Jesus and the Sabbath

The Gospel of Mark, 2024

Mark 3:1-6.

ETS: Jesus healed a man of a shriveled hand on the Sabbath, demonstrating the mercy and compassion of God as more important than manmade traditions.

ESS: Because Jesus is the Son of Man, we should follow Him more closely than we follow the traditions of man.

OSS: [Devotional] {I want the hearers to examine their lives committing to follow Jesus closer than the traditions of man.}

PQ:

Why is it dangerous to follow the traditions of man closer than we follow Jesus?

UW: Reasons

Intro.: [AGS]: Edge-of-your-seat moment. [TS]: Chapter two contains helpful content moving into this passage. There are five controversies in chapter two, the first of which we studied last week, and the final one which bleeds into this week. “First, they complained that Jesus claimed to be God and to forgive sins (2:1-12). Next, they were offended because He consorted with sinners (2:13-17). Then He did not fast according to their religious traditions (2:18-22). Now, they take issue because He does not honor the Sabbath the way they believe He should (2:23-28 and 3:1-6).” [1] The text at hand records Jesus healing a man of a shriveled hand on the Sabbath. This is not something traditionally accepted on the Sabbath by the Jews because it was not considered life-threatening. Yet, Jesus showed that He was Lord of the Sabbath having authority to heal even on the Sabbath because He is the Son of God. [RS]: Have you ever been troubled, perplexed, or confused about tradition? Maybe you have been put in a position where something needed to be done, but it did not exactly match what would be traditionally accepted; maybe a particular belief that you have has been challenged in your Study and you are challenged because what you have been challenged by did not equal what you were traditionally taught. These moments cause us to ask the question: what is more important? Tradition or Jesus (the Bible, etc.)? We are put in a position to make a resolution regarding who we will follow. Because Jesus is God’s Son- we should follow Him closer than we follow tradition, displaying the character of God to others as often as we can.

TS: Let us examine the text and learn from the interaction between the Pharisees and Jesus to see the dangers involved in following the traditions of man closer than Jesus:

We seek to accuse people rather than to accept people. [vv. 1-2 and 6]

Notice the interaction between the Pharisees, Jesus, and the ailed man in these verses.

Jesus entered the synagogue again- noticing the man with the ailed hand.

The Pharisees, in order to accuse Jesus, were watching him closely.

The different attitudes of Jesus and the Pharisees cannot be in greater contrast. Jesus sought to accept and heal the man; the Pharisees sought to accuse and condemn Jesus (and to ignore the need of the man)

It is likely that this man would not have been accepted as the others in the synagogue because of his physical ailment. They would have pointed it out as a matter of judgment rather than sought out the man to help him. It would have been obvious that he was ailed and different- not put together- because of his condition.

When we follow the tradition of man closer than we follow Jesus, we ignore the needs of those around us for the sake of just going with the flow of the norm.

We seek to please people rather than to please God. [vv. 3-4]

The issue being challenged here is similar to that highlighted in Acts 4:1-20: is it right to please people or to please God? The question Jesus asked hit right at this: is it right to continue following your law or to demonstrate and display the character and heart of God?

The heart of the issue is that the teaching of the Jews regarding the Sabbath was extremely restrictive. It did not permit any work at all on the Sabbath; the only permissible work was if it was a life/death situation and the action involved would save an individual’s life. It should be noted, though, “It seems to have been a maxim with the Jews that not to do good when we have opportunity is to do evil; not to save life is to kill or to be guilty of murder. If a man has an opportunity of saving a man’s life when he is in danger, and does not do it, he is evidently guilty of his death” [2] Even still, “Technically speaking, on their own terms, a wrong deed would be a far greater ‘profanation’ of the sabbath than the good deed which they were scrupulously refusing to do.” [3]

The distraction of this tradition and teaching hindered the Pharisees in the following ways:

It hindered them from seeing the need the man had.

It hindered them from displaying the character of God (namely compassion and mercy)

Someone once said, “Some people are so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good.” (Unknown)

There are a few things to notice in these verses beyond the stated above:

Jesus required the man to stand before those present in the synagogue.

Such is often the case with Jesus. He demands that we not be ashamed of our trust in Him, even putting it on display in public. Commenting on this occasion, R. Alan Cole called to mind the occasion where the who had a flow of blood touched the hem of Jesus’ robe recorded in Mk. 5:33 was called to come forth in public. Additionally, he wrote, “To a sensitive person, such public display of a maimed limb would be a cup of shame, bitter to drink; but this costly confession of need Jesus often demanded...” [4]

The silence of the Pharisees following the question of Jesus condemned them.

It revealed a flaw in their understanding of the character of God- to think that God would not have mercy and compassion toward someone in need because of a religious restriction.

A newly elected pastor in a city-church where homelessness abounded made an unexpected entrance his first Sunday as pastor. He disguised himself as a homeless person and showed up to the church early and waited outside; in a church with 7-10,000 weekly attendees, only about 3 greeted him; he asked for change for food, and no one gave him change; he sat down front in the church only to be asked by the ushers to sit in the back; he greeted people only to be greeted back with dirty, judgmental stares and people who turned their faces away from him. Following the announcements in the service, the church leaders excitedly introduced their new pastor- the homeless man walked to the front and read from Matthew 25:35-40. Homelessness was a reality in their community, and it was a large part of the community. He was interested as to whether or not the church would embrace the community God had placed them in. His comments to the church were as follows, “Today, I see a gathering of people, not a church of Jesus Christ. The world has enough people, but not enough disciples. When will YOU decide to become disciples?” He then dismissed the service. [5]

Does the religion we cling to cause us to embrace our community or ignore it? If our religion causes us to ignore those in our community rather than embrace them, then we have followed some man-made religion and have sought to please man more than to please God.

Because I want to see us embrace our community and display the character of God- His love, mercy, and compassion- I want to invite you to join me as I go this evening at 4:00 to meet people in our community and share the Gospel with them. Jesus commissioned us to go to the people- not to wait for the people to come to us.

When we follow a man-made religion (tradition) more closely than we follow Jesus, we become consumed by pleasing the men (people) of the tradition more than pleasing God, the author of religion and our faith.

We cause God to be angry and to grieve over our hardened hearts. [v. 5]

The text records Jesus experiencing anger and grief as he looked around at the Pharisees. Two notes about this:

Jesus experienced anger. Anger alone is not sinful- it is an emotion God created to feel when He created us. Anger is only sinful when we allow it to motivate us to do something that is dishonoring to God.

Ephesians 4:26-27 “26 Be angry and do not sin. Don’t let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and don’t give the devil an opportunity.”

James 1:19-20 “19 My dear brothers and sisters, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, 20 for human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness.”

The anger Jesus experienced and expressed here is righteous indignation- frustration stemming from a recognition that something does not please God.

Jesus experienced grief. The grief Jesus experienced was over the reality that the people standing in front of him —in the synagogue— had hardened their hearts towards God for the sake of following a set of religious principles, thus missing the blessing of ministry right in front of them.

Jesus healed the man’s withered hand (even on the Sabbath). Two comments:

He did this to show that He was the Lord of the Sabbath (Mk. 2:28 “28 So then, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.””) and that He had the authority to heal.

He did this to display the character of God— that mercy, grace, and compassion were more important that clinging to a set of man-distorted principles.

Closing remarks:

It is dangerous to follow manmade tradition (religion) closer than Jesus for the following reasons:

It leads to missed ministry opportunities.

It leads to complacency in practice.

It leads to inward focus rather than outward focus. (us instead of them)

It leads to misplaced energy.

It leads to ignored needs.

It leads to caring more about what people think about us than what God thinks about us.

Responsive Questions:

[1] If you are one of the 19 people who went out on the last evangelism outing, will you please stand?

[2] Does the religion you have clung to cause you to embrace our community (those around us daily) or to ignore them?

[3] Realizing the dangers highlighted in this sermon with following religion closer than following Jesus, what needs to change in your walk with Christ so that you do not fall into these dangers?

Do you need to embrace Jesus for who He is for the first time?

Do you need to surrender your life to Jesus to begin serving Him daily, embracing the community around you that He has positioned you in?

Do you need to admit to God that you have not cared about pleasing him as much as you have cared about pleasing people?

[4] Where is a starting point for you today?

Bibliography:

[1] Daniel L. Akin, Exalting Jesus in Mark, ed. Daniel L. Akin, David Platt, and Tony Merida, Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2014), 60.

[2]Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament: Matthew & Mark, ed. Robert Frew (London: Blackie & Son, 1884–1885), 337–338.

[3] R. Alan Cole, Mark: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 2, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1989), 133.

[4] R. Alan Cole, 132.

[5] ___ “Church Members Mistreat Homeless Man in Church Unaware it is Their Pastor in Disguise” in Society of Saint Vincent De Paul. May 16, 2017. Accessed January 20, 2024. https://svdp-sandiego.org/church-members-mistreat-homeless-man-church-unaware-pastor-disguise/

[6] Ross H. McLaren, “Mark,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017).