Mark #7 Swimming with Sharks
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Thank you Jessica,
What she read brings us up to today’s passage. Both deal with the Sabbath. Wish we had more time to address honoring the Sabbath. The current events of this past week, need a focus on a different part of this passage.
Said it before, and will say again - I am in AWE at how God’s Word addresses the issues of the day, our present day!
As we begin, let us pray for these 5 hurting families in Raleigh.
Nicole Connors, Susan Karnatz, Mary Marshall, James Thompson & Gabriel Torres.
Pray for families and for the Word of God to speak to our hearts today! A real, relationship with you through Jesus Christ your son, is essential!
Our message is titled “Swimming with Sharks” today. There is danger very close!
1 He entered again into a synagogue; and a man was there whose hand was withered.
2 They were watching Him to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him.
3 He said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and come forward!”
4 And He said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill?” But they kept silent.
5 After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored.
6 The Pharisees went out and immediately began conspiring with the Herodians against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.
It is the Sabbath, the Jewish day for worship and Jesus goes to the Synagogue to do that - to WORSHIP! Often, he read scripture and taught. We do not see that listed here.
Others are there as well for Different Reasons!
Others are there as well for Different Reasons!
We have seen this group so many times already, that Mark doesn’t even identify them. Who they are should be obvious. The Pharisees.
THe ones who held such a high view of the Torah, the Word of God. The LAW. Those who made such a fuss about being ceremonially Clean for the purpose of Worship.
Yet here they are in the synagogue for a Different reason.
Mark 3:2 (NASB 95)
2 They were watching Him to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him.
The have had enough of Jesus! They are not there to listen to him, but to accuse him. Even implies that they have set this scene up. Perhaps even getting the man to come for this purpose! The Man has a Withered hand. It is broken and mangled. Useless. Do they have any concern for the man?
Look who takes the initiative. This time it is not the man seeking Jesus, Jesus calls the man forward!
3 And He said to the man who had the withered hand, “Step forward.”
Jesus knows what their intentions are! He knows they have NO CONCERN for the man. They have PREJUDGED the man just as they PREJUDGE Jesus.
**In their eyes, the man got what he deserved from God,he was a sinner. God rewards the Righteous, those who act right, talk right & look Right. In their eyes, Jesus could not be from God, because Jesus did not FIT INTO THEIR MOLD - the way they DEFINED what it means to ...
To What? I struggle trying to explain what their goal is. Is it to Please God? Is it to LOVE GOD? Is it to SERVE God?
Or is it to Look Religious?
To Look Better than others? ... is it about being “RIGHT ous” They are the ones who know what is right. They know the way to God. They are RIGHT and everyone else is WRONG!
Jesus calls them Out!
4 And He said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill?” But they kept silent.
Is is lawful to do good on the Sabbath? The day we are not suppose to Work. What a twisted system that shows the condition of their hearts.
When it is considered WORK to do Good. To Heal.
Doing Good takes work YES. But isn’t Work - what one HAS to Do?
Isn’t doing good what one is SUPPOSE to WANT to do?
So How do they respond to Jesus’ question?
…they Kept silent.
…they Kept silent.
What painful words. What a DARK day, when the supposedly people of God, the spiritual leaders have NOTHING to say, regarding Doing Good.
They are both completely Blind and deaf to what it means to LOVE GOD with All your heart.
Oh what a dark day, no wonder we next read of Jesus looking at them first with anger… then grief.
Mark 3:5 (NASB 95)
5 After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored.
Anger and Grieved at What?
The Hardness of their Hearts!
The Hardness of their Hearts!
Beware! Beware of how easy it is to become blind to the truth.
25 There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.
How easy it is to be blinded by our own opinions, our own understanding. By our own Preconceived Conclusions, just like the pharisees were.
Didn’t they have tradition on their side? Didn’t they have 400 plus generations defining what the Laws of Moses were and how they were to be FOLLOWED.
No wonder Jesus said to the disciples, a NEW COMMANDMENT I give you...
34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
It is still a new commandment today! We, even the church still struggles with LOVING ONE ANOTHER!
How easy it is to get our feelings hurt, how easy it is to be OFFENDED by … Friends.... Even FAMILY! Issues that seem so important to us… yet are they?
Shouldn’t we be focused on just two things - LOVING GOD and Doing GOOD to Others?
Shouldn’t we be focused on just two things - LOVING GOD and Doing GOOD to Others?
That is what Jesus went to the synagogue that day to do. To LOVE GOD -worship Him & to Do GOOD. Jesus Heals the man’s hand and HOW Did Pharisees Respond?
6 The Pharisees went out and immediately began conspiring with the Herodians against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.
Notice how their choice match what Jesus gave as the alternative to doing good? Is it lawful to do good or harm? to save a life or kill.
This group that the pharisees joined up with is a shocker as well. The herodians favored just the opposite of the pharisees. They followed Herod - a Jew who served Rome
Easton’s Bible Dictionary (Herodians)
Jewish political party who sympathized with the Herodian rulers in their general policy of government, and in the social customs which they introduced from Rome. They were at one with the Sadducees in holding the duty of submission to Rome, and of supporting the Herods on the throne.
To understand this in our terms - would be Dem’s and Rep’s uniting.
What did they seek to do?
Destroy Jesus! Not just kill him. But completely remove any remembrance of him is what they wanted! That is Hatred!
What makes it even more frightening is they THOUGHT they were doing the right thing!
What makes it even more frightening is they THOUGHT they were doing the right thing!
I have read this last verse many times, yet just saw it as in the past. It is what happened long ago.
But the events of this past week, remind me of how dangerous it is to have a HARD HEART! To become callous to others.
To be so focused on self -that no one else matters.
Such a tragic event - 15 yr old going on a rampage. Driven by what? Anger, Hate, Despair? This harbored hatred sounds so like vs.6.
Conspiring to do What THEY thought was right… Pr. 16.25
25 There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.
Coming to church is not enough, our lives must be transformed by the gospel and we must be disciples of Jesus and impact others with the gospel.
Starts in our families.
Parents, How are you teaching your children to deal with their emotions?
Parents, How are you teaching your children to deal with their emotions?
Especially anger & jealousy.
how do they see US dealing with ours?
Our children are always watching & Learning - especially at the wrong moments. So often they adopt our shortcomings - and take them to the next level!
Parents, let us ask ourselves the hard questions!
What happens when we leave this place? Are we only good while here?
or do we like the Pharisees when we walk out we pick up our anger, our jealousy, our Pre-Judgement of others.
What do our children listen to as we drive away?
Do they See & Hear Jesus in US?
Message is titled - Swimming with Sharks.
didn’t realize when I name it this, that the point would be - not am I swimming with sharks, but am I the Shark. Quick to hurt rather than do good.
Friends, do we look more like the pharisees - hard hearts blind to the pain inflicted on others. Hungry for only my needs being met?
As I said in the Beginning - i am in awe at how God moves! How God guides the passage for the day to match the day we live in! And I want to conclude the way God told me too on Monday!
Reminding us of Jesus’ answer to His own question!
It Is Better to Do Good! It is Better to Save A Life!
It Is Better to Do Good! It is Better to Save A Life!
Last Sunday we had church council, looking ahead to the coming months a key event related to what it means to be a SB Church - the Christmas Mission Offering.
What I cherish the most about being SBC is a united commitment to support missionaries throughout the word.
To collectively give for their support so they do not have to use their time and energy to raise support.
There are LOTS of GREAT mission organizations. but I know of no other that has such a system.
Back to the Council meeting, I was asked to help promote the missions with video clips during Dec. Monday morning I looked and found one that moved me so, that I could not wait till Dec. It fits the text of today.
Pray - God may this speak to all hearts today the way it spoke to mine. May we take its message to heart as well and LIVE it.
Dim the lights please…
Concluding point after video,
Their lives were not taken they were given
Church, is about doing what Jesus did - focusing on ministering to others.
These missionaries, remember - they did not go to the far corners of the world because of what the world could do for them. Instead,
Because of what Jesus had done for them they WENT to DO for OTHERS!
They went to Give.
Your life is a Gift.
How are you living to Give that others may find life in Jesus?
I would rather swim with sharks, than be a shark. I would rather do good than Harm!
Have you Found that Life in Jesus Christ!