Sabbath...

SABBATH: REPLENISHING THE DRAINED

Mark 2:23-28

August 26, 2018

Bruce R. Johnson

Mark 2:23-28 -- One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”

25And 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?”

27And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

I. Jesus makes another outrageous claim: He is lord even of the Sabbath

A. Disciples were not stealing because . . .

1. Lev. 23:22 mandates that some of harvest/gleanings be left for the poor and the sojourner.

2. Deut. 23:25 allows plucking ears of standing grain by hand

3. But . . . GOTCHA . . . Ex. 34:21: “In plowing time and in harvest you shall rest [on the seventh day].”

B. Audience specifically identified as Pharisees

1. Recall “greater than” language of Hebrews

a. Pharisees still don’t know who Jesus is

b. Right here and now they see Him as a threat to their power and position

2. Judgmental language

a. “Look” or “See here.” Contemporary English idioms, complete with inflections

b. Another translation: What they are doing . . . is not allowed. (Not a question.)

c. Either way: What are you going to do about it?

C. Messianic rebuke: Have you not read?

1. The David story emphasizes that the Pharisees’ application of the law fails to take need into account.

2. Not an excuse

3. Since need can be taken into account, something beyond mere mechanical application of Ex. 34.21 is involved/required

4. That something is the “inverted” purpose of the sabbath -- for man and not the reverse

D. Jesus’ words as a “ruling”

1. The principle is similar to the ruling regarding wine and wineskins

2. As wine must conform to wineskins, so must the law confirm human flourishing

E. The power -- and the command -- of “So”

1. Command first: A stop-and-think word, like “therefore,” “because,” “for”

2. “I can tell what the law means because I am LORD of both law and Sabbath.”

3. Avoiding both legalism and antinomianism

a. Legalism: Law as autonomous revelation replacing person of God

b. Antinomianism: Jesus not a free agent who could overthrow the revealed will of God

c. Righteous purpose of God as manifested in Torah can be recovered and fulfilled only in relation to Jesus, who is its LORD.

F. “Son of Man” worth barrels of ink and whole forests of paper

Not unlike Messianic secret in that it “was ambiguous in meaning to the current popular imagination. This enabled him to claim to be the Messiah with little danger of the current erroneous views being read into it before he had” the chance to act out the full meaning of the messianic task outlined in the OT. (FOOTNOTE)

II. The work underneath our work drives us to the restless refuge of religion

A. Two radically different spiritual paradigms at work here

1. “Religion” -- primarily advice

2. Gospel of Jesus Christ, which begins and ends with news

B. Common belief: If there is a God, you relate to him by being good.

1. Nationalistic religions

2. Spiritualistic religions

3. Legalistic religions

4. Common logic: If I obey, I am accepted.

C. Gospel of Jesus: I’m fully accepted in Jesus Christ, and therefore I obey.

D. Addiction to salvation by works

1. Concern with details of the law: Mishnah lists 39 classes of activities which violate the Sabbath.

2. Walking more than 1,999 paces on a single journey forbidden

III. The cross of Christ is the place of our deep rest.

A. Law of God functions differently from law in “religion”

1. Still binding

2. Shows you the life of love you want to live before the face of God

3. God’s law takes you out of self-absorption and shows how to serve God and others

B. Jesus dismantles religious paradigm by pointing to His identity

1. Not just “I am LORD over the Sabbath.”

2. “I am LORD of the Sabbath.”

C. In saying, “I am the LORD of the Sabbath,” Jesus means that He is the Sabbath.

1. The source of the deep rest we need

2. Genesis 1: God Himself rested after creation

a. He doesn’t get tired, so how could He rest?

i. “I’m so satisfied with my work that I can leave it.”

ii. “I’m so satisfied with what Christ has done for me . . .”

b. Self-justification: The work underneath our work that we really need rest from

D. “It is finished” -- Those who rely on Jesus’ finished work know that God is satisfied with them.

FOOTNOTE:

Robert Reymond, A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith, page 215; language after quotation marks paraphrases the original.

Classic Mismatches

Mark 2:18-22

August 19, 2018

Bruce R. Johnson

I. The setting

A. Imagine you’re a “common” person

1. Raised under Judaism

2. Seen this “John movement” come in and start to grow

a. He’s baptizing Jews as if they were unclean

b. He baptizes even Jesus, though protesting that the roles should be

reversed

c. Confusion over John’s identity while in Judean wilderness (John 1.19-

28)

3. Jesus moves His ministry from Judea to Galilee (G-S-J-I west of Jordan River

-- Mark 3.8; September 9)

a. Heals and drives out demons

b. “A new teaching with authority!” (Mark 1.27b)

B. Searching for a standard of comparison

1. Disorientation . . . mismatch

2. Academy students compelled to attend worship for religion class

a. “What did you think of the service?”

b. “In our church we serve wafers at communion”

3. Fasting traditions

a. John’s disciples (He’s been “visible” for only 2 years or so)

b. Pharisees

C. Leaving OT times and entering NT times

1. Only Jesus knows that

2. Patience -- Messianic secret

3. He shifts the comparison from wafers/fasting to weddings

II. The wedding

A. First mismatch: Weddings and fasting

B. Jesus’ mission as a wedding

C. Knowing when it’s time to fast

III. The stretching

A. Old garment/new patch

B. Old wineskin/new wine

C. Jesus the new patch and the new wine

IV. Sermon point: Jesus cannot be contained by the “structures” of mere religion

A. Schedules as old, shrunken cloth

B. New life in Christ bursts the old wineskins of our own itineraries

C. Messianic secret revealed in the gospel

D. New creations in Christ

Can we all be the I-AM? Sanity, Delusion, and Jesus

Followers of the Great Physician

(Mark 2:13-17, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, August 12, 2018)

[13] He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. [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.

[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.”

Introduction

Last Sunday we considered together the remarkable account of the friends of a paralytic healed by Jesus. Their faith made a difference for the one they were carrying. Before Jesus healed the man's legs, He surprised everyone by saying, “Your sins are forgiven.” Some took offense, but we are not in their number. We know that we have sin, and even after we have come to Christ, we are on a journey of faith where we would like to have friends who would be willing to carry us to Jesus that we might be more like Him.

While we are impressed with the friends of the man who was healed that day, of course our attention must rightly focus on the Healer. Who is this Man? That is the question that the crowd was asking, and it is also the point of Peter's later preaching and of Mark's record of that proclamation in the gospel that bears his name.

Levi/Matthew's Story

The next stop in that fast-paced story involves a man called here Levi. He has another more familiar name, Matthew, and becomes an apostle and the author of the opening book of the New Testament.

Jesus was teaching a crowd of people by the sea, and “as he passed by” a tax booth that was part of the Roman system of collecting tribute from a subjugated people, He saw a particular man and not just someone who fit into a group. This man was a tax collector. He would have been working within a chain of command that eventually led to the emperor in Rome, but he was a Jew. Such men were hated by the people and considered by observant Jews to be unclean. If someone were looking for the most godly group of followers, this would not have been the place to start.

But here is the amazing Jesus, and He speaks with authority and certainty. He said to Levi, “Follow Me.” As we have seen in an earlier passage when some fishermen were called, the response of Levi must be a testimony to the power of the One who calls him. We are simply told that “he rose and followed Him.”

The Pharisees' Question

Jesus went to Levi's house for a meal according to the customs of their day (reclining) but not according to the acceptable religious practices of observant Jews. One tax collector was bad enough, but Levi had many friends who were also guests at his table that day. Jesus was eating with these Jewish collaborators connected to Roman Gentile overlords and many others who are just called “sinners.” What does that word mean here? It refers to the assessment of the Pharisees that the people around that table were not followers of the ceremonial Law of the Jews together with the traditions of the rabbis. Everything about that meal screamed “UNCLEAN” to the people who were scrupulous in their attention to Jewish religious practices. The problem was obvious to them, so they had to ask His disciples, “Why does He eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

Jesus's Answer

To understand Jesus' answer, we need to understand that all people were created by God to be amazed. We should be amazed by Jesus (see Colossians 1:15-20), but many Jews at that time were amazed by something else: their own careful attention to ceremonial rules.

Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way.” The world has always taken offense at that idea. Calvin said, “If any man turn aside from Christ, he will do nothing but go astray; if any man do not rest on Him, he will feed elsewhere on nothing but wind and vanity; if any man, not satisfied with Him alone, wishes to go farther, he will find death instead of life.”

God has a Name for Himself: “I-AM.” The “I-AM” delusion of the world is that each of us is the “I-AM.” The only sanity is to see the Son of God for who He actually is as the true “I-AM” in the flesh who came to live and die for us. This real Jehovah God in person was eating with sinners.

He said to those who were scandalized, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Back to the paralytic from Mark 2:1-12: Are you willing to be the person on the mat, the one who needs forgiveness? Are you willing to be amazed about Jesus, about who He is and what He has done, and let other people care for you in such a way that brings you closer to the One you were created to have as as your sincere focus of greatest amazement and worship?

What are you amazed about?

Are you willing to keep that amazement to yourself?

The story of Levi the tax collector went beyond his own experience of Jesus and into the lives of many other regular people within his circle of influence. Those who thought of themselves as covenant keepers considered it odd that Jesus would share a meal with people like Matthew and his friends. Our Lord understood that contact with lost and troubled children of God was part of His mission. They had to hear His call.

Sermon Point: Disciples are brought to the great Physician for healing. Those who imagine themselves as beyond such a need are kidding themselves. But what can we do if people are sure that they are amazing and are not amazed by Jesus? Help us, O God!

Old Testament Reading—Psalm 70 – Make haste to help me!

New Testament Reading—2 Peter 2 – There will be false teachers among you.

He Rose!

We never saw anything like this!

(Mark 2:1-12, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, August 5, 2018)

[1] And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. [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. [3] And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. [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. [5] And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” [6] Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, [7] “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” [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? [9] Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? [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!”

Jesus preaching the Word

Jesus had set up a temporary residence in the village of Capernaum by the Sea of Galilee. He had most recently been traveling throughout the area, but now “it was reported that he was at home.” When last He had been there such amazing miracles had been accomplished, so that whatever anonymity he once had was now entirely lost.

We are told that his house was far from a place of solitude. Many “gathered together, so that there was no more room” as the residents of the town and surely many from the surrounding region came to Him for help. We should not miss that “He was preaching the Word to them.” It was the miracles that were very interesting to desperate crowds of people, but they heard the preaching of the kingdom. Did they understand that there would be a way for them to know that their sins were forgiven?

A paralytic carried by four men

We are told a very memorable account of “four men” who brought to Jesus a man who could not get to Him on his own power. He was a “paralytic.” Even if had been able to walk, it was difficult to get access to Jesus. The man's friends were essential. Think of what kind of character was necessary in order to do their part? Strength, courage, willingness to suffer disgrace or rejection... All of these qualities were important.

I recently saw an unusual Crossfit event (Rescue Randy Drag) that mirrors the work of a soldier carrying a wounded or deceased comrade to safety. Think of those bearing their friend to the only Man who could possibly help him.

Who would you be willing to carry this way to Jesus? Who would carry you?

Amazingly, they “removed the roof” above the Lord. In order to do this they had to climb up on top of the house carefully carrying their friend. Then they had to take out sections in the rustic ceiling, dismantling a portion big enough for them to “let down the bed on which the paralytic lay.”

Wow! Even Jesus was impressed. He “saw their faith”—not the faith of the needy man, but that of His companions—and then He said to the one these men loved, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

Some of the scribes

This was already a very powerful happening, yet the man was still paralyzed. His sins were forgiven, but his legs did not work. Even so, I am sure it was impressive in a way that Jesus, who had performed many miracles very recently in Capernaam, was speaking so definitively about this greatest need of mankind.

Yet some people were again upset. “Some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts.” What was the problem? Jesus' teaching. He pronounced that the man's sins were forgiven, and they found that very offensive. They were not just curious about Jesus: “Why does this man speak like that?” It was more than that. They were accusatory. “He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Blasphemy is an attack against God Himself or His sacred institutions. The point is that the scribes knew that it was God who had to be satisfied concerning the offensiveness of sin. Who was Jesus to say that the man's sins were forgiven?

The Son of Man and the forgiveness of sins

Jesus did not ignore their grumbling and inner accusations. He proved His “authority” as the “Son of Man” to “forgive sins” by healing his infirmity. He said, “Rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” And “he rose.” In front of everybody! “They were all amazed.” Far from starting an anti-God, blasphemous movement, the results of Jesus' words were that the large crowd “glorified God.” As they said, “We never saw anything like this!”

Jesus' question in the verbal sparring that day was, “Which is easier?” A liar could declare the man's sins forgiven, but who could know whether the deed had been accomplished. What the liar could not do was heal the paralytic. By doing the harder work (in terms of proof), Jesus had proven Himself reliable in all that He asserted.

Yet there is another question: “Which is more impressive, forgiving sins, or healing legs.” If a man is truly able to forgive sins, He has done the ultimate healing. Do we have the faith to believe that Jesus has that authority, and that the church that He founded has the right to declare the forgiveness of sins according to His Word (John 20:23)?

How do we know that Jesus is right about sin? The miracles displayed His divine authority, but no work of the Messiah was more to the point than His own resurrection. It was as if the Lord said, “That you may know that I forgive sin, here I am alive again.”

Jesus healed a paralytic brought to Him by four friends who had faith in Jesus' power to restore the broken. Those who saw with their own eyes what happened that day were shocked. Yet what took place in unseen realms was more significant. The Son of Man came to bring about the forgiveness of sins, and the full impact of that will not be visible until we see Him face to face.

Sermon Point: The unseen works of Jesus are even more amazing than His visible miracles.

Old Testament Reading—Psalm 69 – You Know My Reproach

New Testament Reading—2 Peter 1:16-21 – The Word