And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He
hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of devils casteth he out devils.” And
in vv. 20-21 and also vv. 31-35, His friends and family accuse him of
being mentally unbalanced. V21 tells us, “And when his friends
heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him: for they said, He is beside
himself.” And in v31 we read, “There came then his brethren and his
mother, and standing without, sent unto him, calling him.” Out of
concern for His welfare, His family made their way to Capernaum it
seems for the purpose of taking Him home. Perhaps they feared that
He was making enemies of some of the religious leaders and that He
was not taking care of Himself. But Jesus responded to their
attempts to take Him home by showing who His real family was. This
special relationship, this intimacy was reserved for those seated
around Him. Those who were willing to listen and learn from His
words. Those willing to do the Father’s will. V34 says, “And he
looked round about on them that sat about him, and said, Behold my
mother and my brethren!” Robertson in his Word Pictures writes:
“They sat in a circle (\kukl"i\) around Jesus with the disciples
forming a sort of inner circle.” (Robertson’s Word Pictures). This “inner
circle” speaks of INTIMACY. It is this kind of relationship which God
desires with His people! This morning I want each believer to
seriously consider this question: “Am I one of the Lord’s inner circle;
am I enjoying intimacy with God?” I would have you note three things
with me today about this intimate relationship:
(1) THE BARRIER TO INTIMACY
MARK 3:31-33—“There came then his brethren and his mother,
and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him. And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee. And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren?”
*The GREATEST barrier to intimacy with God is unbelief! Notice two
things:
A. THE REMORSE OF UNBELIEF. This problem of Jesus’ family is the same problem many face today. Mary saw Him as a son and his brothers saw Him as a brother. All they saw was interpreted in the light of what they understood about Him. They just could not accept Him as the Son of God, as the Messiah. The words He spoke did not seem real to them and the only conclusion they could come to was “He is beside himself.”(v21). Barnes in his notes writes: “When his friends - Greek, “they who were of him.” Not the apostles, but his relatives, his friends, who were in the place of his nativity. Heard of it - Heard of his conduct: his preaching; his appointing the apostles; his drawing such a multitude to his preaching. They went out to lay hold on him - To take him away from the multitude, and to remove him to his home, that he might be treated as a maniac, so that, by absence from the “causes” of excitement, he might be restored to his right mind. He is beside himself - He is delirious or deranged” (Albert Barnes’ Notes On The Bible). How remorseful! How sad! That the friends and family of Jesus, those who were most likely to be thought in the inner circle of Jesus, did not believe in Him! The problem they faced was UNBELIEF! John 7:5 tells us, “For neither did his brethren believe in him.” The family of Jesus could not be a part of that “inner circle,” that intimate relationship because they did not believe in Him. Unbelief is the barrier to the “inner circle” today. Friend, you find your way to the “inner circle” and intimacy with God not by knowledge but by faith and commitment.
ILLUS: If a person is a seeker after signs from heaven in order that he
or others may believe, do you realize that he falls into the same
category as those who tempted Jesus and is classified by the
Lord Jesus as belonging to a wicked generation? The word of
God should be the basis of our proclamation that Jesus Christ
has done enough for Him to be declared the Son of God.
Jesus’ brothers “They did not receive him as the promised Messiah; but, having seen so many of his miracles, they could not but consider him as an eminent prophet. They supposed that, if he were the Messiah, he would wish to manifest himself as such to the world; and, because he did not do so, they did not believe that he was the salvation of Israel.” (Adam Clarke’s Commentary On The Bible).
B. THE RESULT OF UNBELIEF. When the friends and family of Jesus
arrived at the house where Jesus was teaching, they could not enter in
for the press of the crowd. The crowd was so great that they could not
enter into the house. Luke 8:19 tells us, “Then came to him his mother
and his brethren, and could not come at him for the press.” In fact, they
had to send a messenger to tell Him that His family was outside (v31b).
The words that Jesus spoke after receiving this message tells us two
things about unbelief:
1. Unbelief Fails To Recognize Jesus For Who He Is. The words Jesus offered in response may seem harsh at first, but these words were not meant as words of rejection but of revelation (v33). The Lord did not view Himself as merely the son of Mary or as one of several siblings. But Jesus declares WHO HE IS and WHAT HIS MISSION IS in Luke 19:10—“For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Jesus is uniquely related to God and His words were really words of love and concern. Because as long as they merely regarded Him as just a son or a brother He could never be their Savior and Lord! Many today regard Jesus as a good man, a prophet, or a miracle-worker. They place him on the same level as Mohammed, Buddha, Confucius and others, but He is OH SO MUCH MORE!
ILLUS: THE HEART OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
· In Matthew He is the King of the Jews (Mt 2:2).
· In Mark He is the servant of God (Mark 10:44-45).
· In Luke He is the perfect Son of Man (Luke 9:56).
· In John He is the exalted Son of God (John 20:30-31).
· In Acts He is the ascended Lord (Acts 1:9-11).
· In Romans He our righteousness (Rom 3:21-25).
· In 1 Corinthians He is the firstfruits from the dead (1 Cor 15:20).
· In 2 Corinthians He is the One made sin for us (2 Cor 5:21).
· In Galatians He is the One who set us free (Gal 2:20-21).
· In Ephesians He is the One who blesses (Eph 1:3).
· In Philippians He is the joy bringer (Phil 3:1,3; 4:4).
· In Colossians He is the pre-eminent One (Col 1:18).
· In 1 Thessalonians He is the returning Lord (1 Thes 4:13-18).
· In 2 Thessalonians He is the world's judge (2 Thes 1:7-9).
· In 1 Timothy He is our mediator (1 Tim 2:5).
· In 2 Timothy He is the bestower of crowns (2 Tim 4:8).
· In Titus He is our great God and Savior (Titus 1:3-4).
· In Philemon He is the Equalizer (Philemon 16).
· In Hebrews He is the rest of faith (Heb 4:8-11).
· In James He is the Lord of Sabaoth [hosts] (James 5:4).
· In 1 Peter He is the theme of Old Testament prophecy (1 Pet 1:19-21).
· In 2 Peter He is the longsuffering Savior (2 Pet 2:21).
· In 1 John He is the Word of life (1 Jn 1:1).
· In 2 John He is the target of the anti-Christ (2 John 7).
· In 3 John He is the personification of truth (3 John 1-4).
· In Jude He is the believer's hope (Jude 24).
· In Revelation He is the victorious Lamb (Rev 5:6).
-- HOUSE TO HOUSE, HEART TO HEART
Pottsville, KY edition Volume 3, #3
Author: Unknown
Hol
2. Unbelief Fails To Receive Jesus For Who He Is. The family of
Jesus did not need a son or a brother, they needed a Savior! Jesus
is trying to open their eyes so they can see that they needed a closer
relationship with Him than they now enjoyed. They needed to
receive Him for who He declared to be. Notice the sad words in
v32—“…thy mother and thy brethren without seek thee.” WITHOUT!
As yet they were not part of the “inner circle”. As yet they were not
enjoying intimacy with Him. Why? They did not receive Him for
who He was! The Scripture makes in plain that Jesus came to die
for our sins and be the Savior of mankind! 1 John 3:5 tells us,
“And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in
him is no sin.” Hebrews 2:9 says, “But we see Jesus, who was
made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned
with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death
for every man.” And 1 Peter 3:18 tells us, “For Christ also hath once
suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God,
being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.”
ILLUS: WHY DID JESUS HAVE TO DIE?
Friday Church News Notes, April 16, 2004 (David W. Cloud,
Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box
610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, ,
http://www.wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) -
The cover story for the April 12 issue of Time magazine was
"Why Did Jesus Have to Die?" Sadly but not surprisingly,
the article gives no clear answer. It begins with a Bible
study group in St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Geneva,
Illinois. The participants are debating the question as to
why Jesus had to suffer, why he did not simply teach and
then go away. One church member suggests, "God's plan
probably has to be more dramatic." Another says, "One
word I would add to this discussion. Obedience. [Jesus] was
totally obedient." That is the best that these professing
Christians could come up with. Time then rips into the New
Testament, quoting a liberal Bible scholar who says, "The
New Testament is just all over the map [on the question of
why Christ died. Its writers] are all persuaded that
something really drastic, fundamental and dramatic has
happened, and they're pulling together all kinds of ways to
understand that." Thus, according to Time magazine, the
Bible does not hold the answer as to why Jesus died. Next
they look at various doctrines of the atonement found in
church history, passing quickly over the "theory" of
substitutionary atonement, which we are told, was invented
by Anselm, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1098. Such
nonsense paraded as biblical scholarship! Indeed, "the god
of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe
not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the
image of God, should shine unto them" (2 Cor. 4:4). Why
did Jesus die? The Bible answers that with five simple
words: "Christ died for our sins" (1 Cor. 15:3)! Christ was
"made sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made
the righteousness of God in him" (2 Cor. 5:21). Jesus
explained very clearly why He came: "For the Son of man is
come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Lk. 19:10).