"Relational Revolution" - Wild Heart: Mark’s Portrait of a Radical Messiah

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We’re continuing our series Wild Heart: Mark’s Portrait of a Radical Messiah this morning.

Last week we talked about how we can rely on Jesus to help us with the “squeeze” of life. Jesus experienced pressures in His life and ministry and He understands what we go through.

Today being Mother’s day and all we’re going to talk about relationships. How many of think Jesus was a good son to His mother?

How would you feel if you went to visit your son and when you got there it was so crowded that you couldn’t get in? Then when you sent a message to him telling him you were outside wanting to see him, you got a message back like “He said someone else was His mother, brother and sisters.”

Would you agree with me that as a mom that reply would have bothered you? Most of the moms I know would have told the messenger to “march right back in there and tell him I gave birth to you so get out here right now!” or something to that effect.

In this section of Mark’s gospel Jesus makes it clear that following Him would revolutionize the way that relationships were understood.

In the culture of Palestine family bloodlines were the primary glue of the society. Entire communities were often named in honor of ancestors and people often took the name of their community as their own. In that day there weren’t any government programs to care for the young, the sick or the elderly. They didn’t have food stamps or unemployment benefits. All of this responsibility fell on the family. Everyone worked together to care for one another.

But there was also a dark side to this because the family and racial lines defined who was ‘in’ and who was ‘out’ which led to a closed society.

In our passage today we see that Jesus revolutionized the definition of relationships to open the doors to the kingdom of God.

Let’s read Mark 3:13-35

Jesus revolutionized relationships with others. Mark 3:13-19 What do you think would have happened if at the very beginning Jesus would have said “Hey Pete, go and find 11 more guys for our ministry team.” We know one thing for sure His list would have looked different than the list in vs. 16-19. Here are some names that probably wouldn’t have made the list: James and John because they were competing fishermen and kind of hot headed. Matthew (aka Levi) the evil tax collector. Thomas the doubter, Simon and Judas because they were zealots and would draw the wrong kind of attention. And finally, James the son of Alphaeus because he was from a different family group.

The disciples didn’t choose Jesus, He chose them and because Jesus was doing the choosing the disciples had to enter into relationship with people who were much different than they would have chosen themselves.

When we follow Jesus we give up our right to pick and choose who we’ll connect with. It can’t be any other way because if we don’t there will lot’s of people who would never be invited to the table.

Jesus revolutionized the priority of relationships. Mark 3:20-30 Up to this point the family relationship took priority over everything else. Keep in mind that at that time family and religious life was so intertwined that they weren’t seen as separate pieces of a bigger puzzle. To be a Jew meant you had an obligation to your family and to your religion.

The sudden change in His priorities caused His family; His people to open assume that He had lost His marbles. Instead of tending to the duties and responsibilities of His people Jesus left them and His job to wander the countryside with 12 strangers healing the sick and teaching people about the kingdom of God.

Jesus, however answered to a higher authority which created friction with His family and with the religious leaders. Because He didn’t do things the way they assumed He should they began to label Him. His family labeled Him as crazy and the religious elite labeled Him as demonic.

But Jesus explains that He’s not divided in mind or in Spirit because He couldn’t do the things He was doing if He was.

When we enter into a relationship with Jesus it puts some stress on our other relationships. They won’t understand the changes they see in us and in some cases they may reject you or even accuse you of losing your mind.

Keep in mind Jesus isn’t providing us with an excuse to be irresponsible and abandon our families and shirk our responsibilities. What He’s challenging and revolutionizing is who we are ultimately accountable to. When we enter into a relationship with God through Jesus then we answer to a higher authority. His claim on our life takes the place of all others.

Jesus revolutionized the relationship with the kingdom of God. Mark 3:31-35 Up to this point the bloodlines of the Jews determined who was included as God’s people. If you were a descendent of Abraham you were ‘in’ if you weren’t then you weren’t. It was that simple.

But Jesus paves the way for the demolition of this wall of separation when He includes as part of His family anyone and everyone who obeys the will of God through faith.

2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

When we say ‘yes’ to Jesus invitation to enter into relationship we are obeying the will of God. And as we continue to obey His will for us we grow to become more like Jesus.

When Jesus came He upended everything and that includes our relationships but it all starts with a relationship with the most revolutionary relationship of all our relationship with Jesus.

Jesus said if we believe in Him that we will be saved. With that belief has three parts. The belief that we need forgiveness of sins, the belief that we need to stop sinning, and the belief that Jesus is the only one who can help us with both of those things.