This morning, we enter a new section of the Gospel of Mark. Chapters three and four are committed to answering an important question – Who is the kingdom of God for? This question arises because of the conflicts that we’ve already seen in Jesus’ ministry. We’ve seen that the religious and political leaders have rejected him, even to the point of plotting to kill him. So, it’s obvious that the kingdom isn’t for them. But, who is it for? We begin to answer this question by considering four groups of people who responded to Jesus’ ministry from Mark 3:7-21. As we consider these for groups, I want to look at three groups that are not part of the kingdom, and one group that is. To see this, let’s consider four points – the frantic crowd, the fearful demons, the faithless family, and the favored disciples.
First, consider the frantic crowd from verses 7-10. As Jesus’s ministry goes mainstream, we are told in verse 7 that he and his disciples withdrew to the sea of Galilee. But, even as they withdrew, a great crowd followed them. There are two characteristics of this crowd I want you to notice. First, Mark tells us that this crowd represents a plurality of people. Not only is this a huge crowd, but the people that make it up are from all over the region, from the far south (Idumea is from south of Judea) to the far north (Sidon is almost to the border of Persia). This is not a Jewish crowd. This is not a crowd of religious leaders or fans of Jesus from his hometown. This type of crowd tells us that Jesus’ fame has spread far and wide. People are coming from all over the known world to see this great healer and preacher at work. This crowd also tells us of the love of Jesus for all people. Yes, Jesus is the Jewish Messiah. Yes, he has come for the covenant people of God. But, this mixed crowd is our first hint that the Kingdom of God is not just limited to the Jewish people. It is for the whole world.
Second, see that this crowd is frantic in their response to Jesus. There are a number of words used to describe this crowd. In verse 9, we are told that Jesus had his disciples ready a boat because the crowd was about to crush him. In verse 10, we are told they “pressed” around him. The sense given in the Greek is that this crowd is grappling for Jesus in a frantic, beastly way. They are desperate to be healed. They are irrational, emotional, urgent. But, there is one thing they aren’t – true believers. There is a consistent pattern we find in the Gospels: Jesus rejected the large crowds moved by emotion and immediate need, who had no faith or desire to truly follow him. This should tell us two things about the kingdom of God. For one, the kingdom of God (and its success) is not measured by crowd size. This is a hard truth for us Baptists to hear, because we judge everything by the numbers. We think that a ministry is only successful if it brings in a crowd. We think that a church isn’t “alive” if it doesn’t have a full sanctuary every Sunday. But, this is not the way Jesus judged his own ministry, and it is not a measure of the kingdom. Along with this, we can say that the kingdom of God is not for those who come to Jesus simply for their immediate needs. There are many who respond to a message at a revival service because they are in the throes of a broken relationship. There are some who come to church only when life has them down. There are others who throw up the desperate prayer when they get a cancer diagnosis but couldn’t be bothered to offer God a prayer of praise on any given weekday. The kingdom of God is not for the emotive crowd who just wants to use Jesus but has no desire to follow him.
In verses 11 and 12, we find another group that the kingdom is not for: the fearful demons. Mark tells us that, sprinkled in this crowd, are many who are possessed by demons. As Jesus moves through the crowd, these demons force their victims to their knees because they know exactly who Jesus is. And, as they fall to their knees, they confess, “You are the Son of God.” Now, at face value, this might be a hopeful sight. After all, they are saying what the religious leaders and the crowd will not. They are confessing that Jesus is the true Son of God and Messiah. But, they are not confessing from a faithful heart that intends to follow Christ. As James says in James 2:19, “You believe that God is one, you do well. Even the demons believe – and shudder.” So, we find in these fearful demons that the kingdom is not for those who make an uncommitted confession. You might think, well preacher, I walked the aisle when I was seven and got baptized, so I know I’m saved. Sorry, if you aren’t following Jesus in faith, you are no different than a demon who believes and shudders.
The last group for whom the kingdom of God has not come is the faithless family, in verse 21. We will come back to Jesus’s family in a few weeks, but for now, we are given a preview of where they stand. We are told that his family heard that he was gathering such a large crowd that he and his disciples couldn’t even eat, and they were embarrassed by this. They’re embarrassed because they knew Jesus as the snot-nosed cousin whom they always beat in baseball. They were embarrassed because they knew him as Joseph’s apprentice who was just a lowly carpenter. They knew him as the illegitimate son of Mary – probably the product of some illicit relationship she had with a Roman soldier or something. Now, all of the sudden, he’s out preaching of a coming kingdom and doing great miracles, and that just doesn’t meet with the boy they knew. Friend, are you so familiar with Jesus that you cannot see him for who he is? There is a dangerous strain of Christianity in our day that makes Jesus out to be a loving friend, a faithful co-pilot, a wise teacher, a comfort in times of depression and anxiety, but not the Messiah who came to judge sin and deliver people from it. Be careful of being so familiar with Jesus that you lose sight of his majesty and authority.
Finally, we have one group for whom the kingdom of God has come. In verses 13-19 we see the favored disciples. We are told that Jesus separates with his disciples to a mountain, and there he calls out the twelve disciples who would be the representatives of the kingdom. Mark uses some important language in verse 13 that we can’t miss. He says that Jesus “called to him those whom he desired… and he appointed twelve.” See two truths from this statement. First, you cannot come into the kingdom apart from the call of Jesus. The crowd was not called by Jesus. The demons were not called. His own family was not called. Twelve men were called. As Jesus says in John 6:44, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.”
Second, you will not enter the kingdom because you deserve it, but because of the grace of God. Notice that Jesus called “those whom he desired.” In other words, Jesus didn’t take applications and choose the candidates who might be the best for the organization. He didn’t look at the works of his disciples and call those who were most deserving. His call was based upon his grace alone. We know this is the case because of the last disciple he called – Judas Iscariot. If we wanted to argue that all of these men deserved to be called because of their qualifications, we have a problem! Jesus knew everyone of these men. He knew exactly who Judas was, and yet he called him anyway. As John Calvin said, “If you understand him to say, that those were chosen who were more excellent than others, this will not apply to Judas. The meaning, therefore, is the apostleship was not bestowed on account of any human merits, but by the free mercy of God.” If you have been called into the kingdom, it is purely by the mercy and grace of God.
Friend, if you are to enter the kingdom of God, it will be because God, by his grace, has called you to it. Do not think that you deserve the kingdom of God because you have strong feelings about him, or because of that one time at church camp that you made a decision for Christ. You do not deserve the kingdom – you receive it by the grace of God alone. If you sense the call of Christ today, won’t you come in repentance and faith?
Brothers and sisters, may we be careful about how we judge kingdom worthiness. The kingdom is not known by its numbers or its words, but by the grace and calling of God. We should be careful not to say that a ministry is good because it draws in a lot of people. We should also be careful not to justify a ministry just because they say the right things. Rather, we should ask, do we find the grace of God in this ministry? Does the preacher magnify Christ? Does the church believe that it is only by grace that anyone is saved? I hope that we will be a church like this – a church that stands on the grace of God alone.
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