Mark Part 3 - Opposition

Every moderate-to-AWESOME story needs at least one of the following[1]:

and...

And when you put the two together, the outcome is almost always

This was no different in Jesus’ case. In the gospel of Mark, opposition and the ensuing conflict is at the very heart of Jesus’ story, from shortly after His baptism to His final breath on the cross. Jesus faces opposition in basically two forms[2]:

(1) Satanic/demonic forces

(2) Religious leaders (a.k.a. Pharisees and scribes).

Satanic/Demonic Forces

Right after Jesus gets baptized 

It appears as though Jesus hadn’t even finished drying His beard before the Holy Spirit drove Him into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil himself. Mark tells us that Satan tempted Jesus for forty days, and immediately afterward Jesus began His ministry.

(I got this picture in an email, and thought it was pretty win.)

Imagine squaring off with the devil Himself for forty days. Think of how grueling a process this must have been for Jesus. And yet Scripture tells us He never sinned, He never gave into any of those temptations. [3] From the moment Satan tried to stand between Jesus and the will of God, Jesus prevailed.

Teaching in Synagogue
So Jesus sends Satan away to lick his wounds and ends up teaching in Capernaum on the Sabbath. And the people are astounded by the authority with which Jesus knows and speaks the word of God. Things appear to be going just according to plan, when a man with an “unclean spirit” crashes the party. 

The demon leaves the man, and word gets around that this “new teacher” Jesus has such authority that even the demons listen to Him. People are amazed by this, because it keeps happening. Mark 1:34 says that “He was not permitting the demons to speak because they knew who He was.”

Don’t you think the word would have gotten around in the demonic world that this guy Jesus was not someone to be messed with? It would seem to me that the dark forces would have taken the hint those first few times and left well enough alone, but it appears as though the opposite happens. Jesus meets a man who is so extremely tormented by the demonic that he is left destitute, naked, injuring himself, and left to dwell among the dead in the tombs of a town in Gerasenes:

The Gerasene Demonaic
“…he had his dwelling among the tombs. And no man was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain…and no one was able to subdue him. Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the tombs in the mountains, and gashing himself with stones.”

 

Now let’s think for a moment. What does the term “legion” mean? According to my handy-dandy-Microsoft Word dictionary, a legion is defined as “In ancient Rome, an army division of 3,000 – 6,000 soldiers, including cavalry.”

Yes, I am telling you that anywhere from 3 – 6,000 demons were tormenting this man at once. “We are many” doesn’t even begin to cover the torture this man likely endured while being held captive by Legion.

And yet, do you catch that a legion of demons still cowered in fear of the Son of God? They were begging Him for mercy. They implored Him to leave them alone, to not banish them into the abyss. The most profound level of demonic opposition my human mind can grasp cowers in fear of Jesus, Son of the Most High God. And Jesus handles them quickly, as if they are nothing at all to Him.

And so they did.

Jesus handles demonic opposition with the authority that has been given Him by God. Through faith in the Father and confidence in His position in God, Jesus faces that opposition and comes out on top, as he rightfully should. And though in this circumstance the people begged Jesus to leave their town, typically when Jesus bests the demonic, it is received as a sign of authority from God.  However, the demonic forces are by no means the only opposition Jesus faces in His time here on earth. The most persistent, annoying, and troubling to Jesus’ life is the opposition He faces from those who are supposed to be the strongest supporters of God’s Kingdom –

The Religious Elite

 

The scribes and Pharisees are supposed to be the men who know God’s word inside and out, and follow the law the most passionately. But the men that Jesus faces are constantly described as having hardened hearts[4] . These are the men who are constantly challenging the authority of Jesus. They constantly try to trap Him in His words, bring charges against Him. These are the very men who paid Judas Iscariot (one of the Apostles) off to turn Jesus over to them for His crucifixion.

All throughout the gospel of Mark these Pharisees pop up left and right – challenging Jesus’ authority to heal on the Sabbath, pestering Him about Jesus having a relationship with sinners and tax collectors, trying to trick Him in His knowledge of the Old Testament Scriptures, and plotting against Him to have Him killed.

Why? What are these men’s problems with Jesus? Why don’t they let Him alone – why don’t these men, of all people, recognize the Son of God when they see Him?

The answer is actually quite simple. They are all about the kingdom of Man, not the kingdom of God. The Pharisees saw Jesus as a threat to their position of status in the Jewish community. If you were a Pharisee in these times, you were the most godly, most religious man around. You had your spiritual “act” together. You observed EVERY tradition, EVERY ritual, and your spiritual life was flawless to anyone on the outside looking in.

Which is where they encountered problems with Jesus.

He wasn’t interested in the outside. He was all about the INSIDE of man, the hearts of people. And he saw straight into the hearts of these Pharisees and observed that they were hardened, self-righteous, and hypocritical. They were the furthest from the Lord and unwilling to budge. And they were unwilling to approach Jesus and include Him in their questions about His practices. They were far more content to grumble amongst themselves about Jesus not doing things THEIR way. And Jesus called them out again and again and again for it.

And so these men decided to “get rid of the problem.” Which they no doubt answered for in eternity - every person involved in His capture and crucifixion.

So what are our big take-aways from this? (Other than the obvious: Jesus is more powerful than demons and don’t be a Pharisee because they suck.)

For me, personally, the big take-away was this: if I don’t want to be a force of opposition (a “bad guy”) then the biggest thing that I need to do is approach Jesus when I have a problem with how He’s doing things. Because it happens. I’m human. And if you’re honest with yourself, you’ve likely had this dialogue with God –

I need to keep God a part of the conversation. I need to be honest with  Jesus when I don’t understand what He’s doing or why. And here’s the key, ladies and gentlemen: I need to approach God with a humble heart that is willing to be shown why God’s way is better than mine. Because it’s about His Kingdom, isn’t it? It’s His will, His way. He doesn’t owe me an explanation. And more often than not, when I include God in the conversation about what’s bothering me, and come at Him with a soft heart, He gives me that explanation even when He doesn’t have to.

I don’t know about you, but the last thing I want to be is in opposition of Jesus. Because I know who wins at the end of the day. And I’d much rather play for the winning team than for the team that gets a great big “Jesus-BOOYA” when it’s all said and done. Opposing God only causes big problems.

So how do I follow Jesus in faith even when I don’t understand what He’s doing? What happens when my faith fails, or when I don’t operate in the faith that I have? What happens when I’m not quite a “bad guy” but I’m certainly struggling to be one of the “good guys”?

 
That, my friends, is a discussion for another post. See you next time!

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[1]blatant Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog reference

[2]Mark L. Strauss, Four Portraits, One Jesus, (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2006), page 197 

[3]See Matthew 4 and Luke 4 for more details on the temptation of Jesus

[4]Mark 3:4