When the World Thinks You’re Crazy

Scripture:

Mark 3:19b  Then he went home; ²⁰and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. ²¹When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.” ²²And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.” ²³And he called them to him, and spoke to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? ²⁴If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. ²⁵And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. ²⁶And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. ²⁷But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered.

Mark 3:28  “Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; ²⁹but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— ³⁰for they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.”

Observation:

Jesus had just come down from the mountain where he had placed the official call upon the twelve. His family must have gotten word of what he had done and decided that he had lost his mind. What in the world was their son/brother doing? He sounds like some kind of a lunatic. 

In the meantime the religious leaders had sent a request to the scribes from Jerusalem. These were officials who were called in to determine whether a person was preaching heresy. This elevated the situation to a new level because no longer were the local Pharisees and scribes simply concerned with Jesus and his teaching, but they were bringing in the those with power to rid the country of him. 

The only solid explanation for Jesus’ power was that it was from God. This, however, was not acceptable to the religious leaders. Jesus was operating outside of their box and he threatened their very neat and tidy structures. There was no way that they could affirm that was actually from God. They weren’t satisfied with joining his family in calling him crazy. Instead, they felt that the situation left them no option but to accuse him of being in partnership with Beelzebul, or being demon possessed.

Jesus’ response comes in the form of parables. Instead of using the word Beelzebul, he switches to the use of Satan. Jesus has come to break the power of Satan and now he walks them through a conversation. If, what they are saying is true, then Satan’s forces have suddenly become engaged in a civil war. Satan and his minions are fighting against one another. If that were to happen, then Satan would be rendered powerless, but people knew that wasn’t the case. They were constantly confronted by those who were demon possessed. 

Jesus then reveals his mission. You cannot see these miracles of healing unless there is power over the strong-man. The only logical conclusion was that they were witnessing the defeat of the enemy through the power of the Son of God. This, however, was never going to be plausible in their thinking. What the religious leaders did not realize was that Satan was dominating their wills. The enemy knows how to tempt us at the point of our weakness. The weakness of the religious leaders was in the area of power and control, and suddenly they were coveting in their hearts that which Jesus had. Because they did not have this power, they wanted to destroy him. The result was disastrous because the religious leaders had been tricked, and had suddenly aligned themselves with Satan. 

Now the religious leaders found themselves in a bind. They had become entrenched in their decisions and there was no pathway to retreat. Their hearts had become hardened and they wanted nothing more than to rid the world of Jesus. It was in this context that Jesus spoke of the “unpardonable sin.” These men intentionally chose to side with Satan against God’s son because of their own pride. This makes one wonder who is really crazy!

Application:

Maybe a better title for this devotional thought would have been, “When the Church thinks that you’re crazy!” While the story begins with Jesus’ family thinking that he’s mad, the scene quickly moves to interaction with the religious leaders. The problem with the religious leaders was that they were trying to find solutions to their problems by aligning themselves with the political leadership of the day. If they behaved themselves, then Rome would give them some autonomy and those in high positions would enjoy the power given them by the government. In this way they could exert authority over others. 

At the same time, let’s remember that these Pharisees were hoping to help the Israelites to be God’s holy people. They were working hard at keeping everyone in line, following all of the rules in hopes that this would please God. Jesus was messing everything up with the way in which he was doing his work and ministry. Yes, the man must have been crazy. 

When we really start to follow Jesus, we discover that he takes us out of our comfort zone. We are also tempted to trust in the power and authority of this world. Jesus invites us to do the crazy thing and trust in him! Jesus takes us out of the centers of power and leads us to the marginalized where God can be glorified. It’s in the redemption of those with the greatest needs that the power of God is magnified. 

It’s not cool to give up the big beautiful church and go to those of society who need time and attention. They don’t give much in their offerings. Ministry to those who are marginalized does not result in a CEO lifestyle. The world will think that you are crazy! But there is something crazy about having radical faith. This is a faith that trusts in God above all else. This is a faith that sees God’s hand at work among powers and authorities in ways that we would never have imagined. That’s where we find pure joy and delight — in discovering that God has all of this in his hands. 

The world thinks that we are crazy when we begin to think this way. Some see absolute abandonment to the power of God as an excuse to not get engaged in the world. That’s absolutely false, but it’s a different kind of engagement. This is God-empowered and God-led engagement where the results are not always measurable by human standards. 

The Pharisees and the scribes were the ones who ended up being crazy. It’s when we refuse to trust and believe in the awesome power of God to intersect with our world that we, too, will join the Pharisees. The result is an anxious world believing that everything that needs to be fixed must be done by human hands. This puts humans in the center of everything, in essence, making ourselves god. No wonder there is so much fear. That’s the very space of the Pharisees, and it led them to blaspheming the Holy Spirit. Let’s stop and think about the trajectory of our actions, the motivations or our heart, and ask whether we truly believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Anything short of this radical dependence and faith is crazy. 

Prayer:

Lord, may my life reflect a radical dependence upon you and your power. Amen.