Mark 3:20-35 The Stronger Man

Sermon by Rev Pete Hamborg

@

www.christchurchfulwood.org

on

Sunday 7th June 2015

JESUS IS THE STRONGER MAN

Jesus the Strong Messiah

When two men arm wrestle one another, it is not necessarily that the losing player is weak. Its more that the winning man is stronger...

Mark 1:7:

He kept proclaiming, "The one who is coming after me is stronger than I am, and I am not worthy to bend down and untie the strap of His sandals.

John was a strong man, but Jesus is a much stronger man.

CONTEXT OF MARK Constant deliverances and healings. Its a showdown between good and evil, between Jesus and the devil, and Jesus wins.

Marks Gospel reminds me of the old batman cartoons Wham! Bam! Pow! Biff! Zap! Only this is no fiction...

The battle is won the day that Jesus resists the temptations of Satan in the wilderness. The final showdown is on the cross, where sin and evil throws its very worst at the Son of God, even death itself, and Jesus triumphs 3 days later by rising again. On the cross the enemy is well and truly defeated by conquering love. On the cross it is finished.

Reactions to Jesus

All these exorcisms and healings, including on the Sabbath (tut, tut, tut...), are getting attention, and a lot of people dont like it. Why?

Because Jesus doesnt fit into their box. Hes not an accredited Rabbi whos been trained through the official institution.

For those in religious authority he is a threat to their power and to the status quo.

He possesses an authority that is clearly greater than theirs, despite the fact that he has not been authorised by them. They dont like this...

So how do his opponents respond?

ATTEMPTS TO DISCREDIT HIM

1. He must either be a mad lunatic:

v.21 For people were saying, He has gone out of his mind.

2. He is a traitor who works for Satan:

v.22 - And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.

Jesus uses an Image to describe what he is doing Tying up the Strong man

A Kingdom is toppling. This much is undeniable since people are being delivered from unclean spirits or physically healed (or both) left, right, and centre. So either:

1. The Kingdom of Satan is divided against itself. This is Satan casting out Satan, as you suppose.

Or 2. Jesus is bringing freedom, healing, peace, and wholeness to peoples lives by

binding up the strong man and plundering his house. Jesus mission is all about setting people free from darkness and sin. Satan is bound by Jesus power and authority, and the Kingdom of God is ushered in.

Jesus makes it clear that the first of these two explanations is ludicrous.

How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand (v. 23)

THE UNFORGIVABLE SIN?

Tom Wright Once you label what is in fact the work of the Holy Spirit as the work of the devil, there is no way back. Its like holding a conspiracy theory: all the evidence you see will simply confirm your belief. You will be blind to the truth. It isnt that God gets specially angry with one sin in particular. Its rather than if you decide firmly that the doctor who is offering to perform a life saving operation on you is in fact a sadistic murderer, you will never give your consent to the operation.

RECOGNIZING THE STRONG MAN TODAY

Do we perceive there to be a strong man in the world today?

Where is the strong man in relation to your life and mine? And more importantly, where is the stronger man in relation to our life?

There are all sorts of potential answers, including:

Free Market Capitalism

Who pulls the strings in a global marketing system that maximises profit by whatever means necessary, exploiting the poorest in order to reduce production costs, and registering profits off-shore to avoid paying tax? Large corporates wield power over poor communities forcing them to work for unfair wages and ravaging their lands in the process.

Despite the collapse of a multi-storey clothing factory in Bangladesh two years ago killing over a thousand people little has changed, and unethically produced clothing sold in our high street shops continue to attract just as many shoppers.

GUARDIAN ARTICLE TWO YEARS AGO - We can calculate that women on the absolute legal minimum wage, making jeans for a Well Known Company, get 11p per item. Now wave your own wand and grant them the living monthly wage the 136 the Asia Floor Wage Alliance calculates is needed to support a family in India today

(and bear in mind that the women are often the sole earners). It is going to cost a fortune, right? No. It will cost 15p more on the labour cost of each pair of jeans.

Wouldnt we all gladly pay another 15p for a pair of jeans so that an Indian mother can support her family properly? And yet there is a strong man in our global economy that is intent on preventing this. Those who work for justice and fair trade are taking on the strong man and they need our support.

Over here we may not see it, or do we...? The same strong man lures us in the west with constant advertising, seeking to convince us that we need more and more of these corrupt goods.

There is a strong man at work here, and if we cannot see him then the chances are we are under his influence.

But there is a stronger man, and his name is Jesus.

UK Food Poverty

TRUSSELL TRUST 2013/2014 - Over 900,000 adults and children have received three days emergency food and support from Trussell Trust foodbanks in the last 12

months, a shocking 163 percent rise on numbers helped in the previous financial year. Despite signs of economic recovery, the poorest have seen incomes squeezed

even more than last year. More people are being referred to Trussell Trust foodbanks than ever before.

That 900,000 people have received three days food from a foodbank, close to triple the numbers helped last year, is shocking in 21st century Britain. But perhaps most worrying of all this figure is just the tip of the iceberg of UK food poverty, it doesnt

include those helped by other emergency food providers, those living in towns where there is no foodbank, people who are too ashamed to seek help or the large number of people who are only just coping by eating less and buying cheap food.

Unless there is determined policy action to ensure that the benefits of national economic recovery reach people on low-incomes we wont see life get better for the

poorest anytime soon.

PRESTON WEST FOOD BANK

-A series of bizarre coincidences (but we dont believe in coincidences) have led to the establishment of a local food bank in Lea beginning next month.

-A desire to grow alongside food parcels ministries that tackle the root causes of poverty.

*There is a stronger man at work here who is fighting back, primarily through the churches. There is a stronger man, and his name is Jesus.

THE STRONG MAN IN PLUNGINGTON

-Lack of two parent families (Church Urban Fund statistics). Family dysfunction.

-Addictions, depression, domestic abuse (leaving behind trauma), daily struggle for survival. Low esteem, hopelessness, lack of purpose, lack of moral compass.

-Reduction in state provision is adding to the chaos.

-You can feel the presence of the strong man in this parish.

But where is the stronger man in Emmanuel Parish?

-A determined church community despite the building closure.

-We are committed to retaining a Christian presence, putting our faith in the stronger man, who is able to make a difference.

There is a stronger man, and his name is Jesus.

THE STRONG MAN IN FULWOOD?

(CHRIST CHURCH) Just as many problems in suburban areas but different ones? True perhaps, but I never needed to contact the police or Social Services while I was here!

-eally encouraging work to arise out of the Parish Development project. Be aware that the strong man is opposed to anything that shines the light of Christ into peoples lives. PRAY. BE UNITED. BIND UP THE STRONG MAN THROUGH FAITH IN THE STRONGER MAN.

There is a stronger man, and his name is Jesus.

How do we bind up the Strong man?

Jesus does it.

Every time we love we bind up the strong man.

Every time we forgive others we bind up the strong man.

Every time we show compassion we bind up the strong man.

Every time we turn to Christ and are forgiven the power of the strong man over us is loosened. Every time we open ourselves up to God the knots are tied around the strong man.

Every time we pray. Prayer binds up the strong man, by the authority of the stronger man.

There is a stronger man, and his name is Jesus.