Lord of the Sabbath (Mark 2:23-28)

There is a legend about the Taj Mahal that reminds me of how the Sabbath was treated during the time of Jesus. The Taj Mahal is one of the most beautiful and costly tombs ever built. In 1629, when the favorite wife of Indian ruler Shah Javan died, he had a magnificent tomb built as a memorial to her. The temple was constructed with her coffin in the center of the building. As time went on, Shah Javan’s grief was overshadowed by his passion for the building project. Legend has it that one day when he was surveying the grandeur of the building he stumbled over a wooden box, and had some workers throw it out. The wooden box turned out to be his wife’s casket. At some point in his passion for the project he’d lost sight of the purpose for the project.

God had given the Sabbath as a gift to His people. It was an invitation to enter into His rest. And what is rest? The gift of rest was an invitation to know God in a more complete way. To enter into God’s rest was to celebrate God’s fullness. The Sabbath was a day to cease striving and open your eyes to the gifts of God that surround you. God’s rest was an invitation to stop trying to hold on to control and so that you can experience the joy of being held by the Almighty God.

How hard is it for man to let go of control and enter into God’s rest? I think some of the laws that were instituted during Jesus’ time might help illustrate. *The Jewish leaders had established 39 Sabbath clarifications, with each having multiple subdivisions, making for over 1500 prohibitions. Here are some of them.
•It was unlawful to kill a flea that lands on your arm because that would make you guilty of hunting on the Sabbath.
•You could dip your radish in salt but if you left it there too long you were pickling it, and thus working. The Pharisees actually had discussions on how long it took to pickle a radish.
•It was okay to spit on a rock on the Sabbath, but you couldn’t spit on the ground, because that made mud, and mud was mortar, and that was work.*

The Pharisees had managed to take the Sabbath and change it from a day of rest and make it into an impossible struggle. The complicated labyrinth of regulations that they prescribed for keeping the Sabbath holy had made the Sabbath seem more like a curse than a gift. The final irony came when they took their prohibitions concerning the Sabbath and used them to condemn Jesus.

Jesus explained that, “The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27). Jesus used the Sabbath to illustrate what it looked like to live under the shelter of the Most High and find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. He did this by the compassionate way He treated those who were hungry on the Sabbath. The compassion of Christ was met with the condemnation of the Pharisees. In their zeal to follow the rules they had made, they failed to see the Lord of the Sabbath who stood before them with outstretched arms.

*Brian Bill

Something New (Mark 2;21-22)

It was at a wedding. The celebration had already been going on for three days when it was discovered that they had run out of wine. Mary turned to Jesus and told Him, “They don’t have any wine.” Next, she told the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.” “There were six stone water jars there for Jewish purification. Each contained 20 to 30 gallons” (John 2:6-7). Jesus had the servants fill the empty stone jars with water. However, when the water was tasted, it was declared to be new wine. The new wine was declared far superior to what had previously been served.

I look at those empty stone water jars that were to used for purification and I am reminded of the stone tables on which the Ten Commandments were written. The Ten Commandments were at the heart of the old covenant to show God’s people how to have a relationship with a holy God. Just as the stone water jugs were empty of the water used for purification, so too, the commandments written on stone were unable to purify the people who tried in vain to keep them.

God’s people had been unable to keep the covenant that God had made with them, and as a result His holy name had been profaned among the nations. How did He choose to vindicate His holiness? “I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you, I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules” (Ezekiel 36:26,27). God’s people were unable to keep the law written on stone, so God did a new thing: He wrote it on their hearts by putting His Spirit within them.

The question had been asked, “Why don’t your disciples fast like the disciples of the Pharisees?” In response to this question Jesus refers to Himself as a bridegroom and explains that wedding guests don’t fast while the bridegroom is with them. Jesus had come bringing the good news of a new covenant. Just as at the wedding feast in Cana they had run out of wine,  so too those trying to reach God by keeping the law had fallen short.

Jesus had not come to try to patch something that was broken; Jesus didn’t come to show us how to try harder to keep the law; He came as a bridegroom to call His bride. Jesus said that for anyone who believed in Him that rivers of living water would flow out of his heart. This was the new covenant between the Bridegroom and the bride. Not a covenant written on stone, but a covenant written on the heart. I believe that if you taste that living water you will find that it tastes like new wine.

Confusion About Fasting (Mark 2:18-22)

I admit it, I was a strange little girl. I wanted to please God but I wasn’t sure how. Sometimes I would pray while on my knees until I’d lost the feeling in my legs. Sometimes I would sleep beside my bed instead of on it. Why I thought this would please God I don’t know! And yet when I read about some of the fasts that are mentioned in the Bible I realized that I was not alone in my confusion.

In the book of Zechariah a question is asked, “Should we mourn and fast in the fifth month as we have done these many years?” They were using this fast to commemorate the final defeat by the Babylonians. However, it wasn’t a fast that God had ordained. He didn’t want them to continue to focus on their failures. The Old Testament only prescribed fasting for all the Jews on the Day of Atonement, as an act of repentance. The focus was to be on God. The fast was a means to make them aware of their sins and a way to express sorrow, so that they could turn away from their sin and turn towards God.

The Pharisees in Jesus’ day had promoted a voluntary fast on every Monday and Thursday which focused on their piety. Jesus’ disciples weren’t fasting, and this prompted the question, “Why don’t they?” Jesus used this question, as He often did, to ask a question of His own. “The wedding guests cannot fast while the groom is with them, can they? (Mark 2:19) Jesus presents His time with His disciples as a wedding. Guests at a wedding are focused on the beginning of something new. It’s  a time of celebration.

Fasting on the Day of Atonement was a time to pause to become aware of sin. The awareness of sin was to be accompanied by sorrow and a desire to repent. However, for the Pharisees the fast had become the focus. The practice that was to awaken in their heart sorrow for their sins had become a source of pride. It had become a measuring rod by which they could measure their own righteousness.

When Jesus had come to John to be baptized John proclaimed,“Behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” When Jesus began preaching the good news of God He said: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God had come near. Repent and believe in the good news!” The Pharisees were so focused on their self-righteous fasting that they failed to hear the good news--the good news that atonement was to be accomplished through Jesus, the lamb of God. Those who received the good news of atonement were ready also to celebrate a nearness of the kingdom of God.

The Mercy Factor (Mark 2:15-17)

Have you ever experienced how it feels to be an outsider? I have. We had just moved to a small town where my young son wanted to be on a baseball team. When I went to watch him practice I sat on the bleacher with several other women that I had recently met. I tried to engage them in conversation but found that instead of talking to me they just slightly turned away. It didn’t take long to understand that I was not welcome. I went to sit on a lower bleacher with a woman I hadn’t met yet. She welcomed me and then said with an understanding smile, “You can only sit up there on that bleacher if your son establishes himself as one of the best players.” It feels really good to be part of an exclusive group, unless you’re the one who makes it exclusive because you’re excluded.

God had blessed and instructed the descendants of Abraham through the law about how they could have fellowship with God Himself. However, from the beginning God had made it clear that He had blessed them so that they in turn could be a blessing. The scribes and Pharisees loved the fact that their knowledge of the Law and keeping of it separated them from those whom they considered unclean. In fact, they loved the Law so much that they had added to it. This made it so difficult to follow that they could truly separate themselves from the tax collectors and sinners. The word Pharisee itself meant “a separatist, a purist.”

When the scribes and the Pharisees saw that Jesus was reclining at the table in Matthew’s house having a meal with tax collectors and sinners they went to Jesus’ disciples to demand an explanation. Jesus answered them Himself. “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:15-17).

The scribes and the Pharisees were experts at observing religious rituals that kept them apart from those around them. They were focused on their own righteousness and didn’t want to be made unclean by the sinners. While following the letter of the law their hearts had become hardened to those who were struggling and bound by sin. Matthew also records Jesus as saying, “Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9:13).

This mercy found its fullest expression in the tender love and compassion that God had extended to sinners through His covenant. The scribes and Pharisees saw themselves keeping God’s covenant because they offered all the right sacrifices and kept all the laws, not only the laws of God but their own laws. What they needed to learn was that the only way to be righteous was by the mercy of God. Their hard hearts had caused them to be blinded to their need of a physician. In their desire to be separatists they had separated themselves from the Savior who sat with tax collectors and sinners.

Follow Me (Mark 2:13,14)

There had been a crowd around him when he heard Jesus say, “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?” Suddenly, he felt like everyone around him began to fade away. His mind went back to the time when his forfeited soul had been restored. With a burst of joy his memory took him back to the day Jesus had looked at him and said, “Follow Me!”

He had it all, or at least he had more than the people surrounding him in this sea of humanity. Not only did he feel the cool touch of the coins as they tumbled from his fingers, but he could feel the quality of the cloth his clothes were made of. He enjoyed the luxury of rich food that his wealth provided. He listened absentmindedly to the music that the coins made as they hit the table.

He had everything. However, surrounded by this ocean of humanity he was alone. He was despised and even the lowliest beggar refused to give him a kind glance. His clothes made of the finest cloth could not warm the coldness he felt deep in his heart. Although he held feasts for the other outcasts of society there was no fellowship, and no matter how grand the dishes were that were set before him, the hunger he felt deep in his soul was never satisfied. And so another day began, and Matthew took his seat at his tax booth by the Sea of Galilee feeling cheated and wondering what profit he had gained for the price of his soul?

He saw Him coming towards him and suddenly something he thought dead inside him came to life. His heart began to beat faster with a warmth he hadn’t felt in years. For so long it had seemed as if he’d lost the ability to see colors, but as Jesus approached the world once more was bathed in dazzling light, bringing with the light beauty to life again. There was a stirring, an awakening in his soul. He was surrounded by a profound silence that he could feel, yet within that silence there was the most beautiful music. Suddenly Jesus was standing before him. He looked straight into Matthew’s eyes and through them into his soul  and said, "'Follow Me.' And he rose and followed Him" (Mark 2:14)

What is self denial? This is something that Jesus requires of everyone who is to become His disciple. So often when we think of self denial we think of what we are giving up. But for Matthew it meant a healing of his soul, by letting go of what could never truly profit him so that he could rise and follow Jesus.

An Inability To See (Mark 2: 8-22)

In 1996 I bought my children a book called Magic Eye. In the book were a collection of pictures filled  with multiple colored dots. The idea was that if you stared at the page filled with dots just right, a 3D picture would emerge. Adults and children alike would pick up the book and say, “Oh, I love Magic Eye books!” Then they would proceed to tell me what they saw. I, however, never saw anything but a bunch of dots. One day in total frustration and disgust I chucked the Magic Eye book into the garbage.

In Mark 2 Jesus had returned to Capernaum. Word spread and the crowds came. There was no room, not even at the door. It was definitely a standing room only kind of crowd. The placed was packed with people wanting to get close to Jesus, and yet the scribes had found a place to sit. These men who were experts in Jewish law and the Scriptures had come to judge this man about whom they had heard.

I can almost see them sitting there with great dignity amongst the common people when suddenly dirt begins falling on their head. At first it was just a few clods, but as daylight began to flood the room, so did the dirt that showered down on them. Then, to their astonishment, a paralyzed man was lowered through the hole in the ceiling. But even more astonishing to these godly men was the blasphemy they heard when Jesus declared the paralytic forgiven of his sins!

They said nothing out loud, but the same one who pronounced forgiveness of sin was also able to know what was in their heart. Jesus responded to their silent question of, “Why does this man speak like this? This is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” with a question of His own. “Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Arise take up your bed and walk’?” And then He told the paralytic to rise, take up his bed and walk, showing the scribes that the Son of Man had the authority to forgive sins on earth.

This, however, did not cause the scribes to see who Jesus was. Why was it that after hearing Jesus speak with authority and seeing the miracles that He performed they were unable to see Jesus for who He truly was? They were the experts in Jewish law and in the Scriptures, yet if you look back at the first chapter of Mark you will find the answer. John the Baptist prepared the way for the Messiah with the message of repentance. Those who did not humble themselves and repent were unable to see or to recognize the Son of God even when He was right in front of them.

More (Mark 2:1-12)

This Christmas I received a beautiful fan. As I slowly unfolded the fan I went back in time. I remembered clearly how I felt as I approached my father with my huge request. It was the summer of 1961, and the days had become unbearably hot. Several of my friends had cheap plastic fans that to my eight-year-old eyes looked like the most elegant thing ever invented. I wanted one. I climbed up onto my father’s lap and presented my plea for a fan.

The next day I was thrilled when my father came home from work and told me to come out to the car with him, he said that he had something that he wanted to show me. I can still remember the look on his face. When I got to the car he triumphantly opened the door, and there on the back seat were not one but two window fans. I was stunned, and not quite sure how to respond. My father’s magnanimous gift wasn’t the cheap plastic fan I’d asked for, but instead a way to cool the house with cross-ventilation. Later, my father gave me the little fan I’d asked for.

When I think about how in Mark 2 the friends brought the paralyzed man to Jesus, believing and wanting Jesus to heal their friend, I am reminded of my request to my father for a fan. My father began by giving me more than I had asked for. The men who carried their friend to Jesus had heard about all the people He had healed. They had enough faith to dig through the roof of the house where Jesus was and to lower their friend before Him. However, I wonder if they were as surprised as the scribes were when, in response to their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven” (Mark 2:5).

It is one thing to remove paralysis from the body, but it is a far greater gift to have the paralysis of sin removed from the soul! I have known those whose lives are paralyzed by the choices they have made. Like the prey of a poisonous spider they are entangled in a web that seems to bind them. I have watched helplessly as they struggle only to find themselves wrapped tighter and tighter in the web of despair.

They brought their friend to Jesus believing that He had the power to heal, but they discovered that He was more than just a healer. Jesus had come with the power to break the curse of sin and to release those paralyzed by the hopelessness of their condition. In my imagination I can see the amazement on their faces as they look down from the hole they made in the roof in their efforts to get their friend to Jesus. Jesus shows who He really is by not only by healing their friend’s body, but also by releasing him from his sins.