Lord over All!
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
We have been studying in the Gospel of Mark over the past several weeks, and we’ve said Mark is presenting Jesus as the Suffering Servant.
Last week, we looked the calling of Levi. We saw that the religious leaders—particularly the Pharisees—again questioned Jesus’ motives.
First they questioned whether Jesus had the authority to forgive sins. Next we saw that they questioned Jesus’ righteousness because He was eating with tax collectors and “sinners.” No self respecting Rabbi would have ever have eaten with a tax collector, or with “sinners.”
This week, we are going to see that they are going to question even more things about the authority of Jesus. If you have your Bibles, I want to encourage you to turn with me to Mark 2, and we’ll begin reading with verse 18.
To Fast or Not to Fast
To Fast or Not to Fast
Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?”
Everyone is Fasting?
Everyone is Fasting?
John’s disciples and the Pharisees were following the customary fast required in the Old Testament (cf. Lev. 16:29-34; 23:26-32; Num. 29:7-11). Anyone who followed the Law of God would automatically keep the commandments. These commandments included various fasting! So this is a natural question, because His disciples not observing the fasting requirements was so out of the ordinary.
Jesus’ Response
Jesus’ Response
Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.
Wedding Analogy
Wedding Analogy
Jesus uses the analogy of a wedding. In those days, weddings lasted longer than they do today. So during the wedding activities there was a large meal as part of the celebration. So feasting was the order of the day, not fasting! And that is exactly what Jesus says. “How can guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them?” This rhetorical question (which Jesus answers) it meant to get His audience thinking.
At this point, Jesus alludes to his death. “But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.” And He says that when He is gone, they will indeed fast (a sign of mourning).
“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse.
Two More Analogies
Two More Analogies
1—A New Patch
Jesus says that if you take a new piece of cloth that has not been pre-shrunk and sow it to an old garment, when you wash the garment, the new patch will shrink and make a worse hole that there was before.
Jesus came to bring something completely new! He wants us to understand that the two religious systems can’t be mixed.
2—New Wine, Old Wineskins
And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins.”
This is yet another way of saying what Jesus was offering really couldn’t be put into the existing religious system.
In His day, grapes were pressed, and put into new wineskins. They used new ones, because the skins had to be able to stretch to accommodating the expanding wine inside.
A wineskins could only expand so far. So if you put unfermented grapes into previously used wineskins as the grapes would ferment, and the liquid expanded it would over expand the skins and the skins would burst and everything would be lost—the old wineskins would be ruined, and the new wine would be lost.
Lord of the Sabbath
Lord of the Sabbath
One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”
Many of us don’t understand the Pharisees. You see, they tried really hard to regulate spirituality. In other words the more things you did (or didn’t do) according to their religious rules determined how spiritual you were, or weren’t!
So when they saw Jesus disciples walking along and picking heads of grain on the Sabbath, they saw it as the disciples working on the Sabbath. Even though their activity was allowed on the Sabbath. Look at Deuteronomy 23:25.
If you enter your neighbor’s grainfield, you may pick kernels with your hands, but you must not put a sickle to his standing grain.
Their question is sincere though. According to the rules that a good Pharisee tried to live by the disciples were breaking the Sabbath law. So they demanded a reason for their actions!
Look at Jesus’ response to them.
He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.”
Jesus used David as an example! He uses the time when David and his companions ate the consecrated bread in the house of God. Only the priests were supposed to eat the consecrated bread, but David took it, ate some, and gave some of it to his companions.
Jesus is attempting to show the Pharisees narrow interpretation of the law misses the intent of the law! In this case, the law’s ceremonial regulations were not meant to keep the religious from caring for the physical needs of people.
In fact, Jesus goes on to make just this point in verse 27.
Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
Think about this statement! Sabbath was made for man—because man needs rest! Not man being made to be controlled by the Sabbath.
Jesus was more concerned about people than he was about ceremonial rules. Mark is going to continue to make this point as we come to chapter 3.
Healing On the Sabbath
Healing On the Sabbath
Another time he went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath.
Mark continues with the previous story line. There are several points that we need to see from these two little verses:
1—On a Sabbath, Jesus goes into the synagogue.
2—There’s a man there with a shriveled hand.
3—The religious leaders were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus.
4—So they were watching Jesus closely. And they are watching to see if Jesus would heal the man on the Sabbath.
Once again, Mark is demonstrating that to the Pharisees, religiosity is more important than caring for a person’s physical needs!
Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.” Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent.
It almost appears that Jesus knew they were testing Him. He takes the man with the withered hand and stands him in front of everyone!
Then he asks this pointed question. “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save a life or to kill.” This should not be a difficult question for the Pharisees. Evil is never justified! And killing—well that too is not something that people should be doing!
On the other hand, doing good and saving a life should have been the obvious answer! Instead, they remained silent. Jesus has two responses to their silence. Look at verse 5.
He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.
Jesus look around:
1—Jesus was angry at them, because of their stubborn of hearts.
2—Jesus was deeply distressed—deeply grieved—because of their stubborn heart.
Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And the man’s hand was completely restored! Now think about it! The religious leaders are mad because Jesus did a miracle on the Sabbath. But what did Jesus really do. There’s no record of Jesus toughing the man. There’s no record of Jesus doing anything to the man, except speaking! All Jesus does is tell the man to stretch out his hand—and the hand is healed! But the religious leaders are upset! Look at verse 6!
Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.
Who were these two groups? Well, the Pharisees were the members of the most influential religious and political party of the Jews.
The Herodians were Jewish supporters of Herod Antipas and the Herodian dynasty—those who wanted to keep the Herods in power.
These two groups generally did not work together—they did not like each other. But now, they are going to work together to see if they can assassinate Jesus.
So what is it we learn from all of these stories?
SO WHAT?
SO WHAT?
Jesus came to provide a new way—not just a different way—the ONLY way to come to God the Father!
The New Way supersedes the Old Way. They cannot be mixed!
People matter more to God than our religious activity! Thus, our religious activity should be about bringing people to God.
Sabbath was created for man. God knew we needed a day to rest and refocus on Him! So He gave us the example of Sabbath back in Genesis. It was created for us!
God’s heart is about people. Remember John 3?
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
If God loves people so much that He would sacrifice His one and only Son—then we should love God so much that we give Him our lives in a sacrifice of obedience!
This morning, I want to remind us that the hallmark of being a follower of Jesus is love—unconditional love! Love for the lovely and unlovely. Love for the gentle and the obnoxious. Love for those who like us and love for those who hate you!
They will know we are disciples of Jesus if we have love one for another!