Proper 5B
Old Testament 1 Samuel 8:4–11 (12–15) 16–20 (11:14–15)
Psalm Psalm
138
New Testament 2 Corinthians 4:13–5:1
Gospel Mark
3:20–35
Mark’s Gospel
The
early church ascribed the authorship of Mark’s gospel to ‘John-Mark’ who
appears in Acts, Colossians and 1 Peter.
Tradition goes that he derived his information from the apostle Peter.
So
as Mark travelled with Peter he memorized or noted the stories that Peter told
about Jesus during his teaching ministry and then arranged them into this gospel.
Instead
of starting with the birth stories about Mary and Joseph and wise men (as in
Luke) Mark starts with John the Baptist.
Jesus
baptism.
An
allusion without any details of the temptation in the wilderness.
And
then Jesus begins to preach:
“The time is fulfilled, and
the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”
- Mark 1:15
He
calls disciples, and then – his first miraculous act – casting out an unclean
spirit.
Its
quite a simple story. Jesus taught in
the synagogue.
What
was he teaching about?
Probably
what Mark said:
“The time is fulfilled, and
the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”
- Mark 1:21
Strange
thing about this message – which sounds like ‘good news’ is that it really
upset some people.
Responding
to the good news of Jesus - In Mark’s gospel a man with an ‘unclean spirit’
shouts out:
“What have you to do with
us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.”
- Mark 1:25
Quite
scary – Jesus orders the Spirit out: ‘Be silent and come out of him…’
This
begins a little bit of a controversy which we deal with in the passage today –
‘by whose authority does Jesus cast out demons?
In
Luke’s gospel the response to Jesus beginning to teach about the coming of the
Kingdom of God:
“They got up, drove him out
of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built,
so that they might hurl him off the cliff.”
- Luke 4:29
In
Matthew’s gospel we get a much longer description of the teaching of Jesus
before we reach Matthew 12:14:
“But the Pharisees went out
and conspired against him, how to destroy him.”
- Matthew 12:14
For
those who pay attention to these things Matthew 12 is where the story of Mark 3
is told. Giving us a much fuller
background to the kind of teaching that resulted in an unclean Spirit becoming
violent.
You
know Matthew well: How to pray, blessed are the peacemakers, love your enemies…
you have heard it said but I say unto you… etc.
All
of this stuff makes the scribes and the Pharisees quite angry.
Mark 3:20-35
Mark
3:20-35 is a ‘section’ of Mark’s gospel held together by something Bible
scholars call an ‘inclusio’.
Scripture
didn’t used to have chapter and verse markers.
But
in story telling there were markers that let you know where a certain section
of story begun and ended.
In
this case vs 21 and 34 form that section opening and beginning.
Verse 21 – “When his family
heard it, they went out to restrain him…”
Verse 34 – “Your mother and
your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.”
* * *
Verse 21 – “…they went out
to restrain him…”
Verse 27 –
“…no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first
tying up the strong man.”
Verse 34 – “Your mother and…
…outside, asking for you.”
* * *
Jesus
family hear about what Jesus is teaching and doing and they fear for his life –
and for his sanity. Jesus is
courageously speaking out against the religious system of his day.
He
is speaking up against the political system of the day.
And
he is upsetting some powerful people.
Not
only that – but he is upsetting some scary spirits.
Chasing
them out with the authority of God.
1 Samuel 8
In
1 Samuel we hear the story of how Israel ended up getting a King.
This
was not the plan. The Israelites knew
about Kings. King Pharaoh for
instance. He was a tyrant – he started
out all friendly, inviting the Israelites to enjoy his hospitality. But soon he had them enslaved.
They
got out of there and started their own land.
12
separate tribes; not one united and powerful nation. One of the tribes set aside as priests. The priests kept the people in relationship
with God (the King) and reminded them of the law.
Their
constitution was amazing – it made sure the poor were taken care of, land was
safe, people had rights – even animals and slaves got a day off… etc.
I’ll
skip a whole part of the story but lets just say that the book of Judges ends
with the refrain:
“In those days there was no
king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes.”
- Judges 21:23
God
raised up Samuel to replace the sons of Eli (who would have inherited the
priesthood from Eli at Shiloh).
Surprisingly – this is a story of corruption.
The
sons of Eli used to use their authority to steal people’s sacrifices – they had
no fear of the living God:
When
anyone offered sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come, while the meat was
boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand, 14 and he would
thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fork brought
up the priest would take for himself.
-
1 Samuel 2:13-14
This is what Eli said to his sons:
“If
one person sins against another, someone can intercede for the sinner with the
LORD; but if someone sins against the LORD, who can make intercession?”
-
1 Samuel 2:25
Similar thought pattern and set of words to
Jesus in Mark 3:28:
People
will be forgiven for their sins… but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit
can never have forgiveness…”
-
Mark 3:28
God raises up Samuel to lead the
Israelites. He leads under God’s
guidance – calling them back to God and away from the gods of the land. He
unites the tribes; they defeat the surrounding armies. But when he gets old his
sons (like Eli’s sons) become a problem.
“Yet
his sons did not follow in his ways, but turned aside after gain; they took
bribes and perverted justice…”
-
1 Samuel 8:3
Mark Twain apparently said:
“History
doesn’t repeat itself, but it sure does echo.”
* * *
The descendants of the people who ‘longed for
the fleshpots of Egypt while they were wandering in the desert now start
hankering after a King:
“…appoint
for us a king to govern us, like other nations.”
-
1 Samuel 8:6
This upset Samuel because they should have no
King but God; Samuel prays to God and God says:
“Listen
to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not
rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. Just as they have done to me, from the day I
brought them up out of Egypt…”
-
1 Samuel 8:7-8
God tells Samuel the kinds of things this King
will do (read chapter 8 of 1 Samuel) and Samuel passes on the message:
He will take your sons for his army and to plow
his grounds and reap his harvest; he will make your daughters work as
perfumers, cooks and bakers… he will take your best fields; your slaves, your
cattle and donkeys, your flocks…
“And
in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for
yourselves; but the LORD will not answer you in that day.”
-
1 Samuel 8:18
Binding the Strong Man
Most
scholars reckon that Jesus words in verse 27 are about what Jesus has done, is
doing to the devil:
“But no one can enter a
strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong
man; then indeed the house can be plundered.”
- Mark 3:27
They
say that Jesus is saying that he can bind demons and cast them out because he
has bound Satan himself.
But
I read this another way.
Jesus’
family is threatening to bind him up. In
Luke Jesus is led to the edge of a cliff to be thrown down (but he escapes).
If
you want to plunder the Kingdom you have to bind up the ‘strong man’. And in this case “The strong man” is Jesus – the Word of the living God.
The
words he speaks are too true – too difficult – too challenging. Lets get rid of him.
* * *
The
consequence in 1 Sam 8 is you move into oppression under a ‘King’ who seemed
like such a great idea at the time.
Your Strong Man
But
what about your strong man?
As
I’ve watched the news this week and listened to stories of corruption and
brokenness… Within Fifa and government.
I’ve
been thinking – how did it happen?
Jack Warner’s $10 million
bribe?
Mxolisi Nxasana receiving
R17 million to quit as National Director of Prosecutions.
A R250 million house in KZN.
A municipal councilor
pleading for leniency in the sentencing of a murderous gang boss?
I’m
no expert in these things – but there is something very wrong.
I
gave a domestic worker a lift the other day – asked her about her day; what
time she leaves home 6am, how many kids, 3 what time to you get back 6pm… I didn’t
ask “What do you earn?”
Hopefully
more than R2 or 3 thousand minimum.
I
think every one of these injustices that we face – that we see on the news,
that we participate in every day.
They’re
the ropes that bind the ‘strong man’ in us.
The
living God, the voice of the Holy Spirit that says:
This
is not right.
This
does not belong in Jesus Kingdom.
That
says this is not the principle you learned from Jesus.
But
we become desensitized to injustice.
We
listen less and less and eventually we can’t hear the voice at all.
Then
all falls apart; with the strong man tied up ‘then indeed the house can be plundered.’
* * *
The
Israelites attempted to bind up the ‘strong man’ in 1 Samuel 8 when they
rejected God as King in favour of asking Samuel to appoint someone.
The
scribes attempt to bind up the ‘strong man’ when they reject the ministry that
Jesus is doing because they’re afraid of his authority, his power over demons
that destroy people’s lives and his popularity.
Jesus
family attempts to ‘bind up the strong man’ when they decide he ‘has gone out
of his mind.’
