Mark 3:20-35 Was Jesus Out of His Mind? (Anders)
There are lots of situations in which we might ask whether someone is out of his mind--but we are shocked when someone asks that question of Jesus. In verse 21, people were saying, "He is insane."
There are lots of situations in which we might ask whether someone is out of his mind--but we are shocked when someone asks that question of Jesus. In verse 21, people were saying, "He is insane."
Did you ever feel that way - that everything nailed down was coming loose? Did you ever feel that a seismic event had shaken your world beyond recognition? The Bible provides hope for us in such times as that, for the Bible often speaks to people facing cataclysmic events.
In our men's group, one of the men mentioned the famous question from the Watergate Scandal--"What did he know and when did he know it?" Today I want to use that question to examine our text. "What do we know and when did we know it?"
Our text from Mark describes two dramatic actions in the ministry of Jesus that both occurred on the Sabbath, and both confront the question "What is it lawful to do on the Sabbath?" The first action happened in a grain field.
The Gospels tell us that there were followers and would-be followers. I wonder which we are, particularly on this Stewardship Sunday.
At the heart of your computer is the central operating system. It determines how everything runs on your computer. This text says that Jesus is to be the central operating system of our lives.
"Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." This stumped both the Pharisees and the Herodians. They were amazed and went away. Personally, I wish they had stayed and asked Jesus to clarify exactly what he meant.
Tony Campolo has a famous sermon for Good Friday entitled "It's Friday, but Sunday's Coming." Again and again, his voice rings out, "It's Friday, but Sunday's coming."
Just imagine that you were to receive a personal invitation to a banquet at the White House. So how do you respond? "Next Saturday? Let's see. Well, I don't know. I was planning to check my garden that day."
In the Triumphal Entry, Jesus seems to be playing a game, "Guess who I am." This story for Palm Sunday is all about the identity question. The people were saying, 'Who is this?'"