Mark 3:7-35
Key verse - ““Whoever does God’s will is my
brother and sister and mother.”” (Mark 3:35).
Introduction: During the first stage of Jesus’
ministry, he did three things: 1) Soon after beginning his ministry, the first
thing he did was to call four people (1:16-20) in order to make them his disciples,
with the clear hope and purpose of making them fishers of men. To make them
fishers of men, it was vital for Jesus to earn their full commitment. However,
in Peter, he sensed hesitation. It was essential for him to have Peter’s full
commitment as well, since he was a leader among the others. 2) Jesus
introduced himself as the Savior by healing the sick, driving out
demonic forces, and teaching the good news of the kingdom of God. He
demonstrated these acts for Peter’s family (i.e. mother-in-law) and in his
house, in order to earn his unbridled commitment and confidence (1:21-34).
In other words, Jesus made revealing his power,
authority, and will for Peter and his family his first priority, even as he ministered
to a large crowd. In addition to this, Jesus himself demonstrated his own unbridled
commitment to the LORD’s work, i.e., preaching the good news to many other
towns; the main focus of his work as the Savior was not in healing or driving
out demonic forces, but in preaching the good news about himself, as the
Savior/Messiah. 3) Through the next six events, Jesus demonstrated the
essence of the Savior’s works in two aspects: he had the power to
forgive sins and has come to bring salvation for all sinners, asserting
that he is the doctor for all sin-sicknesses (1:40-2:17). Second, he did
this as the fulfiller of the Law of
Moses (2:18-3:6). These two constitute the central
message of salvation, that is to say, that these two are the essence of ‘the good
news of the kingdom of God,’ which Jesus brought for God’s chosen people.
Today’s passage starts with a new stage of
Jesus’ ministry, which continues through Mark 6:13. This new stage began with
Jesus embracing a large number of followers. Here, the focus turns from
Jesus himself to his followers: how he would serve them and what he would
do with them in order to fulfill his ultimate hope of establishing the kingdom
of God through them.
1.
Jesus’
ministry reached beyond the land of God’s promise.
This short section is a summary of the first
stage of Jesus’ ministry and serves as the steppingstone for the next section, which
contains the main theme - the message of the Gospel coming against the world’s hostility.
For the first time, Jesus withdrew with his
disciples with the clear purpose of spending time with them. That purpose is
unstated, yet it is fully revealed in v13-19. That is to say, what Jesus was
about to do was to appoint these twelve men, but this was hampered by a large
crowd from both Galilee and Israel. This tells us two things: first, the entire
Israelite territory and its vicinity had heard the news about Jesus. In other
words, the good news about Jesus went far beyond the land of Israel and even
reached the Gentile regions, i.e. Idumea, Tyre, and Sidon. Jesus’ power of
healing and driving out demons, and his powerful words from God attracted so
many that they crowded around him. They made up an even larger crowd than the
one he had left in Galilee, and they easily overwhelmed his ability to reach
them effectively. Jesus had to find a solution to help these massive crowds,
which was almost impossible for one man to handle.
Although Jesus wanted people to come to him,
yet their desires or needs were somewhat different from his hope: their primary
need was for Jesus’ healing power, rather than to know or learn who he was. Their
secondary need was that some of them were enslaved by evil spirits. Their third
main need was that there were some who came to investigate Jesus' ministry with
hostile intentions. These three needs poised the greatest stumbling blocks to him
implanting the message of the good news. How did Jesus handle these issues as
he served this large crowd? Today’s passage speaks of three things Jesus did to
meet their challenges.
2.
Jesus
put the first priority on teaching God’s words (9-12)
To cope with the new problems this immense
crowd brought up, Jesus did three things; first, he got on a boat where he
could see more people, while putting a little distance between himself and the
milling crowd. In this way, he could focus much more on his message, instead of
just healing. In this setting, Jesus stood as their teacher, and the crowd set
their hearts to listen. A teacher teaches what their students do not know; the
students must have a listening and learning mind. In this set-up, Jesus’ life
and truth could be conveyed effectively.
Second, he forbade the evil spirits to speak.
Their main weapon for hampering Jesus’ work was to reveal his identity as the
Son of God. It is like playing ‘identity politics.’ This would force
people to identify Jesus with a preconceived idea of the Son of God, and would
leave them with nothing but human speculation, void of any relationship with him.
This would just scratch one’s intellectual realm as to who Jesus was, which is
the most dangerous path to knowing his true identity. Knowing Christ is not solely
the property of one’s mental and intellectual exercises, but also is a matter
of establishing a relationship in truth and love.
Jesus did not want these people to get this information
as to who he was. Instead, he wanted to have a meaningful, trusting
relationship with them as the Lord and His people. He wanted them to believe in
him with their hearts and establish a true relationship with them. This could only
be done when they tasted his power by themselves and learn the truth in the Lord’s
words. What does this mean? The message of the good news must come from Jesus,
directly to the people. They must know Jesus, not from information delivered by
demonic forces, but from getting to know him personally.
All of his miracles, healing, driving out of demonic
forces, and in-depth teaching of God’s words about himself, must come from
himself, rather than from a third party, especially not from evil forces. There
must not be any intervention or gainsay between Jesus and these people. For,
knowing Jesus is the focus of all learning; moreover, Satan and his forces,
shall not, in any way, come between Jesus and the people whom he desires to
save. To know Jesus is to learn what is not in the ordinary faculty of the
human mind and knowledge, for knowing Christ is to know God and His will. Such
knowledge was never fully revealed before, until Jesus came personally. What he
wanted to impart to his people was totally new, unheard of, and had never been imagined
by the human mind. Therefore, any truth conveyed by a third party would only
hamper his efforts to impart his life to his followers. Jesus’ words must
provide proper reasoning and understanding for all that he was doing. Likewise,
his ministry was word-focused.
3.
Jesus
chose twelve men to embark into God’s new kingdom (13-19)
Immediately after noting the need to serve such
a large crowd, Mark described how Jesus went up on a mountainside and, while there,
he called those he wanted to come to him. There are many differing opinions as
to what Mark meant by stating that Jesus went up on a mountainside in order to
call his disciples. First, it was not a specific place where there was a
particular history of spiritual implication, since he did not name the place.
Second, Jesus went up on a mountain quite a few times, with a specific purpose;
the most common one was to pray in search of God’s will. Third, ‘mountainside’
meant it was not one of the places where Jesus ministered to the local people. Therefore,
it was a place away from the nearby villages or towns, where the majority of the
people either would not or could not come, because of its distance or the need
for a long climb to a high altitude. To go up on a mountain was the best way to
get away from all of the half-hearted followers, for it required the intense necessity
for hard work or labor.
When he chose these disciples, there shouldn’t
be any teachers of the Law, demon-possessed people, or any skeptics around. The
harder he was to follow, the more people would drop away, leaving only those
who were truly committed to knowing him or had an intense need for his
attention. What does this mean? When Jesus went up as far as he wanted to go,
there were only those who were committed or dedicated to him
as their Lord (ex. Mark 6:34-35; John 6:3-5). Out of these committed
people, Jesus selected and called twelve men, and they came forward to
him.
First, he called those whom he wanted. It is interesting that
none of those whom he called had any commendable talent or ability that was
obvious in their lives. It is hard to know what kind of people he would have wanted
or liked, but one thing is clear - since we do not see any merit mentioned in the
description of each of these twelve men, Jesus called them based on his will,
rather than on their capabilities. These twelve would be the foundation of his
ministry and would carry out his will to establish God’s kingdom. If those
foundational people were chosen solely by Jesus’ will, then it is clear that God also chooses
people by His will.
What was His will in choosing people who were not-so-well-to-do?
We all have become children of God, not because we chose to do so, but because
He chose us. Some of us have become Bible teachers, church leaders, and
pastors. One thing we ought to know and should not forget is that each of us
was chosen by Jesus in his will. We are to seek his will, whatever it might be,
for each of our lives.
Second, he appointed the twelve to be his disciples. Here, the meaning
of the word ‘appointed’ (epoiēsen) is to make, the same word
used in Genesis 1:1, according to the Greek translation. By using this word,
Mark strongly indicated that Jesus wanted to create (make) ‘the twelve’, not
forge new out of the old. This is the idea of a new creation. This matches with
the understanding of his choosing twelve specifically in number. Israel (Jacob)
was given a divine promise of a kingdom being established through his twelve
sons. His twelve children were the foundation for God’s forthcoming
kingdom, which was accomplished by establishing the kingdom of Israel under
King David. However, this nation was scattered and disappeared.
By the time Jesus was born, the majority of
Israel was not within the boundaries of the promised land. Supposedly, only two
and a half tribes remained in the land. In other words, the kingdom had all but
disappeared. Out of the old kingdom’s ‘ashes’, Jesus chose twelve men. This clearly
shows that he was recreating a chosen nation and kingdom. In this way, Jesus
set the foundation for a new kingdom, just as God originally did through
Jacob’s twelve sons. This ignited and rejuvenated a hope for the full
restoration of God’s kingdom.
Third, none of these twelve men had or was noted to have a
commendable, or praiseworthy, character, job, or ability. They were ordinary
people, and none of them were men of success, according to the standard of that
time.
The best example of this was Peter, the leader
of the twelve. Jesus had to visit him at least twice in order to earn his full
commitment. Even so, he failed to understand Jesus’ teaching and denied him at
the most critical time. He was unwilling to obey the Holy Spirit’s guidance,
and God had to force him to visit Cornelius’ house by giving him a dream. He
was called ‘rock’, not in the sense of his commendable character, but, because
in his life, Jesus’ undying love and care stood out as the force which enabled
him to follow Jesus’ way of life and truth. This force of Jesus’ love would
stand as tall as a rock in his life for everyone who followed him. This is
further suggested by the fact that we do not have any record of meaningful work
for four out of the twelve disciples. All of these lead us to believe that
Jesus’ establishment of these twelve men was of more importance.
Fourth, Jesus' purpose was for them to be with him and to send them
out to preach and drive out demons with authority. Having chosen such nominal
characters, what Jesus would and could do with them was far more important than
what kind of people he had chosen, especially in regards to the hope of the
kingdom of God. To be with him was to know him and to have a personal
relationship with him.
Knowing him and establishing a relationship
with him were foundational for what they were to do next (“to be with him” is
in subjunctive mood and controls the whole sentence, and the next two
infinitives, “to preach” and “to have authority to drive out demons”, hang on
the main subjunctive verb ‘be with him’). If we elucidate the details of what
‘knowledge and relationship’ entails, they are revealed in Jesus’ life, especially
in his suffering and death on the cross, in obedience and faith to the Father, who
has, is, and gives life.
The next thing these twelve disciples were to
do was to preach this good news of life
to others, along with the final mandate of driving out demons with
authority. Here, the implicit idea is that Jesus gave them
that authority, like a gift. Such an understanding is somewhat supported by the
fact that Jesus gave this authority as he sent out the twelve out to preach the
good news (Mark 6:7). However, this does not exactly convey such an idea.
There is a hint that they were going
to have this authority, as they continued to live with him and preached
the good news. That is to say, that having the authority to drive out demonic
forces was an outcome of their learning from Jesus and establishing a
relationship with him. This is in keeping with the understanding of 6:7 as well;
Jesus had already given them the authority they needed before sending them out (3:15).
[There is a subtly implied understanding here that, when God’s word was
delivered, the demonic forces were forced to come forward and would then be
driven out (v11)].
Quite often, we have chances to listen to
life-testimonies. In them, we find amazing power at work in each life — a clear
example of how their demonic forces were driven out. As we noted before,
driving out demonic forces was the last and final outcome that Jesus wanted to
see as he sent his disciples out into the world; this would also serve as the
sign of the coming of God’s kingdom.
4.
To
establish God’s kingdom, Jesus began to invade the Satanic kingdom (20-35)
The story moves to what happened in a house,
most likely one in Galilee. This was about Jesus’ work in driving out demonic
forces, the ultimate enemy that the Son of God must deal with in order to
establish the kingdom of God. In this house, Jesus and his disciples were so
busy that they did not even have time to eat a meal from morning until late into
the evening. As Jesus was serving such a large crowd, his relentless
efforts in driving out demonic forces stood out in the sight of all who were
gathered there. His work was filled with great energy and power, as he worked
strenuously like a superman, going all day without even eating. Where did he
get such energy and power? His power was amazing, far above their
comprehension.
In such a large crowd, there are always some
who are inclined to rely on their own thoughts and wisdom, rather than on God.
While Jesus was busy driving out demonic forces from many people, these antagonizers raised a question - how was this possible?
This doubt permeated the minds of the people who were gathered there. One man
threw a casual remark, “He is out of his mind” or “He is beside himself”. This
rumor reached the ears of Jesus’ family and they decided to take him back home.
Thus, they travelled to where Jesus was working.
While he was still teaching them, the teachers
of the Law, riding on the peoples’ doubts and skepticism, spoke out a bold
statement to those assembled there.
“And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said,
“He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons, he is driving out
demons.”” (Mark 3:22).
Beelzebul was a Canaanite god. Beel was the
Greek name for Baal (a pagan god referenced in the Old Testament). These teachers
were saying that Jesus was possessed by this false god, the same Baal that
Elijah fought so fiercely against. They could not refute that Jesus was driving
out demonic forces, but they ascribed his power to Baal. Jesus’ power over
demonic forces was evident to all, including the teachers of the Law. Jesus
knew their evil intent and gave this parable:
“If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot
stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if
Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come.” (Mark
3:24-26).
In order to clarify the scope and depth of
their remarks, Jesus gave them a parable.
First, the setting of this parable was a
kingdom or a house. The focus was not on one person, Jesus, against many
demons. Also, he used Satan, rather than ‘demons’, to reflect the entire domain
or kingdom of demons. In order to set up the conceptual relationship, Jesus
used the word ‘house’. Under the roof of a house, a father is in charge, and
all other members of the house are under his authority. Simply, Satan is the
head of all demons; his domain is his kingdom. When the teachers of the Law
said that Beelzebul was the prince of demons, this meant that Beelzebul was a
prince, under the headship of Satan’s house.
Second, Satan acts against his subjects, resulting
in that house or kingdom being unable to stand and instead collapsing. Satan
does not do things that would destroy his own kingdom or house.
Third, if Jesus did this under Beelzebul’s
authority, then given the fact that he had driven away so many demonic forces, Satan’s
house would soon collapse or the end of his kingdom was well foreseen.
In this way, Jesus concluded his analysis of
what happened as he drove out many demons:
“In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first
tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house.” (Mark 3:27).
Jesus was the strong man. He was invading the
Satanic kingdom/house and plundering it, because he was stronger than either Satan
or his subjects. Simply speaking, Jesus had all power and authority over Satan
and his demonic forces; he was therefore driving demons out of people, for he
came to free people from their bondage to the Satanic forces of this world.
Jesus was so busy driving out demons from many
people. His power was immense and overwhelming to their minds; many were
shocked or struck with awe. Could it be possible? If they could discern that
the power he was demonstrating was not of man but of God, they would have recognized
him as the Son of God. Moreover, seeing these demonic powers being thrown out
in droves, they could have sensed a new era, one when the power of God’s
kingdom has come. Also, we must discern, even though the primary purpose of
this passage was not about Jesus’ work against Satanic forces, that this is the
first record of such an intensified effort against Satan’s armies during this
early stage of Jesus’ ministry.
Yet the teachers of the Law failed to accept God’s
power, as demonstrated in Jesus, and willfully mischaracterized Jesus’ work as
that of the prince of demons. Their way of thinking was grossly flawed, but it
was not just flawed thinking or reasoning. What was the cost of such failure to
discern God’s mighty work? Jesus unveiled the deep rebellion in their hearts:
“Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and
every slander they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will
never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.” (Mark 3:28-29).
Jesus clearly labeled their words as ‘blasphemy’.
This was not a casual or innocent remark, as one might think; it was
against the Holy Spirit’s power to drive out so many demonic forces from among God’s
people. These teachers failed to see or accept that Jesus’ power was from
God, and the Holy Spirit, not just from his own will. Going against Jesus, the
Son of Man, might have still left room for forgiveness, but when one rejects
and labels God’s mighty work as Satan’s, there can be no forgiveness. Such men
will be judged eternally.
In this way, Jesus uncovered the true reality
of his work - a war against Satan’s kingdom. Actually, Jesus had been dealing with satanic
forces since the beginning of his ministry (1:12). He was tested and tried by Satan,
but he overcame him. Demonic forces made many attempts to divulge Jesus’ true
identity, as the Son of God, in order to disrupt God’s work in men’s hearts
(1:23-24). Jesus commanded them to shut up.
At this time, Jesus was working hard to drive
out many demonic forces from the people. The war was intense and Satan’s forces
were unquestionably being driven away, as Jesus increased his efforts against
them. This clearly revealed that Jesus had power over all Satanic
forces and was invading Satan’s kingdom. Each person must choose whom
to serve, either Jesus or Satan’s forces.
As Jesus was finishing his argument against
the teachers of the Law, his family arrived and asked for him. His family
members thought that he was out of his mind and had come to take charge of him.
They demonstrated a strong family bond. A society’s integrity starts from and
is maintained by strong family bonds and then is further extended to relatives,
friends, and neighbors.
“Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked.” (Mark 3:33).
The answer was obvious; those who bore and those
who were born by parents are blood-related and cannot be separated by any human
means; they are tied together by their very existence. All others are not blood-related,
but are maintained by something other than blood. Now, as Jesus raised the
question, they must examine what or who constitutes a true family.
“Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said,
“Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and
sister and mother.”” (Mark 3:34-35).
Jesus’ disciples were in front of him, and
behind them, were a crowd of his faithful followers. Jesus pointed to these
people and said, “here are my mother and my brothers!” Most likely, there were
no women in front of him, but he explained what he meant. Whoever does God’s
will would be counted as his family.
First, Jesus, the Son of God, called them his family. He placed
himself as equal with those who followed him in faith. He accepted them as his
family, like brothers, sisters, or mothers. Here, we note that he did not
mention fathers. This could simply be because his earthly father, Joseph, had
passed away by this time. But this is very unlikely, since he was not making a
statement about his particular situation, but rather one that is applicable to
all who were around him.
This leads us to understand that Jesus was claiming
God as both his Father and the Father of all of his followers. There is only
one Father, the Father in heaven. In this regard, all of Jesus’ followers are his
brothers, sisters, and mothers. Near the end of his ministry, Jesus said
this to his disciples, before his death:
““I no longer call you servants, because a
servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you
friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to
you.”” (John 15:15 NIV).
But surprisingly, soon after his
resurrection, Jesus said this to Mary:
“Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I
have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and
tell them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my
God and your God.”" (John 20:17 NIV).
Second, Jesus teaches us to redefine ‘family relationships’ in regards
to our relationship with our Father God. Family relationships are blood-borne, through
birth. These bonds are inseparable by any human means; they are foundational
and must be prioritized over all other human relationships. The bond of a family
is made up of love, trust, and order. However, here, Jesus puts our
relationship with God, the Father, and His family, above that which we share
with our earthly family. We are to negate any obstacles that hinder
our relationship with our Father in heaven, especially any that involve our
earthly family relationships.
The implication of this is enormous, for the
world has been divided by race, nationality,, ethnicity, and ideology. We fight
for our families against our neighbors. We fight against those who have a
different ethnic background. We fight for our country, the United States America,
against all other nations of the world. We are willing to fight against everyone
who does not share our ideology.
other countries. All human conflicts come from
these dividing lines. Jesus was saying that there must be only one
dividing line, between God’s family and that of Satan.
This is more specifically applicable to us, as
members of God’s family. We are to love, trust, and care for others. All of the
barriers that we build up along familial, racial, national, or ethnic lines,
must be nullified in and among us first, for we are all brothers and sisters in
God’s family.
This gives us a keen discernment of the evil
and cunning schemes of those who follow Satan’s themes and principles. One
thing we should not fail to discern is the fact that we are born with the
desires of the flesh, which constantly try to divide us from other families, countries,
races, and ideologies for the purpose of preserving our wellbeing, and these
desires are still inside of us, working against the truth that Jesus lived out.
In this regard, his crucifixion continues to bear enormous power for us as his
family.
“For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one
and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility” (Ephesians
2:14 NIV).
Third, one is proven to be a part of God’s family when they
do the Father’s will. Quite often, we do not know whether someone has
genuine faith or not, for many express their assent to Jesus’ lordship and yet,
their hearts are evil, and they pursue their own sinfulness. This does not
contradict what Jesus said,
"Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word
and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not
be judged but has crossed over from death to life.” (John 5:24 NIV).
Belief is a substance in one’s inner being and
most often, we cannot discern it easily by looking. However, genuine faith
always expresses itself along with action (James 2:19). The prime example of
one who does the Father’s will was Jesus himself. The disciples and other
followers were sitting in front of Jesus, listening and ready to follow him.
They were actually doing the Father’s will. The Father sent His Son, Jesus, so
that we may follow him and find life in him.
These people followed Jesus from that time until
his crucifixion and resurrection. Therefore, we must not condemn anyone,
because we see something wrong in them. If anyone is following Jesus, then they
are doing the Father’s will and is a child of God. Jesus told four fishermen,
“follow me”, and they followed him as his disciples. They were told to remain
with and imitate him. To do the Father’s will is not a single action or
collection of actions; it is working out an unrelenting will to follow Jesus. Those
who do so are his brothers, sisters, and mother.
In Summary:
The gospel message was spread far beyond the boundaries of the
nation of Israel. This meant that the crowd gathered represented the universal crowd
interested in receiving the gospel. This situation is quite applicable to us today,
as the gospel message has reached to the ends of the earth, although there are
still many pockets where it has never been heard. Yet, even now, we are dealing
with the people of every nation as we engage in the ministry of God’s kingdom.
How Jesus handled these people and what he did to serve them gives us the right
model to follow as we look at how to serve such a large community of people in
the world.
A.
Jesus made teaching God’s
word his highest priority, above healing or even driving out demonic forces.
B.
Jesus chose twelve
disciples with a clear purpose - for them to be with him, for them to preach
the good news, and for them to have authority in order to drive out demons.
Their ministry began with them being with
Jesus in order to learn the truth and to have a personal relationship with him;
the next step was for them to preach the good news about him, and the final and
ultimate objective in order to fulfill God’s purpose was for them to have the
authority to drive out demons. Jesus did not say that he would give this
authority to them; they were to have the kind of authority that depends on learning
and knowing him by being with him, and preaching the good news; only then will they
inevitably be able to confront devil forces, who hold the authority over men in
sin. Therefore, driving out demonic forces was the end purpose of Jesus’
mission, which will one day lead to the establishment of God’s kingdom in this
world.
The twelve disciples were the emblem of the eternal
kingdom’s hope; through them, Jesus envisioned the restoration of God’s kingdom
on earth, which was God’s ultimate goal in sending him to earth.
Out of all twelve disciples, we have quite a bit
of information on what Peter did. For six of them, there are one or two records
(James, John, Andrew, Philip, Matthew and Thomas, and Judas). We do not have
any records on Bartholomew, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, or Simon the
Zealot. Most of their stories were regarding their weaknesses and
shortcomings. What does this tell us about God’s hope in and through these men?
In Him, we see their leadership, weaknesses, and vulnerability. The most
prominent example of this was Peter. In
spite of everything, Jesus’ love prevailed in Peter’s life, and he
could follow Jesus to his death. In other words, the power of Jesus’
love in Peter’s life serves as a source of empowerment and encouragement for the
rest of his followers.
C.
For the first time, opposition
and doubt arose among the crowd. The most intriguing issue to them was how
Jesus could drive out so many demonic forces with so much power the demonic
forces. They could not understand how he could do this. These people formed a
group of doubters within the large crowd. The teachers of the Law from
Jerusalem boldly labeled the Holy Spirit’s work as that of the devil,
Beelzebub. In this way, they assigned Jesus a part with the forces of evil.
This sparked a debate as to who is of God and who is of the devil. In this way,
the teachers of the Law presented themselves as the major opposition to Jesus’ good
news message and placed themselves outside of God’s kingdom. However, by identifying
his followers as his brothers, sisters, and mother, Jesus embraced them all in his
kingdom. The boundary between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan was
demarcated along the line between faith and disbelief. For the people of God’s
kingdom, there is one family and one father, the Lord of heaven and earth.
After all, as we follow Jesus, we must do
these three things: teaching God’s words, raising disciples, and lastly,
driving out demonic forces.
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