Irvine, CA // Sunday Service Time: 9:30 AM

X Close Menu

The 60: Accusation Unexpected | Mark 3:20-30 | Life Unexpected

Debrief

Debrief offers an abridged outline of the Sunday sermon for individuals or Community Groups alike, to re-engage the content of the Sunday sermon. This outline is far from complete, but serves to give a track or road map to walk through the content of Sunday in another context during the week

Accuse: "announce, report, disclose"; "to call to account,"; "give as a cause or motive,"

What Kind of Accusations Do People Make About Jesus?

  1. He’s a prophet (Jn4:19) (Muslims)
  2. He’s a good & wise teacher (Mk.10:17-18)
  3. He’s a poet (Homer, Sophocles, Shakespeare)
  4. He’s a politician (Matt.27:37)
  5. He’s a magician (David Copperfield, Lance Burton)
  6. He’s a drunk pig (Lk.7:34)
  7. He’s a crazy man (Mark3:21)
  8. He’s demon possessed (Mark 3:22)

Jesus is a big boy, so He’s put up with all of these false accusations…….from the less demeaning to the most demeaning. But there is one He responds to with some SARCASM and SOBRIETY.

SARCASM (v:23-27)

Jesus says that their logic doesn’t make sense, so He responds to them with sarcasm.

Jesus says it doesn’t make sense for him to be binding up Satan if he’s really from Satan or working with Satan.

This is usually the way it is with people who accuse Jesus of something He’s not without knowing much about Him. They usually don’t make logical, rational sense.

Why? They have a hidden motive – they don’t want to be accountable to Jesus.

SOBRIETY (v:28-29)

All Kinds of Sins Will Be Forgiven!…….All Kinds of Accusations

  • You can doubt Jesus and He will forgive you (Thomas)
  • You can deny Jesus and He will forgive you (Peter)
  • You can despise Jesus and He will forgive you (Paul)
  • You can make all kinds of accusations and blasphemies against Jesus and He will forgive you

Jesus can forgive anyone of anything. But there is one things Jesus can’t forgive……..one thing Jesus wont’ forgive – Blasphemy of The Holy Spirit

Blasphemy of The Holy Spirit: Resisting all of the work of the Holy Spirit, and ultimately rejecting the Person and Work of Jesus

Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is you saying:

  • Jesus You are evil, and I am good
  • Jesus You are wrong and I am right.
  • I am Lord and You are not.
  • I can take care of myself spiritually, I don’t need You

Accusing Jesus too much of forgivable things may lead you to a place where you accuse Jesus of an unforgivable thing.

What Kind of Accusations DoesJesus Make About Himself?

  1. Jesus Accused Himself of being worth following. (Mk.1:17)
  2. Jesus Accused Himself or being able and willing to heal. (Mk.1:41)
  3. Jesus Accused Himself or being able and willing to forgive sin. (Mk.2:10-11)
  4. Jesus Accused Himself of being the one that allows people to see the ultimate meaning of life (Jn.8:12)
  5. Jesus Accused Himself of being the very thing necessary to maintain life (Jn.6:35)
  6. Jesus Accused Himself of coming down from heaven. (Jn.6:38) J
  7. esus Accused Himself of having a Kingdom not of this world. (Jn.18:36)
  8. Jesus Accused Himself of being the One who can give life after death (Jn.11:25-26)
  9. He Accused Himself of being God. (Jn.10:30-33)

Jesus is either Lord, incompetent, liar or lunatic

  • If Jesus' Satements are True and Jesus Knew it, then Jesus is Lord
  • If Jesus' Statements are True and Jesus didn't know it, then Jesus is incompetent
  • If Jesus' Statements are False and Jesus knew it, then Jesus is a liar
  • If Jesus' Statements are False and Jesus didn't know it, then Jesus is a lunatic

What Kind of Accusations Do You Make About Jesus?

Accuse: "announce, report, disclose" ; to call to account; give as a cause or motive,"

You can’t see and hear Jesus and not choose what you think about Him. There is no neutral position here.

You either believe what YOU think about Jesus, or what SOMEONE ELSE thinks about Jesus, or you believe what JESUS thinks about Himself.

Diving In

Diving In offers a few questions to help you re-engage the concepts from Sunday. Feel the freedom to use all of the questions, or to simply camp out on just one. These questions aren't intended to answer all the issues that surface through the thrust of this weeks' message, but to simply raise them and allow you time and space to process them, ideally in the context of your Community Group.

  • What were some of the accusations you made about Jesus before you knew who He truly was?
  • What are some of the most common accusations you hear about who Jesus is today?
  • What do you sense these accusations are rooted in? Why ultimately are people making these accusations?
  • Do you know anyone today that is currently working on blaspheming the Holy Spirit? Are you praying for them? What are you praying for them? What should you be praying for them?
  • Which one of the claims that Jesus makes about Himself above is most encouraging to you today? Why?
  • Do you find that through your upbringing, eduction, employment, etc, that you've believed more what you think about Jesus, what others think about Jesus, or what Jesus thinks about Jesus? Why is it sometimes easier to believe what others think about Jesus than of what Jesus thinks about himself?

Deep End

The Deep End is a short and simple formation exercise you can use to dive deep into your heart before God. Feel the freedom to divert from the directions if that makes it easier for you to connect with Jesus in this exercise.

  • First, quiet your heart before the Lord. If you find yourself distracted by various thoughts (things on your “To Do” list, etc.), don’t “fight” the distractions, but rather spend some time praying over those things. Hopefully soon your heart will quieted down and you will be able to hear the Lord speaking to you.
  • Next, spend some time reading over Mark 3:28. Take a few minutes to even commit this short Scripture to memory.
  • After this, ask the Holy Spirit to remind you of all Jesus has forgiven you of in the last week. The aim of this exercise is REMEMBRANCE & REJOICING. The point of this exercise is not to recall how bad you are, but to recall how good Jesus is, and to rejoice in His goodness. If you have a journal, spend some time journaling, expressing your thanks to Him and how His forgiveness has changed and affected your everyday life.
  • End your time by praying a Prayer of Gratitude, thanking Jesus for whatever else the Spirit bring to mind today.

Digest

Our digest section is all about helping you to memorize and meditate on God's Word so you'll be able to better digest it. Take some time to commit these short verses to memory this week:

Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter..... - Mark 3:28

My hope is that these simple exercises in The 60 will help what we discovered during this week be distilled, and deepened in your heart and life with Jesus.

Matt

For The Elders

Leave a Comment

Comments for this post have been disabled.