“Satanic Craziness or Sanctified Insanity?”
In the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit.
[Amen.]
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our
Lord [Amen.]
“Rise! To arms! With prayer employ you,
O Christians, lest the foe destroy you;
For Satan has designed your fall.
Wield God’s Word, the weapon glorious;
Against all foes be thus victorious,
For God protects you from them all.
Fear not the hordes of hell, Here is Emmanuel.
Hail the Savior!
The strong foes yield To Christ, our shield,
And we, the victors, hold the field.”
(Lutheran Service Book, © 2006 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO.
668:1)
Gospel
Reading...................................................................
St. Mark 2:20-35 (esp. 20-22)
20Then [Jesus] went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could
not even eat. 21And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him,
for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.” 22And 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.”
Prologue: The Christian faith is both craziness and insanity …
at least that’s many people think. It’s really illogical and does not stand
the test of scientific examination or personal observation. After all, how
many of us here today saw with our physical eyes and heard with our physical
ears the agonizing suffering and crucifixion death of Jesus, any of His
heartwarming miracles of healing and life restoration, or His own personal
bodily self alive after being declared dead? Many argue that the Christian
faith is simply a figment of imagination, a psychological opiate that calms
frazzled nerves, a crutch for mental or emotional weaknesses, or simply
fairy tales that encourage good moral lifestyles.
Well, the historical Jesus Christ was Himself subjected to such
scrutiny and similar accusations as today’s Gospel Reading reported. In
fact, it’s not far-fetched at all to say that His own family members doubted
and His enemies denied His claim to be the Messiah prophesied in the Old
Testament. In fact, in today’s sermon text they raised the accusatory
question about whether or not He was a bona fide case of …
“Satanic Craziness or Sanctified Insanity?”
“Having celebrated the greatest events in God’s history of
salvation, the death and resurrection of the Son of God, we pause[d] a bit
at the Feast of the Holy Trinity [last weekend] to consider the essence of
God.” We were reminded that “Certainly the essence of God is beyond our
weak comprehension, but He has graciously revealed Himself to us as Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit.” In fact, “When we want to summarize all the Holy
Scripture says about God as our Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, we call
Him the Holy Trinity.” That is, “to speak of God as the Holy Trinity says
at one time all the many things that the Scriptures say about God.” So it
is that “Our worship never ceases confessing our faith in the triune God and
giving glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit … .”
(Treasury of Daily Prayer. Scot A. Kinnaman, Gen. Ed. Copyright © 2008
Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO. Page 352.)
In addition to that annual important and explicit emphasis on the
Holy Trinity, last weekend was the completion of the Festival Portion of the
Christian Church Year and this weekend is the beginning of the Non-Festival
Portion of it. Having once again celebrated the birth, ministry, suffering,
death, resurrection, and ascension of our Savior, Jesus Christ, we now
travel through six months of the so-called “Green Season of the Church
Year”—that being the Sundays after Pentecost.
During this time we’ll hear more about Immanuel’s compassion for
mankind that flowed forth in His teachings and mercy-miracles. From that we’ll
gain a clearer understanding of how we individually and collectively as the
mystical body of Christ—the church—are to live out our confession of faith
as we love God by loving one another. We’ll do so in joyful recognition of
what Saint Paul declared in today’s Epistle Reading: “Since we have the same
spirit of faith according to what has been written, ‘I believed, and so I
spoke,’ we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised
the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his
presence. For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and
more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.” (2 Cor
4:13-15 ESV)
While we do so, we find ourselves confronted with this troublesome
question about whether Jesus suffered from satanic craziness or sanctified
insanity … or both! In the context of that question, Jesus gave His
audience then and us today a stern warning to …
I. Avoid Falling into Unrepentantly Blaspheming the Holy Spirit.
(23-30)
23And he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan
cast out Satan? 24If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom
cannot stand. 25And if a house is divided against itself, that house will
not be able to stand. 26And if Satan has risen up against himself and is
divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. 27But 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. 28“Truly, I say to you, all
sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they
utter, 29but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has
forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”—30for they had said, “He has
an unclean spirit.”
In the context of The Second Commandment we learn that an element
of “Cursing by God’s name is blaspheming God by speaking evil of Him or
mocking Him.” (Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation. Copyright © 1986,
1991 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO. Page 63.) Simply stated,
“blaspheme” means to speak evil of or mock someone. Jesus emphasized God’s
stern warning against that sin telling His audience then and us today that
anyone who does so against the Holy Spirit (without repenting of such) “is
guilty of an eternal sin.”
Not being able to even find or take time to eat, our Savior’s
family “gathered either to talk some sense into him or to restrain him
forcibly.” Their words and actions betrayed their attitude of “‘It’s insane
and unhealthy how he’s spending himself. He doesn’t seem to be concerned
about the welfare of his disciples, to say nothing about himself. We’ve got
to do something.’ Perhaps they meant well, but their actions and attitude
reveal [among other things that] they did not believe in him as the promised
Savior.”
As if that wasn’t bad enough, the leading religious teachers of
the law refused to acknowledge that “Jesus was fulfilling the prophecies of
the Old Testament” when He had healed “a demon-possessed man who was blind
and mute.” (Harold E. Wicke in People’s Bible Commentary: Mark. Copyright ©
1992 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO. Pages 55f.) In fact, they
even blasphemed Him by accusing Him of being a disciple of the devil for
doing so!
Christ’s defensive response told them just how ridiculous and
dangerous their accusations were. After all, their allegations bordered on
denying, if not outright charged Him with deceitfully claiming, that He was
the very Messiah sent by God to atone for the guilt of all sinful mankind as
God promised to Adam and Eve in today’s Old Testament Reading: “I will put
enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her
offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” (Gen
3:15 ESV). And that, my dear fellow believers in Christ, is the eternal sin
of blaspheming against the Holy Spirit, namely, refusing to believe the
truth that Jesus is the God-sent Savior from sin, death, and the devil.
Well, Jesus not only defensively declared the evil of unbelief in
Him as the Redeemer of all sinful people, but He also seized the opportunity
to proclaim that …
II. Doers of God’s Will Are Christ’s Close Family Members. (31-35)
31And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to
him and called him. 32And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to
him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.” 33And he
answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34And looking about at
those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!
35Whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”
“Blood runs thicker than water” is a way of saying that close
family relationships generally form very tight bonds. At this point in His
instructions, Jesus distinguished between human family relationships and
spiritual family relationships … and which is the more meaningful of the
two.
Yes, temporal earthly family blood relationships are important and
need to be preserved and nurtured as He taught elsewhere. But the blood
relationship that’s even more eternally meaningful and significant is “The
blood of Jesus [God’s] Son [that] cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7
ESV) It’s only by the shedding of and being covered with His holy precious
blood that our sins are completely abolished.
That blood that Jesus shed on Calvary’s cross is the same real
blood that He gives us along with His real body in the sacred sacramental
meal of Holy Communion. He does so to reassure us of the absolute certainty
of forgiveness of our sins, healing of our sin-sick souls, and eternal life
with Him in heaven. Of course, He gives us that certain assurance also when
we read and hear God’s Holy Word; meditate on our Baptism, in which the Holy
Spirit planted trust in Jesus in our hearts and our heavenly Father adopted
us as His dear children; and take to heart the Holy Absolution spoken by
Christ’s undershepherd after we’ve confessed our sins.
To be a blood-bought relative of Jesus is to believe and confess
that He is the only Savior, who defeated Satan and thereby liberated us from
the bondage of the devil, the world, and our sinful selves. To be a
blood-bought relative of Jesus is to believe and confess that He alone is
our substitutionary Lamb of God, who lived for us the holy life that God
demands of us but we’re unable and unwilling to do; endured the punishment
of suffering and death that we deserve but desire to escape; and rose from
the dead in a mighty act of ultimate superiority over all His and our
spiritual enemies. To be a blood-bought relative of Jesus is to strive by
the Holy Spirit’s power to set aside all sinful Satan-pleasing thoughts,
desires, words, and deeds that glorify the devil and replace them with
sanctified God-pleasing thoughts, desires, words, and deeds that glorify
Jesus.
So, in light of all that and more, … and in answer to the question
of whether or not the Christian faith and its object, Jesus Christ, is …
“Satanic Craziness or Sanctified Insanity?”
the factual truth of the matter is that the Christian faith and its object,
Jesus Christ, are neither craziness nor insanity … no matter what their
detractors may think or wish. Although it’s often illogical and does not
stand the test of scientific examination or personal observation, and
although none of us here today saw with our physical eyes and heard with our
physical ears the agonizing suffering and crucifixion death of Jesus, any of
His heartwarming miracles of healing and life restoration, or His own
personal bodily self alive after being declared dead, there were ample
eyewitnesses along with divine revelation that substantiated the facts upon
which our faith is founded. Indeed, the Christian faith is far more than a
figment of imagination, a psychological opiate that calms frazzled nerves, a
crutch for mental or emotional weaknesses, or simply fairy tales that
encourage good moral lifestyles. It is and forever will be the genuine
certainty about Immanuel, who is our Lord and Savior. So, …
I. Avoid Falling into Unrepentantly Blaspheming the Holy Spirit.
(23-30) Do so by prayerfully keeping today’s Collect on your heart and in
your mind: “Your Son Jesus triumphed over the prince of demons and freed us
from bondage to sin. Help us to stand firm against every assault of Satan,
and enable us always to do Your will.” In addition, do so by holding fast
to today’s Gradual: “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his
greatness is unsearchable. On your wondrous works, I will meditate, and I
will declare your greatness.” (Ps 145:3, 5b, 6b ESV)
At the same time, always bear in mind that …
II. Doers of God’s Will Are Christ’s Close Family Members. (31-35) Do
so, fellow baptized children of the heavenly Father, who know, believe,
confess, and plead today’s Introit: “The Lord is my strength and my shield;
in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I
give thanks to him. The Lord is the strength of his people; he is the
saving refuge of his anointed. Oh, save your people and bless your
heritage! Be their shepherd and carry them forever.” (Ps 28:7-9 ESV)
God grant it all for the sake of Jesus Christ, His humble Son, our
holy Savior. [Amen.]
In the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit.
[Amen.]
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