The Household of Faith

May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God, and the
Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
Mark 3:20 And He came home, and the crowd gathered again, to
such an extent that they could not even eat a meal. 21 When His
own people heard of this, they went out to take custody of Him; for
they were saying, “He has lost His senses.” 22 The scribes who
came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by
Beelzebul,” and “He casts out the demons by the ruler of the
demons.” 23 And He called them to Himself and began speaking to
them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom
is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is
divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 If
Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand,
but he is finished! 27 But no one can enter the strong man’s house
and plunder his property unless he first binds the strong man, and
then he will plunder his house. 28 “Truly I say to you, all sins shall
be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter;
29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has
forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— 30 because they were
saying, “He has an unclean spirit.” 31 Then His mother and His
brothers arrived, and standing outside they sent word to Him and
called Him. 32 A crowd was sitting around Him, and they said to
Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are outside looking
for You.” 33 Answering them, He said, “Who are My mother and
My brothers?” 34 Looking about at those who were sitting around
Him, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers! 35 For
whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and
mother.” (NASB)
The Gospel lesson this morning is another study in contrasts. It is a study of
two kingdoms or households. The house of satan and the house of Jesus. People,
all people belong to either one house or the other. There are no other choices, no
other houses. No other kingdoms. When death comes each of us will go to one
house or the other. That is a truth that makes all of us uncomfortable. That is a
truth we don’t like to think about when dealing with unbelieving souls and
wayward family and friends. That doesn’t change the truth. “I am the Way, the
Truth, and the Life and no one comes to the Father except by Me.” That’s
Jesus’ claim.
On top of this uncomfortable truth, there’s another, if not uncomfortable
truth certainly mysterious. The house to which a person belongs is not a matter of
choice. People don’t chose to become a member of satan’s household and people
don’t chose to become a member of Christ’s household either. Many think they
do, but they don’t. But for Christ’s work alone, we’d all remain prisoners in
satan’s kingdom.
We were and all people are born into captivity, slaves to sin when we were
conceived in the womb. In regard to the household of Christ, Christians are people
who were elected, graphed into the household of faith by the Word and Sacrament
ministry. Romans 6:17-18 “But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of
sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you
were committed and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of
righteousness.”
The events recorded in the Gospel lesson assigned for this morning took
place very early in Jesus’ ministry. He had just finished calling His disciples into
full time study for the ministry. Jesus had begun healing the sick and casting out
demons. He was collecting a crowd everywhere He went. He was preaching the
Gospel message and His message didn’t make sense to the religious leaders of the
day and in this particular case to many in His own hometown.
“When His own people heard of this, they went out to take custody of
Him; for they were saying, ‘He has lost His senses.’” Jesus’ doctrine and the fact
that He was collecting disciples and large crowds was a matter of great concern for
people who had known Jesus. They were so unsettled they thought Jesus had gone
off the rails. He had lost His senses. So “the scribes who came down from
Jerusalem were saying, ‘He is possessed by Beelzebul,’ and ‘He casts out the
demons by the ruler of the demons.’”
As you can see, the scribes and Pharisees and the rest of the religious
establishment of the day were all opposed to satan. They believed he existed as
taught in the Old Testament. They believed that satan was a real threat to the
children of Israel. And they understood that satan was to be opposed and fought
against.
But accusation they leveled against Jesus showed that they were at best
unwitting servants of satan and their opposition to the Word of God, the right use
of the Law and the Gospel Jesus preached shows they were members of satan’s
kingdom and not Christ’s.
They saw and heard the works Jesus of Jesus. When Nicodemus saw and
heard what Jesus was doing and teaching, he came to the conclusion that Jesus had
come from God. But these religious leaders came to the exact opposite conclusion.
They concluded that Jesus had the power to cast out demons because satan had
given Him the power.
They thought of themselves as righteous and obedient men. Since they
themselves were good men, righteousness and right in their own eyes they looked
upon Jesus, His doctrine, and His works as evil. Most people don’t knowingly
chose to be useful idiots in the house of the evil one. They just are. 2 Corinthians
4:3-5 “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4
in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so
that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the
image of God.”
Just think of how the Western world has turned the world of morality and
decency upside down. Think about how more and more people are calling bad and
evil things good and holy and good things evil. If you’re going to be considered a
good person out there in the world, then you better not depart from the modern
orthodoxy on morality. Much of what the western world says is good is an affront
to God Himself and pleasing to satan.
In the Garden of Eden, God promised that the Seed of woman would crush
the evil serpent’s head. As Jesus went about preaching the Gospel, healing, raising
the dead, and casting out demons, He was delivering one blow after another
against satan. On the cross, Jesus delivered the death blow to satan and death.
They said, “He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.” In
response Jesus gives them a quick two part theology lesson. 23 “How can Satan
cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot
stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.
. .” That’s the first part of the lesson.
Their accusation against Jesus makes no sense. There can’t be insubornation
in the ranks. A house can’t be divided. It’s a shame Christians in the
church don’t understand this fundamental truth. Many a congregations have been
torn apart, left near empty or closed down altogether because some members of the
church divide the house of the Lord by departing from Christ and His Word.
Having made the counter argument to show how foolish their accusation
was, Jesus goes on to tell them that He is in the process of fulfilling what had been
promised in Genesis chapter three. Jesus has entered the strongman’s house and is
in the process of binding him and plundering his house. He is making that claim
that He is the Christ. 27 “But no one can enter the strong man’s house and
plunder his property unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will
plunder his house.”
As part of this lesson Jesus is also telling them how it is that He is
plundering the strongman’s house. 28 “all sins shall be forgiven the sons of
men.” Satan’s weapon is sin. Sin brings captivity in satan’s kingdom. Jesus’
accusers were blind but they did understand that the authority to forgive sins was
the key to the kingdom of God. Matthew 9:6-8 “so that you may know that the
Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the
paralytic, ‘Get up, pick up your bed and go home.’ And he got up and went
home. But when the crowds saw this, they were awestruck, and glorified God,
who had given such authority to men.”
It was by sin that satan took men captive. It is by the forgiveness of sins that
we are freed. As Lutherans have a habit of saying, where there is the forgiveness
of sins, there is also of necessity life and salvation.
Enter Mary, Jesus’ mother and His brothers. “Standing outside they sent
word to Him and called Him. 32 A crowd was sitting around Him, and they said
to Him, ‘Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are outside looking for You.’
33 Answering them, He said, ‘Who are My mother and My brothers?’ 34
Looking about at those who were sitting around Him, He said, ‘Behold My
mother and My brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother
and sister and mother.’”
Here one finds the second house or kingdom. It is the true Church of Jesus
Christ. It is created and it is known by the fact that God the Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit calls and creates a people who hear and do the will of God. The members of
the household of faith are people who believe Christ’s doctrine. That is the first
thing we all ought to take note of is Jesus’ answer to His own question. ‘Who are
My mother and My brothers?’ . . . whoever does the will of God, he is My
brother and sister and mother.’”
Even in family relations Jesus keeps the Ten Commandments in their proper
place. We often hear good church people say that their family first and family last
and above all else. And of course they mean their blood relatives, the members of
one’s own household come before all others. Jesus rejects that fundamental belief
system.
His own natural family stands outside. They want to talk to Him. It is
implied that they want to talk with Him about all the attention and conflict He is
generating. They are concerned for Him and are unsettled by what He is saying
and doing. But Jesus puts them in their place. He tells them that His family are
those who hear the Word of the Gospel and believe.
Also note that hearing and believing Christ’s doctrine stands in sharp
contrast to those who sin against the Holy Spirit, who live and remain in unbelief.
So the one household consists of people who remain in unbelief and sin against
the Holy Spirit and never have the forgiveness of sin. The other household
consists of those who are called, gathered, and enlightened by the Holy Spirit
through the Word and Sacrament ministry of Jesus Christ.
Satan’s work and household continues. But the work of Christ continues as
well in Word and Sacrament as satan’s kingdom is crushed and lives are cleansed
from sin. Confessional Lutherans have traditionally followed Luther’s lead in
calling and thinking about Holy Baptism as an exorcism, which takes us from the
old sinful kingdom and into the kingdom, house of God–the Church militant and
the Church victorious.
Christ has plundered us out of the house of satan. He broke in and bound
the strongman who rules over us. Just when satan thought he had won by crucified
Christ, satan was conquered.
We do not deserve to be in the House of God. We are the tax collectors, the
prostitutes, the adulterers, the liars, the drunkards, and the thieves. But we have
been called by the Holy Spirit through Christ’s Word and he brings us to this place
to call us His brothers and sisters for our sins have been forgiven us.
AMEN.
MAY THE PEACE THAT SURPASSES ALL UNDERSTANDING KEEP YOUR
HEART AND MIND IN CHRIST JESUS. AMEN.