Not a Religion Mark 2:18-28

We can live only in relationships. We need each other. A rather crude and cruel experiment was carried out by Emperor Frederick, who ruled the Roman Empire in the thirteenth century. He wanted to know what man's original language was: Hebrew, Greek, or Latin? He decided to isolate a few infants from the sound of the human voice. He reasoned that they would eventually speak the natural tongue of man. Wet nurses who were sworn to absolute silence were obtained, and though it was difficult for them, they abided by the rule. The infants never heard a word -- not a sound from a human voice. Within several months they were all dead.

-Christianity is more about a relationship with God through Christ than a set of rituals

Jesus is...

I. The Bridegroom vv. 18-20

At this point, we are going to revisit a recurring theme in the Gospel: Jesus is criticized by the religious leadership of His day. In this instance, it comes from the people who compare them with the Pharisees and John’s disciples

There is a disconnect, we will see, between the way Jesus views fasting and the way other leaders view it

In the most common religious expressions, fasting is a way to gain God’s favor and to earn His mercy, an act of repentance and the pursuit of salvation

Fasting for the Pharisees had become an act of discipline and a ritual, easily faked and often devoid of proper meaning

Jesus makes it clear that this is out of order:

First, this is true because this is a time of joy, not mourning: Why would I need to seek the mercy of God when God’s own salvation, the Messiah is present with me

Second, we see that fasting will return, but the purpose will be different.

As those who have received the mercy of God, we do not fast for His favor

Instead, we fast as an act of consecration to Christ and His purposes and of communion with Christ

We do not suffer so that we can be saved; our suffering is a way of aligning with Him. Is that our posture towards Him in worship and service?

Philippians 3:8–11

[8] Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ [9] and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—[10] that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, [11] that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (ESV)

II. The New Cloth and the New Wine vv. 21-22

Second, we see Jesus use two images to describe this disconnect between the old and the new, the way of the ritual and the way of the Spirit

First, we see a piece of unshrunk cloth being sewn to an existing garment

Second, we see new wine being poured into old wineskins

Neither arrangement will work; it ends in a rupture!

This is certainly true of the religion of Jesus

If you tried to connect the call of Jesus and the new life of freedom found in Him to a set of manmade rules and traditions, the thing would rupture

This is also true in our modern setting; the wineskins are constantly changing and we must differentiate between the eternal truth and the temporary form.

When we begin to uphold the forms as eternal, they cannot bear the pressure and they will be destroyed; the wineskin tears and the precious wine is spilled

Jesus is inviting us into something new

He offers a vibrant relationship marked by the leadership of the Spirit and the wisdom of the Word

Contrast this with the elements of a dead religiosity that has it’s heart settled far from Christ

If we get the forms right and we completely miss the function of the new work that Christ is doing, we have missed the most important thing.

There are some things that we come across that are dead and we have a tendency to do the same thing: Poke it with a stick. Why is this? We don’t want to attach our lives to something that is dead. We don’t want to touch it, handle it, or have anything to do with it. We ought to feel the same way about forms of religion that are detached from a vital relationship with Christ!

III. The Lord of the Sabbath vv. 23-28

Finally, we see Jesus face another serious accusation: He is accused of working on the Sabbath

Interestingly, the Law made clear that he and his men were free to pick the grain

However, they were not free to work on the Sabbath. However, how do we define work in this instance?

First, Jesus points to a higher Law through an example in the Old Testament

There is a law of life that Jesus followed in His earthly ministry: it is better for them to pick grain than to go hungry

Jesus illustrates this by going to the story of David and demonstrating how he fed holy bread to his own men when they were hungry and he was not condemned; they are ignorant of their own Scripture

Second, Jesus explains the Spirit of the Law of Sabbath

Sabbath was not made for man, but man for Sabbath

The day is not kept holy because God is offended for the day, but because man was made for rest

Sabbath was not intended to be another religious burden to bear, but an opportunity to commune with God

Third, Jesus proclaims that He is Lord of the Sabbath; this has several important connotations

He has authority over the Sabbath, He declares what is right and wrong related to it

He is the point of Sabbath; we enter into Sabbath so that we can commune with Him

He is the giver of Sabbath; when we come to Him, we find rest

Jesus is inviting us to rejoice in Him and to rest in Him

There's no music in a rest, but there is the making of music in it. In our whole life-melody the music is broken off here and there by 'rests,' and we foolishly think we have come to the end of the tune...not without design does God write the music of our lives. Be it ours to learn the tune, and not be dismayed at the 'rests.' They are not to be slurred over, not to be omitted, not to destroy the melody, not to change the keynote. If we sadly say to ourselves, 'There is no music in a rest,' let us not forget that there is the making of music in it.

Matthew 11:28–30

[28] Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. [29] Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. [30] For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (ESV)