(remember, these are unedited/draft show notes, not a transcript — listening is always better…and if you listen AND follow along below, you’ll see why)
Focus Question:
Is blood thicker than water?
Intro:
You’ve probably heard the curious saying, “blood is thicker than water,” and I confess that has already struck me a bit weird. But it curiously relates to part of our reading today, so I went and looked it up. In one sense, it refers to the bonds of family being stronger than friendship, but interestingly there’s an old Arabic version that’s something like “blood is thicker than milk,” meaning that a covenant in blood is stronger than family as represented by two children nursed at the same breast. And our Bottom Line focus question today, “Is blood thicker than water?” is a jumping off point for talking about one of my favorite topics — unity — from a different angle.
NEW TESTAMENT SEGMENT:
As we get into our NT segment, then, the first thing you’ll hear is this curious passage about the disciples getting their undies in a bunch about someone else casting out demons in Jesus name. And we’ll end with another passage that seems a bit shocking where Jesus talks about leaving family behind. So what do we make of this? Well, stick around.
Passage: Mark 9:38-10:31
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 44
Words: ~931
OLD TESTAMENT SEGMENT:
Transitioning to our OT segment, we get to one of those passages that ends up in every children’s Bible. And in a way that fits nicely with today’s focus question topic, too.
Passage: Daniel 3
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 30
Words: ~943
Wisdom segment:
Passage: Psalm 97
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 12
Words: ~197
The bottom line:
Is blood thicker than water? As we hear a lot in the all the Gospels, in the Gospel according Mark, and in our reading today, there is a cost to following Jesus. The lesson I’ll conclude with is that we’ve got something to hold in tension, but following Jesus will reshape every human relationship we have.
So here’s this dude casting out demons, and the disciples still at this point had an exaggerated sense of their own importance. It wasn’t long back we caught them arguing about who was going to be most important in Jesus’ kingdom, right? But catch something that Jesus said — whoever’s not against us is for us. They thought someone wasn’t doing ministry correctly, but Jesus points to a different reality. He gives the whoever-it-is credit for doing that work “in My Name.” Let’s be sure we know what that means.
The question of unity necessarily includes, “What is it we’re unified on?” Jesus is the answer, but remember that Jesus as that answer is both a who and and what. Jesus indicated this person is “for us,” so I think it’s safe to say, given our short time here, that this person wasn’t a heretic.
As we wrap up, though, let’s not miss this point about being unified on both the who and the what.
Given that Jesus said “If you love me, you’ll keep my commandments,” and given that He’s God, we need to take seriously what He say we should do or not do. Getting the right “who” means getting the right “what,” otherwise we’re just making up our own Jesus.
So back to our ‘dude’s not one of us’ story. My guess is that the disciples thinking the dude (or dudette) wasn’t one of the “right Christians” was because of secondary differences, not primary differences. Jesus didn’t call ‘em a heretic. In fact, Jesus rebutted their idea of water — that we’re friends, we’re the in crowd, we’re the right version of Christians with the idea of blood — that person is covenantally part of the Kingdom.
Now let’s let the rubber meet the road — we need to hold something in tension. Jesus says to love people, right? Is He saying all their ideas will be correct? Of course not. So let’s make an important distinction.
Be egalitarian regarding persons; be elitist regarding ideas. ~ Peter Kreeft
Egalitarian means all are equal image bearers of the Creator. At the same time, not all ideas are equally valid. And here’s the tough part: We can love people and at the same time love them enough to challenge false ideas, those things that do not accord with biblical truth. And one of those “truths” that is unbiblical is that if we all call ourselves Jesus followers that we’re all good. That’s talking about the who of Jesus, but not the what. As we read often in the NT, rejecting Jesus is rejecting His teaching, but it goes the other way, too: rejecting his teaching is rejecting Him. You don’t get to make up your own Jesus.
As we closed out our NT segment we heard Jesus speaking of the reward received by those who leave family to follow Jesus. Obviously He’s not talking about not loving them. He’s talking about blood being thicker than milk. We know from elsewhere in the NT that Jesus’ truth will divide families, but that’s not because we don’t love them, it’s despite the fact that we show them Jesus’ love.
Be egalitarian regarding persons; be elitist regarding ideas. And keep your eyes on Jesus, because blood is thicker than milk or water.
ForTheHope is a daily audio Bible + apologetics podcast and blog. We’ve got a passion for just keepin’ it real, having conversations like normal people, and living out the love of Jesus better every single day.
Roger Courville, CSP is a globally-recognized expert in digitally-extended communication and connection, an award-winning speaker, award-winning author, and a passionately bad guitarist. Follow him on Twitter -- @RogerCourville and @JoinForTheHope – or his blog: www.forthehope.org.
Sources and resources:
(1) Victor Harold Matthews, Mark W. Chavalas, and John H. Walton, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament, electronic ed. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000), Da 2:4.
(2) D. A. Carson, “The Gospels and Acts,” in NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible, ed. D. A. Carson (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2018), 1789.
(3) D. A. Carson, “The Gospels and Acts,” in NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible, ed. D. A. Carson (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2018), 1791.