A Rubric for Religion vs Relationship

Intro

Passage

Mark 2:23–28 ESV

23 One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” 25 And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: 26 how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” 27 And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

3 Challenges

Jesus Challenges the Pharisees in 3 ways:

Jesus challenges their hierarchy

Jesus challenges their head knowledge

Jesus challenges their heart

1. Jesus challenges their hierarchy

Mark 2:27–28 ESV

27 And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

Pharisees put

law > man

Jesus’ version

God > man > law

Law was meant to lead to mankind’s flourishment under God’s rule. It was meant to serve man not man serving the law.

Sabbath - God gave us rest b/c He knows its good for us

10 Commandments - He tells us not to kill because He knows murder is a great way to damage relationships; literally. He doesn’t want us to live with remorse and shame.

Can give more examples if needed.

Jesus came to tell them He is Lord not only over demons and disease, not only over sin, but over their idol - the law!

Jesus wants to be their God. Instead of them serving the law.

2. Jesus challenges their head knowledge

He says, have ya’ll read the text?!

Psalm 37:4 ESV

4 Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Do we focus on not only the words of God but the heart of God? Do we understand the meaning of the Bible and not just the data of the Bible?

what does this passage mean?

Mark 2:25–26 ESV

25 And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: 26 how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?”

Give example where we misread or misunderstand the text

3. Jesus challenges their heart

Matthew 12:6–7 ESV

6 I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. 7 And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.

Jesus is quoting Hosea

Hosea 6:1–7 (ESV)

1 “Come, let us return to the Lord;

for he has torn us, that he may heal us;

he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.

2 After two days he will revive us;

on the third day he will raise us up,

that we may live before him.

3 Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord;

his going out is sure as the dawn;

he will come to us as the showers,

as the spring rains that water the earth.”

4 What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?

What shall I do with you, O Judah?

Your love is like a morning cloud,

like the dew that goes early away.

5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets;

I have slain them by the words of my mouth,

and my judgment goes forth as the light.

6 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,

the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

7 But like Adam they transgressed the covenant;

there they dealt faithlessly with me.

Jesus wants faithful devotion and faithful affection to Him

If we are to experience a deeper relationship with Jesus and not fall into the routine of religion we must receive His 3 challenges

Action: which of these ares do you feel God challenging you? If you have affection? How can you cultivate devotion? If you have devotion how can you cultivate affection?

Intro

Recap New Years Goals. Ask where they’re at with their goals.

Recap stats from Jan 7th sermon

48% Fitness is the top New Year Resolution in 2024

32% Finances are second

No where in the data was there a stat on spiritual goals. How are you doing with reading through the bible? praying? Whatever your spiritual goals were this year, how are you doing?

Maybe you like me, have already missed a day in your Bible or of praying. How should we respond when we fail to reach our goals? When we fail to have a perfect streak?

We typically respond 1 of 2 ways:

Work harder - try to get caught up - increase our discipline and effort

Quit. Throw in the towel. Wait until next year. Make a new goal.

Have you ever noticed how hard you can be on yourself? Have you ever noticed how critical you can be of yourself of whether or not you reach your goals?

Share personal example:

Often times we are critical because we care. The question is do we care about the right thing.

Brief recap of where we’ve been in Mark.

What we’ve seen about Jesus:

Mark 1:1-8 A New & Greater Prophet than John the Baptist

Mark 1:9-11 Someone who is the Son of God

Mark 1:12-13 Authority over Satan

Mark 1:16-20 A New Rabbi

Mark 1:21-2:12 Authority over Demons and Disease

Mark 2:1–12 Authority to Forgive Sins

What we’ve seen about ourselves/ people responses to Jesus:

The Crowd comes to Jesus because of what He does and what He says.

The Paralytic and 4 Friends came to Jesus because of Who He is.

The Scribes & Pharisees are critical of Who Jesus is

The Disciples follow Jesus.

Today, we’re going to look at Jesus’ relationship with the pharisees; and if we’re honest I think we’ll notice some similarities between us and them.

Read passage

Mark 2:23–28 ESV

23 One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” 25 And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: 26 how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” 27 And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

The pharisees are constantly critical of Jesus and His disciples.

Mark 2:13-17 They’re asking why he’s sitting with tax collectors and sinners

Mark 2:18-22 They’re criticizing Jesus and the disciples for (eating) not fasting like John the baptist’s disciples and their own disciples

Mark 2:23-28 criticizing for eating on the Sabbath

Mark 3:1-6 Criticize Jesus for healing on the Sabbath

What’s their issue; sad they don’t get to eat as much as Jesus’ disciples? Are they complaining cuz Jesus isn’t resting? No

The issue is they have a heart condition that needs attending to and so Jesus confronts their heart instead of their comments.

Mark 2:27–28 ESV

27 And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

In Matthews depiction of this event we get a little more detail

Matthew 12:6–7 ESV

6 I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. 7 And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.

Jesus is drawing attention to a deeper issue that is at hand. It’s something that not only the pharisees, but you and I struggle with.

Re-bring up new years goals to be in bible, to pray, to give, to serve etc.

Often times what happens is we have a genuine desire to grow in our faith or to abide by God’s word; so then we create goals and metrics to do so; which is genuinely helpful, I’m not saying that it’s wrong.

The problem is because we care, because we want to grow, we can become critical of ourselves and of others.

We beat ourselves up for missing a day, or being behind, etc.

Further we judge others who’s faith journey doesn’t 1) look like ours or 2) look the way we think it ought to look.

How do we know if we are more like a pharisee or a disciple?

Here is a Rubric consisting of 4Rs to assess this answer:

Revelation, Response, Rituals, Righteousness

God reveals Himself

Creation

His Word

We Respond

Repentance and Obedience

Rejection & Disobedience

Rituals (b/c we care and are trying to abide by His commands)

Jesus told them to tithe and to give the Lord 10% of their first fruits

they then tithe a portion of their mint, cumin, parsley etc (spices!)

Jesus tells them to rest

they start measuring how much ATP they spend on a Sabbath day, etc

Examples: God’s Word says “meditate on my law day and night” we translate that into I have to read the Bible 365days a year. The disciples didn’t do that. Many Christians throughout history havent done that. We made that rule up. We make up rules for ourselves that aren’t directly from God and we become legalistic about it. And then we become critical of ourselves and others

we become concerned with:

Righteousness

Living “rightly”

The problem is when we fall into the cycle of pursuing righteousness through rituals, habits, schedules, goals, we can fall into the trap of religion.

When in contrast, we continue to focus on how God HAS and how God IS revealing Himself to us, and when we respond to Him in repentance & obedience we experience the cycle of relationship with Him

Give example:

How do we know if we’re in the religious or relational cycle? Are we focused on revelation or righteousness? Are we proud or humble?

The religious approach pursues righteousness through good works and ends up becoming arrogant and pious

The relational approach pursues righteousness through a restored relationship with Jesus and results in humility and gratitude

Are you more like the pharisees or disciple?

Are you focused on revelation or righteousness?

Are you proud or humble?

If you, like me, find yourself living at times like a pharisee,

How does Jesus respond to us? What does He want to say to us.

Jesus Challenges the Pharisees in 3 ways:

Jesus challenges their hierarchy

Jesus challenges their head knowledge

Jesus challenges their heart

1. Jesus challenges their hierarchy

Mark 2:27–28 ESV

27 And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

Pharisees put

law > man

Jesus’ version

God > man > law

Law was meant to lead to mankind’s flourishment under God’s rule. It was meant to serve man not man serving the law.

Sabbath - God gave us rest b/c He knows its good for us

10 Commandments - He tells us not to kill because He knows murder is a great way to damage relationships; literally. He doesn’t want us to live with remorse and shame.

Can give more examples if needed.

Jesus came to tell them He is Lord not only over demons and disease, not only over sin, but over their idol - the law!

Jesus wants to be their God. Instead of them serving the law.

2. Jesus challenges their head knowledge

He says, have ya’ll read the text?!

Psalm 37:4 ESV

4 Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Do we focus on not only the words of God but the heart of God? Do we understand the meaning of the Bible and not just the data of the Bible?

what does this passage mean?

Mark 2:25–26 ESV

25 And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: 26 how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?”

Give example where we misread or misunderstand the text

3. Jesus challenges their heart

Matthew 12:6–7 ESV

6 I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. 7 And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.

Jesus is quoting Hosea

Hosea 6:1–7 (ESV)

1 “Come, let us return to the Lord;

for he has torn us, that he may heal us;

he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.

2 After two days he will revive us;

on the third day he will raise us up,

that we may live before him.

3 Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord;

his going out is sure as the dawn;

he will come to us as the showers,

as the spring rains that water the earth.”

4 What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?

What shall I do with you, O Judah?

Your love is like a morning cloud,

like the dew that goes early away.

5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets;

I have slain them by the words of my mouth,

and my judgment goes forth as the light.

6 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,

the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

7 But like Adam they transgressed the covenant;

there they dealt faithlessly with me.

1 Samuel 15:22–25 ESV

22 And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king.” 24 Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. 25 Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me that I may bow before the Lord.”

What is Jesus getting at? What does He want from us?

Jesus wants not just the rituals of religion, he wants a relationship with us!

Jesus wants not just our minds but also our hearts. Jesus didn’t come only to inform us but to transform us.

The issue Jesus had with the pharisees is that He wanted not only faithful devotion but also faithful affection.

Are you faithfully and affectionately devoted to Jesus? :

some of y’all genuinely need discipline in your spiritual life, God is trying to grow a faithful devotion to Himself; that is beautiful, but don’t lose your affection for Him in the process.

Here’s what I want y’all to do, is evaluate where are you at? Are the habits you have in place leading to deeper intimacy with Jesus? If not; the solution isn’t necessarily get rid of them, but perhaps ask yourself how can I change my approach so that it leads to intimacy with Jesus and not religion.

Give suggestion for how to change Bible approach, how to change metrics and counting (build grace into it)

Help them re-frame their goal. Is the goal to read, to pray, to serve to tithe?

Or is the goal of reading revelation of God?

Is the goal of resting, renewed joy in God

is the goal of eating, delighting in Jesus; praise God for tastebuds

Is the goal tithing, honoring God

Action step: Take a moment to write down one change you’re going to make this week that will help you refocus on who God is.

Notes:

Matthew GENERAL EDITOR Max Anders AUTHOR Stuart K. Weber Nashville, Tennessee Holman New Testament Commentary