Jesus: God's Religious Agenda

Introduction:

Religion is a complicated thing.

There are so many different ideas, focusses and agendas.

One of the most persistent dangers in religious life is to form our own religious agendas, or to let the world around us form our religious agendas … apart from Jesus.

Jesus must be and set our religious agenda!

BIG IDEA: Jesus reveals God’s religious agenda.

This does not mean that we will walk away from this sermon with the 7 points of God’s religious agenda for current situation.

Rather, the point is that we must cultivate our relationship with Jesus and always come to Him as our ‘wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.’

Recognizing Jesus:

Mark 6:53-56

2 Things to Focus on:

The people (not the religious elite, they are coming next) recognize Jesus (Mark 6:54).

The people come to Him for help:

They come without a religious agenda—they don’t demand that Jesus do this, or prove that.

They simply implore Him for help to save their broken family and friends.

Religious Agendas … Apart from Jesus

The Characters:

Mark 7:1-2

Mark 7:1–2 NASB95

The Pharisees and some of the scribes gathered around Him when they had come from Jerusalem, and had seen that some of His disciples were eating their bread with impure hands, that is, unwashed.

Pharisees—The word ‘Pharisee’ means the separated ones, or, the separatists.

The Pharisees were the party of accurate and specific observance of the law.

They believed that the Messiah would usher in the Kingdom of God only once Israel purified herself.

Noble cause … but they sought to have the people do themselves what God had promised to do and what only He alone could do—purify His people.

Because of this they were very strict in their observance of the Law and added all kinds of stipulations and extra rules on top of the Law.

Scribes—The Scribes were the official teachers of the Law.

Scribes were often Pharisees.

Scribe is a job title (i.e. Professor) and Pharisee is political and/or religious party (i.e. Democrat/Republican and Baptist/Roman Catholic).

Disciples—Those who had left their lives behind to follow Jesus, learn from Him and become like Him.

Jesus—The Son of God and eternal Word and Wisdom of God.

The Situation:

Before this encounter ever happens, the Pharisees are already upset with Jesus and have been conspiring against Him. Jesus isn’t fitting into their religious agenda!

Mark 3:5-6

Mark 3:5–6 NASB95

After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately began conspiring with the Herodians against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.

The Pharisees and Scribes see the disciples eating with unwashed hands.

Their religious agenda was set apart from Jesus. And when your religious agenda is set apart from Jesus, it will inevitably be set in against Jesus.

The Heart of the Pharisees Problem—Jesus doesn’t fit their religious agenda!

To understand the Pharisees practice of ritual hand washing—the tradition of the elders—it is important to understand the Old Covenant background and ritual washing.

Ritual washing was a preparation for the people of God to be in the presence of God—

On Mt. Saini

In the Tabernacle

Exodus 19:10-11, Exodus 40:12

Exodus 19:10–11 NASB95

The Lord also said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments; and let them be ready for the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.

Exodus 40:12 NASB95

“Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the doorway of the tent of meeting and wash them with water.

The ritual washing (of clothes and people) was a symbolic means of conveying the holiness of God and His purity.

The ritual washings in the Old Covenant were about being made ready to be in the presence of God—the God who is absolutely pure and undefiled by sin.

The Pharisees and the entire tradition of the elders had lost God in the midst of their ever growing religious traditions added onto the commandments of God.

The ritual washing did not actually make anyone pure—it symbolized their uncleanness in view of the purity if God.

Only God can cleanse a person of sin and defilement. The purpose of the ritual washing was that God’s character would be recognized.

But the Pharisees and their tradition had come to think that the act of washing itself could purify their hands.

Not only had that imposed regulations that God did not impose, they lost sight of the reality for the ritual.

The reality was God and the ritual was simply as sign meant to reveal His character and nature.

When a Religious Ritual becomes more important than the reality of God it points to, then it’s idolatry.

The Pharisees and Scribes were so caught up in their rituals, traditions and man made commandments that they lost sight of God.

How do we know?

God was among them and they totally missed Him—they ultimately had Him put to death.

Jesus is The Pure One and the Purifier

The Old Covenant rituals themselves—to say nothing of the man made traditions and commandments—were always meant to give way to the ultimate reality.

God had promised to renew, redeem, forgive and cleanse His people.