Taking Sides Mark 3:1-4:20 09/16/2007 Dr. Dane Boyles

Taking Sides In the third chapter of Mark, four different groups of people grab hold of Jesus. Each group thinks it has grasped the whole of him when in fact each group has only a piece.

Taking Sides All of this information has to do with the burning question, “Who is this Jesus?” We forget that our estimation of who Jesus is might be very different from what he actually is.

Taking Sides Four Groups of People Respond to Jesus. The crowds (Mark 3:7-12). 7 Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed. (Mark 3:7, NIV)

Taking Sides 8 When they heard all he was doing, many people came to him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, and the regions across the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon. (Mark 3:8, NIV)

Taking Sides They grabbed hold of the miracles of Jesus. The crowds came for healing and exorcism, not for words of life.

Taking Sides 12 “What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?” Pilate asked them. 13 “Crucify him!” they shouted. (Mark, 15:12-13, NIV)

Taking Sides To them “this is what Jesus is like – a miracle worker...an exorcist.”

Taking Sides The family (Mark 3:20-21, 31-35). 20 Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. (Mark 3:20, NIV)

Taking Sides 21 When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.” (Mark 3:21, NIV)

Taking Sides They grabbed hold of the strangeness of Jesus. This is what Jesus should be like – a family man...a carpenter.”

Taking Sides The Pharisees (Mark 3:22-30). They agreed with the family of Jesus. They also grabbed hold of the strangeness of Jesus. “This is what Jesus is like – a blasphemer...a fake.”

Taking Sides The disciples (Mark 3:13-19; 32-35). 13 Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. (Mark 3:13, NIV)

Taking Sides 14 He appointed twelve-designating them apostles-that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach. (Mark 3:14, NIV)

Taking Sides Jesus had grabbed hold of them. These guys had grabbed hold of something deeper in Jesus. 32 A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.” (Mark 3:32, NIV)

Taking Sides 33 “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked. 34 Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! (Mark 3:33-34, NIV)

Taking Sides 35 Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:35, NIV) They were the new family of Jesus.

Taking Sides Jesus Knew that People would Respond Differently to Him. The Parable of the Sower 14 The farmer sows the word. (Mark 3:14, NIV)

Taking Sides 15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. (Mark 3:15-16, NIV)

Taking Sides 17 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; (Mark 3:17-18, NIV)

Taking Sides 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. (Mark 3:19, NIV)

Taking Sides 20 Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop-thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown.” (Mark 4:20, NIV)

Taking Sides Jesus is the sower who spreads the word of the kingdom. The seed and the soil The seed sown on the path is similar to the Pharisees.

Taking Sides The seed sown on rocky soil corresponds to the crowds. The seed sown among thorns is like Jesus’ family. The seed sown in good soil symbolizes the disciples.

Taking Sides Conclusion: What do you think about Jesus? What piece of him have you grabbed? Are you like the Pharisees? Are you like the crowds? Are you like the family? Will you be a disciple?

Taking Sides How are you responding to Jesus as a result? Be good soil. Let the seed grow and produce a crop – “30, 60, or even 100 times what was sown.”

Taking Sides Mark 3:1-4:20 09/16/2007 Dr. Dane Boyles