Resources

Wonderful to be with you all. I wonder how you would answer the question ‘What makes someone part of Jesus’ kingdom?’ How would you answer that question? Or perhaps, to make that a little sharper, let’s say you could only observe someone’s behavior (which, really, is all we can do), what are the true marks of being a Christian? Being a part of the Kingdom of King Jesus? What would those look like?

To begin with, if someone has been christened? For those not familiar with the term that’s when a baby is baptized. Many of my friends from school, when asked if they were a Christian, answered that they were because they had been christened. Are they part of Jesus kingdom? Or someone else says that they attend church every Sunday, are on the coffee rota, the PCC and the tech desk? Are they part of Jesus Kingdom? Another you see comes to your small group (maybe at JPCi or Focus) every week - they read the Bible and answer questions and never miss a study. Are they a part of the Kingdom of Jesus? What makes someone a Christian? And of course, all of us who would call ourselves a born-again Christian in the room would answer that question probably along the lines of ‘well a Christian is someone who believes Jesus is King and died for them.’ And of course, that is, in a sense absolutely true! Saved by faith alone through grace alone in Christ alone! Except, is that all it takes? If someone says they believe is that all it takes? Is it a formula, that we intellectually assent to and poof we’re saved? Eternal life is ours and we are in the kingdom of Christ. Who is in the Kingdom? Who is in the kingdom of Jesus?

We’ve been for the last few weeks in the gospel of Mark, and we saw last week that Jesus is the King; the King building a new humanity; a new kingdom. And what a King we’ve seen: lepers cleansed, evil spirits driven out, hospitals emptied, teaching with authority, the kind of authority that leads to men dropping their entire career and following Jesus at a word. And last week, we saw the manifesto of King Jesus. We saw that King Jesus is not here to heal the world, but to create a new humanity. To raise up a New Israel; as He commissions the twelve apostles to take the mantle of his mission to preach the gospel to a dying world. The commission of Jesus is given in Mark 3.14:

And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach.

There’s the manifesto in a nutshell from King Jesus. To be with him and then to be about his work of preaching the gospel to the world. Jesus is building a new humanity and he calls us to take up his message and proclaim it to the ends of the earth. But that begs the question, how do we enter into that kingdom? If Jesus is building a new humanity, and proclaiming a gospel message, what is that message, and how do I enter into it? Who is a member of the Kingdom of King Jesus?

1. Neither Family nor Religion leads to Kingdom Entry…

Our passage is the first of six Markan sandwiches. Bet you didn’t know there are sandwiches in the Bible! But Mark (like the British) loves them. And they’re always structured in the same way. With some bread on the outside, and a single filling. The bread of our passage is Mark 3.20-21 and Mark 3.31-35 which is about the family of Jesus. Do you see that in Mark 3.20-21?

Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”

And then there is a break for the filling in Mark 3.22-30, and then we return to hear the conclusion of the family story in Mark 3.31-35. Mark 3.31:

And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him.

So on the outside of the sandwich is a story about Jesus’ family, and on the inside of the sandwich is a story about the scribes (who were the sidekicks to the Pharisees in Jewish religion). And the first point Mark wants to make absolutely clear is that Jesus’ family are not in his kingdom. Mark 3.20 Jesus is home and the crowd gathered again so that he could not even eat, and when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying he is out of his mind. The first thing to notice is the use of the term out. The disciples and Jesus are inside; that is why there is a 'they' in Mark 3.20, the family however are on the outside. And the theme of inside and outside is all over this section. They went out Mark 3.21:

He is out of his mind

The same word Mark 3.21 and Mark 3.31:

…his mother and his brothers came, standing outside

Mark 3.32:

…your mother and brother are outside seeking you.

There is a deliberate geographical separation that Mark points to. Jesus’ family, despite being related to him by blood are on the outside - Jesus and his disciples are inside. Second thing to note, his family try to seize him (Mark 3.21 again). This verb is only used negatively in Mark, and it is the same verb that is used to describe Jesus being seized by the soldiers in Mark 14 to be crucified. Third, Jesus’ family call Jesus out (in Mark 3.31) which is the same word that Jesus used in his commissioning of the disciples in Mark 3.13 as Jesus called the disciples to Himself:

And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him.

The point is clear and damning; Mark has been at pains to say that Jesus calls and we listen. Jesus is King. He calls the disciples and they come to Him. Here we see the opposite. We see Jesus’s family calling Jesus out to themselves when they should be inside, sitting at Jesus’ feet. Finally we see what they are saying about Jesus - He is out of His mind. Despite being Jesus’ biological family, they are on the outside, and Jesus says as much when in a crushing indictment, He declares that his biological family is not his family at all (Mark 3.33-35):

And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

That’s the outside of the sandwich. And so now to the inside. We have seen that being Jesus’ family doesn’t mean you’re in his kingdom and now Mark turns his attention to the religious. Surely they, with all their religious practices, are a part of Jesus’s kingdom. And Mark makes abundantly clear that these are the elite of the religious world (Mark 3.22):

And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying…

Mark is not a mincer of words. And here in a few words he makes plain that these are the religious elite. The scribes were the chroniclers of the law. They were attention to detail people. They would memorise and transcribe the law of God with exacting precision. They are the lawyers of the religious world. Trusted, precise and highly able. And these scribes were from Jerusalem meaning they are the elite. In the UK there is a group of five law firms called (slightly pretentiously) The Magic Circle. They are recognised as being the elite five law firms in the UK and their lawyers being likewise elite, and thus they are eyewaterlingly expensive. Well here are the elite of Judaism. Surely, if anyone is in the kingdom of King Jesus, it will be the scribes? Their religious pedigree is unmatched. They have all the degrees, accolades and religious renown. Mark 3.22:

And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.”

I hope we feel the shock of this. Far from recognizing the King from the pages of the Old Testament that they were experts on, they have managed to call God Himself an agent of Satan. Jesus dismisses them with ease (Mark 3.23-27):

And he called them to him 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 will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.

Jesus’ point is clear - how can Satan cast out himself? And if Satan is trying to cast himself out then his kingdom has come to an end. Rightly so. But Jesus takes the shock one step further (Mark 3.28-30):

“Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

The religious elite have placed a charge of satanic possession on Jesus and Jesus shows the severity of such a charge. To reject Jesus, to say that Jesus is fundamentally evil, well, there is no forgiveness if we hold that view. Mark makes that plain in Mark 3.30. It seems that neither being in Jesus’ family, nor being in the religious elite guarantees membership in Jesus’ kingdom. Recently a friend of mine was invited to a social event for clergy in London. He arrived dressed in a shirt and jeans. He was immediately lambasted for not wearing a dog collar. In fact one clergy member took him aside and berated him for not having the proper attire on. Nevermind that they were in a restaurant with only other clergy. But, the evening only got worse because many at the event proceeded to become completely intoxicated; and then berated my friend further for not joining in. Religious membership (even of the senior kind) is no guarantee of being a follower of Jesus. In fact one can have all the right honourable reverend doctor whatever- and it makes no difference at all to being in or out of Jesus’ kingdom.

2. Only obedience to Jesus leads to Kingdom entry.

So we have seen that neither family nor religious status leads to kingdom entry, but what does? Well Mark makes clear that it is listening to and obeying Jesus only that leads to entry into His kingdom. Mark 3.31-33:

And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.” And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?”

The contrast is stark. Jesus’ biological family are on the outside as we saw earlier. And Jesus’ disciples and those listening to him are on the inside. His family are calling him out, the disciples are sat at his feet listening to him. And Jesus leaves us in no doubt who is in his kingdom and who is not. Mark 3.34-35:

And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

And Mark wants us to hold this contrast firmly in mind. Jesus’ biological family, who loved him and raised him, on the outside - Jesus disciples and strangers, who have been following him for a few weeks on the inside. The role of family has been switched. Jesus’ biological family are now strangers, Jesus’ followers are now his family. And Mark 3.35 gives us the reason why:

“…For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

And we should be absolutely clear now that to do God’s will is to do Jesus’ will. Jesus as we saw last week stood where Yahweh stood, and called a people to himself. Now he declares that those who are in his family, who are in his kingdom, are those who sit at his feet, listen to him, and then do his will. Do God’s will. Jesus equates with no room for separation listening to him is doing the will of God. How do I enter God’s kingdom? I must listen to Jesus. In the immediate context, to do Jesus’ will is to declare, preach Jesus to the world: Mark 3.14-15:

And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons.

But it goes much further than this as the rest of Mark’s gospel will unfurl. To do the will of Jesus is to declare him as King, to follow his footsteps to the cross, to give our lives for him and his kingdom and to shine as lights in a crooked and twisted generation. There is only one criteria that makes someone a Christian, that makes someone a member of God’s kingdom and that is: do they listen to and obey the voice of Jesus? We saw last week that Mark is at pains to show us that there is now a new humanity. Jesus has established it and formed it. Here Mark shows us what entry into that kingdom entails. There is only one root, one door as it were -listening to and obeying Jesus. Being Jewish or even being a member of Jesus’ family is meaningless - only listening and obeying.

We started our time with a question. What makes someone a part of Jesus’s kingdom? And we can now see there is one criteria and only one - to listen to and obey King Jesus. Of course that makes sense, if Jesus is King then we must obey. But for those of us who are looking in on the Christian faith this has real bite because nothing else matters. Being christened, attending church, taking communion, having Christian parents, attending youth group, reading the Bible, level of Bible knowledge, ability to pray out loud – none of it matters. The only criteria is who do you think Jesus is? Is He King and are you trying to live under His kingship? For the Christians in the room this sets up a deep and profound principle for us. In short, it means that belief is not just intellectual. Belief is not just intellectual. What do I mean? Well for example, if we say we believe all who don’t believe in Jesus perish, but never share the gospel, do we believe it? If we say we care about purity but are addicted to pornography, do we believe it? If we say Jesus is our King but live our lives for ourselves and ignore his commission, do we believe it? Mark 3 would say no. No we don’t believe it.

This passage does not mean we must follow Jesus perfectly. None of the disciples did as Mark will show us in later chapters. But, we must never separate obedience from belief. To believe is to obey. To obey means you believe. But I hope this will also be incredibly liberating. Because no matter who you are, your Bible knowledge, your parent’s religion, your gifts or capacities- none of that matters. All that matters is sitting at the feet of King Jesus and saying, Jesus I give my life to you.