Mark 3: 7-35
The Tragedy of the Commons and the Presence of the Christ

Scripture Reading

Prayer 

Intro:

“Picture a pasture open to all” – green and lush with grass.  It’s common property to an entire community of farmers – ranchers actually – herdsmen.  Each herdsman may field as many cattle as he like on the common land.  And of course he gains an added benefit for each additional animal he grazes on the common field.  There is an incentive in this way for each farmer to press the pasture to the limit of its yield – but there is no regulation in place to check overuse beyond what the land can take.  Each herdsman gets +1 utility (if you will) for every cow added, but he only bears a fraction of the strain upon the land.  So if every herdsman adds to his herd indiscriminately over time the land is over-taxed and no one wins. 

This problematic scenario is what ecologist Garret Hardin termed “The Tragedy of the Commons” in an article written for Science magazine 1968.  It’s an old problem, addressed by men such as Thucydides and Aristotle.  But (according to a recent write-up in the Economist) Hardin’s article on “The Tragedy of the Commons” struck a chord in 1968 – a time when the world was feeling smaller, not least because of the nuclear arms race.  The basic assumption of Hardin’s article is that tragedy is inevitable for mankind because of limited common space on the planet.  It’s a problem with no technical solution; despite our best scientific endeavors we will eventually run out of space.  Hardin’s solution was population control.  Valuable, life-sustaining resources are limited, (so) we must therefore limit the gathering crowd. 

FCF:  Though most of us here will not agree with Hardin’s conclusion (about population control), yet we do recognize the problem of handling common space is difficult.  Though we share resources and work hard to steward limited value well.  Still, we must trust God to govern the universe for our good – even when it hurts.  [Even Dr. Hardin acknowledged before his death that he should have called his article The Tragedy of the Unmanaged Commons. – Common space can be used well to the benefit of all.  And there’s now an entire segment of scholarship addressing usage of common space – such as the internet, such as oil reserves, such as fresh water.]

The problem of the commons is real.  Good stewardship of limited resources is not easy – particularly on the global scale.  Disadvantaged people are easily exploited for the advantage of others.  Nations quickly go to arms in order to ensure they’ll get their proper share (of the pie).  The best schools are crowded with students.  (The best teachers often serve only the privileged.) 

Bond:  At this point in Mark’s gospel some of you may perceive a different slant on the tragedy of the commons.  (After all) There is only one Jesus; he can heal but the crowds are intense.  He proclaims the Kingdom of God and forgiveness of sins on earth, but he’s isolated there in ancient Judea and in the backwaters of Galilee.  What hope is there for you and I in this?  What are the boundaries limiting this gospel?  Who has a claim on Jesus?  The answer to that question is complicated, and I won’t treat it entirely in this message, but the good news for us is that things don’t work quite the same way in God’s economy as they do in Dr. Hardin’s example – tragedy is not inevitable for men who hope to gain a share in relationship to God.  Yes, there is only one resource for salvation to all men in the one man Christ Jesus.  But the gospel of Jesus Christ is an expanding not a contracting resource for humanity.  The more that he is pursued, the more his influence expands among men.  But the more spiritual territory Jesus occupies the less territory is available to his enemies.  [We see this in the way that Jesus orients relationships around himself in today’s passage.  In the way he deals with crowds, with scribes, and with family there is a tension at work.] 

So there are at least two ways in which I believe this concept of the tragedy of the commons can help us understand today’s text – especially as we consider how the concept does and does not apply to the ministry of Jesus Christ.  I intend to show that… 

In terms of human participation in (the blessings of) the gospel of Jesus Christ – the Tragedy of the Commons does not apply. 

But in terms of spiritual territory occupied by Jesus Christ – the Tragedy of the Commons does apply. 

First our text shows that…

Human access to the gospel is not subject to the Tragedy of the Commons, because the gospel of Jesus Christ is an expanding resource. 

How is Jesus like the commons?

If we review Mark’s story from chapter one we find a progression of Jesus’ fame among the people.  They are astonished at Jesus teaching and power – he teaches with authority, he commands demons and they obey. 

V. 1:28 says “…at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee”  That night they brought all the sick and demon possessed in Capernaum so that (v. 1:33) “…the whole city was gathered together at the door.”  You remember that the leper did not keep quiet but spread the news of his healing  (v. 1:45) “…so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter.”  Chapter 2 begins by stating that (v. 2) “…many were gathered together [at Jesus’ house], so that there was no more room, no even at the door.”  And v. 12 says “He went out again by the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them.”  He draws scrutiny even in walking through a field. 

But now in chapter 3 we see that the intensity of Jesus’ fame has become dangerous to his person.  Crowds are flowing into Galilee from North-South, East, and West.  Not only from Galilee – but from Judea and Jerusalem, and Idumea and beyond the Jordan, from Tyre and Sidon.  Jesus’ influence is becoming expansive, he’s drawing in the nations from beyond Judea.  People are pressing in to touch him for healing so that they threaten even to crush the man.  He must arrange for a life-boat offshore to escape the swelling horde.  We can imagine the heat and the sweat, the noise and commotion of this crowd.  It would have been difficult to keep your feet – it’s unpleasant – people die in such mobs.  People are desperate to get to Jesus.  We understand that don’t we?  His touch brings life to the body and restoration to the soul – he forgives the weary sinner – he has come to call the sick.  Jesus welcomes all, but not everyone gets to touch Jesus in this scene.

How is this not a tragedy? 

Because the gospel is an expanding resource.

vv. 13-19 explain how Jesus went up on the mountain to appoint twelve apostles.  As much as there is a pattern of crowds swelling to Jesus in Mark’s gospel there is also a counter pattern of Jesus withdrawing from the crowds for privacy.  [He preaches in the synagogues, but then retreats to Simon’s house (1:29).  He rises before daylight to pray in a desolate place (1: 35).  Because of the leper’s testimony he’s forced to avoid towns and to teach in the countryside (1:45).  He will still enter a city but must retreat again to the seaside (2:13, 3:7).]  And now Jesus retreats from the seaside to the mountain top (3:13).  This time there is a special purpose.  He calls to himself a group of disciples apart from the crowd, and from among these he chooses twelve.  These twelve he names apostles – from the verb apostello, “to send”, these are the sent ones.  It says (v.15) he chooses them with the purpose that they might be with him, and that he might send them out.  And he intends to send them out with the (two-fold) purpose to preach and to cast out demons.  You see the twelve will expand the ministry of the Christ.

A. T. Robertson is right in noting that this was a crisis point in the ministry of Jesus.  Overwhelmed by the crowds, he is in need of help.  We know he has already called certain men to himself, they were helping him with the boat by the sea, but now he appoints twelve (from among them) to the special office of apostle.  These men are not intended as mere stage hands or body-guards to the Christ – no – they will be with him to learn from him.  He will train them and send them out to carry on his ministry themselves.  They themselves will proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God and forgiveness of sins.  They themselves will cast out the demons.  The gospel is expanding here.  And please notice that it is not only the message of the gospel which will expand through the apostolic ministry, but it is also the power of the gospel which expands in the appointment of these men.  The Bible says Jesus is the only one who can restore us to God.  (“No one comes to the Father but by him.”)  But touching the man is not our only avenue toward healing.  Instead he entrusts his Word and his power to the lives of faithful men who will multiply his ministry on earth.  The gospel is an expanding resource. 

Illus.  But why does Jesus do things this way?  Why choose twelve to train? He is the Son of God, after all, the demons know it.  And if that’s true, surely he has more power than he shows.  Why not speak a word and heal the entire crowd?  If he’s here to save Israel, why not go around to every town and village himself to ensure the work gets done properly?  Why send men out men who may get the teaching wrong?  Why choose men he knows will betray?  Why does Jesus not retreat entirely to some desolate place conducive to prayer – start a monastic order and let his disciples serve as gatekeepers to the community?  Or why not go to the Temple itself and set up a booth somewhere so that everyone could walk through one at a time at scheduled hours to get their touch of Jesus – get the Temple guard involved to keep things orderly?  Jesus is anointed with God’s Spirit – why not send the Holy Spirit himself out to conquer all the demons?  To misunderstand this point is to misunderstand the very nature and purpose of the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ.  You see one may just as well ask – why become a man?  Why should God take on flesh and become a mortal man to perform healings and declare his Kingdom in Judea?  God is God.  Presumably he could speak a word from heaven to heal.  Instead he chooses a rag-tag group of fishermen and a tax-collector to do his work. 

App. It is a peculiarity of the God of the Bible that he is committed to working his purposes through the lives of regular men and women whom he chooses for his purposes in time and in human history.  He called Abraham from Ur like a needle from a haystack and he promised – “I’m going to make a great nation from you, I’m gonna bless you and make your name great and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”  He called Moses – stammering with a speech-impediment – and he said go demand that Pharaoh let my people go. God chose David from the sheepfold as the new anointed King, and promised him a throne established forever just a few chapters before David resorts to adultery and murder.  And the New Testament teaches (oh glory) that our God is so deeply committed to this policy of working through human frailty that he – The Lord – himself will take on the flesh of a man and be pierced upon a wooden cross in order to redeem his creation.

That’s the application here.  Our God is committed to working through his creation in order to restore his creation.  He’s committed to working through the flesh of men in order to redeem mankind.  He’s committed to dying in order to overcome death.  That’s how far this goes.

And part of the process is his choosing of the twelve.  Here we can celebrate our God’s deep commitment to expanding his work through the mumbling mouths of men, the frail hands of human beings.  If we follow the story on through we will see the power of Christ at work in the lives of these men.  If we follow history beyond the Bible, we will see them carry the gospel to many nations and die as martyrs in witness to Jesus.  If we keep tracing the story you see it tracks down to this house, this worship gathering on this Sunday morning.  “Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10: 17)  One need not touch Jesus in order to know his power.  “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.---But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?  And how are they to hear without someone preaching?  And how are they to preach unless they are sent?  As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”  Jesus calls these men to be preachers – so that many will hear – and many will believe – and many will call upon his name.  Their call and their training will expand access to the one gospel.  And the trend will continue.  As Paul instructed Timothy (II Timothy 2: 2), they will go on to entrust what they have heard (in the presence of many witnesses) to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.  It is a ministry carried forward by preachers today.  We are not the twelve apostles, but this proclamation function of their call transfers to all of us – to all of you here.  In various ways as you bear testimony to the power of Jesus Christ in your lives you become part of the expanding message, the expanding power, the expanding gospel – a resource available to all with ears to hear.  There’s no tragedy of the commons here – only the glory of the common gospel. 

But in the remainder of chapter 3 we see where the tragedy of the commons does apply to the gospel story.

Because Mark shows how…

Spiritual territory occupied by Jesus Christ is subject to the Tragedy of the Commons.

But how does Jesus occupy spiritual territory?  What do I mean?

He does not divide his Kingdom with Satan.  He does not bend his will to accommodate familial sensibilities. 

In v. 22 the scribes enter again, this time claiming that Jesus is possessed by the prince of demons – the name Beelzebul – Lord of Heaven – evokes an association with the pagan fertility diety Baal whose idol was renowned for leading Israel astray.  “…by the prince of demons he casts out demons”  This is a grave accusation to level against the Son of God.  And Jesus addresses his accusers with gravitas.  It says in v. 23 “he called them to him” that is, Jesus called the scribes to him “and said to them in parables, How can Satan cast our Satan?  If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.  And if a house is 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 is coming to and end.  But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man.  Then indeed he may plunder his house.”  The idea of the repetitive rhetoric here aims at helping the Pharisees to see what should have been an obvious point to them.  Jesus enters Satan’s territory, but he enters to claim it for himself by the authority of God.  He is plundering Satan’s house. 

Jesus leaves the scribes with a dire warning because they have spoken against the Spirit of God.  All sins and blasphemies will be forgiven, “but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”  Just before this section Mark told us that Jesus’ family members thought he was mad – “out of his mind”.  It was a word against Jesus spoken by a confused family – it will be forgiven – everyone misunderstands Jesus along the way – he expects it.  But Jesus effectively says to the scribes “If you don’t recognize the Spirit of God in the healing of men and the removal of unclean spirits, then you are refusing God altogether.  You are isolating yourself from the Kingdom.  What other recourse do you have?”  So there is tragedy for Satan whose kingdom is coming to an end, but there is also tragedy for all men who refuse to give ground to Jesus – and who slander his Spirit in the process.  There are only two ways – Jesus does not divide his kingdom with Satan. 

And finally tragedy accompanies the Kingdom because…

God does not bend his will to accommodate family sensibilities.

In vv. 31-35 Jesus refuses a call from his mother and brothers who await him outside.  "Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother."  These words still startle us today.  But to refuse one’s mother publicly would have been shocking in ancient times.  The gospel of Mark is not anti-family.  We will see that as we go along – not least in Jesus strong prohibition against divorce in chapter 10.  But what Jesus does here is to re-align priorities.  Submission to his teaching marginalizes other social categories.  Those committed to his word form a new family – new brothers and sisters and mothers.  The gospel should be leading you to love your original family better.  But to the extent that your original family claims a priority seeking to remove you from the will of God there will be tragedy.  As Robertson notes, this is a pathetic scene.  And I’m suggesting there is something of the tragedy of the commons here.  When Jesus moves into your life you must reconsider family commitments.  And your family commitments should sit loosely to the will of God in your life -when the two conflict, they cannot occupy the same space – and you will wear you out if you try. 

App:  This Kingdom reality should never serve as a license for children to disobey parents at will or for adult children to disregard their aging parents.  We’ll see that Mark 7 confronts exactly this practice among the Pharisees (in the corban controversy).  When your mother calls, you typically ought to answer.  When she is in need you definitely ought to provide.  The fifth commandment still applies.  But your mother is not God.  This passage shows that even Mary, the mother of God, (though blessed among women) is not God.  Mothers sometimes manipulate their children.  And when mothers or brothers call you to remove yourself from the family of God simply to appease their conscience you should have an answer for them.  You should be polite, but you shouldn’t mind being firm in the face of this tragedy.  And remember that firmness with family about the will of God does not mean rejection of family.  Instead it should be an invitation to (re)align themselves with God’s family.  We know that Jesus’ family came around after all – at least Mary and James (the Lord’s brother).  But please also recognize that you may become the one who treads upon God’s space in the life of a family member.  You may be the mother or brother or sister who seeks to intrude upon God’s work in the life of a child or a sibling.  Watch out, consider you steps, bloodlines do not take priority before God’s will.

If you are a father or a mother this means you must hold loosely to your children.  And you steward them toward the fatherhood of God, taking responsibility, but not claiming ultimate authority over them. 

Conc. Tragedy of the Commons

So we’ve seen how the so-called Tragedy of the Commons does and does not apply to the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Access to Jesus is not limited by the presence of his person in the flesh.  The power of the gospel is an expanding resource, but as the gospel gains ground no one outside can occupy its space – whether as malicious as the devil or as benign as family – the gospel makes such a powerful claim on our lives that neither mother nor brother, neither Satan nor scribe can stand against it.  If mankind is a common territory, then Jesus has come to claim us as his own.  Hear the gospel today – do not blaspheme the Spirit.  He is available to you even now.  The gospel is an open territory, an expanding territory to all who believe.