4_28_2024 - Mark 2:18-28 - “Reframe Me”

(Opening Prayer)

(Sermon Introduction)

Today we continue the gospel of Mark. We are planning to spend almost 2 years in the gospel of Mark. We are going to have mini-series to help break up our time in Mark and help us focus on the journey on both a macro and micro level. We want to understand what it truly means to “Build the Kingdom One Disciple at a Time.”

Today we begin our “Questions” series in the gospel of Mark.

(The Gospel of Mark Context)

Matthew, Mark, and Luke, make up what is referred to as the Synoptic Gospels.

The word Synoptic means “together they see.”

The Synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are referred to in this manner because of their likeness, and similar content.

They record many of the same teachings, stories, and accounts from different perspectives.

The gospel of John is not considered a Synoptic Gospel primarily because it was written years later and recorded things that the other writers did not include.

The gospel of Mark is understood to have been written between 54-60 A. D. prior to the writing of Matthew, Luke, and John.

Scholars believe that Matthew and Luke used Mark as a guide as they wrote their gospels.

This is called the Priority of Mark.

The gospel of Mark was written by John Mark who was not one of the twelve disciples of Jesus.

However, it is believed that the Apostle Peter is the source for the material for the gospel of Mark as Peter discipled John Mark.

(Disciple Definition)

The word disciple refers to a learner, a pupil, or a student.

3101. μαθητής mathētēs, math-ay-tes´; from 3129; a learner, i.e. pupil:— disciple.

James Strong, The New Strong’s Dictionary of Hebrew and Greek Words (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1996).

(“Questions” Series Set Up & Tension)

Our first series in the book of Mark was our “Follow” series that we finished just before Palm Sunday.

Today we begin our “Questions” series.

How important are questions?

Much of the information we gather in our everyday lives begins with questions.

Unfortunately, when it comes to our faith there can be a culture that promotes a lack of curiosity.

Over the years, the Church culture has shifted into a culture that discourages questions and questioning.

Sometimes we act as if asking questions will somehow water down the strength of our faith.

The Jewish culture of Jesus day was built upon questions.

In fact, Rabbi’s were known for teaching with questions rather than answers.

Over time the Church has developed “answers” to be disseminated among those who would claim belief in Christ.

In the American Church we can put more emphasis on teaching people all the right answers instead of cultivating a spirit of adventure that draws us to experience the God who is the answer to question that He encourages us to ask.

(Coaching and Powerful Questions)

Recently I completed the necessary training to become a Certified Christian Leadership Coach.

As part of the training I have received, I learned the importance of what we call, “powerful questions.”

Powerful questions are questions that cause us to pause, reflect, and respond with a greater understanding than we have before due to the nature of the question and the state of our cognitive awareness at the moment.

(Jesus and Questions)

Jesus was a master coach and asked questions to cause understanding and provoke transformation in those He was ministering to.

Numerous times in the gospels we see Jesus ask questions that confounded His hearers.

He also encouraged questions from His followers.

His questions are meant to unlock awareness and transformation in us.

(Question Example)

Remember Genesis 3 when God asked Adam this question: “Where are you?”

God knew where Adam was.

But did Adam know where he was?

Remember when God asked Adam and Eve: “Who told you that you were naked?”

There is a heavy emphasis on the Who.

Remember when God asked them this question: “What is this that you have done?”

God knew, but did they?

There is great freedom when we recognize what we have done, the consequences, and the path forward.

The plan of salvation was spoken to them and hope was extended to them.

Watch for the questions of Jesus as we read Mark 2:18-28 together today.

Mark 2:18–28 (NLT)

18 Once when John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting, some people came to Jesus and asked, “Why don’t your disciples fast like John’s disciples and the Pharisees do?”

19 Jesus replied, “Do wedding guests fast while celebrating with the groom? Of course not. They can’t fast while the groom is with them.

20 But someday the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.

21 “Besides, who would patch old clothing with new cloth? For the new patch would shrink and rip away from the old cloth, leaving an even bigger tear than before.

22 “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the wine would burst the wineskins, and the wine and the skins would both be lost. New wine calls for new wineskins.”

23 One Sabbath day as Jesus was walking through some grainfields, his disciples began breaking off heads of grain to eat.

24 But the Pharisees said to Jesus, “Look, why are they breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath?”

25 Jesus said to them, “Haven’t you ever read in the Scriptures what David did when he and his companions were hungry?

26 He went into the house of God (during the days when Abiathar was high priest) and broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests are allowed to eat. He also gave some to his companions.”

27 Then Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath.

28 So the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!”

(Synoptic Perspective)

Matthew and Luke’s account is very similar to that of Mark’s account.

However, the gospel of Matthew records some valuable perspective on Jesus understanding of fasting.

Matthew 9:14–17 (NLT)

14 One day the disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus and asked him, “Why don’t your disciples fast like we do and the Pharisees do?”

15 Jesus replied, “Do wedding guests mourn while celebrating with the groom? Of course not. But someday the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.

16 “Besides, who would patch old clothing with new cloth? For the new patch would shrink and rip away from the old cloth, leaving an even bigger tear than before.

17 “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the old skins would burst from the pressure, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine is stored in new wineskins so that both are preserved.”

(Sermon Title)

Today we have entitled the sermon “Reframe Me”

(Transformational Reframing)

Powerful Questions can help us to “reframe” our thinking.

(Different kinds of frames)

Frames help us to focus our attention on what is inside the frame.

Sometimes we need to reframe what we are looking at to truly understand the picture more clearly and not be distracted.

Sometimes we need to reframe our thinking to include things that we never thought were important before.

Maybe we have missing pieces of the puzzle that need to be taken into account.

When we look at this story of Jesus and the questions that people have, we see Jesus begin helping them to reframe what they see.

1. What Am I Missing?

The Bible Knowledge Commentary (2:18)

Mark’s initial statement explained that John’s disciples (John the Baptist’s remaining followers) and the Pharisees (and their disciples or adherents) were fasting, presumably while Jesus and His disciples were feasting at Levi’s house. The Old Testament prescribed fasting for all Jews only on the annual Day of Atonement, as an act of repentance (Lev. 16:29), but the Pharisees promoted voluntary fasts on every Monday and Thursday (cf. Luke 18:12) as an act of piety. In response to a critical inquiry, Jesus showed the incongruity of fasting for His disciples (Mark 2:19–22), though He allowed it if practiced properly (cf. Matt. 6:16–18).

The religious leaders of the day were notorious for adding requirements beyond what Scripture actually said.

Jesus addressed this later on in Matthew 23:1-4.

Matthew 23:1–4 (NLT)

1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples,

2 “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses.

3 So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach.

4 They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden.

Jesus consistently ran up against the “laws” that the religious leaders had created to keep people from getting close to breaking what the Bible actually said.

In Mark 2:18-28, we see and example of this when Jesus is confronted with the question, “Why don’t your disciples fast like John’s disciples and the Pharisees do” (Mk. 2:18)?

We are told that “some people came to Jesus” and asked Him about this because they saw a discrepancy between the Pharisees and the disciples of Jesus.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary (2:19–20)

Jesus’ counterquestion set up a comparison and a veiled analogy to Himself. As it is inappropriate for guests (lit., “sons of the bridal chamber,” the groom’s attendants) to fast (an expression of sorrow) in the presence of the bridegroom, so it was inappropriate for Jesus’ disciples to fast (in sorrow) while He was with them.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary (2:19–20)

His presence with them constituted a situation as joyous as a wedding festival. But this situation would change, for the time (lit., “days”) would come when the Bridegroom (Jesus) would be taken (aparthē, implying violent removal; cf. Isa. 53:8) from them and on that day (His crucifixion) the disciples would fast in the metaphorical sense of experiencing sorrow in place of joy. This allusion to His coming death is the first hint of the Cross in Mark’s Gospel.

The people understood that they were missing something.

In essence, the people came to Jesus and asked Him the question, “What are we missing?”

(Knowledge Cycle)

When it comes to what we understand, there is a process that we go through:

You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know

You Know That You Don’t Know

You Know What You Know

You Don’t Know That You Know

Often the disciples of Jesus and even those in the crowd were faced with this Knowledge Cycle Process as they saw what they saw and heard what they heard from Jesus.

In this story Jesus identifies that they are missing understanding about what fasting is all about.

The struggle they are having is that there is a misunderstanding (mostly because of the framing/interpretations of others) that is causing them to miss important truths and elements that connect the dots.

We see this when Jesus speaks to them about the Sabbath.

Jesus speaks to a misunderstanding of why Sabbath exists and who it is for.

When we come to Jesus, we have to address our preconceived ideas and process through not only what He says and what He does, but also Who He is.

Many times we are led to ask: “What Am I Missing?”

Jesus was trying to communicate that fasting and the Sabbath revolved around Him and Him being present rather than a ritual to be observed.

2. What Is In the Way?

The Bible Knowledge Commentary (2:21–22)

For the first time Mark used two of Jesus’ parables, both of which had broader relevance than to fasting. Jesus’ presence with His people was a time of newness (fulfillment) and signaled the passing of the old.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary (2:21–22)

It is equally disastrous to pour new (neon, “fresh”), not fully fermented wine into old (palaious, “worn out by use,” with no elasticity, brittle) wineskins. Inevitably, as the new wine ferments (expands), it will burst the skins and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. Salvation, available through Jesus, was not to be mixed with the old Judaistic system (cf. John 1:17).

(Obstacles to Transformation)

There can be many things that get in the way of the transformation that we seek:

Lack of willingness

Fear

Fear of the unknown

Fear of others

Fear of failure

Confusion

Lack of desire

Unclear direction

Missing pieces/steps

For the people that came to Jesus they acknowledged their confusion.

The people didn’t understand why the expectations of Jesus were different than the religious leaders of the day.

They had missing knowledge and needed Jesus to help them identify what was standing in the way.

Often we can come to Jesus with a desire to follow Him but find ourselves faced with an obstacle that leaves us wondering, “What now?”

Jesus is not afraid of that question!

I have heard it said, “What is revealed can be healed.”

For some it can be hard to admit that we are “missing” anything or that we are “stuck.”

The first step to transformation is to acknowledge that we need it and that we need Jesus to fill in the “missing” pieces” and help us get “unstuck.”

The people, and the religious leaders of the day, had the letter of the law and mistaken thought that they were to follow the letter of the law rather than the heart of the law.

This is what Jesus meant when He said:

Matthew 5:17 (NLT)

17 “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose.

Their preconceived ideas were getting in the way of what Jesus meant and what He wanted all along.

Sometimes we stand in our own way and become the obstacle to our own transformation.

3. Where Is Change Needed?

(Pastor Stephanie on Keys)

Jesus is always more willing to change us than we are willing to be changed by Him.

(AgapeHOPE Family Systems)

I can’t change you.

By God’s grace, I can change.

How do I need to change?

When I change, you will change.

(Reframe Me?)

As we ask this question we can feel hesitant that the Lord truly wants to change us.

Jesus told the people who needed reframing that if they wanted to be transformed they had to be willing to exchange their ideas for His.

Matthew 9:16–17 (NLT)

16 “Besides, who would patch old clothing with new cloth? For the new patch would shrink and rip away from the old cloth, leaving an even bigger tear than before.

17 “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the old skins would burst from the pressure, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine is stored in new wineskins so that both are preserved.”

Jesus recognized that part of the struggle the people were having is that they were trying to put the new into the old.

In essence, Jesus was saying that what got you to this point won’t take you to where I am going.

We need to be transformed and changed by Jesus.

He invites us to receive the new way of His Kingdom (New Wineskin) and then the King will fill it with His Spirit (New Wine).

(Sermon Recap)

“Text”

1. What Am I Missing?

2. What Is In the Way?

3. Where Is Change Needed?

(Connection Card)

(Response)

(Invite Altar Team)

(Closing Challenge)

If you want to know more about repentance, water baptism, or the baptism in the Holy Spirit, please connect with us.

(Closing Blessing)

Numbers 6:24–26 (CSB)

24 “May the Lord bless you and protect you.

25 may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you.

26 may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.” ’