IS IT WORTH THE BOTHER?

WEDNESDAY AFTER FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT 2015

Today is Mark 3:20-35 with Bishop Wright focusing on verses 20-30. Today we need to look at the Scripture—and there are two broad points, compliments of our commentary:

The first is about The Scripture in general. Today these 15 verses are the kind of verses that if you were trying to convince people that Jesus is this amazing guy, you would not necessarily include them. I mean think about it. Mark’s Gospel is short. He probably had lots of material he could have used. So why does he include this bit, and the bit about how it seems like Jesus is disowning his family…it kind of makes him seem like a lunatic…unless of course he really is healing all these people and is as amazing as the text seems to be describing.

The second is about this Scripture specifically. People struggle with this apparent unforgivable sin statement in verses 28-29. But here is the thing, do not pull these two verses out of context. In verses 20-27 people have accused Jesus of being from Satan. Consider all that is going on, Jesus is doing what he is doing in the power of the Holy Spirit. But if people look at the Spirit’s work and call it the work of the devil, they are (to quote Bishop Wright) “erecting a steel wall between them, and the powerful rescuing love of God.” The point is that there is not some singular unforgivable sin, what condemns people is their rejection of Jesus—who He is and what He has come to do.

But now I come to my bit, my bit is that I am often approached to answer random questions about God and the Bible. Especially questions about the hard or apparently confusing parts of the Bible. When I talk to people who are not regular “Scripture Readers”—and this includes people inside and outside the Church—the above explanation of this tough passage often falls flat. It feels to me that I am working on pulling a rabbit out of a hat. While they may be entertained with “my trick” it does not really have the desired effect. I think that when I offer this sound reasoning, showing how the Scriptures hold together, that people will say, “Oh wow, I never knew that, I will now believe!” I know that is naïve, but when you commit your life to something, you tend to want to have some impact. When you don’t, there are days I wonder if “it is worth the bother.”

But that is the other point of the story today. Jesus, in the midst of teaching with authority, and having performed amazing miracles is not believed…he is rejected. Why should I, or others who are trying to follow Jesus expect any difference? As we journey through Lent, people may misunderstand us or worse. They may think we are simpletons, or we have bad motives, or we are fundamentalists, or even extremists. We need to remember that, as the text says, the strong man is bound. That won’t make it necessarily easier…we often want people to respect and even like us…but if we remain faithful, then He who is faithful will be with us—so I need to keep bothering with it all.