015 Followers of Jesus – part 3

Mark 3:13-35 (29-35)

January 25, 2026

We have been talking about true followers of Jesus.

Or the credentials of a true follower.

After learning that Jesus is certainly worth following,

We are now looking at what a follower looks like.

WHO IS A FOLLOWER?

#1 THOSE HE CHOOSES

Mark 3:13a

“summoned those whom He Himself wanted”

#2 THOSE WHO COME

Mark 3:13b-14a

“and they came to Him…so that they would be with Him”

#3 THOSE HE COMMISSIONS

Mark 3:14b-19

“that He could send them out to preach”

#4 THOSE WHO CONCEDE

Mark 3:20-30

This the one we looked at this morning.

A follower of Jesus is ONE WHO CONCEDES that He is in fact:

· The Son of God

· The One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit

· The One who forgives sin

· The Physician who goes to the spiritually sick

· The One who brings the new covenant

· The Lord of the Sabbath

· The One who does good and saves lives

A true follower sees His power and recognizes that

He is filled with the Holy Spirit and He does the will of God.

A true follower sees Jesus as One who must be followed.

But this morning we saw the negative example.

· First from His family (which we’ll return to tonight)

· Ultimately from the scribes who acknowledged His power but attributed it to Satan.

“He is possessed by Beelzebub,” and “He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.”

Instead of attributing Jesus’ power to be from God,

· They attributed it to be from Satan.

Instead of recognizing Him as the Savior of sinners,

· They saw Him as a servant of the enemy.

Not only was this illogical

Not only was this ignorant

IT WAS ACTUALLY BLASPHEMOUS

Jesus said, “whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”

We discussed that quickly at the end of our time this morning,

But I want to come back to here tonight before we move on

Just to make sure we are clear on what is clearly an important statement.

Often referred to as “The Unpardonable Sin”,

People should know what it is.

Let’s state it like this:

To blaspheme the Holy Spirit is to claim that

The Spirit who empowered Jesus

Was not from God, but was instead from Satan.

It is ultimately to claim that Jesus is not from God.

· He is not sent from God.

· He does not speak from God.

· His power is not God’s power.

· His kingdom is not God’s kingdom.

· His mission is not God’s mission.

I read you a couple of corresponding passages this morning,

Let me give them to you again real quick.

Hebrews 6:4-6 “For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.”

· Many quote this passage as a proof that one can lose their salvation.

· That is not what the writer is saying.

· None of those words are used anywhere else in Scripture to speak of salvation.

The words here are telling.

· “once been enlightened”

· “tasted of the heavenly gift”

· “made partakers of the Holy Spirit”

· “tasted the good word of God and the power of the age to come”

None of those words speak of one who has obtained salvation,

But rather one who has:

· Tasted it,

· Seen it,

· Heard it,

· Felt the conviction of it,

· Seen the effects of it.

It speaks of one who has been fully made aware of the truth of salvation.

But if a person rejects such enlightenment.

There is nothing more to say.

They cannot be brought to repentance.

We also looked at:

Hebrews 10:26-31 “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

The opening phrase makes it clear.

“sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth”

· The gospel is proclaimed.

· The gospel is explained.

· The truth is disseminated.

· BUT a person chooses rather to keep their sin and stay in it.

That person insults the Holy Spirit who called them to salvation

And therefore there is no salvation for that person.

What we are talking about is one who rejects, maligns, insults, BLASPHEMES THE MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

Let me give you another text to help you here.

John 16:7-15 “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. “He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. “All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.”

We have often referred to this text as “The fingerprints of the Holy Spirit”

This is how you know the Holy Spirit is present and at work.

· Sinners are convicted of their sin.

· The truth is made clear.

· Christ is glorified.

If we might put it so crudely, the Holy Spirit is in the business of

Revealing, promoting, advertising, and selling Christ to sinners.

THAT IS WHAT HE DOES.

NOW I BRING THAT UP, BECAUSE

In our day and age we are also hit with the reality from another angle.

We live in a day where the charismatic movement

· Claims all sorts of bizarre behaviors and responses as being from the Holy

Spirit

· And then tell us that we cannot deny them or we are blaspheming the Holy

Spirit.

I WANT TO ADDRESS THAT HERE A LITTLE:

FOR ONE, I want to say that much of the miracles and “Holy Spirit work” claimed by the charismatic movement is not true nor real, whereas Jesus miracles were real.

Jesus was actually working miracles

By the power of the Holy Spirit, not just claiming to.

What Jesus was doing was real and effective and authentic.

Most of what we see in the charismatic world is smoke and mirrors and bizarre behavior attributed to the Holy Spirit.

· Their “ministry” does not expose sin or convict sinners.

· Their “ministry” does not bring clarity to truth, it often times muddles it.

· Their “ministry” does not bring glory to Christ (typically to the Spirit or the preacher)

What they are doing are not miracles.

What they are doing is not the Holy Spirit.

And denying their work is not blasphemy, it is discernment.

BUT THE OTHER important thing to realize is that the issue here is NOT about defending the Holy Spirit, but about defending Christ whom the Holy Spirit testifies of.

Mark makes a very clarifying statement in verse 30.

“because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

(emphasis on “He”)

Mark’s focus is on Jesus.

· They are disregarding the power of Jesus.

· They are ignoring the purpose of Jesus.

· They are rejecting Jesus.

The modern-day charismatic movement

Likes to put all the focus on the Holy Spirit

When even the Holy Spirit puts all the focus on Christ.

Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is when He confronts you with Christ.

· You are shown to be a sinner.

· You are called to repentance.

· You are offered forgiveness through Christ.

· You are called to leave your life and follow Him.

· You are called to live for His glory.

The Holy Spirit does all of that for you.

And then you, with full understanding, ignore and reject His message.

That is blasphemy.

And a person in that sin cannot be forgiven.

Acts 13:44-45 “The next Sabbath nearly the whole city assembled to hear the word of the Lord. But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, and were blaspheming.”

IT WAS A REJECTION OF THE TRUTH.

But there is one more thing about this reality that you need to grasp.

Jesus says that a man who blasphemes the Holy Spirit is

“guilty of an eternal sin”

He does NOT say guilty of “eternal condemnation”

What is the difference?

If a man will stop blaspheming and repent of his sin then he can be saved.

Blasphemy is unpardonable while it continues,

But if a man will stop and turn to Christ, He can be saved.

How do I know?

1 Timothy 1:12-13 “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief;”

Paul was a blasphemer and Christ saved him.

The reason blasphemy is referred to as unpardonable

Is because you cannot be saved while living in it.

That contrasts every other type of sin.

As a believer in Christ,

· You may fall in many other sins in your life.

· You may even dwell in them for a time.

· There are certainly sins you commit and are unaware of.

· Some of these sins can even be so severe that God will take your life.

But if you are in Christ, you will still go to heaven.

YOU ARE STILL FORGIVEN.

· You may forfeit peace

· You may forfeit joy

· You may forfeit blessing

· You may forfeit even life on earth

But you do not forfeit salvation.

1 John 2:1-2 “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.”

But the blasphemer, cannot be saved while in that sin

Because the very nature of it is to reject Christ.

And if you keep on rejecting Christ there is no salvation.

I hope that makes sense and perhaps brings some clarity to your understanding of it.

What we learned here is that

True followers of Jesus CONCEDE who Jesus is and follow Him.

· They do not balk when He says they are sinners, they believe Him.

· They do not get angry when He offers forgiveness, they take it.

· They do not refute when He claims to be the Messiah, they follow.

That is what a true believer does, they concede to who Christ is.

WHO IS A FOLLOWER?

· Those He Chooses

· Those Who Come

· Those He Commissions

· Those Who Concede

#5 THOSE WHO CONFORM

Mark 3:31-35

We mean this:

· True followers of Jesus conform to the will of God regarding Jesus.

· They come to Him, they follow Him, they obey Him.

There are 3 things I want us to examine here in these 5 verses.

1) HIS OWN PEOPLE (31-32)

“Then His mother and His brothers arrived, and standing outside they sent word to Him and called Him. A crowd was sitting around Him, and they said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are outside looking for You.”

This scene was introduced to us this morning in verses 20-21

We just got side-tracked by those scribes who blasphemed.

Mark 3:20-21 “And He came home, and the crowd gathered again, to such an extent that they could not even eat a meal. When His own people heard of this, they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, “He has lost His senses.”

I’ll remind you again that “His own people”

Is a reference to those who are near Him through origin or birth.

THIS IS HIS FAMILY.

· Verses 31-32 make it clear that it is “His mother and His brothers”

THE REASON THEY HAVE COME IS BECAUSE

· The crowds were gathering around Him to such an extent that He couldn’t even eat a meal and “His own people heard of this”.

· They traveled the 30 miles to Capernaum where they planned “to take custody of Him”

· Their justification was the belief that “He has lost His senses.”

Some commentators

· Hold that they came to Jesus out of a genuine concern for His well-being.

· Hold that there is derision here.

IT’S REALLY HARD TO KNOW.

We have a difficult time thinking His mother thought ill of Him.

And yet we know His brothers didn’t believe in Him.

WHAT DO WE KNOW?

At the very least we would say that His biological family had:

A FAILURE TO SEE

THEY WERE BLIND REGARDING JESUS.

And honestly you cannot excuse even Mary from this.

· I know God spoke to Mary.

· I know Mary should have had no doubts regarding Jesus’ origin.

· I know Mary treasured all things in her heart.

I’m not at all suggesting that Mary is some sort of non-believer here,

But even John the Baptist reached a point

Where he doubted who Jesus might have been.

One thing I do know is that all 3 synoptic accounts

Include at least part of this narrative and all include Mary in it.

There is no getting around the fact that

She is, at the very least, with those who believe that Jesus had

“lost His senses”.

That means that, regardless of all they had seen of Jesus,

They had FAILED TO SEE who He was or what He came to do.

Now granted, they had likely not seen His miracles

(aside from the water turned to wine in Cana).

But they certainly had seen His flawless life of obedience.

· None could deny that.

· They had never seen Jesus sin.

· He had never lied, cheated, exaggerated, dishonored, coveted, pouted, bullied,

or any other common childhood sin.

I’ve often thought this was the unique backdrop to the book of James.

James had lived with Jesus. He had seen His practical life.

He could easily see where the church was missing the mark.

So at the very least Jesus’ mother and brothers

Should have been aware of the righteous character of Jesus.

HE WAS NOT CRAZY, HE WAS HOLY.

They should have known that.

What you see from them is NOT BLASPHEMY, but it’s NOT FAITH EITHER

Their claim on Jesus was an earthly one, NOT a spiritual one.

They came and claimed Him due to earthly familiarity,

Not spiritual revelation.

Sort of like people who claim Christianity just because they associate with the church and attend. (It’s not a spiritual fellowship it’s a physical one)

WE ALSO SEE THAT they felt the liberty to interrupt His preaching service to try and seize Him and take Him home.

· Even if they understood who He was, they clearly failed to see why He was here.

· (Perhaps this was Mary’s flaw – perhaps she knew Him to be God’s Son, but had trouble as a mother seeing Him give so much of Himself to the lost)

Mary had lacked that perspective already once.

Remember His adolescent years

When they left Him in Jerusalem accidentally?

Luke 2:49-50 “And He said to them, “Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?” But they did not understand the statement which He had made to them.”

Maybe Mary is still confused in that regard.

Either way, they don’t see His ministry as what is most important

Because they want to seize Him and take Him home

Away from the crowds He came to save.

The Pharisees hadn’t understood that.

Mark 2:16 “When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they said to His disciples, “Why is He eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners?”

The disciples would at times miss that point too.

Remember the feeding of the 5,000?

Mark 6:35-36 “When it was already quite late, His disciples came to Him and said, “This place is desolate and it is already quite late; send them away so that they may go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”

It’s the same here with His mother and brothers.

They aren’t seeing who He is or why He came.

THEY HAVE A FAILURE TO SEE

They also have:

A FAILURE TO SIT

That is to sit at His feet and learn from Him.

Jesus has been preaching everywhere,

· But clearly they haven’t been listening.

· They haven’t been seeking.

· They haven’t been learning.

They are outside, not inside.

They are here to seize Jesus, not listen to Him.

They remind us of the Mary and Martha dilemma:

Luke 10:41-42 “But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

Martha wasn’t sitting at His feet, Mary was.

That is a failure from His mother and brothers too.

They didn’t see Him, they didn’t sit and listen to Him.

And the result then was:

A FAILURE TO SEIZE

They weren’t able to get to Him, seize Him, or take Him home.

HE WOULDN’T GO WITH THEM.

They “arrived, and standing outside they sent word to Him and called Him”, but Jesus didn’t go.

SO YOU SEE THE PROBLEM OF HIS OWN PEOPLE.

They didn’t see Him, They didn’t sit with Him, The didn’t seize Him.

They are obviously missing the point.

First – His Own People

2) HIS ODD POLL (33)

“Answering them, He said, “Who are My mother and My brothers?”

What a strange thing to say.

I would have liked to see the looks on the faces of the crowd sitting around Him.

Clearly the question was meant to change the focus of the crowd.

Clearly the question was meant

To raise curiosity and cause them to think deeper.

What is He trying to get the crowd to consider?

Is He trying to get us to turn our back on our genetic family relationships?

After all, in other places He talks about the division He brought.

Mark 10:34-37 “They will mock Him and spit on Him, and scourge Him and kill Him, and three days later He will rise again.” James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, came up to Jesus, saying, “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You.” And He said to them, “What do you want Me to do for you?” They said to Him, “Grant that we may sit, one on Your right and one on Your left, in Your glory.”

Luke 14:26 “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.”

IS THAT WHAT THIS IS?

THAT’S DOUBTFUL,

· Especially since on the cross Jesus actually spoke up to secure the well-being of His mother.

· He actually rebuked the Pharisees for failing to obey God’s command to honor their father and mother.

In Paul’s letter to Timothy we are taught:

1 Timothy 5:8 “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

Jesus isn’t calling for a rejecting of parents.

He is not severing ties with His earthly family.

What He is doing is pointing out a truth that we should certainly know

And one that is essential to our understanding of the gospel.

Namely that spiritual life and blessing is not passed down genetically.

Spiritual relationships are not about your genetic bloodline.

Remember John 1?

John 1:11-13 “He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

· The physical birth had no benefit, it was the spiritual birth that mattered.

Remember Jesus telling Nicodemus that

He had to be “born again”?

John the Baptist told the Pharisees:

Luke 3:8 “Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.”

· It’s not your blood type, it’s your obedience that matters.

But beyond that, consider what you already know about the gospel

And where true blessing comes from.

Romans 9:6-8 “But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants, but: “through Isaac your descendants will be named.” That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.”

Galatians 3:7 “Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham.”

Galatians 3:27 “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”

Ephesians 2:19 “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household,”

What do all of those passages teach us?

The blessing of God and the blessing of salvation

Is not a genetic blessing, it is a spiritual one.

Jesus’ mother and brothers showed up

Thinking they had some claim on Him because they were blood kin.

But they had no claim on Him by reason of His genetics.

They thought that made them special, Jesus scoffed at the notion.

Maybe we could read His question like this:

“My mother and My brothers are looking for Me, what does that matter?”

Jesus is forcing this crowd, and us,

To think differently about the relationships that matter.

· Being a blood relative of Jesus is not as important as being a spiritual relative of Jesus.

· Following Jesus is more important than be familiar with Jesus.

MAYBE WE’LL GET EVEN MORE DIRECT.

So what if you were born in a Christian home,

That is irrelevant if you are not following Jesus.

This is one of my beefs with COVENANT THEOLOGY and infant baptism.

· Truly reformed theology baptizes infants as those who are part of the covenant.

· They treat it like circumcision in the Old Testament.

But baptizing an infant does not place them in covenant with God Any more than circumcision placed a Jew in relationship with God.

Do they share in the blessings of our home?

ABSOLUTELY!

1 Corinthians 7:14 “For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband; for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy.”

Children with Christian parents are blessed through their parents,

But that does not make them redeemed.

Mary and her sons were certainly blessed to have Jesus in their home,

But it did not make them redeemed.

Even they had to believe in Him and follow Him.

And that is the point Jesus is making.

· There is no alternative way to Jesus.

· There is no alternative road to salvation.

We come by faith in Christ and that is the only way.

No man has a claim on Jesus, but the man who believes in Jesus.

His Own People; His Odd Poll

3) HIS OBVIOUS POINT (34-35)

“Looking about at those who were sitting around Him, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers! “For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother.”

Mark puts it in twice and no other writer mentions it.

It is the phrase “sitting around Him”.

You see it up in verse 32 and again here in verse 34.

Mark is painting an obvious contrasting picture.

There are those who are outside laying claim to Him

And then are those who are inside seeking Him.

WHICH ONE ACTUALLY HAD HIM?

Jesus gave Himself to the ones who gave themselves to Him.

· These were the people who had come to Him.

· These were the people who were not rejecting His message.

· These were men like Levi’s guests

· These were people like Martha’s sister Mary, who sat at His feet.

· These people were coming to Jesus.

These people had done “the will of God”.

When Jesus said “For whoever does the will of God…”

He’s NOT just talking about obedience to God’s commands,

Although obedience is certainly a fruit of salvation.

What is He talking about?

John 6:29 “Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”

John 6:40 “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”

God’s will for you is that you believe in Jesus.

You say, “God doesn’t want me to be obedient?”

· Yes, of course He does,

· But how well did that work out for your salvation?

The prophets had preached for centuries that you needed to obey God’s Law,

· And that never worked.

· Israel still ended up in Babylon.

God sent Jesus to redeem you from the curse of the Law.

He sent Christ to save you from your rebellion.

Jesus did not come

To reissue the challenge of obedience.

REMEMBER?

Mark 1:15 “and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

How many times did we say it when we studied the active and passive obedience of Jesus?

“Jesus did not come to make us righteous,

He came to be righteousness for us.”

God’s will is that you come to Jesus.

God’s will is that you believe in Jesus.

Remember the Sermon on the Mount?

Matthew 7:24-27 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”

The whole point of what Jesus said was that a man needed to act on His words.

· That is, they needed to come to Him.

· They needed to believe in Him.

That is what Jesus is referring to.

Those in this room were doing that.

· They had come to Jesus for salvation and forgiveness.

· They had come to Jesus for a righteousness they could not earn.

Their claim on Jesus was a spiritual one.

They are known for their obedience to God’s will.

Remember this one:

2 Corinthians 5:16 “Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer.”

Our bond and our claim is not a physical one.

We don’t spot other Christians by the clothes they wear or the way they dress.

· We don’t have special underwear like the Mormons do.

· We don’t have special sideburns.

· We don’t have wear turbans

· There are no orange togas to set us apart

HOW DO YOU SPOT A CHRISTIAN?

How do you recognize a true brother or sister?

They are those who are doing God’s will by following Jesus.

That’s how you spot them.

Something else here I think is interesting.

The entire point would have still made sense

If Jesus had only referenced His brothers.

“Who is my brother?”

· We would have still got the point.

But Jesus specifically includes His mother in that statement.

WHY?

Because our focus is not on our maternal relationships,

It is on our paternal relationship.

It is not about our mother’s will, it is about our Father’s will.

It all goes back to the point.

· Our strongest bond is not with those with whom we share the same mother.

· Our strongest bond is with those with whom we have the same heavenly Father.

This is a follower.

It is one who conforms to the will of God by believing in Jesus.

A FOLLOWER IS ONE

· Who is chosen,

· Who comes,

· Who is commissioned,

· Who concedes,

· Who conforms to God’s will by believing in Jesus.

IS THAT YOU?

· Do you recognize who Jesus is?

· Do you believe in Him?

· Have you come to Him?

· Has He commissioned you?

Don’t rest on some earthly claim on Jesus.

Those won’t wash.

You do God’s will and come to Jesus in obedience.