Mark 3:13-3513 Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. 14 He appointed twelve[a] that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach 15 and to have authority to drive out demons. 16 These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter), 17 James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means “sons of thunder”), 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.20 Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. 21 When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”22 And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.” 23 So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. 27 In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house. 28 Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.”30 He said this because they were saying, “He has an impure spirit.” 31 Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.” 33 “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked. 34 Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” Lesson NotesOutline of Mark 3:13-3513-19 - Jesus appoints the 1220-21 - Jesus' family notified22-30 - Conflict with teachers of the law31-35 - Jesus' family arrivesThe teachers of the law have a new strategy to deal with Jesus. They don't question his actions. Instead they accuse him of being on the wrong team.The key question of this text is "what team is Jesus on?"NT Wright on the "unforgiveable sin" of 28-29:“Once you label what is in fact the work of the Holy Spirit as the work of the devil, there’s no way back […] It isn’t that God gets specially angry with one sin in particular. It’s rather that if you decide firmly that the doctor who is offering to perform a life-saving operation on you is in fact a sadistic murderer, you will never give your consent to the operation.”Family was the key to identity in the first century. Jesus' refusal to acknowledge his family indicate that he has a "new team".Mark highlights moments of this narrative to demonstrate how Jesus identifies his allegiance not to the demons (as the teachers of the law accuse him of) nor his family, as society expects, but instead is creating something new to belong to.- He begins (13-19) and ends (33-35) this section by showing who his new team is. Ephesians 6:12 - Paul writes in a time of great Christian persecution that our enemies are not "flesh and blood" but rather spiritual force. People are not our enemy.Jesus invites us to a new team - one that doesn't see people as enemies, but rather people who just haven't joined up yet.- We are invited to see people how Jesus sees them, rather than boiling them down to a political idea or unlikable label.- We can love those we would never otherwise love because Jesus has given us his undeserved love first.