Mark 2
Notes
Transcript
Jesus Ministers to Many
Jesus Ministers to Many
Good evening my friends,
I hope you are preparing for time with family and friends over the next few days.
This is the first of two holidays that come our way this time of year. Thanksgiving and in just less than a month we will celebrate Christmas.
Thanksgiving, while still celebrated in our homes really is seen as the kick off for Christmas. Our storefronts go from Halloween to Christmas, and The corporate sector has really forgot Thanksgiving.
The supermarkets promote thanksgiving but it seems like they are just a few of the retail outlets that still focus on it....
Thanksgiving is a special time. With it we remember the heritage of our nation, those early beginnings and also we have the opportunity to give reflect and give thanks to God for his many blessings.
If I were to ask you what you are thankful for, what would you say? A savior, family, His provision, friends, etc....
We have so much, the greatest of which is our heavenly Father who loved us and sent His Son into the world to ransom us, to buy us back
God has been so good to us, how cannot help but to give thanks to Him.
So lets begin this evening looking at Mark chapter 2
1 And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home.
As we have said this area was like he was home away from home. But one of the first places he ministers is that the home of Simon Peter, and so the idea is that he has returned to this place. Which would be considered in some ways, his home as well.
Remember he has been teaching and preaching in the region of Galilee, now coming back to Capernaum, he is just about 20 miles north of Nazareth where he grew up as a boy.
Verse 2 Mark 2:2
2 And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them.
The word Jesus is preaching to them is the Word of God of course, we would refer to it as the good news, the gospel that the world needs to hear in order to stand in front of God forgiven, blameless, without sin.
Many gathered at what would have been a two or four room house, so you could fit a lot of people in one of these houses to hear Jesus teach.
And with verse 3, we see one person in particular… Mark 2:3
3 And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men.
And coming to the house, 4 men carrying another person. Now I can tell you with certainty that this one paralysed man, what ever his issue that placed his life and family in need. these 4 men who carried him carried deeply for him.
They knew this man, cared for him and those connected to him and they were bringing him to Jesus.
Verse 4 Mark 2:4
4 And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay.
Now this is one of my favorite stories, becasue you see how far these men were willing to go in order to experience the hope of seeing Jesus help their friend.
So when they could not get into the house, they did the most remarkable, they went to the roof. They had that one or maybe two friends, that were like.. well we are not giving up, this might be our only opportunity, His only opportunity to see Jesus.
Do you realize what we call this? faith....
We call this faith my friends, they believed and would not give up.
They dug or made a whole in the roof large enough to let their friend be lowered down to see Jesus.
Verse 5 Mark 2:5
5 And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
And .... the response, don’t you love it, Jesus said their faith.
He said to the one paralyzed, Son your sins are forgiven.
He didn’t say God has, he says You sins are forgiven. This does indicated what God was doing through the Son… and to be certain, it got everyone’s attention.
And the Jews there understood what Jesus has said and they are shocked...
Verse 6 Mark 2:6
6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts,
The scribes are the experts in the law, the lawyers, they are indeed the Jewish legal aspects, or so they thought they were.
They were questioning in their hearts, they are asking within themselves, what gives you the right to forgive sin you rabbi....
Verse 7 Mark 2:7
7 “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
The religious leaders were indigent, why does this man say this…Only God can forgive sin, he is blaspheming… Blasphemy was a charge that could bring death
16 Whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him. The sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.
What these religious leaders failed ot recognize was that God had drawn near to them in Jesus and he was acting on behalf of the Father
Verse 8 Mark 2:8
8 And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts?
There is that favorite term of Mark, immediately Jesus knew what they were thinking and the very intent of their hearts.
I would dare say that God who can know the heart of man, will also know who needs mercy or to be cast out.
And Jesus knowing this, he said to them, “Why are you thinking like this...” Why do you question this?
They (the religious leaders) thought they knew it all, they understood and knew who God was). But sadly they did not
Verse 9 Mark 2:9
9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’?
But Jesus is asking them to think, to consider deep in their minds, what is easier to say to the man, Your sins are forgiven or arise and walk?
But for us, for the very mind that we have would say, neither.... but we might say to sin is forgiven, Simply because only the Lord would try know about sin being forgiven...
But Jesus is about to teach them some unique, something that they could not imagine at all… about all of this..
Which is easier, look at verse 10
Verse 10 Mark 2:10-12
10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— 11 “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” 12 And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”
So that you may know what I can do, so that you may know what authority I am working with, he said the paralyzed man, I say to you arise, pick up your mat and go home
This man was healed immediately, , he arose and left from there with his mat, and the the people were amazed, and glorified God.
You see this miracle would authentic the message that he spoke. If I can heal the body, I can forgive sin and if I can forgive sin I can take care of everything else, no more sickness in this man’s life physically or spiritually.
Verse 13 Mark 2:13
13 He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them.
And so Jesus left Peter’s house and walked about by the shore of the sea of Galilee and the crowds were following him, and he taught them.
Jesus wanted the people to know that God was drawing near to them, that God deeply cared for them
Verse 14 Mark 2:14
14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.
Here is the calling of another disciple, as Jesus was walking he came by one of the Tax Collectors booths,
The tax Booth was manned by different people, here it is a Jew, this would have made Levi an outcast, because of how they took advantage of the people (Explain more)
And Jesus saw Levi and he said to him, come and follow me and Levi arose and followed the Lord. Now Levi will have another name here on out, he will be known to us as Matthew.
So like Peter and Andrew, James and John, Matthew rose without hesitation, he followed Jesus immediately
Now verses 15-17 will give us insight into what it meant for Matthew to follow the Lord with a whole heart.
Lets look ....Mark 2:15-17
15 And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Matthew throws a dinner party hoping to introduce his family and friends , others that he knew who did not know Jesus.
Jesus is seen as relaxing, reclining at the table, and this reveals his love and acceptance of people. Now mind you, he did not care for sin, but he cared for humanity.
Tax collectors and sinners represent the worst of society. These two groups were those were called sinners, they were considered as people who did not keep the law of Moses… horrible people and you would not enter their homes let alone eat with them. That would make you unclean as well...
And the religious leaders were shocked, who would this man sit and eat with sinners?
And Jesus when he heard their question, he used this even as a teaching opportunity ...
And listen to the words of the Lord.. The well, the healthy have no need of a physican.
But the sick do......The sick is in need of a doctor to tell them what is wrong and how to correct them
I came not to call the righteousness Jesus says, but the sick, those who are sinners, the unrighteous are those who need to hear his message and know what God is doing in the world at that time.
No lets look at verse 18 Mark 2:18
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?”
Now as we are opening this new thought, the question is why do these fast but your disciples Jesus do not fast…
The only official day of required fasting was the day of Atonement. But people fasted voluntarily for other reasons and at other times.
Now the Pharisees fasted very Monday and Thursday, and at times the Jews would fast as part of repentence, when there was a great loss, or maybe to help perpare them for times of prayer. They did not really have disciples, but people who wanted to be like them or who admiriered them.
The disciples of John may have fasted when he was arrested for his teaching and later on at his death.
But generally fasting is a matter of Christian freedom not obligation.
Jesus disciples were not required to fast so why would they as they had Jesus with them all th time.
Verses 19-20 Mark 2:19-20
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.
Jesus uses a counter question as a way to dispute their concern about why His disciples did not fast.
The first statement is a simple analogy, Jesus is referring to himself as the bride groom here, which fits since the church is the bride of Christ.
Here Jesus is the wedding guests and the disciples are the wedding guests.
So we know there are occasions where people would fast, but this is clearly not one of those events, The nearness of the kingdom of God in the person of Jesus was not a fitting time for fasting.
The wedding itself is a picture were there would be joy and celebration and so there would not be fasting.
The greater picture here is the wedding celebration is a symbol of salvation associated with the Kingdom of God, so the way to be found acceptable in front of God is not our works, not by religious practices but through joyful associated with the kingdom of God.
Think of it like this, tomorrow is Thanksgiving, we wouldn’t plan to fast during a time of celebration and family and friends. No, we would plan to do it at a different time.
The disciples have God the son in their presence, so the would not be fasting, regardless what others thought.
Now, verses 21-22 Mark 2:21-22
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.”
These twin parables teach the incompatibility of the old with the new, for here, old Judaism with the new Christianity.
Judaism is the old garment and the old wineskin, Christianity is the new garmenet, the new wineskin, and literally the new wine of John chapter 2 at the wedding at Cana in Galilee.
The point is not that the old is wrong or evil, but its time has passed, the new has come.... As Acts reveals at times the disciples were slow to learn these truths.
This last section concerns the complaint of picking grain on the Sabbath day - verses 23-28
Verse 23 Mark 2:23
23 One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain.
So the stage is set for us, they are walking and as crossing a wheat field, the disciples were plucking heads of grain off the wheat plants.
And others were watching them. There is always someone following you, watching you to see what you are doing..
Verse 24 Mark 2:24
24 And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”
And there they are, the Pharisees, they were watching everything that Jesus said and do.... it is sad that people always stand around seeking to judge what one person does instead of working themselves.
So they make the accusations, look they are working, they are doing work on the Sabbath day.
We know the OT forbade work on the Sabbath day. Exodus 20:8-11
8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
Now the scribes (those lawyers or experts in the law) listed 39 different actions that could be called work. The 3rd of these was the law against reaping… grathering grain
The Pharisees considered the plucking of grain as work
Verses 25-26 Mark 2:25-26
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?”
Jesus said have you read what David did… David is the greatest Kingdom of Israel.
. The “consecrated bread” was twelve loaves that were put on a table in the tabernacle (the “house of God” of v. 26) each Sabbath, probably to symbolize God’s presence and provision or to represent Israel before God , and which were eaten only by the priests at the end of the week.
David and his men were not priests, but Jesus implied that what they did was justified because they were starved
Jesus set forth the basic idea that human needs should take precedence over ceremonial laws.
The Pharisees could have objected that Jesus’ disciples were not starving, but the point remains that Sabbath observance should not be reduced to legalistic restrictions.
Verses 27-28 Mark 2:27-28
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 Sabbath is meant for our benefit, we are not created for the Sabbath, it was made for us. what our Lord is saying, we can determine the Lord’s will in observing it, we are not forced into the little box of you must do this.
Consider today, there are jobs, professions where we have to work on the Lord’s day or the Sabbath, Saturday.... If the Lord condeming us?
I dont think so..
I think the Sabbath day or the Lord’s day an be any time we set aisde to rest, and to worship and honor him.
If Monday is our day off, can that we our Sabbath day?
Yes.
As such, Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath, Yes.. he is God and as such he can determine what is right or wrong for his disciples.
The phrase the son of man, is a favorite way the Lord referred to himself as...
He is a son of humanity, but He is the Son of God as well.
