Accusing Christ.

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5992868649400573825.post-9125781900440354522008-05-01T11:32:00.001-07:002008-05-01T11:32:53.770-07:00Accusing Christ.Accusing Christ. Mark 3:20-30. Then the multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread. But when His own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, "He is out of His mind." Mark 3:20-21 (NKJV) It is a jaw dropping experience to see the Lord work in big ways. Here Mark accounts of this situation where ministry defied logic and a servant of God must be made aware that God may do things that go beyond common sense and enters into absurd directions. Would you ever expect to see a sea part and dry land inviting you to walk across? No more menacing was the sea than the hoards of people that pressed down on Jesus. His disciples did not even have time to eat, let alone prepare how to handle the masses that were coming. The men were tired from service and hungry; here, for a time, they lost their reasoning, professing that Jesus must be out of His mind. Yet that is how service is at times. God will eat away at your last dollar, your tired eyes will hurt from being awake, and your body will hunger for lack of attention; yet when God is working, we are to be also. And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said,"He has Beelzebub," and, "By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons." Mark 3:22 (NKJV) The servant of God will also be outlandishly attacked by the words men speak about them; yet, even Christ said from the cross that God should forgive them because they do not know what they are doing. Whenever the spirit of God moves, the spirit of evil counters; then where God is great, human minds cannot understand His works for they are clouded by perception. Though it is natural to want to condemn the Pharisees for their comments, Jesus was not going to let the comments bother Him. This passage takes on the theme of allowing ourselves, as servants, to be stretched. From physical anguish to mental trauma, we must all be ready to look past the situation and see the Kingdom of God. For in the Kingdom of God, the tables are turned on evil as men are rescued from its clutches. So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables: "How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end. No one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house. Mark 3:23-27 (NKJV) Even in the face of outlandish accusations, Jesus reacted to save their souls and reach those we would deemed as unreachable. Yet what we must realize is that His own disciples had come against Him also. So what was so crazy that His own disciples would want to grab Him and haul Him away? First there was the logistics. The land was being trampled with so many people that containing the crowds were beyond the twelve men. It would be like having a stadium full of people show up at your neighborhood park and as people filled the park more would be trying to get to the center of the attention. It is very common that when crowds meet, tempers flare, frenzies occur, and people have been trampled to death; sheer rumor inside the crowd can lead to havoc. In addition, a crowd that size can drain resources very fast and whatever water or food existed diminishes quickly. Malnutrition and dehydration are some of the last things people consider and often it is too late and in situations as these, a death is enviable. On top of that you must consider human waist. A large group of people means large sanitary needs and this fact alone was enough to cause the Pharisees to think Jesus was of the devil; for this day many of the sanitary traditions would be broken. Therefore, in the eyes of his disciples He was mad; He had gone over the top with thoughts of grandeur, and the task at hand was too large. In the eyes of the Pharisees, He was of the devil for he brought chaos, frenzy, and had no plan of how to handle the masses. Just seeing the proceedings when demons were cast out, bodies convulsed and screams of torture projected out from the center of the crowd; that was enough to cause the rabbinical hair on the back of their neck stand up. Yet through it all Jesus was able to deal with the crowd and answer the concerns of the Pharisees. It is a tough thing to be a servant of God and have to rely on faith; for God will forever defy our expectation and call on us to stretch our thinking. We will face insurmountable odds. We will face mountains in fear that we cannot climb and at times even starve our own selves of food and sleep to get the job done. There will be times where we are in the onslaught of panic and question the work of God; yet we must flow with the times like a stick in the ocean flowing with the current. Therefore, as we prepare to serve God, let us prepare for those days where our mental and spiritual intellect will be stretched. This study finds many having fallen like Mark. They have turned back from service and had a lapse of faith; but be it known that here Jesus even gave room to the Pharisees to repent as He conversed with them to help them over their hurdles. Will He not be even more concern with restoring His own servants? All sin can be forgiven. All Doubt can be ignored. Every condition that has blown us over can become only a memory as we become part of God's faithful kingdom. While there is grace there is no shortcoming that cannot be forgiven. "Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation" because they said, "He has an unclean spirit." Mark 3:28-30 (NKJV) Here is a message that we must take serious for though we doubt, it can be forgiven. The danger of doubt is that it can become a truth and if we believe doubt, turning us away from Christ, we will be judged as accusing Jesus of wrong. On judgment day that disbelief will be evidence against a person and they will face eternal damnation. There, on Judgment Day, accusations can no longer be forgiven.TCW Authorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17670070074138564679noreply@blogger.com