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Sound & Season is a daily audio devotional designed to connect the routine moments of life to the rhythms of the Church seasons.
This is Sound and Season. It's Wednesday, 7th day of Lent. Our passage today comes from the Gospel of Mark, chapter 3, verses 20 through 35. And they 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.
Jeffrey Heine: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. And he called them to him, and he said to them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, the 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. Truly I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter.
Jeffrey Heine: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. 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?
Jeffrey Heine: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. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Mark's central question about the identity of Jesus is posed in various ways in chapter 3. Is Jesus out of his mind?
Jeffrey Heine:Is he possessed by Satan? Is he the brother of James and the son of Mary? Who is this Jesus? This question takes up a great deal of Mark's gospel and it is woven throughout the chapters. It's worth noting the start of that thread here in chapter 3.
Jeffrey Heine:Mark is hoping that you are starting to ask this question for yourself. A secondary question arises at the end of chapter 3. Who gets to claim relationship to Jesus? Who are his sisters and his brothers? Jesus answers, whoever does the will of the Father, they are my sister and my brother.
Jeffrey Heine:That means, at the very least, doing the will of the Father is only possible for the children of God. And by doing the will of the Father, one displays their familial relationship, and one may know that they are a child of the living God. In the words of 3rd century theologian, Clement of Alexandria, so let us do the will of the Father who called us, that we may live peaceably within his family. Lord, hear our prayer, and let our cry come to you. Let us pray.
Jeffrey Heine:Gracious Father, whose blessed son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the light of the world, will you evermore shine the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in our hearts? By your grace, O Lord, grant us the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Christ our King, so we might love him, trust him, and obey him from our hearts. Oh, lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever.
Jeffrey Heine:Amen.