Opposition to the Kingdom

We live in a divided world. In what ways do we see people divided? Political parties, religious and non-religious, religious and religious, boys and girls. We could go on. Jesus also lived in a divided world. People split into factions, being forced to choose one side or the other, of feelings the push to listen to certain people over others. But Jesus comes, but Jesus does not come to divide, in fact Jesus comes to bring peace. The problem is that people don’t like peacemakers, they don’t like a kingdom that refuses to take sides. The other problem is that Jesus comes with the authority of being God. And we like to be our own God’s, make our own rules, live our own way. Therefore, when someone comes and tells us they are right and we are wrong we don’t like that. At the end of the chapter the religious leaders will plot to take down Jesus because he is a threat to their way of life.

What Jesus will confront are the central pillars of the Jewish faith. The Law, religious piety, and Temple service or worship (this would later turn into prayer). The law was seen as the way people got to God, that they could be “made right” before God and be saved. Piety was their devotion to God, showing how much they loved God. Worship was their reliance on God and their connection to him. Jesus will deal with these.

How can sins be forgiven?

There is a crowd preventing these men from getting to Jesus.

-What we will see is that crowds are not the focus of Jesus teaching, in fact they are often a hindrance to his ministry. From those who a truly seeking out Jesus. The crowds are passive listeners, they are there to enjoy this cool thing going on, but they haven’t been captured by the Gospel, or even they are in opposition to the Gospel.

-This is why Jesus will teach in parables, why he will ask tough questions, why he will make statements that force people to be counter-cultural. Because to follow him can’t be passive.

-“Enthusiasm for Jesus and even proximity to him are not the same as faith - and may opposite it” - Edwards.

Most houses were single-story with a flat roof that is accessible by an outside staircase. People would often work on their roofs, or even sleep. So it is sturdy. These men went through some serious work to dig out this roof.

-Unanswered questions: Did Jesus keep on teaching as they did the demolition project? How did Simon feel about his roof being destroyed? Why did not one stop them?

-We don’t have answers to these questions. We will see several times people taking “reckless” actions in order to get to Jesus. Jesus will never stop someone from trying to get to Him. What was most important was this man getting to Jesus.

-These men didn’t just show enthusiasm for Jesus, they were willing to stake their reputation, they were willing to embarrass themselves, or potentially take on personal cost to bring him to Jesus. They knew their friend NEEDED Jesus.

It was the faith of the mans friends that led to him being healed.

-Why does Jesus start with the man’s sins being forgiven rather than healing his physical problem?

-Many times in Scripture we see the physical paired with the spiritual. We talked about this last week, and we see again, that the physical healing shows us that Jesus has the authority to forgive sins.

-But, to make the statement that you can forgive sins is to state you have the authority of God himself

-So why heal the physical at all? Well first, that is what the man came to Jesus for, to heal the physical. He may not have even know he needed the spiritual healed. Healing the physical proves the ability to heal the spiritual. It is impossible to prove that you can forgive sins

Permanent marker and dry erase marker. You need the new that covers the old to make it new. Like the old and new wineskins.

The Scribes “question in their hearts”, they don’t say it out loud, but Jesus “perceived in his spirit” what they were thinking.

-The questions they have are legitimate ones, if Jesus is not God then they are correct about what he is stating!

Who is the “Son of Man?”

This is the first time he see this phrase in Mark but we will see it several times.

-This phrase comes from Daniel 7:13–14 “I continued watching in the night visions, and suddenly one like a son of man was coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was escorted before him. He was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, so that those of every people, nation, and language should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will not be destroyed.”

-It wasn’t a phrase used often in Jesus time. So why does Jesus use it? It sets him apart from the rest of humanity, but also one who comes to represent all of humanity like Adam. But the title in the OT also comes with humiliation, suffering, and death.

-It wasn’t a phrase people associated with the Messiah, thus it helped him to stay under the radar in a way. Jesus is the only one who uses the phrase in the book of Mark.

We see two different responses. The Pharisee’s will, a little later, try to find a way to accuse Jesus. While the crows are “astounded and gave glory to God”. They see Jesus as acting on behalf of God.

Who can be a disciple?

Jesus is teaching the crowds, but then he stops. He notices a man sitting in his office, a tax collector, and he goes over to him.

Jesus calls Levi (or Matthew) to be a disciple. Matthew is a tax collector. Jews hated tax collectors, they saw them as traitors to their own people. But Jesus doesn’t just call him, he goes to his house.

-Tax collectors weren’t allowed to be a witness in court. People could not take money from them because it was considered “dirty”. People were even, by some Jewish law, allowed to lie to tax collectors.

-In the house were “tax collectors and sinners”. Jesus knows it is these people who need to hear the Gospel more than anybody. It gives us a picture of heaven. It isn’t all the “good” people on earth, it is those who knew how much they needed a savior.

-For some reason we like to share the Gospel to people we think are “good”, because they are more likely to listen. But it is the hurting who want to respond to the Gospel.

-Notice that Matthew has the same response as the other disciples. Jesus says “Follow me” and they drop everything they have. Faith in Jesus involves risk, it isn’t just thinking it is true, it is believing it through action.

-Jesus goes to the sinners first and then they seek to follow him. Jesus doesn’t go to them on the condition that they follow him. But when they are with Jesus, present with him, their lives change. When you seek Jesus and come to Him, you are healed and saved.

Romans 5:20–21 “The law came along to multiply the trespass. But where sin multiplied, grace multiplied even more so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace will reign through righteousness, resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Sins are only forgiven through the work of Jesus Christ for us.

The pharisees were not against sins being forgiven, but they did not want Jesus to have this authority. They didn’t even have that authority themselves, as they say “only God has that authority”. Why can only God forgive sins? Because it is God who our sin is against. Mankind will always try and put themselves in the position of God. WE want to be able to forgive sins. Whether that is our own sins, or others, we like to be the judge.

How is serving Jesus different?

When do we fast?

The Pharisees are accusing Jesus’ disciples of not being serious enough in their spiritual observance.

But there was only one prescribed fast in the OT, but the Pharisees had added up to 4 annual fasts, and twice-weekly fasts.

-Luke 18:12 “I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of everything I get.’”

-Fasts were taken during times of lament during tragedy. Fast of crises, when people were in the midst of serious issues like famine, war, or plague. Lastly there were personal fasts.

-But now fasts had become required to be considered a proper Jew.

Jesus says it is not a time to fast because it is time to celebrate with the groom there (himself).

I’ve learned something about myself. I have had periods where I eat healthy. Cut out sugar, take bread out of my diet, stop eating out as often. But there is one time of year I will never try and eat healthy. November and December.

Jesus also tells them with two parables that they are trying to put old practices into the new way of seeing things in the kingdom of God. He is showing them that what will occur will change how we view things. That to try and put the old into the new or new into old, otherwise you compromise the entire thing.

-There was an existing tradition of how to serve God that will change with Jesus. We can’t contain Jesus in the old restraints.

-Jesus will explain many times that he isn’t getting rid of the law but that he is fulfilling it. What the issue with the Pharisees is that they have made into law what God himself has not called law. And where God has been specific with them they have ignored what God has called them to do.

-They Pharisees had created all these regulations on how to follow God, they had taken things in the Torah and given more stipulations on them.

The question Jesus poses is not whether they will try to “make room for Jesus in their already full agendas and lives. The question is whether they will forsake business as usual and join the wedding celebration; whether they will become entirely new receptacles for the expanding fermentation of Jesus and the gospel in their lives.” You can’t just fit Jesus into the old way of doing things, you need a new way of life entirely.

New life doesn’t come just through new habits in an old life, but only through new life in Jesus.

How do we observe the Sabbath?

The Sabbath was the most sacred practice of Jews. To disregard it could lead to even your death. But there were questions about how to practice it, what were you allowed to do? What was defined as “work”? Therefore religious leaders started to make some laws regarding the sabbath, with the intention of protecting people from accidentally breaking the sabbath. In the Mishnah there were 39 prohibitions.

Jesus does not reject the sabbath, but he does want them to consider what it means to observe it. Harvesting is explicitly prohibited in the law of Moses. But Jesus brings up an example where David acted outside of Sabbath observance. Then in v. 4 Jesus will ask another question. Should you save a life on the Sabbath if it means breaking the rules of the Sabbath? So the question Jesus poses is, when it is okay to break the “laws” of the Sabbath?

-Jesus as the authority to establish a new precedent in an even greater way than David did.

-He also shows the importance of the sabbath of glorifying God firstly. Healing and caring for the hurting would be part of that.

Jesus makes a statement in vs. 27. “The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the sabbath.” What does this mean? It gets to the intent of the Sabbath. It is for mankind to rest, to worship God and trust in His provision.

-The Sabbath, and the law of Moses, was not intended as a burden but actually for our flourishing, to guard life.

I love living by the beach. I love being in the ocean, I love building sandcastles with my kids, I love sitting and reading a book with the ocean breeze. But just because there are ways I like the beach doesn’t mean other people can’t have a different way of enjoying the beach. Some people never touch the ocean, I don’t get that. Others could literally just lay to get a tan, I’ve never done that in my entire life. Jesus shows that people can enjoy their Sabbath in different ways, but there can still be wrong ways to use the Sabbath. What if you saw someone bring a TV to the beach? It would defeat the purpose of going to the beach!

We also see the hypocrisy of these leaders because they conspire evil on the Sabbath while Jesus does good.

Sabbath rest comes in freely putting Jesus first and doing what honors Him.

Jesus comes to make all things new in Him.