THE GOOD, THE BAD, & THE UGLY
A SERIES ON JESUS: PART IV (TOUGH MESSAGES)
INTRO: THE GOOD, THE BAD, & THE UGLY: In an early Clint Eastwood movie made in the late 1960s (relax gang, this one is before my time to, I am only using it because of the familiar name), this western movie centers around 3 western gunslingers trying to find hidden gold in the Confederacy of the Civil War (for those movie historians, producer Quinton Tarantino calls this the best directed movie in history). The nicknames that these 2 men go by…is Good, Bad…and you guessed it. Clint Eastwood is called good.
TRANSITION: For this lesson, we are still in Mark 2, and Jesus calls out 3 groups of people. Based on who he is talking to and the message he brings, can you guess what the three groups are?
1. THE GOOD
BIBLE VERSE: Mark 2:15-17
2:15 As Jesus was having a meal in Levi’s home, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 2:16 When the experts in the law and the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 2:17 When Jesus heard this he said to them, “Those who are healthy don’t need a physician, but those who are sick do. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
A. Tax Collector’s Were Considered Traitors: Here is Levi (also called Matthew), hosting a feast with Jesus, maybe even using bribed funds gained illegally. Tax collectors were hated back in the day. Their job was to collect taxes from the people to give to Rome, and to make their income they put a surcharge or an extra tax on top of that, mostly up to their discretion. People of Jerusalem saw them as thieves (rightfully so in many cases), and worse than that, traitors—for they worked for the enemy, Rome.
*Technically (and this may be too much for some, but meat for the older ones), Levi could have been a tax collector for Rome OR he could have been a tax collector for Herod Antipas, the man who extracted tolls for people who enter into Palestine/Capernaum.
BUT WHAT THE WORLD THINKS IS BAD…GOD USES FOR GOOD!
B. Poor Reputation: Can a person with a bad reputation be used by God (allow time for some answers here)? After some information, here is the general census: absolutely God can use someone with a bad reputation! Think about Paul. What was he before he was a Christian…he was Saul, Saul the murderer, Saul the murderer of Christians. If God can use someone who killed Christians, God can use anyone.
But, this does not give us a license to sin. How many Christians in the Bible go out and destroy their names and are ever used again? I can’t think of any either.
C. Who Does God Use? Well, if we do a quick analysis of the disciples and who are called, we notice some things in common, I stress 2 of them here. The disciples are people who are:
1) BUSY. There is an old saying, if you want something done, ask a busy person. Why? Cause busy people get things done. The people Jesus called had jobs and in some cases busy in their jobs when they were called, James and John were fishing at the very time Jesus called them (notice they didn’t even finish their shifts).
2) PEOPLE WHO SAY YES. I know this is simple, but God calls those who say yes. I truly believe that God has many, many people that he has called or wants to serve him, but, they will not. So rather than pester them, he moves on. Notice, in all the disciples called, there was no delay.
2. THE BAD
A. The Pharisee: The Pharisees decided that the actions of the disciples in the picking of the grain and the removing of the husks was work—something they though evil to do on the Sabbath. In fact the Pharisees had a list of 39 things you cannot do on the Sabbath (and they are fairly generic, which means anything could be applicable to them).
B. List of Rules: The early rabbis determined that the primary categories of forbidden activities are those involved in the building of the Tabernacle, listing them under the heading of Av Melakhah (lit. "father of work") in the Mishnah (Shab. 7). These are: (1) sowing, (2) plowing, (3) reaping, (4) binding sheaves, (5) threshing, (6) winnowing, (7) sorting, (8) grinding, (9) sifting, (10) kneading, (11) baking, (12) shearing sheep, (13) washing wool, (14) beating wool, (15) dyeing wool, (16) spinning, (17) weaving, (18) making two loops, (19) weaving two threads, (20) separating two threads, (21) tying (a permanent knot), (22) loosening (a permanent knot), (23) sewing two stitches, (24) tearing in order to sew two stitches, (25) hunting a deer, (26) slaughtering, (27) flaying, (28) salting, (29) curing a skin, (30) scraping the hide, (31) cutting, (32) writing two letters (of the alphabet), (33) erasing in order to write two letters, (34) building, (35) pulling down a structure, (36) extinguishing a fire, (37) lighting a fire, (38) striking with a hammer
(i.e., putting the finishing touch on something), and (39) moving something, i.e., carrying, from one domain to another.
WOW HUH?
C. But There’s More: In order to prevent anyone from unwittingly transgressing any of the prohibitions, or doing something not in harmony with the spirit of the day, the rabbis enacted further rulings. Examples of these, which serve as a "fence around the law," are: gezerot ("decrees"; see Gezerah),
EXAMPLES: a tailor should not go out just before sunset with a needle on him, lest he forget about it until after the onset of the Sabbath and "carry" it (Shab. 1.3); Muktseh ("set apart"), i.e., certain things should not be touched even if they are not forbidden as such, since this might lead to a prohibited act; nolad ("born"), i.e.., something that comes into existence during the Sabbath, such as a freshly laid egg, is not to be used; and shevut, i.e., an act not in the spirit of the day, for example climbing a tree (Beìts. 5:2).
HERE IS AN EXAMPLE OF THIS, THEY ACTUALLY CALL OUT JESUS…
Pharisee Accusation: Why does he eat with sinners? Notice, there is an implication of an inappropriate association. The Jewish leaders were careful about their personal associations and cleanliness. Their question is NOT just a question, it is an accusation, and it would definitely been taken that way.
3. THE UGLY
A. Questions:
Is there a time to tell someone the ugly truth (let some talk go on here)?
Is there a time to tell it in an ugly way (remember the big part of a rebuke is to bring the person back to fellowship, so we should always try to really put it in a way that will be taken)? But is there (discussion)?
B. First, Before the Answers, Here Are Some Really Bad Ways to Have An Ugly Argument
1) I was listening on the radio recently on my way to work, maybe you heard about it. A boy and a girl broke up, and because he kept all her jewelry, she went to his giant fish tank and fried up all his pets.
2) When I was a school teacher years ago, probably 1997 now, there is a teacher at the school I was at who was being stalked by an ex-girlfriend. One day she would drive by a VCR, then keyhole his car.
3) But here is a kicker (I had to look this topic up on the internet by the way, lol). A girl was dating this guy when she found out that his second job was a hitman! How do you break up with a hired gunman? Simple, she took him out and eat, grabbed his hand so sweet, and asked how soon they were getting married and can they have kids right away? He was gone.
C. “The Elevator Principle: One tip to halting the level of an argument, is to not ride the elevator (long explanation here, but if the person you are arguing with wants to take it deeper, just get on the other elevator and bring it back down).
TRANSITION: But that doesn’t mean Jesus doesn’t always use kindness to show error.
BIBLE VERSE: John 2:12-16
2:12 After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there a few days. 2:13 Now the Jewish feast of Passover was near, so Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
2:14 He found in the temple courts those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers sitting at tables. 2:15 So he made a whip of cords and drove them all out of the temple courts, with the sheep and the oxen. He scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 2:16 To those who sold the doves he said, “Take these things away from here! Do not make my Father’s house a marketplace!”
D. Indiana Jones: Does Jesus get ugly with his answers? Heck ya! He most absolutely will come unglued when someone’s life is hypocritical and that hypocrisy gets in the way of His church. Like Indiana Jones (maybe play some Indy music here), if something gets in the way of His church, He unapologetically will interfere, and the results may be devastating.
Sources:
Answers.com. Dictionary Keyword: Sabbath.
Bible.org, Mark 2, point 32.
HowIgotdumped.com. Comment from Anonymousfromthisone {Visitor}, blogged at 6/18/2008 at 19:20.
Life Focus: Bible Studies For Life, Fall 2009 pages 27-32.
Wikipedia.org. Keyword: Mark 2. Last modification was made September 1, 2009.
Wikipedia.org. Keyword: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly. Last modification was October 1, 2009.
THE GOOD, THE BAD, & THE UGLY
A SERIES ON JESUS: PART IV (TOUGH MESSAGES)
1. _____________________________________________
BIBLE VERSE: Mark 2:15-17
Tax Collectors Were Considered ________________________________
What the World Thinks is Bad, God CAN Use For ________________________________
Can a Person With a Poor Reputation Be Used By God? ________________________________________
What if a Christian Ruins Their Good Reputation? _____________________________________________
Who Does God Use? A. __________________________________________________________
B. __________________________________________________________
2. ______________________________________________
The Pharisee: _________________________________________________________________________
Lists of Pharisee Rules:
_______________________________________________ ___________________________________
_______________________________________________ ___________________________________
_______________________________________________ ___________________________________
_______________________________________________ ___________________________________
“Why Does He Eat With Sinners?” Significance: _______________________________________________
3. ______________________________________________
Question #1
Is There a Time to Tell Someone the Ugly Truth? ______________________________________________
Question #2
Is There a Time to Tell It In an Ugly Way? ___________________________________________________
Elevator Principle:
BIBLE VERSE: John 2:12-16
2:12 After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there a few days. 2:13 Now the Jewish feast of Passover was near, so Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
2:14 He found in the temple courts those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers sitting at tables. 2:15 So he made a ____________________ of _____________________ and _______________________________ them all out of the temple courts, with the sheep and the oxen. He scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 2:16 To those who sold the doves he said, “Take these things away from here! Do not make my Father’s house a marketplace!”
Indiana Jones Comparison