RELATING TO JESUS

RELATING TO JESUS
Mark 3:7-35

Please turn in your Bible to Mark 3. In the Bible in front of you, it is page 867 or 884.

A cowboy named Bud was overseeing his herd in a remote mountainous pasture in California when suddenly a brand-new BMW advanced out of a dust cloud towards him. The driver, a young man in a Brioni suit, Gucci shoes, RayBan sunglasses and YSL tie, leans out the window and asks the cowboy, "If I tell you exactly how many cows and calves you have in your herd, will you give me a calf?"Bud looks at the man, obviously a yuppie, then looks at his peacefully grazing herd and calmly answers, "Sure, Why not?" The yuppie parks his car, whips out his Dell notebook computer, connects it to his Cingular RAZR V3 cell phone and surfs to a NASA page on the Internet, where he calls up a GPS satellite to get an exact fix on his location which he then feeds to another NASA satellite that scans the area in an ultra-high-resolution photo. The young man then opens the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop and exports it to an image processing facility in Hamburg, Germany. Within seconds, he receives an e-mail on his Palm Pilot that the image has been processed and the data stored. He then accesses a MS-SQL database through an ODBC connected Excel spreadsheet with e-mail on his Blackberry and, after a few minutes, receives a response. Finally, he prints out a full-color, 150-page report on his hi-tech, miniaturized HP LaserJet printer and finally turns to the cowboy and says, "You have exactly 1,586 cows and calves." "That's right. Well, I guess you can take one of my calves," says Bud. He watches the young man select one of the animals and looks on amused as the young man stuffs it into the trunk of his car. Then Bud says to the young man, "Hey, if I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me back my calf?" The young man thinks about it for a second and then says, "Okay, why not?" "You're a Congressman for the U.S. Government," says Bud. "Wow! That's correct," says the yuppie, "but how did you guess that?" "No guessing required" answered the cowboy. "You showed up here even though nobody called you; you want to get paid for an answer I already knew, to a question I never asked. You tried to show me how much smarter than me you are; and you don't know a thing about cows... this is a herd of sheep. . .and give me back my dog."

No offense meant to any Congressman attending today! Some people don’t seem to relate well to cowboys, or to government officials; or there may be someone else or group in your life; and you just don’t understand them sometimes. What they do and what they say don’t make sense to you. And trying to relate to them seems absolutely futile most of the time.

Welcome to the world of those First Century followers who were trying to relate to Jesus Christ. As we’ve already seen in the first couple chapters of the Gospel of Mark, Jesus Christ was not the Messiah they expected. Here was a Carpenter’s son from Nazareth, claiming to be God in the flesh – that’s impossible! He said He was the Son of God, yet fully man; and not only did He claim to be the Messiah from the Old Testament prophecy; but He was saying that the ONLY WAY to get to God and Heaven is to go through Him – Jesus Christ alone. WOW!

In our passages from Mark this morning, we are going to see how different people and groups of people related to who Jesus Christ was and what He did. It is also interesting to see how Jesus related to them. We begin with how those who were hurting related to Jesus:

Mark 3:7-10 – “Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him, for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him.”

How did the crowds relate to Jesus; and how did He relate to them?
Those in need of healing would do anything to get to Jesus.
Jesus showed his concern by healing many and yet protected the plan

There are a couple very interesting and instructive things we learn from these first few verses. Just after verse 6, that tells us the Pharisees and Herodians were making a plan to destroy Jesus, we read that Jesus withdrew, with His disciples, from the synagogues and out to the Sea of Galilee. It wasn’t that he was afraid of them; but that the incredible opposition he was facing and the hatred and desire for destruction that the religious leaders had, were not to result in Jesus’ demise – not yet. Jesus was protecting the plan and the process of God’s plan by moving out of these dangerous circumstances.

Word has spread like wild fire. Jesus was able to heal. Jesus was casting out demons and healing all kinds of diseases. And when people heard what he was doing they went to where he was – and they came from all over. They didn’t just come from Galilee, but from many regions outside of Galilee, including traveling from Jerusalem in Judea, which was over 100 miles! So, everyone was coming to Him, especially because He could heal them.

Look again at verse 9: “And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him.” That sounds a little strange, doesn’t it, as though Jesus is concerned for his own safety? But, remember, He was fully God and fully man. His main concern was for the protection of God’s plan and timing. Now was not the time for Him to be run over and bodily crushed by the pressing crowd. And we are told here that it was a concern. So, he told his disciples to get a boat ready in case he needed to get away from the people.

But, I want you to try and understand the circumstances here, to get a picture of what was taking place. Let me do it this way. Let’s suppose that each of you has a disease, ok? Your disease might be just an irritation, or a sickness; but it might also be very serious. You could be crippled, have a blood disease, a heart problem, a life threatening illness. And you would do anything to be healed of it.

And what if I told you, that in our service today, was someone, who if you were able to touch him in the next 30 seconds, you would be healed of whatever disease you had; and that person’s name is Steve Glick (point to him). What would you do? (20 people go after Steve)……..OK, you’re healed – you can back to your seats now!

The way the sick related to Jesus is that He was their healer; and they would do whatever necessary to get to him and touch Him. Jesus related to those who wanted to kill him and to those who wanted to be healed by loving people but also protecting the timing of the plan that God the Father had given. Then Mark adds to this in:

Mark 3:11,12 – “And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, you are the Son of God. And he strictly ordered them not to make him known.”

How did the demons relate to Jesus and how did he relate to them?
The demons obeyed Jesus and were afraid of Him.
Jesus commanded the demons to come out and to shut up.

Remember: We have already read in Mark that one of the main things Jesus did, in the midst of His healings, was to cast out evil, unclean spirits – demons. And when the demons saw Him coming, they were terrified. In this case, we are told that they bowed before Him and cried out: “You are the Son of God.” Now, don’t get any delusions here. This was not like they got convicted in their hearts, repented, walked the aisle, and bowed down in reverent worship. No, they were not getting saved. They were simply showing that they were subordinates to Christ, knowing that He could destroy them with one word.

So, even though they called Him the Son of God, which he was, it was not their place to say it. In fact, since their main goal was to destroy people’s lives, Jesus wanted absolutely nothing to do with them talking as though they believed. They may have said he was the Son of God, but they certainly did not believe the full sense of what they were saying. The only relation Jesus wanted with them was to command them to come out of people, the people they were destroying and to shut their mouths. Also keep in mind, that Jesus’ order not to make Him known was part of the fact that Jesus’ time to be fully known, along with His complete mission would come – but not yet. Jesus had authority over when and how more details of His works and message would be spread.

Commentator William Barclay gives his thoughts on another reason why Jesus commanded them not to spread this news: “Jesus was the Messiah, God’s anointed king; but his idea of Messiah-ship was quite different from the popular idea. He saw in Messiah-ship a way of service, of sacrifice and of love with a cross at the end of it. The popular idea of the Messiah was of a conquering king who, with his mighty armies, would blast the Romans and lead the Jews to world power. Therefore, if a rumor were to go out that the Messiah had arrived, the inevitable consequence would be rebellions and uprising, especially in Galilee where the people were ever ready to follow a nationalist leader.”

I wonder what it was like for those who were healed:

Reader 1 (Jody): “For 14 years, I had lived with the severe pain of my disease. No doctor here the First Century could diagnose it clearly. I had several operations, but with no real technology, nothing was really known or cured. One day, I heard about this man who could do the unbelievable – he could heal people’s diseases. In fact, I was told He could heal ANY disease. At the time, I lived 75 miles away from the Sea of Galilee; but nothing was going to stop me. I was going to get to this Jesus and be healed of my disease. I truly believed that. Once we finally got to Jesus, I couldn’t believe my eyes – it seemed as though the entire world had come to Him. I saw those who were sick trying to get to him; and I saw others who had already touched him…they were healed and were telling their incredible stories. Well, I have a story to tell as well. I touched Jesus, and he healed me – completely!

Reader 2 (Jenn): “I had gone to church ever since I was a kid. Here in the 21st Century, it is pretty easy to be religious, but at the same time not know God. I knew all the stories from the Old Testament. I played the religious game and everyone thought I was a good Christian. I had them fooled. The fact was that, until recently, I had lived with the ugly disease of unconfessed sins. These sins were destroying me, my relationships and my future. But one day, a friend explained to me what Jesus Christ had done in his life. He reminded me of what I used to read in the Bible: Jesus was able to forgive ANY sin, and clean any messed up life. So, I humbled myself and asked Jesus to forgive my sins and to be Lord of my life. I cannot tell you the changes He has brought. Do I still struggle with sin? Yes. But, as a Christian, I am clean, holy and eternally forgiven, in God’s eyes – I am His child.”

Mark then gives us the full introduction to the group of men that Jesus chose as His closest followers:

Mark 3:13-15 – “And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to teach and have authority to cast out demons.”

The 12 disciples became His followers and students.

Jesus chose them as friends and taught them to spread the good news about who He was.

Jesus retreats out of the area by the Sea and goes into the hills of Galilee. Out of the crowd gathered, He invited 12 men to go with Him. He was creating His team. We read earlier how he had called 4 fishermen and one tax collector. Now, we are introduced to the rest of this group. But, before we read the names, don’t miss a couple key points in these verses.

Jesus chose these guys. He did not pick their names out of a hat, or ask for volunteers. He chose them, essentially saying to all of them: Come, Follow Me. Then, He took these guys into the hills, the mountain as this text says, and gets them all together. And by the way, when he called them, just like with the first 5 guys, they immediately followed Him.

He chose 12 guys and also gave them the name Apostles, which means “sent out ones”. We are told here in verse 14 why He chose them: to be with Him and then to send them out. Jesus was gathering for Himself a group that He would call friends, despite how disloyal they would turn out to be; and He would release them, eventually, to preach the truth about Him. And to authenticate their message, He would give to them the ability to have authority over demons, as He did.

And then we have the listing:

Mark 3:16-19 – “He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Isacariot, who betrayed him.”

John MacArthur, in his book Twelve Ordinary Men, had this to say about Jesus’ choices for His Apostles: “They had no track record as orators or theologians. In fact, they were outsiders as far as the religious establishment of Jesus’ day was concerned. They were not outstanding because of any natural talents or intellectual abilities. On the contrary, they were all too prone to mistakes, misstatements, wrong attitudes, lapses of faith, and bitter failure – no one more so than the leader of the group, Peter…

They spanned the political spectrum. One was a former Zealot – a radical, determined to overthrow Roman rule. But another had been a tax collector – virtually a traitor to the Jewish nation and in collusion with Rome. At least four…were fishermen and close friends from Capernaum…

The twelve were personally selected and called by Christ. He knew them as only their Creator could know them. In other words, he knew all their faults long before He chose them. He even knew Judas would betray Him, and yet he chose the traitor anyway and gave him all the same privileges and blessings he gave to the others.”

Reader 3 (Ben): “I am Philip, one of Jesus’ original disciples. You won’t read many details about me because I was not a main leader of the group or a part of the inner circle. But, you will read that I was very interested in leading people to get to know Jesus, including another of the original disciples, Nathaniel. Jesus Christ had changed my life, and I just had to share it with others. There was one thing I learned to say over and over again. When I first went to my friend Nathaniel, I said to Him, ‘come and see. I can’t explain everything well, but if you will just come listen to Jesus Christ and experience Him firsthand, you will hopefully see what I have seen, and your life will be changed as well.’ And that is what happened. We saw thousands of lives changed; and even after Jesus left us to go back to the Father, it was my greatest desire to introduce people to Him.”

Reader 4 (Kourtney): “In 1996, I came to know Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior. But, it wasn’t until later that I realized that Jesus had called me, not only to follow Him; but to be used by Him to reach others. That was scary and very intimidating! I am not the public speaker type. When I am under pressure, I don’t get my words out very easily, and I often stumble over them. Not only that, I continue, in my walk with Jesus, to fall into sinful habits and fail Him often. It is very frustrating. So, as I read that Jesus chose these 12 knuckleheads to spread the gospel message, even though they would fail miserable on a regular basis, I realized that it is a great blessing that Jesus chose this knucklehead – me – to serve Him in the same basic way. So, I am deeply touched and humbled by the privilege to serve the Lord of mercy and of grace.”

Of course, it is over a period of time that we learn more about these guys called the Apostles; but this is all we are to know for now, on this journey through Mark. Then what?

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.”

Jesus went back to Capernaum, his home base and entered into a house. Once again, a large crowd gathered, so many, that no one could even eat their dinner. The word “family” here refers to kinsmen, those that were with him; and they had come to get control of Him, after hearing of everything that had been going on.

They had probably heard of how he had challenged the orthodox teachings of the religious leaders; and no one in their right mind, challenges the scholarly scribes of the Pharisees. He had left home and good business prospects in carpentry, and began to travel around preaching, with no real home or security to speak of. That didn’t make sense to his family. He certainly didn’t seem able to take care of Himself, as He continually placed Himself in dangerous circumstances. He had created His own little following, like a cult, and these 12 guys He was calling Apostles, were pretty strange. And he was acting like a rock star, with crazed fans always hanging all over him, and crying out his name, even pressing on him so much that we can’t eat like civilized people:

“He is out of His mind”, and we need to do something about it. Mark leaves us hanging here for a while and then will come back to his family several verses later.
But next in Mark’s writing, He reminds us how the religious leaders related to Jesus:

The religious leaders accused Jesus of being empowered by Satan Himself.

That is how the religious leaders related to Jesus; as His accusers and judges:

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.”

Aren’t they a piece of work? Anything good Jesus did, was somehow turned into something evil by the group of people who claimed to be the closest to God and loved Him the most! Beelzebul was the name for a pagan God and the prince of demons was Satan; so they were accusing him, basically, of being a demon Himself.

Jesus responded to His accusers with stories of truth and a severe warning.

Mark 3:23-25 – “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.”

Jesus faces the accusation, that He able to cast out demons because He is empowered by Satan, with these proverbial sayings, known as parables. They were every-day life types of illustrations, and yet they helped bring light to the deep, spiritual truths that Jesus was teaching. In this case, he used these illustrations to show how the religious leaders’ accusations were false; and to warn them of the dangerous road they were headed down.

Jesus asked the question (verse 23): “How can Satan cast out Satan?” He brings out the point that their accusation is illogical. Jesus gives the illustration (v.24) of a kingdom, which if divided, cannot stand. In the Civil War in the United States (1861-1865), over 620,000 Americans died, fighting against one another. President Abraham Lincoln had said: "Government cannot endure permanently half slave, half free...", and that was the main issue we think of when we think of our divided country at that time. When a nation, a kingdom is at war with itself, it only brings destruction.

His second illustration (v.25) is about a divided house. When there is constant fighting within a home, that family will eventually be divided, probably separated, and may even divorced, many times causing new families to form, leaving the original families forever divided. We have all seen the trouble a divided household can bring.

Then, in verse 26, Jesus made his point:
Mark 3:26 – “And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end.”

He had illustrated this. Satan cannot remain strong if he were to be divided, by using Jesus to do His work. It was ridiculous to suggest that Jesus was doing Satan’s work – Satan wouldn’t survive if that were true. And, it was obvious that Satan and His work were still alive and well; so their accusation was certainly false. Then, Jesus gave another illustration to show that their accusation of Satan being in charge and Jesus working for Him was false as well:

Mark 3:27 – “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.”

In this illustration, according to commentators Walvoord and Zuck: “Satan is the strong man. His house is the realm of sin, sickness, demon possession, and death. His possessions are people who are enslaved by one or more of these things and demons are his agents who carry out his diabolical activity.”

Jesus continued to say that you must first bind the strong man, and then you can plunder. The point is that Jesus was the ONE who could have victory over the power of Satan. He had already demonstrated that during the temptation in the wilderness. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, Jesus was able to release the victims of Satan, which included those possessed by demons. Many people had experienced the freedom that Jesus brought to them, as they were formerly held captive by sin. Jesus was not here to cooperate with Satan, as was suggested, but to conquer Him.

Jesus then continues his answer and directly challenges his accusers:
Mark 3:28,29 – “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.”

This is not an easy one, is it? It is not really something we would expect Jesus Christ to say. It sounds like he is saying there is a sin that cannot be forgiven. That doesn’t sound right. He begins by saying that all kinds of sins can be forgiven, including those who say things they shouldn’t say. It is easy to get caught up here with the next verse about the sin that cannot be forgiven; but let’s take a moment to rejoice in the truth of verse 28: all our sins can be forgiven! Many people believe they have done too many terrible things to ever be forgiven by God; but be encouraged by the fact that no matter what you have done in the past, it is possible for you to be forgiven through the blood of Jesus Christ.

Then Jesus puts the hammer down: “…but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin.” Although he doesn’t clearly tell the people that that is what they had done, they certainly had come dangerously close, because, according to:

Mark 3:30 – “For they had said, He has an unclean spirit.”

They had blasphemed against the Son of God, but that was forgivable:
Matthew 12:32 – “And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven…”

So, what in the world does this mean? If you have ever studied this so-called “unpardonable sin”, then you know there are a variety of ideas out there about it.
· Barclay believes that if a person “has got his moral values inverted until evil to him is good and good to him is evil, then, even when he is confronted by Jesus, he is conscious of no sin; he cannot repent and therefore he can never be forgiven. That is the sin against the Holy Spirit.”
· Vines believes that the nation of Israel rejected the work of the Holy Spirit, when on the Day of Pentecost, they accused those on whom the Holy Spirit fell, to be drunk with wine. He believes that when they rejected the Holy Spirit that was giving witness to Christ, it was over for them as a nation. He believes that people can commit this eternal sin in this way: “There can come a point out there somewhere when a person finally and firmly rejects God’s final call, and then God says, It’s all over. I have no other invitation. The sin against the Holy Spirit, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is to reject the Holy Spirit’s witness to the Lord Jesus finally and firmly.”
· Walvoord and Zuck: “In light of the context this refers to an attitude (not an isolated act or utterance) of defiant hostility toward God that rejects His saving power toward man, expressed in the Spirit-empowered person and work of Jesus…Such a persistent attitude of willful unbelief can harden into a condition in which repentance and forgiveness, both mediated by God’s Spirit, become impossible.”

Most of those who have studied this more and know much more than I do, may get at it in a variety of ways, but they all end up in the same place. They believe that blaspheming the Holy Spirit is to reject salvation; and in the end, that cannot be forgiven; and in fact, is an eternal decision.

Reader 5 (Jody)– “One of my favorite things to do back in the First Century was to listen to the political or religious leaders debate. Eventually, it would turn into name calling and slander. On one occasion, I heard the religious leaders accuse Jesus of probably the worst thing someone in religious circles could have been accused of. They said that, perhaps, Jesus was able to cast out demons because the prince of demons, Satan himself, was empowering him. I couldn’t believe it. How would Jesus respond? He responded by talking in proverbial language, arguing that the accusation made no sense. He spoke of nations and households and what a thief has to do in order to break into a home. These were all illustrations we could understand. But then, He said: ‘anything can be forgiven, except blaspheming against the Holy Spirit.’ I admit that I wasn’t quite sure what He was saying; but I did make a decision right then and there. Jesus was the real thing. He spoke with authority and truly loved people like no one else ever did. He healed people physically and spiritually. I decided that I would allow God’s Spirit to work on my heart; and that I would give my life to be unified with Christ and be on His team.

Reader 6 (Jenn)– “In College in the 90’s, it was my joy to debate just about anyone about pretty much anything. The most fun I had arguing a point was during theological debates. It was my goal to mess with the other people’s minds and try to confuse them as much as possible. I especially liked to argue about passages such as Mark 3:28,29, where Jesus said that there is a sin: blaspheming the Holy Spirit, which can never be forgiven. That was a fun one. Everyone left that argument pretty confused! But, eventually, my love for arguing about everything left me pretty lonely, without friends. One day, a wise teacher sat me down and challenged me with something. He told me that I had become like one of Jesus’ illustrations in Mark 3:23-26. I knew a lot of the Bible, but it wasn’t truly penetrating my heart. I was a kingdom or a house divided. I went to church and loved to argue with people about God; but I was not humbly following Him. That day, I determined in my heart, that I would be unified – body, soul and spirit – to humbly follow Jesus Christ with my whole being. I would choose to love Jesus and follow Him much more than arguing about Him just to confuse the faith of others. I am a follower of Jesus Christ.”

In this last passage of Mark 3, the gospel writer comes back to a topic he opened up in verse 21. This is a part of the writing style of Mark. He mentioned, in verse 21 that his family thought Jesus was “out of his mind”. Then he launches into the accusations of the religious leaders who accused him of partnering with Satan, claiming that Jesus was crazy because of an evil spirit within him. Now, Mark comes back to the family dynamic as Jesus makes another important distinction about His followers. How did his family relate to Jesus?

Jesus’ family thought He had lost control and needed their help.

We already read that his family thought he was out of his mind, and there were some good reasons for those thoughts – at least from a secular, human perspective. They were treating Jesus as though he were the needy child, who was emotionally and mentally unstable, and they needed to come in and “save the day”, so to speak. So, Mark continues this story:

Mark 3:31,32 – “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.”

Jesus dealt with His human family by speaking the truth about the family of God.

Mark 3:33-35 – “And he answered them, Who are my mother and my brother? And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, Here are my mother and my brothers. Whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

Jesus didn’t answer the way we would expect him to in situations like this. Last week was Mother’s Day; and wouldn’t we just love Jesus to say something like: “My mom’s here? Let her through”; and then proceed to talk about how she is most blessed among women, and that people for centuries would be worshipping her image; but that is not what he does.

Do you remember the story of when Jesus was a pre-teen, and he was travelling with his parents; when, all of a sudden on their way home, he wasn’t there with them and they panicked? They finally found him, 3 days later, back in Jerusalem, talking with the teachers of the Scriptures. Those men were all amazed at his understanding. His parents were, understandably, upset. But Jesus said to them: Don’t you understand that I need to put my Father’s (God) business above my earthly families desires? The text in Luke says that they didn’t understand what he was saying, but that his mother kept these things in her heart.

So, now, I wonder what she was thinking. Jesus loved his mother and we will see that more clearly near his death; but Jesus was making another important point. It is likely that his brothers and sisters were still all non-believers at this point. Jesus looked at those who were following Him, believing in Him, and seeking to honor God with their lives – and He said: “You are my family. Whoever does the will of God is my family.”

It may not be what they, his family, or we want to hear. But, it reminds us about the most important family that we all have the opportunity to be a part of: The family of God. Those who have done the will of God by trusting in Jesus Christ alone for salvation, are a part of that family. And now, we are to continually identify with the family of God by humbly walking in His ways. And we are to treat one another like family, encouraging and challenging one another to do God’s will.

Reader 7 (Ben) – “I have to admit to you that I was pretty ticked off at my brother, Jesus. He was so high and mighty. We used to play ball together. He was a lot of fun when he was younger. But once he began his public ministry, he didn’t have much time for me anymore. Of course, I didn’t have time for him either. I was enjoying my life, going after any desire my heart might have; which eventually left me hurting and hungry for more. When Jesus seemingly cut off his ties with our family and began his own, spiritual one, I became bitter toward him; and I made sure that everyone knew what I thought of him. But, it was years later, after Jesus appeared to me following His resurrection, that I finally “got it.” Family is important, but the family of God, made up of those who follow Him, is eternally important. It finally made sense, after I humbled myself, to realize that my own brother was actually God’s Son! I began to follow Him and was a part of that same, spiritual family – the family of God. I eventually wrote about how to demonstrate that you are a part of God’s family, in the letter I wrote, known as the Book of James.”

Reader 8 (Kourtney)– “Family was everything to me, until I lost them. I had the fantasy of being the perfect family – husband and wife completely dedicated to one another, with 2 kids, a dog, the beautiful house, the boat, and everything else the world had sold me as ‘the American Dream’. But the dream came crashing down in 2004, with the separation, the divorce and his re-marriage. Now we were dealing with the heartache and fallout of what is left after our fantasy turned into a nightmare. All I had talked about was the importance of family, and now, I had no chance to make it what I wanted it to be. Now what? This all changed for me a couple of years ago, when a friend who truly cared for me, invited me to her church. It was there that I was introduced to a new kind of family – a spiritual family. I heard about how much Jesus Christ loved me, no matter what I had done; and how that love took Him to the cross. I learned from the Bible that if I received the gift of eternal life, I would be adopted into God’s family. Jesus said that those who followed Him would be His friends; and that He showed himself to be the greatest friend ever by laying down His life for us. So, now, my dream has little to do with family fantasies and what Americans are striving for. It has everything to do with being closer to Christ, following Him, and inviting others to be a part of this very special family – the family of God.”

Please stand with me for prayer. Would you take a few moments to reflect on what we have learned from God’s Word today? Will you consider how Jesus Christ has related to you and how you have responded to Him? Then, once you have prayed, we will sing together the song you have learned today, which talks about one way in which Jesus Christ relates to us.

Let’s pray.