Day 9 : Mark 3:20-30
A divided kingdom cannot stand
This chapter began in the Synagogue, moved to the lake, then to the mountain and now Jesus returns home. Here his ministry is denied by both family and the Jerusalem authorities. Each tries to explain away what they see and hear, deciding Jesus must be working for Satan. Jesus responds– a house that is divided will collapse. If he were working for demonic forces, why would he be casting out demons? This makes no sense at all! In-fighting is destructive.
There is a salutary caution for us today. In a society deeply divided on almost every issue, this passage holds a contemporary warning, division leads to collapse, not flourishing.
Jesus turns to a story, a parable or metaphor of what he is seeking to explain. This parable is a strange one. Who is the strong man, what is his house and who is breaking in? Ironically, commentators are divided in their interpretations, perhaps Jesus’s listeners were too.
Is the house the Temple and the ‘strong man’ the Jewish leadership? Could it be the house of Israel occupied by the strong power of Rome? Does the house represent wider society which has turned away from God, afflicted by the demonic influences?
There were many in Palestine looking for a new leader, a Messiah who would overturn the ruling order and restore Israel as God’s people. Some may have heard Jesus promising such a victory. Some of the religious leaders clearly heard Jesus’s words as a threat to their position.
We too have to decide. Who is this man?
