Mark 2:18-3:6

Well we have been progressing slowly through the Gospel of Mark so far, but today we are going to hit hyper speed and sail through three separate teaching segments that Mark presents to us. We want to hit these in one teaching segment because Mark has compiled these stories in this order to led us to an ironic ending. We could take each of these stories and take three weeks to look at all the ends and outs, but I think it we will see the ironic ending better if we look at all of them at one time.

So, that being said. I readily admit there is more that we could see and apply from these verses, but we are just going not going to get into all of it, we want to arrive at a conclusive point.

In this section we are going to see a couple of major literary themes that Mark utilizes to tell his story of Jesus. We spoke about these themes in the second week of our series when discovered that the Gospel of Mark is a

A Gospel of Irony, Mysteries and Questions

People who encountered Jesus in this Gospel often left scratching their heads. They just can’t wrap their minds around this guy. And questions pepper the landscape of the this narrative. They act like landmines that are intentionally placed so that once you step on them, you are forced to answer them and deal with their explosive ramifications. Usually once triggered, they blow up what had previously been thought about who “The Messiah” would be, or be like.

So as we work our way through the passage, I want you to circle all the question marks you see. Mark is going to use questions to lead us to an ironic ending.

Mark 2:18–28 (ESV)

18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 19 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.

20 The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.

21 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. 22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”

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.”

Mark 3:1–6 (ESV)

1 Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. 2 And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him.

3 And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” 4 And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent.

5 And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.

6 The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

PRAY

So what we got here are questions that are fired at Jesus that are designed to trap Him, however, Jesus defends Himself and His team of followers from these accusatory questions by counter striking with even more inditing questions. Strike, counterstrike. He answers these tough questions with even tougher questions that reveal the condition of the hearts of those asking the initial question.

This is brilliant.

All of this started at the beginning of Chapter 2. Refresh our memories.

At the beginning of chapter 2, Jesus is teaching in a packed house and people express faith in His ability to heal their paralyzed friend, so they go up on the roof, dig a hole in it and lower Him down in front of everyone. And Jesus says some thing surprising. “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

Then Mark tells us that the Pharisees were “questioning in their hearts”

“Why does He speak like that? Who can forgive but God alone?”

Why does this guy, speak like He is God? Good question. People who are just people shouldn’t speak like they are God.

But Jesus offers a counter question and then provides physical, tangible evidence for everyone to consider.

So Jesus says,

Mark 2:8–9 (ESV)

8 “Why do you question these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’?

Well both are hard and seemingly unverifiable unless the one saying those things had God-like powers. So seems like an impossible counterquestion, but then Jesus He healed the guy and the guy walked out. Hmm. The indication is this, the reason He is speaking like God, is because He is God.

Then Mark tells another story about Jesus (this guy that demonstrated He had God-like powers) calling tax collectors and sinners to follow, recline and dine with Him in a party setting!

Why would someone with God-like powers want to associate Himself with tax collectors and sinners? It doesn’t make sense to their personal piety.

So they ask the question:

Why does He eat with tax collectors and sinners?

If He is pretending to be God, why would He eat with those types of people? Good question.

Answer. He does this because they are the ones that recognize their need for Him. They are sick. They know it and need help, so they come to Him and He makes Himself available to them!

Jesus fully accepted and associated with these sinners by eating with them, which is something that the Pharisee’s would never do because it would make them ritually unclean. But it seems to be that there’s a new way of being made clean that far surpasses the old way and it was a cause for great celebration.

And then Mark tells another story with another question. The question is…

“Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?”

And here is the context.

Mark 2:18–22 (ESV)

18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 19 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20 The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.

So here we have “some people,” (not the Pharisee’s) asking a question to Jesus about fasting because they see some notable religious leaders of their day engaging in this religious practice. They are wondering why He and His disciples weren’t doing what everybody else seemed to be doing. Fasting. Legitimate question.

Now in the OT, fasting was used for multiple reasons, we won’t get into all of them, but let’s talk about the one specific day that the Israelites were mandated to fast. It was only once a year, and it was for the Day of Atonement. Every Israelite would fast in order to engage in an act of repentance so that they would be prepared to experience a cleansing once the goat was slaughtered and the other one set out into the wilderness. That was the one day that every Israelite had to fast.

Now we know from other places in the Gospels that the Pharisee’s took pride in the fact that they fasted twice a week (Luke 18). They were skilled at going over and above the law in order to retain a sense of “righteousness” by their own merits. They were good at racking up and consuming religious things to make them look good, but their legalism was missing the point. They needed to be redeemed and they needed a Redeemer.

So Jesus offers a counter question.

“Can the wedding guest fast while the bridegroom is with them?”

The obvious answer is, “No.” But why is it obvious?

Here is the logic. Weddings are typically really joyous occasions complete with feasting, music and dancing. There is something to celebrate, a new union is coming into the world that serves as a metaphor for how God loves us. Marriage is a cause for celebration!

Now, think about this, what if you showed up to the next wedding that you were invited to and you showed up in sackcloth and covered in ashes with a gloomy depressed look on your face? That would be out of sync with the reason you were invited to the wedding. To express remorse and sorrow would inappropriate because it does not ft the occasion.

So Jesus says, “As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.”

Basically He is saying, “There is no reason for mourning right now, this is a time when people who need help can recline and dine with me. Redemption is here. The culmination of all that those previous, “Day of Atonements” goats was here among the people. The bridegroom was there in their midst. It isn’t a time of mourning and weeping. This is a time of celebration.

Your bridegroom is here, it’s time to celebrate!

So Mark puts this story here to show that it is time to celebrate because a new age of redemption had come. And to strengthen that point, he attaches two short parables that highlight that when something new comes along, you shouldn’t try to cram it into the old way of doing things.

Mark 2:21–22 ESV

21 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. 22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”

Using a valuable new cloth to mend an old tattered garment doesn’t make sense. Pouring fermenting new wine into and old worn-out damaged wineskin won’t work. The new thing is here rejoice in the new thing. Don’t be sad that you don’t have it. It’s available to you. So…

Your bridegroom is here, it’s time to celebrate!

But the questions continue as Mark tells the next story.

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.”

So once again, it is a question followed by a counter question.

The Pharisee’s excelled at establishing a set of rules to be ridged followed so that they could have an external appearance of piety, but they were missing the matter of the heart. It’s true that the Sabbath was to be kept holy, but the Pharisees had missed the heart of that commandment by adding a whole bunch of man made rituals and customs that were only external and not required. So they ask the question, “Why are they doing what is “not lawful” on the Sabbath?”

I put “not lawful” in air quotes because, “not lawful,” is a description that the Pharisee’s had made, not God. What we are ment to see here is that the “fulfillment of the law” had come in the bridegroom Jesus and those that are with Him can enjoy the benefits of His righteousness, He is Lord of the Sabbath.

His team of followers can enjoy what He is offering.

In verse 25 of our text, Mark goes out of his way to emphasize that those who were with David, reaped the benefits of that association with the one who was to become the King. David was just a type of the Messiah to come. Jesus was that Messiah and He is Lord of the Sabbath so those associated with Him can reap the benefits of the righteousness of Jesus. They aren’t above the law, but the law that was put in place to show them how fallen they were was being accomplished by the Lawgiver himself.

The Pharisee’s who trusted in themselves and their own abilities could not stomach this.

Jesus and His team of followers, “plucked heads of grain” as they made their way and the Pharisees accused them of “reaping” and doing “work” on the Sabbath. Man talk about nit picking. They weren’t picking the whole field. They weren’t harvesting. They were walking and munching on some grain and they were accused of infringing on Sabbath rules.

That’s exactly what legalism does. It is preoccupied with external piety and misses the matters of the heart. Man that could hit hard in a town like Lynden.

Creeds, confessions, catechisms, and even bible memorization programs that are “accomplished” in order to check a box, instead of checking our hearts with the call of Christ on our lives fall way short of what God wants. All those systems and programs are intended to develop Christ like character in us and are designed to help us conform to the image of Christ, not just to puff us up will a lot of temporary knowledge that never gets applied.

Romans 10:4 ESV

4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

If we are on His team, all that He has accomplished is just as much ours as it is His and He is Lord of the Sabbath so we can enjoy the rest that He gives.

And that finally leads to the last of the questions,

Mark 3:1–6 (ESV)

1 Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. 2 And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him.

3 And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” 4 And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent.

5 And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

Starts off with an assumed question. They are “watching Jesus.” Why do you watch something? Well you want to be informed about the outcome of something. So for instance, the reason why so many people watched the Superbowl this last Sunday was because they had some interest in it. Maybe they love watching football, or just being with people who like to watch it. Maybe they are a Swiftes and wanted to see her the 12 times she was shown during the game.

So here the Pharisee’s are watching Jesus to see if He will play the game by their made up rules. He better not heal on the Sabbath because that would be “work.”

Really? The method of healing was speaking? Saying words that bring about restoration and healing is a violation of the Sabbath? He doesn’t make up an ointment. He doesn't’ do the spit on the ground, make mud and rub it on thing. He simply speaks to bring about healing and when He does, He breaks the rules of their game.

But Jesus, doesn’t care about winning their game. He was happy to loose that one in order to win the one that God had assigned Him to play in. So He “does good” and “saves a life” on the Sabbath and wins the game.

He isn’t breaking and violating the Sabbath, He is fulfilling the purpose for which the Sabbath had been given in the first place. He was bestowing the blessings of rest and restoration to this man who had to toil with a withered hand all His life.

What Jesus did was “good,” and “salvific,” and it showed that Jesus had

Jesus won the game and in so doing.

He has won over His followers hearts.

Who wouldn’t want to willfully follow a guy who could provide unmerited, undeserved healing? We all should want too, but unfortunately Mark show us that there are people that are so filled with pride that they think that they can bring about a healing for themselves by their own rule keeping. They don’t need Jesus, because they are too content being satisfied with themselves and their own abilities.

Mark is a compiler and he is attempting since verse 1 of chapter 2, to take you on a journey to arrive at an undeniable moment of irony in chapter 3:6.

He has shown you 5 stories that highlight who Jesus is. Jesus is God and has authority to forgiven sins and He is willing to associate with us who are identified as “sinners.” He is our bridegroom whose committed to us is cause for great and joyous celebration. He is the fulfillment of the law that we could never keep and He is willing to share His accomplishments with us do us good and to save us.

Sounds pretty good!

Mark 3:6 ESV

6 The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

The irony is so thick it is hard to absorb all of it. The Pharisees are infuriated that Jesus did good and saved life on the Sabbath, but were somehow comfortable with plotting with the Herodian on how to destroy Jesus. They wanted to stop Jesus from doing good, while they were okay with plotting evil.

They missed it. In their legalism they missed it.

He was the bridegroom that should have been celebrated. Jesus was willing to share HIs accomplishments with them, but they didn’t want it. Rather they trusted in themselves and lost their own religious game and instead of blaming themselves they wanted to destroy Jesus.

Crazy.

So here are your two options.

You and I can either be people who have had our sins forgiven by Him so that we can recline and dine and celebrate Him, and take Him up on what He is offering so that we can get the healing we need.

Or

You can try plot in vain to try and “destroy” Him.

What Mark has shown us in these last 5 stories should help make our choice an obvious one.

One option is better than the other one.

Last week Pastor Danny got a quick jab in during the message time by flashing an I love SF 49ers graphic on the screen. For those that are new here, you might not know this, but I was born and raised in Kansas and have been a lifelong Chiefs fan.

So Pastor Danny and I are at odds when it comes to rooting for football teams and he landed a quick jab last Sunday.

Strike…well now is the time for the counter strike.

Pastor Danny - I just want to make sure everyone is paying attention and taking good sermon notes this week, if you will can you stand and read all the “Fill in the Blanks” for us?

There is a decisive, obvious choice that we should all make about Jesus. Accept Him as your Savior instead of trying to save yourself. You won’t be able to do it. Ya, you might look good on the outside by all your religious rule keeping, but all the while God is looking at your heart and on judgement day everything that is hidden will be revealed.

Pray / Sing - Just As I Am

Communion

Did the team you were cheering for win the Big Game?

Jesus is our bridegroom and He has committed Himself to us. Why is that a cause for celebration instead of gloom?

The Pharisee’s were skilled at being religious police enforcing rules that were man made and not God made. Where do we see this in the church today?

The Pharisee’s knew the requirements of the law (don’t reap on the Sabbath), but failed to realize the reason for which the law was given (to do good and save life). What should we take from this?

How can programs that assist in the memorization of creeds, confessions, catechisms or bible memory programs like Awana, fail to engage the heart?