Signs of Madness

In the playground the school kids used to say that the first sign of madness is talking to yourself and the second sign of madness is answering back.

This morning we are looking at signs of madness. And it is no joke. The Bible says, “Jesus’ family came to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.” So what were these signs of madness that prompted Jesus’ own family to be so worried about him?

Well last time I was with you we were in Mark chapter 2, and we looked at the calling of Levi to discipleship. And we’ve skipped the end of chapter 2 and half of chapter 3 to begin at verse 20. But in those missing verses there are a number of things that would have concerned Jesus’ family.

The first sign of his madness was his rising conflict with the teachers of the law. Jesus seemed to be going out of his way to provoke them. Not only poking the ants’ nest with a stick, but putting his hand right in. Jesus ate and drank with outcasts and sinners. He let his disciples break the Sabbath by rubbing heads of grain together to eat the seeds. Didn’t he know that they couldn’t harvest or thresh grain on the day of rest?

And then Jesus himself broke the Sabbath again. He went to the synagogue and healed a man with a withered hand in public. In front of everyone. On purpose. When it wasn’t a life threatening condition and it could easily have waited a few hours until sunset when the Sabbath ended. And when he was confronted, Jesus answered back, so that the Pharisees and the supporters of Herod – two groups who were normally enemies – came together to plot to kill Jesus.

By antagonizing these men, Jesus wasn’t just playing with fire. It was like he had set his own clothes on fire, just to watch them burn.

The second sign of Jesus’ madness was his picking 12 disciples. A wiser man would have scaled back. A sane man would have laid low. But Jesus seemed to be ramping it up, taking on these 12 apprentices, training them up, franchising his business, so that between them the twelve could go to places that one man could never visit on his own.

Maybe, Jesus’ family had hoped that this “kingdom of God” thing would be just a passing phase. But it didn’t look like it was going to go away without their intervention.

The third sign of Jesus’ madness were the crowds that he just wouldn’t send away. They followed him everywhere. He let them come close to him. He let them touch him. Jesus’ family finally found him again when he returned to Capernaum. He went into his house and such a large crowd gathered, wanting to listen to him, wanting to see a miracle, there was such a large crowd that Jesus and his disciples couldn’t even eat.

For Jesus’ family this was the last straw. Being popular was one thing. But Jesus was letting this whole “kingdom of God” thing ruin his life. He wasn’t even looking after himself. They needed to take charge of him. Like a parent would take charge of a screaming two year old. Like a son or daughter would take charge of an aged mother who was forgetting to feed herself. To them, Jesus was insane and a danger to himself.

It reminds me of the definition of a theory. A theory is an explanation that explains all the observable facts, but just happens to be dead wrong. Jesus’ family had a theory. Jesus was mad.

Jesus’ enemies had a different theory. They said that Jesus was bad.

In fact, it was a different group of opponents that we see at the end of Mark chapter 3. Up until this point Jesus had faced the local Pharisees and teachers of the law. The provincials from Galilee. They were doing their best, but Jesus’ popularity was getting beyond them. Everything they’d tried had failed to stop him.

So the big wigs came from Jerusalem. Big city type teachers of the law fresh from the seat of ruling power in Judea. They came to Capernaum with a cunning plan. “This man,” they said, “is doing all these miracles by the power of Satan. He can cast the demons out of people because he secretly works for the prince of demons.”

Again, it’s an excellent theory. It explains all the observable facts. The demons listen to him because they are all on the same team. It was a conspiracy. Satan would lose the chance to keep causing misery to a few individuals, but in return he’d get the lifelong devotion of thousands of people for his servant Jesus.

It would have been very persuasive. But it was also dead wrong. Because Jesus had a better explanation. Jesus said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand. A kingdom fighting civil war will destroy itself. And if Satan is divided against Satan the end has come. And evil will disappear. But that’s not true, is it? Rather, what you are witnessing is the plundering of a strong man’s house.”

Satan is the strong man. He holds under his power the lives of millions of people, trapped in prisons of drugs, of lies, of abuse, of violence, and of despair. Who can save these people, except if an even stronger man comes along and overpowers the strong man and ties him up so he is powerless and robs him of all his prisoners?

Jesus’ family said he was mad. His enemies said he was bad. But Jesus said, “I am Lord.”

It is not just a theory. It not only explains all the observable facts but it is also true. What were all Jesus’ miracles but examples of him plundering Satan’s house? Satan is strong. The forces of evil are powerful. They kill, crush and destroy. Even those who serve the powers of evil are just different kinds of victims, prisoners of their own hate and sin. When Jesus healed the sick, when he gave back sight to the blind, when he restored the withered hand, when he commanded the paralysed man to stand up and walk, when he touched the leper and cleansed him, when he ate with the sinners and tax collectors, when he called them to discipleship and they followed him, Jesus was robbing Satan’s house and setting his victims free.

Satan is strong. But Jesus is stronger. Satan is the prince of demons. But Jesus is the king of kings. He isn’t mad. He isn’t bad. He is Lord of heaven and earth. On the cross, Jesus entered Satan’s basement and took his place among Satan’s victims. He suffered shame and pain and rejection and humiliation and death. But Satan was powerless to keep him prisoner. And by his resurrection, Jesus broke open that basement so that light shone in that darkness to set the prisoners free. And by his ascension to the Father’s right hand, Jesus is proclaimed Lord of all.

Satan is strong. He longs to bind you in chains of hate and unforgiveness and pride and hypocrisy and guilt and hopelessness. His greatest wish is that you would look at his power and cower in fear and despair.

But Jesus is stronger. And the darkness will not rule over you, if you follow his light.

A message came into the house where Jesus was. “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”

Jesus said, “My family aren’t outside. Here am I teaching. My family are inside with me. Here are my mother and my brothers. Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

The moral of this story is that people will treat you the way they treated Jesus. If they called the teacher mad, they will call his students mad as well. Mad for believing in him. Mad for following him. Mad for investing your life in his legends and myths. Mad for taking up your cross. Mad for losing your life for his sake. Mad for reading his book and trying to put its lies into practice. Mad for denying yourself any and every pleasure. Mad for embarrassing your family with your superstitions. Mad for wasting your money on this insane religious club of yours. And some people who love you enough will try to take charge of you to talk you out of this madness.

Unless, or course, you’re very good at hiding the signs of your madness from your family and friends.

Some people will say you are mad. Others will say you are bad. Every Muslim extremist thinks he will win glory for Islam with his bombs. Not knowing that he is a tool for Satan to bring shame not just on Islam but on the followers of Jesus as well. Religions are just full of hate, people say. Religion is the cause of all the wars. They seriously believe it, because they are too young to remember the miseries and death of two world wars. They will say Jesus is the devil, his religion is poison and his church is just a trap to take money from fools.

They will say you are mad or you are bad. They said it about Jesus. They will say it about you. But it isn’t true. Do you know who your really are? You are Jesus’ family. His brothers and sisters. And in him we are the children of God.

Satan is strong. He ruins lives. Families. Communities and nations, like an out of control wrecking ball in a glass factory.

But Jesus is stronger. And the darkness will never rule us, while we follow his light.