012 Evaluating The Conquest

Mark 3:7-12

January 18, 2026

The text we have this morning is an interesting one.

It actually reads like a victory lap.

We have here the summation of Jesus’ conquest into Satan’s kingdom.

Now of course the conquest is not over.

· Jesus is still going to preach and teach.

· He is still going to heal and deliver and save.

· He is ultimately going to deliver the death blow to Satan through His death and resurrection.

But it is clear in the way Mark states these 6 verses

That he is wanting to show us

That Jesus has in fact delivered on His promise.

The text here DOESN’T include any specific sermon.

It DOESN’T speak of any specific healing or salvation.

There is NOT a specific battle or debate mentioned.

Mark is clearly focusing on the enormity of Jesus’ victory.

He talks about the size of the crowds.

· We see words like “a great multitude” (7)

· We see “a great number of people” (8)

· We see “the crowd” (9)

· And how they “pressed around Him” (10)

· And we see how this crowd came to Him from everywhere (7-8)

· And ultimately we see that no matter where He goes demons are literally surrendering to Him. (11-12)

It is written as an exclamation point on the previous 2 ½ chapters.

Jesus went on conquest and Jesus totally dominated.

And that is sort of Mark’s concluding point to the segment.

Starting in verse 13 we get a bit of a transition from Mark.

Jesus will appoint His disciples.

· He will equip them.

· He will train them

· He will commission them.

Mark is going to start highlighting the teaching of Jesus,

· Introducing to us Jesus’ parable of the sower.

THE FOCUS WILL SHIFT A LITTLE.

This text is clearly a summation of the events we have seen so far.

So we’re going to take Mark’s queue and spend some time

Evaluating the scope of what Jesus has accomplished.

Clearly Mark is pointing out here that

Jesus has accomplished what He set out to do.

So before we start looking at this text,

I WANT US TO BACK UP to the start of the conquest.

I want us to revisit what Jesus said at the outset.

Then we’ll see how effective He was in fulfilling what He promised.

TURN TO: MARK 1:14

It’s only been a month ago that we studied this text

So I’m trusting that it is still fairly familiar to you.

But you’ll remember that Jesus had been announced publicly.

First by John the Baptist

· He is the One who can baptize with the Holy Spirit

And then by God from heaven

· Jesus is the highly exalted Son of God.

Then the Holy Spirit impelled Him to go into the wilderness

Where He would get a good look at the evil one.

· We likened it to the spies of Israel being sent for 40 days to scout out the

promised land.

· Jesus went, Jesus saw, Jesus returned.

And then we came to the great announcement of Jesus.

Mark 1:14-15 “Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Jesus entered the land.

He “came into Galilee”

And Jesus had an announcement.

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

Let’s revisit that statement this morning and remember

Exactly what Jesus was promising at the beginning of His conquest.

“THE TIME IS FULFILLED”

I told you then that “time” is KAIROS.

It doesn’t speak of chronological time, but rather of an ordained event.

God’s timing has now come to pass.

WE THINK OF EVENTS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

Like God telling Abraham that his descendants would spend 400 years in Egypt before they would enter the land.

· That was God’s timing.

We think of Jeremiah promising 70 years of captivity before God would usher the decree to send them home.

· That was God’s timing.

Nothing could alter the plan.

In both of those cases God was accomplishing something

That must be fulfilled before the next ordained event could occur.

In the case of Israel in Egypt, two things were happening.

1. God was growing Israel into a nation as numerous as the sand of the sea.

2. God was waiting for the sin of the Amorite to be complete.

Genesis 15:13-16 “God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. “But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions. “As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. “Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.”

God’s timing required that period of slavery.

He was at work.

The same is true of the 70 year exile.

· God was using that to lead Israel to repentance and faith in Him.

Jeremiah 29:10-14 “For thus says the Lord, ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. ‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. ‘I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’”

IN THE SAME WAY,

God had appointed a period of time before the Christ would come.

IT WAS NOT God just sitting up in heaven waiting and debating

As to whether or not He should send His Son.

It WASN’T Him going, “You know, maybe if we just give them a little more time they’ll figure this Law thing out and start doing right instead of wrong.”

Christ came at exactly the time when God had ordained for Him to come.

SO WHY THE DELAY?

We were told why Israel had to spend 400 years in Egypt.

We were told why Israel had to spend 70 years in Babylon.

Why did God not ordain to send Christ sooner?

· What was the delay about?

· What were we waiting on?

For that, I want you to turn again.

TURN TO: GALATIANS 3:15-4:5

If your Bible has those headlines in it, it might say something like

“Intent of the Law” and that is a good heading.

Paul is going to explain what this delay was all about.

· Why God would promise Abraham a descendant sometime around 1900 BC

· Why Moses would come sometime around 1440 BC and give the Law,

· But Christ didn’t come for another 1400+ years.

WHAT WAS GOD DOING?

It started with a promise to Abraham.

God promised Abraham a holy seed.

Genesis 22:18 “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

And then 430 years later that Moses shows up and gives the Law.

And the question on the table is this:

Did the Law of Moses change the promise of God?

(15) “Brethren, I speak in terms of human relations: even though it is only a man’s covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds conditions to it.”

The point is clear.

· Once you make a covenant, you can’t come back later and add stipulations.

· Once you sign on the line, you can’t change the rules later.

So no, the law did not change the promise God made to Abraham.

(17-18) “What I am saying is this: the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise.”

God made a promise to Abraham,

You can’t add stipulations to it later.

But it is important that you understand the actual promise.

(16) “Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ.”

The ultimate promise of God to Abraham

Was NOT to every single person

Who can trace their lineage back to Abraham.

We know that because neither Ishmael nor Esau are included.

The promise to Abraham was only to Abraham’s “seed” (singular),

Paul cuts through the confusion by telling you “that is Christ”.

So all the promises of God are to Christ.

(If you want to participate in them, you’ll have to be united to Christ.)

Then we get to our issue in verse 18.

“Why the Law then?”

We might even ask, “Why the delay?”

· Why not just send Christ immediately?

· Why not just send Christ in Abraham’s day?

· Why not just send Christ in Moses’ day?

What was God waiting for and what did the Law have to do with it?

(19) “Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made.”

So there’s THE FIRST REASON to why the delay and why the Law.

“transgressions”

There was sin occurring.

· That is why the Law had to come.

· That is why Christ was delayed.

But that is bizarre, I thought Christ came to save sinners?

It is, but the timing was wrong.

(22) “But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.”

The problem WASN’T that men weren’t sinners.

The problem WAS that they didn’t know it.

Men didn’t know about their sin.

Men didn’t know how badly God hated their sin.

So that period from Moses to Christ was all about

· Israel learning to identify their sin

· And learning how badly God hated it.

Read that period in your Bible, it is a dark time.

It is rebellion after rebellion after rebellion.

Ultimately ending up with Israel getting kicked out of the land that God promised to Abraham and having to go to Babylon for 70 years.

THAT ENTIRE TIME PERIOD

Was for them to learn about their sin and condemnation.

Or to put it another way.

That entire time period was for them to learn that they needed a Savior.

(24) “Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.”

That was the whole point of the delay.

Man needed to see how bad their sin was and how badly God hated it.

They also needed to see that there was nothing they could do on their own to defeat it.

· They had to try the Law.

· They had to work for salvation.

· They had to fail miserably.

· They had to see their weakness.

· They had to groan under judgment.

· They had to learn they needed a Savior.

That is what was happening.

That is why the delay was necessary.

(4:3-5) “So also we, while we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world. But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”

“when the fullness of the time came”

When man had been bound up

Under the weight of his sin and judgment.

When he finally realized his helplessness

THEN IT WOULD BE TIME.

BACK TO MARK 1

And that is what Jesus was announcing in Mark 1:15.

“The time is fulfilled”

· The time for you to learn of your sin and guilt and judgment has been completed.

· The time of instruction for your grief and groaning and despair is over.

· Now is the time for you to be delivered, redeemed, forgiven, and saved.

THE WAIT IS OVER.

And then He went on:

“THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS AT HAND”

We talked about this the first time we looked at this text.

· Certainly there is some day coming a millennial kingdom where Christ will dwell on earth and reign for 1,000 years.

· Certainly there is coming an eternal kingdom where He will reign forever over a new heavens and a new earth.

But here He is referring to the spiritual kingdom

Which He brought at His first coming.

He told Pilate:

John 18:36 “Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.”

His kingdom was not to overthrow Rome, but to overthrow Satan.

He was here to set me free from sin and Satan’s grasp.

Christ said that it was time

For Satan’s kingdom to fall and for His to be established.

He would bring a new covenant.

· He would not reuse that old garment or those old wine skins

He would bring rest

He would bring forgiveness

He would bring healing (physical yes) but mostly spiritual healing.

· He was the physician for the sick like Matthew.

He came to do good and save lives.

Isaiah 61:1-3 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, Because the Lord has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners; To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”

That is what Jesus announced.

“The time of your grieving and groaning under sin has been completed.

Now is the time of your liberation.

I am here to overthrow the kingdom of darkness

And establish the kingdom of God.”

John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

That is what Jesus was promising.

And then He said:

“REPENT AND BELIEVE IN THE GOSPEL”

Now join Me!

Now follow Me!

SO THAT WAS THE PROMISE OF JESUS.

That is what He declared at the outset of His conquest.

1. The time for sin and grief and groaning and despair was over,

2. It was time for Him to overthrow Satan’s kingdom and set the captives free.

3. And that men should believe Him and join Him and follow Him.

AND THEN MARK STARTED DOCUMENTING HIS CONQUEST.

WELL NOW WE’VE COME TO THE OTHER SIDE OF IT.

AND WE ARE EVALUATING whether Jesus did what He said He would do?

We are being asked by Mark

To tour the battlefields and see if Jesus delivered on His promise?

So let’s return to our text for this morning and evaluate the conquest.

I want to break it down into 3 points.

#1 HE TOTALLY CAPTIVATED THE REGION

Mark 3:7-8

He said that His kingdom was here.

· He didn’t limit the scope of it.

· He didn’t limit the size of it.

Look at what Mark says here.

“Jesus withdrew to the sea with His disciples; and a great multitude from Galilee followed; and also from Judea, and from Jerusalem, and from Idumea, and beyond the Jordan, and the vicinity of Tyre and Sidon, a great number of people heard of all that He was doing and came to Him.”

We saw back in chapter 1 that Jesus entered “Galilee”.

But here you can see that

His reach extended far beyond the border of Galilee.

There is “a great multitude” coming to Him from everywhere.

“Judea” “Jerusalem” and “Idumea” are all SOUTH of Galilee.

Galilee was in the north, part of the old Kingdom of Israel during the time of the kings.

· South of Galilee was Samariah

· South of that was Judea,

· South of that was Idumea (also called Edom).

· It’s probably somewhere around 80 to 100 miles south.

“beyond the Jordan” was EAST.

· You had the sea of Galilee in the north.

· You have the dead sea in the south.

· The Jordan runs between them.

· East of the Jordan was “the Decapolis”, also Caesarea Philippi

“the vicinity of Tyre and Sidon” was NORTHWEST of Galilee.

Multitudes of people were coming to Jesus from everywhere.

When they “heard of all that He was doing” they “came to Him.”

JESUS HAS TOTALLY CAPTIVATED THE REGION.

There is no enemy stronghold that He has yet to topple.

There is no enemy home where Jesus dare not enter.

The enemy has nowhere left to run and nowhere left to hide.

People are following Him from everywhere.

We saw Him start at the Capernaum synagogue,

· Then He fought again at Peter’s house.

· He then went throughout Galilee preaching and casting out demons.

When He came back to Capernaum

· He engaged the Pharisees and defeated them with every argument.

NOW EVERYONE IS COMING TO HIM,

Even from the strongholds of places like Jerusalem.

He totally captivated the region

#2 HE TOTALLY LIBERATED THE CAPTIVES

Mark 3:9-10

Mark takes a moment to describe WHY all the crowds are coming.

They AREN’T coming to Him just to see what all the fuss is about.

He is not just a circus side show that they want to see.

That was Herod remember?

Luke 23:8 “Now Herod was very glad when he saw Jesus; for he had wanted to see Him for a long time, because he had been hearing about Him and was hoping to see some sign performed by Him.”

This crowd WASN’T coming out of amusement.

· This crowd was coming to encounter Him.

· This crowd was coming to touch Him.

· This crowd was coming to be near Him.

(9-10) “And He told His disciples that a boat should stand ready for Him because of the crowd, so that they would not crowd Him; for He had healed many, with the result that all those who had afflictions pressed around Him in order to touch Him.”

They wanted so close to Him that He had to keep a boat handy

Just so He could retreat out onto the water and preach without being mobbed.

These people were coming because HE WAS SETTING THEM FREE.

A very interesting word here in verse 10.

“all those who had afflictions pressed around Him in order to touch Him.”

“afflictions” translates (MOS-teeks)

It was the word used of a “whip or a scourge”,

Like when the Roman Centurian’s beat Jesus.

It wasn’t just a word for illnesses or diseases,

It was a word that spoke of punishment.

Israel already had the idea

That sicknesses and diseases were God’s visible punishment on sin.

You might remember the man born blind:

John 9:1-2 “As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?”

They already held the belief that sickness and infirmity

Was a result of sin in the life.

But this word went even further.

It spoke of you being under the literal scourging of God for your sin.

· God was beating you.

· God was whipping you.

Mark may have even been speaking ahead of the event we’ll see in chapter 5.

Mark 5:25-29 “A woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but rather had grown worse— after hearing about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind Him and touched His cloak. For she thought, “If I just touch His garments, I will get well.” Immediately the flow of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.”

That word “affliction” there is the same word used here.

People genuinely believed that this woman was being scourged by God for some sin in her life.

But she touched Jesus and was healed immediately.

· She was forgiven.

· She was liberated.

· She had her life back.

Mark says here that this whole crowd of people

Had lived under that stigma

And they are trying to get near to Jesus just to touch Him.

THE POINT IS, JESUS IS ACTUALLY LIBERATING PEOPLE.

And the whole world knows it.

His promises of life and deliverance were not empty.

· People are being rescued.

· People are being forgiven.

· People are being healed.

· People are being restored.

DO YOU REMEMBER?

· The demon possessed man in the synagogue, how Jesus cast that demon out of him?

· Peter’s mother-in-law with the fever and how Jesus healed her instantly?

· How the whole city of Capernaum showed up at Peter’s door that night and Jesus healed all of them as well as cast out many demons?

· How Jesus went throughout all Galilee preaching and casting out demons?

· The leper to whom Jesus said, “I am willing, be cleansed” and he was?

· The paralytic who was lowered through the roof, how Jesus first forgave him and then healed him?

· Levi in the tax booth who was offered mercy from Jesus and he took it?

· Levi’s friends who came to his house to meet Jesus and how Jesus was rescuing all of them from their sin?

· The man with the withered hand in the synagogue and how Jesus gave him back his life and restored his hand?

Jesus was more than a campaign promise.

He was setting captives free.

And captives of all variety.

· Those with illnesses…

· Those with infirmities…

· Those with demons…

· Those with sin…

· Those with afflictions…

Jesus was busting open jail cells everywhere He went.

And because of that the people were flocking to Him.

Jesus totally liberated the captives.

· He didn’t come to save the Law…

· He didn’t come to save the Sabbath…

· He didn’t come to save Judaism…

He came to save sinners and to set the captives free

And it is obvious that He is doing that in grand fashion.

He totally captivated the region

He totally liberated the captives

#3 HE TOTALLY DOMINATED THE ENEMY

Mark 3:11-12

Mark has made special point to make sure we see this.

Mark 1:12-13 “Immediately the Spirit impelled Him to go out into the wilderness. And He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by Satan; and He was with the wild beasts, and the angels were ministering to Him.”

Mark 1:23-26 “Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, saying, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!” And Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” Throwing him into convulsions, the unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice and came out of him.”

Mark 1:34 “And He healed many who were ill with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He was not permitting the demons to speak, because they knew who He was.”

Mark 1:39 “And He went into their synagogues throughout all Galilee, preaching and casting out the demons.”

Jesus knew who the enemy was.

He went into that wilderness and got a good look at him.

· He heard his temptations.

· He knew his offers.

· He heard his lies.

And Jesus entered that land and went after him.

He exposed the enemy at every turn.

Demons would certainly prefer to operate in the shadows.

The apostle Paul tells us that they prefer to masquerade as angels of light.

· They are not trying to draw attention to themselves.

· And often times we don’t spot them.

We have to be reminded that we are not fighting against flesh and blood but against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

They are stealthy and hard to spot.

But they could not hide around Jesus.

His light was so bright that they came screaming out.

And He removed them over and over and over.

AND MARK’S SUMMATION HERE IS AMAZING!

(11) “Whenever the unclean spirits saw Him, they would fall down before Him and shout, “You are the Son of God!”

It DOESN’T say “Whenever He saw them…”

It says “Whenever the unclean spirits saw Him…”

They were so terrified of Him they could not maintain their charade.

When Jesus entered the region

They immediately broke ranks and surrendered.

“they would fall down before Him and shout, “You are the Son of God!”

· They would see Him

· They would fall down before Him

· They would declare Him Lord

· They would surrender their prisoners

· They would flee

And they would flee in silence

(12) “And He earnestly warned them not to tell who He was.”

· As we said, He would not allow demons to set the narrative on who He was and why He came.

BUT THE POINT HERE IS THAT HE TOTALLY DOMINATED THEM.

Jesus will later explain this:

Mark 3:27 “But no one can enter the strong man’s house and plunder his property unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house.”

The reason Jesus had such power even over the demons

Is because He had already handled their leader.

SATAN WAS NO MATCH FOR HIM.

He cut the head off the snake and the body was soon to follow.

The demons knew it.

They fled in fear from Him.

AND SO WE GO BACK TO OUR QUESTION.

Did Jesus do what He said?

· Did He enter the land?

· Did He usher in the kingdom?

· Did He defeat the enemy?

· Did He liberate the captives?

And the answer is: YES!

And it wasn’t even close.

BUT WHY DOES MARK TAKE THE TIME TO GIVE US THIS LITTLE RECAP?

BECAUSE HE IS WANTING YOU TO MAKE A DECISION WITH YOUR LIFE.

Many have already followed Him.

Many have already received His liberating work.

But what about you?

· Can you not see who He is?

· Can you not see what He does?

Concerning your eternity, it really doesn’t matter whether

Peter or Andrew or James or John or Matthew followed Jesus.

BUT IT SURE MATTERS WHETHER YOU DO.

And that is a decision you have to make.

You have to come to that same point

Where you have seen your sin, understood God’s judgment,

And decided to run to Jesus to be liberated.

Mark here gives a sweeping picture to show you

THAT JESUS IS THE ONE YOU NEED.

Will you “repent and believe the gospel”?

Will you follow Jesus?

HE IS THE SAVIOR!

HE IS THE LIBERATOR!

Acts 4:12 “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”