The Accusation of Insanity

Introduction: The Astounding Accusation Against Jesus

0:04 This sermon was preached on Sunday morning, September 2nd, 1984, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey.

0:16 Now, will you turn with me, please, to the third chapter of the Gospel of Mark. Our consecutive reading through the New Testament has taken us into the seventh chapter, but our consecutive expositions find us in chapter three. And I shall begin reading with the latter part of verse 19. If you have a paragraphed version of the Bible, you will notice that the paragraph begins with the middle of verse 19.

0:50 Mark 3, 19b.

0:55 With reference to our Lord, Mark writes, And he cometh into a house, and the multitude cometh together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread. And when his friends heard it, they went out to lay hold on him, for they said, He is beside himself. And the scribes that came down from Jerusalem said, He has Beelzebub. And by the prince of the demons, he is casting out the demons.

1:27 And he called unto them and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan? And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house be divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand but has an end.

1:56 But no one can enter into the house of the strong man and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man, and then he will spoil his house. Truly I say unto you, All their sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and their blasphemies wherewith they shall blaspheme. But whosoever shall blaspheme against the Holy Spirit has never forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin, because, they said, he has an unclean spirit. Now let us once again seek the help of God as we come to this sermon. Let us study of his own infallible word.

2:48 Holy Father, as we take your word again into our hands and set its truth before our eyes, ears, and minds, we are conscious of how much we need the presence of the Spirit. For we have read of those who saw your beloved Son, the incarnate God, and yet had such false conclusions about him. Holy Father, may the Holy Spirit of truth come and show us the truth about Jesus, that we may know him, worship him, love him, trust and serve him as we ought. Hear us as we make our plea in his name. Amen. Now I have just read in your hearing what to me is one of the most astounding sections in the entire gospel of Jesus. According to Mark.

3:57 Within these few verses, our Lord comes under a withering and humiliating two-fold accusation. On the one hand, he is judged by his friends to be out of his mind, crazy, mentally, and emotionally drained. And on the other hand, he is judged by his enemies to be demon-possessed, to be a demon-possessed, to be under the control of and in league with the devil himself. Now I say this constitutes an astounding passage to think that the one whom we have been considering would be called crazy and demon-possessed. For the Jesus whom I have seen in the text and whom I have sought to preach from the text, is the Jesus with Mark's peculiar emphasis upon his mighty, selfless energy, his tireless, compassionate ministry to needy humanity, the wiser than Solomon who answers his enemies with wisdom that shuts their mouths, the selfless Son of God

5:22 who gives himself tirelessly to meet the needs of men, and yet, as we saw two Lord's days ago, the one who has presence of mind enough to make a legitimate avenue of escape from the pressing multitudes by the seashore, and yet this one, marked by foresight with respect to his own safety, marked by foresight with reference to the establishment of his church in the appointment of the Twelve, marked by selfless, self-giving compassion, is yet, by his friends, deemed crazy, and by his enemies, demon-possessed. And today we're going to examine just the first of these two charges, the one that is brought to him by his friends. Our text is 19b through verse 21. And he comes into a house, and the multitude comes together, so that they could not so much as eat bread, and when his friends heard it, they went out to lay hold on him, for they said, he is beside himself.

The Simple Facts of the Narrative: Jesus's Overwhelming Ministry

6:45 First of all, seek to grasp with me the simple facts of the narrative. You will remember, if you have been with us in the previous expositions, that Jesus had been by the sea, and by the sea the multitudes were thronging in upon him, so much so that he had a little boat constantly attending him as an escape route should his own person and his well-being physically be jeopardized by the thronging multitudes. But then the time had come to take out of his more intimate associates, called the disciples, the Twelve who would be named and designated apostles, those who would become the very foundation stones in the church that he was building. And no sooner does Mark record for us that activity of the Lord in the appointment of the Twelve, than we have this incident of our Lord coming into a house. Now there is not necessarily an intimate chronology. In...

7:59 Comparing Luke and Matthew with this passage, it could well be that after the appointing of the Twelve, our Lord preached what we commonly call the Sermon on the Mount. He came down from the higher place in the mountain to a more level place with the multitudes gathered before him and preached that famous sermon recorded in Matthew 5, 6, and 7. But whatever the precise chronology may be between the appointment of the Twelve and the incident set before us in the text this morning, this much is clear that our Lord, having retreated from the sea to the mountains, now goes back to a house, probably that home that was his temporary headquarters back in the city of Capernaum. It may have been that other house referred to in the first chapter, but most likely that house which was loaned to him, purchased, the Bible doesn't tell us, but his home away from home in the city of Capernaum. And when they arrived, no doubt as travelers in that day arrived, they were hot, they were dusty, they were hungry. And the most natural thing to do would have been to bathe,

9:26 to have a period of relaxation, to have washed themselves. And as I tried to think of a modern parallel, even traveling in the luxury of our motor cars, on our highways, if you've traveled for an entire day on a hot day, and you come to your motel, what's the first thing you like to do? You like to go in, relax, have a shower, have a bite to eat. Well, imagine what it was like walking by foot, and all of the dust, and the heat in the midst of that Palestinian situation.

10:02 And when it would have been perfectly legitimate for them to have refreshed themselves, the text tells us that coming to the house, the multitude came together again. And the coming together again harks back to two previously recorded incidents of a multitude pressing around a house in Capernaum. Chapter 1, verses 32 and 33. And that even when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were sick and them that were possessed with demons, and all the city was gathered together at the door.

10:45 So here we have the multitude in its first gathering to that house. Chapter 2, verse 1. When he entered again into Capernaum after some days, it was noised that he was in the house. And many were gathered together so that there was no longer room for them, no, not even about the door.

11:08 So a pattern had begun to emerge. Whenever it became noised abroad that Jesus was back at home, in his home, away from home in Capernaum, his fame having spread throughout that entire area of northern Galilee, it was inevitable that the multitudes would make their way to that house to hear the word from his lips, to experience his touch of power, to have their poor demon-possessed loved ones and relatives hear the word of exorcism and rebuke that their loved ones might be delivered. And the multitude gathers there to the house, and so vast is the need, and so large is the hope of the heart of our Lord Jesus. And by that time, apparently, so large have become the hearts of his immediate companions, possibly the twelve, that they, that is the Lord Jesus and his companions, could not so much as eat bread. And the word eat bread is simply a synonym for having their normal meals. A meal time would come, and there are still broken bodies, people trembling under the influence of the demons that possess them,

12:34 people clamoring to reach out and touch, if possible, but the hem of his garment. And though the meal times came, there was no way the Lord Jesus could simply dismiss the multitudes. He was bound to them by the sheer energy of his own holy compassion. And so he continues to minister, right through the normal meal hours, let alone not taking coffee breaks.

13:00 And one meal hour comes and another passes, and apparently this was a pattern that continued for some time. Now the text does not say that our Lord was near the point of total exhaustion or personal starvation. The emphasis of Mark is that when he went back to his home, away from home, the multitudes so pressed in upon him that there was no ordinary pattern of life that could exist in the presence of such vast human need and the large-hearted, compassionate Son of God. Now it is in that situation that something happens. It says that his friends heard it. That is, there is a certain group of people who become aware of this frenzied pattern of obsession with ministering to the needy. And when we ask the question, precisely who are these friends, we come having looked, first of all, at the element of the simple facts of his retreat to the house, we notice the amazing conclusions and actions which come from the facts already established.

The Amazing Conclusions and Actions: 'He is Beside Himself'

14:27 Some amazing conclusions and actions result from the facts of verses 19b and 20. Now who made the conclusions? They are described as his friends. His friends heard it.

14:45 Now the word, the phrase, literally means the ones alongside him. But precisely who were they? Some suggest, because verse 31 describes his mother and his half-brothers and sisters, that the friends were indeed his relatives. And I believe it is the New International Version and other translations actually translate verse 21 when his relatives heard it.

15:18 Now that is a possible translation. The phrase as an idiom is used in other Greek writings and refers sometimes to a man's agents, his close friends or intimate associates, and sometimes actually means a man's blood relationships. But the text is not conclusive. All we know is that this group that responds to this frenzied activity of our Lord, perhaps frenzied is not the word, that does speak of something that is uncontrolled, this intense activity of our Lord that disrupts a normal pattern of life, particularly a normal pattern of rest and eating coupled with work, they were not his avowed enemies. They were not those who would have ranked themselves with the bitter enemies of our Lord, the scribes and the Pharisees. They were either close associates, they could well have been his own family members, for according to John chapter 7, even his brethren did not yet at this time believe upon him. Who made the conclusions?

16:38 People who knew him very well. People who had been no doubt for years in his most formative years observers of his blameless life. It was his friends who made the conclusions. Now what was the conclusion?

16:57 The text says, For they said the conclusion had broken out into open verbal allegations. He is beside himself. And the word used here for beside himself is used in the same sense. In 2 Corinthians 5.13, people accused the Apostle Paul of being off his rocker. They accused him of being crazy. And he says, taking their accusation, If we are beside ourselves, it is unto God. The word means that someone has come to the place where he has lost touch with reality.

17:48 Unable to make proper judgments and decisions in his own best interest. And he needs someone to take over and to put him in a situation where he can be preserved from himself. So the conclusion of his friends is that he has entered a realm of at least partial insanity. We would say in our day a serious nervous breakdown if not a chronic psychopath.

18:19 That was their conclusion. Now then, what was their action? Look at the text. They were determined forcibly to take him out of that situation.

18:33 The text tells us that when his friends heard it, they went out to lay hold on him. Now this verb, lay hold, is the one that is used three or four times in Matthew 26 to describe the arrest and the apprehension of Jesus in the garden. When Judas came with the chief priests and the scribes and the soldiers, they came to lay hold of Christ. And you remember what they did.

19:01 They bound him and they led him away. It is the precise word Mark uses to describe the same event in Mark 14, chapter 14, verses 44 and 46. So you see, these friends did not come on an investigative mission. They had already drawn the conclusion.

19:23 He is off his rocker. There is only one thing to do if we love him, and that is forcibly to take him out of this situation, take him to some quiet retreat, and hopefully, if we get him away from the pressing multitudes, get him locked into a normal schedule of rest and eating and relaxation, perhaps he will come back to sanity. And the text is very plain, straightforward. They went out to lay hold on him.

19:54 They did not come to question. They did not come to get more facts that they might draw a more intelligent conclusion. They are already convinced by what they have heard and seen. He has flipped out.

20:08 He is out of touch with reality. He is in a point of danger. He can no longer care for himself. We must forcefully lay hold of him and take him to a place of quiet retreat.

Lesson 1: A Vital Lesson Concerning Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself

20:23 Well, those are the facts and the amazing conclusions and action resulting from these facts. Now then, what are the basic lessons that we are to learn from this incident? Well, let me suggest four this morning. And the first is this.

20:42 This passage contains a vital lesson concerning our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. A vital lesson concerning our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Remember, Mark never deviates from his initial purpose. And you have heard it dozens of times and you are going to hear it dozens of more times, God willing, before we come to the end of chapter 16.

21:12 Mark is convinced and concerned to set before us the beginning of the good news concerning Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And even this incident contains good news because it unveils a dimension of the character of our Lord Jesus Christ. Here we see our Lord so consumed with holy compassion for broken humanity and zeal to do the Father's will that He follows a course which is wrongly interpreted not by His enemies but even by His close friends and possibly His own relatives including possibly even Mary herself. This was the same Jesus who a short time before made a very wise, judicious escape route with His little boat by the lake. Verse 9. The Jesus who knowing that He has but about a year left upon the earth and must mark out those men who will become the foundation blocks in His church that He might give Himself to them and give them peculiar instruction is obviously someone deeply in touch not only with present reality in His little escape route with the boat by the shore,

22:40 but the future realities of His church. All of His mental faculties are fully intact and in beautiful equipoise. But what we see in our Lord Jesus Christ is such a consuming zeal for the Father's will and such holy compassion that He was not overly fastidious about how others would interpret the pressure of zeal to do the Father's will and cutting a channel for His compassion in meeting the needs of battered humanity. And in this we see the perfection of our Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior and as our perfect example. Our Lord Jesus Christ was not carried beyond the will of the Father by the crowd for you'll remember earlier in our study in Mark there was a time when He went out to pray and the disciples came chapter 1 in verse 37 and they said all are seeking you but He said no I cannot go back into the city and minister to them I know there is need and in the parallel passages it was not just the disciples it says the multitudes were standing right there yet Jesus turned His back upon them and said I must go to the other cities

24:08 so this was not a case of our Lord being mastered by the multitudes it was not a case of Him being over pumped and zealed to do the will of the Father here was restrained volitional fencing of the compassion of His own heart all it meant was that it upset the norm of eating and for some people the right of fanaticism is to miss a meal on time there is no proper hour and when they see someone for whom something else is more important they say He must be crazy but our Lord was willing to run the risk of being considered crazy in zeal to do the Father's will and in compassion to minister to the needs of humanity and you know what the Lord Jesus said that those principles will not only mark Him but all of His true followers listen to Him in Matthew chapter 10 and verse 24 a disciple is not above his teacher

25:36 nor a servant above his Lord it is enough for the disciple that he be as his teacher and the servant as his Lord if they've called the master of the house Beelzebub how much more them of his household if they call the master crazy because having some people the very essence of life if the disruption of that pattern brings upon our Lord the accusation He's crazy He's demented the disciple is not above his master and to the extent that by the Spirit we imbibe the Spirit of our Lord Jesus and in the strength of that Spirit follow in His steps be time will soaks the grain of even some of our closest they will think us crazy ready for the loony all the while acting intelligently and rationally consumed by zeal others will and driven by compassion for battered needy and lost humanity

27:03 that's why the Apostle Paul was called mad the man who could write the book of Romans and Ephesians a madman no not a madman and yet that's what one heathen potentate said Paul much learning has made you mad and apparently even the opposers of the Apostle's ministry at Corinth had picked up the statement he's crazy don't follow him and he says if I am beside myself I'll take their very language it is of a crazy man are but the expressions of my devotion to my God oh what a lesson we learn about our Lord Jesus that he was fully prepared in pursuit of zeal of the Father's will and compassion itself giving to the needs of men to break the ordinary patterns of comfortable undisrupted self-centered living and have himself labeled a madman rather than have his zeal for the Father and his compassion for men checked by social propriety it's a vital lesson with reference to our Lord Jesus

Lesson 2: A Vital Lesson About Ourselves – Judging by Our Own Experience

28:30 but in the second place the passage contains a vital lesson about ourselves we're always tempted to judge what is sane and rational by the standard of our own experience we're always tempted to judge what is sane and rational by the standard of our own experience let me illustrate suppose you had a neighbor whose hobby was collecting exotic bugs that only come out at night night bugs of all sorts and kinds and every night soon as the sun is really down so it means rather late in the summer and early in the winter he's out in his backyard on all fours with a magnifying glass and a flashlight now he holds down an excellent job at some well-known company important position obviously he's got everything together but he loves these exotic night bugs so every night he's out there flashlight on all fours magnifying glass and one night you happen to be looking out your window peeking so you don't he doesn't know you're looking at him and all of a sudden you see him really peering down closely and he reaches down with his tweezers and he puts something in his jar puts the cap on and he gets up and he dances a little jig

29:58 he's so happy he said I'm beginning to think that guy's cool but I'll hold off my judgment a week later he's out bug hunting again and this time you watch him and he seems to be tracking the bug down and he puts out his little tweezers and just as he puts them together he brings them up and he missed it and all of a sudden you see him begin to cry and here that grown man is crying he's sobbing like his heart would break he'd say now for sure I know few bricks less than a full load he'd see something wrong with him I mean the guy dances jigs when he finds bugs he cries when he misses some of his favorite bugs he must be crazy now why you say that you see you're judging his sanity by the measure of your own experience because you don't have his felt fascination for night bugs you can't identify either with his joy at finding a real exotic one or his pain at losing one but the fact that you can't identify with his joy and pain doesn't mean he's crazy in your saying it just means he has a fascination for bugs that transcends your experience you say pastor what in the world does that have to do with the passage

31:25 before us well it has everything in the world to do with it why did his friends judge the Lord Jesus crazy ready to lay hold of him to take him to a forced retreat so that hopefully his sanity would return why did his friends take him to a forced retreat because he was driven by zeal for the Father and compassion for men he was willing for his normal patterns of eating to be disrupted and having that kind of zeal for God and compassion for men so far transcended their own experience there was only one thing to do label him crazy and we're the same ones that's all it's not the only thing to do the prayer of the Father as we would when the Father God is in heaven filled with zeal the Father can fill his belly at the proper hour as of greater importance than zeal to do Zeal to the Father.

32:52 We all tend to measure that love and compassion and zeal by our own experience. Because it shows up how weak you are. And how, rather than say, oh, I have seen in the zeal and compassion of another what I own me. We are ready to say, that guy is crazy.

33:24 This is very real, dear people. I lived with it all last week at Covenant College. Because in preaching the word of God, life and death issues is so heavily concerned that they be real.

33:54 The possibility of being reared in a Christian home and knowing all the talk and having all the language and being a stranger to the power is real.

34:06 Preach it as though it were something real. I was the crazy man.

34:13 Anything that isn't treated in a very nice, bland, objective, quiet, neat little academic fashion. Must be tinged with lunacy. Is that so? You show me that from the Bible.

34:28 Our Lord Jesus Christ wailed over Jerusalem. It says when he came to the brow of the hill, he wailed over Jerusalem. That great day of the feast, he stood and he cried, if any man thirsts, let him come unto me and drink. And God said to the prophet, cry aloud, spare not.

34:55 Lift up thy voice. Voice like a trumpet, yes. There is a place for speaking comfortably to Jerusalem. Speak to the heart of my people.

35:06 But there is also a place for zeal so to consume a man or woman. That that zeal will carry him or her out in an impassioned concern for others. That if we don't know that in our own experience, we are tempted to say that's lunacy. And my own spiritual.

35:28 Don't miss is normal. Let me ask you. Do you feel uncomfortable when you get around someone who's zeal for God is so intense? They're willing to miss meals to pray.

35:46 Do you feel uncomfortable around someone filled with such compassion for people that they're willing to have their normal schedule upset?

36:01 And miss meals and other legitimate forms. Of diversion to pour out their hearts in meeting the needs of others. Do you feel uncomfortable? And are you ready to label them crazy?

36:16 Or do you say, Lord Jesus, something of your own zeal and compassion are reflected in that fellow redeemed sinner? Oh, God, forgive my week. See, forgive my lack of compassion. Give me that.

Lesson 3: A Vital Lesson About the Nature of Salvation – Spiritual Blindness

36:34 That dimension of Christ's likeness that I see in them. This passage not only teaches us something precious about our Lord. It teaches us vital lessons about ourselves. And then in the third place, it teaches us a very vital lesson about the nature of salvation.

36:55 A vital lesson about the nature of salvation. Here were his friends, possibly his own blood relatives. Very possibly. His half-brothers and sisters.

37:11 And yet they said, he is crazy. Why would they say that? Because though they had seen him with physical eyes, possibly had lived with him under the same roof for years. Their spiritual eyes had never been opened to behold who he truly was.

37:33 You remember when our Lord asked Peter, who do men say that I am? Oh, you're this, that, or the other. But who do you say that I am? Oh, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

37:44 Blessed art thou, Simon, son of Jonah. Flesh and blood. Human instrumentality has not revealed this to you. But my Father, who is in heaven.

37:59 You see, so often people romantically think, if only the Lord Jesus would come back down to earth. If only he'd live amongst us again and raise the dead and heal the sick. And we could behold his perfect light. Surely men would flock to him.

38:15 Let's see, as a crazy man.

38:24 This teaches us a vital lesson about salvation. No man knows the true identity of Jesus in such a way as to capture his heart until the Holy Spirit gives him eyes to see. God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts. To give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

38:54 No man can call Jesus Lord, but by the Holy Spirit. Oh, my friend sitting here, you say, oh, those stubborn relatives of mine. Because they're blind.

39:15 And though their blindness will not excuse them if they go that way to judgment. Their blindness ought to instruct you as to how you deal with them. And how you deal with them. And how you deal with them.

39:25 And how you pray for them. You see, if I'm to see things, I need not only sight and light on an object. I need an organ of sight. There can be all the light in the world if there are no living optic nerves.

39:42 And there is no organ of sight I'll never see. And that's what a sinner needs. He needs the gospel, the sun of righteousness to shine upon him. And no man will be saved as far as we know from Scripture.

39:55 Apart from the gospel. But a man needs not only the burning light of the gospel. He needs an organ of sight which only the Holy Ghost can give him. My dear friend, you may have been reared in a Christian home.

40:07 You may have sat in this church for 5, 10, 15 years. Do you know why you see no loveliness in Christ? It's because you're spiritually blind. And what you need desperately to do is what that man who was physically blind did when he heard that Jesus of Nazareth was coming by.

40:27 He began to cry out, Son of David, have mercy on me. And the crowd said, shut up. Be quiet. He's got no time for you.

40:36 Be still. And I love the verse. It says, he cried the louder saying, Son of David, stood still. The first cry didn't arrest him, but the second did.

40:56 The cry of desperation. And Jesus faced him and said, What do you want me to do for you? What a stupid question. If you're blind and in the presence of the, the only one who can open your eyes, what do you want?

41:08 A banana? A nickel? A quarter? His desire for you, he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight.

41:22 Oh, my poor spiritually blind friend. Jesus is present in the preaching of his word. And he stands before you in the gospel in all the plenitude of his compassion and zeal. May I say it reverently?

41:36 Twelve o'clock in his heart and in his zeal to do his Father's will. And he stands by you and says, What will you that I do for you? Don't say, go away and don't bother me. You've said that too long.

42:00 You've said it some of you for years.

42:07 Oh, rather say, Son of David, have mercy on me. Lord Jesus, give me eyes to see you as others around here obviously see you because they love you and live for you and trust you. And they're happy even in the prospect of death. And judgment because they know that you have died for them and risen for them and will plead their cause.

42:34 Final day. Lord Jesus, give me what they have. Eyes to see you. A heart to trust you.

Lesson 4: A Very Helpful Lesson With Respect to Self-Examination

42:43 A will to bow to you. Oh, how this passage teaches a vital lesson about the nature of salvation. And then finally, it teaches a very helpful lesson. With respect to self-examination.

43:00 A very helpful lesson.

43:03 With respect to self-examination. And here's the question. Basis of self-examination. Is there anything about your lifestyle that would ever tempt anyone to think you're crazy?

43:15 Is there anything about your lifestyle that would ever tempt anyone to think you're crazy?

43:25 Now what do they call that person who to win an Olympic gold. Some of them for eight years. The girls volleyball team seven years have lived together. They left home.

43:37 Loved ones. They lived a communal life for seven years a day. Six days a week.

43:49 Everyone lauds them for their what? Dedication. I didn't hear anyone call it anything other than dedication. Did you?

44:01 Did you hear any of the commentators say. They are beside themselves.

44:18 Social life.

44:21 Personal career. To a gold at the Olympics. And that's true of all the athletes who have made it. It's called dedication in the realm of athletics.

44:37 In the realm of ambition. It's called channeled focused ambition. That's right. A young man before he's 40 becomes top notch executive in the country.

44:49 What do people say? That's what you call channeled focused dedication. He was willing to go the extra mile. When the others left the office.

44:59 He was taking evening courses in management. While they were home watching their TV or out in the golf links. When it came time for ordinary vacations. He went to seminars.

45:10 That he might promote and develop and advance his business expertise. And is he called crazy? Oh no. That's just called focused channeled ambition.

45:21 Anyone in the arts. I remember having someone who at once was a member of this church. Tell me in preparing for a certain competition. He practiced 10 to 12 hours a day.

45:34 And what was that called? That was just called a high standard of musicianship. That you let a person miss a few meals. Say no to a few legitimate liberties.

45:53 For the sake of Christ. The gospel. The souls of men. And immediately people say.

46:00 He is a religious. What? N-U-T. Isn't that right?

46:10 I've not exaggerated have I? Now my question is this. And I want you to think about it. Is there anything about your lifestyle that would provoke anybody who knows it.

46:19 To ever think that you're crazy. Even tempt them to call you crazy. Some of you the very fact you come to church twice on Sunday. That's enough for your neighbors.

46:32 They really think you're crazy. They see you go out the door at 9 in the morning. You're not home till 1.15.

46:38 And lo and behold you leave again at 5. And you're not home till 8. They really think you're crazy. How in the world anyone want to be in church that much time?

46:49 Crazy. Thank God. Just your consistency. In the stated means of grace.

46:55 But now I'm talking about something more than that. What about your personal lifestyle that touches upon God given appetites. And legitimate desires. Such as Jesus patterns of eating.

47:07 Do you know anything of daily cross bearing? Daily self denial. You parents with reference to your children. Your unconverted children ever tempted to think you're crazy.

47:20 Because you are so inflexible when it comes to biblical standards. You have laid down certain biblical principles and said. As for me and serve Jehovah non-negotiable. You got unconverted children that begin to think.

47:41 And their unregenerate hearts begin to respond. They'll think you're crazy. So what? That's the fellowship of his suffering.

47:52 I'm not theorizing dear people. I knew a period in my own life. When my own parents who prayed me into the kingdom were convinced. I was on the verge of or had crossed over the line into a nervous breakdown.

48:09 Because my zeal for God's truth. And my determination to follow it was leading in a course that made no sense to them. It hurts to be thought you're crazy. By your loved ones.

48:28 But I tell you something that hurts more. And that's to have a bad conscience. In the presence of God. You examine your heart this morning.

48:42 What is there about you that would tempt anyone to say. We better whisk him or her away. They need a little relaxation. They need a little rest.

48:53 They're going off the rails. With their religion. The passage is so instructive. Points us to our body.

49:06 Our blessed Lord. In the perfection of his zeal for the Father. His compassion. For battered humanity.

49:14 It teaches us about a vital lesson about ourselves. And oh we need to learn that lesson well. Recognizing that we're tempted to judge what is saying in others. By the standard of our own experience.

49:28 And we ought not to do it. A vital lesson about the nature of salvation. That only God can give eyes to see who Jesus really is. And a very vital principle for self-examination.

Conclusion: Admonition, Warning, and Worship

49:42 For whatever reasons God deposited this incident only recorded by Mark. And here we see again the influence of Peter the eyewitness. Passing it on to Mark. The Holy Spirit has left it here.

49:55 That we might be instructed. That we might be warned. And above all that we might admire and worship our Lord Jesus Christ. Who rather than turn aside from the path of zeal for the Father's will.

50:09 And compassionate service to men. Would be willing to have his friends think him. Demented. Crazy.

50:19 Off his rocker. Oh out of love to Christ. May we be willing to pursue zeal for the Father's will. And compassionate service.

50:31 To lost and battered humanity. Let us pray. Our Father we thank you for your holy and infallible word. We thank you for our blessed Lord Jesus Christ.

50:56 We worship you as revealed in him. And we worship you Lord Jesus Christ. For your willingness to be considered insane. To be considered imbalanced by your own friends.

51:14 Possibly your own half brothers and sisters. Lord Jesus we worship you. For your tenacious commitment to the Father's will. For your determination to give yourself to the needs of men.

51:29 Even at the expense of meeting some of your own legitimate needs. We confess that before your example we feel so selfish. We feel so calculating. So restrictive.

51:44 So restrained. Oh Lord. Baptize our hearts. With your own zeal for the Father.

51:53 And your own compassion for men. For those who have a lovely. Polite. Well ordered.

52:01 But empty. Hollow. Sham experience of Christianity. Lord break through all the sham this morning.

52:10 Lay bare to their own sight the state of their hearts. And give them a sight of your beloved son. That will ravish their hearts. And cause them from this hour forward to count.

52:23 Their greatest joy. Serving. And loving him. Write your word upon our hearts.

52:31 Be pleased oh God so to speak. That the last day of unveiling. Will make it manifest that your word this day. Did not return unto you void.

52:43 Hear us as we plead these mercies. For your own praise and glory. Amen.