Jesus Raises Eyebrows: Biblical Over Traditional
(Mark 2:1-28)
1. This week a bit of strange news came out of Minnesota:
DULUTH, Minn., June 6 (UPI) -- A Minnesota woman says she didn't know she was pregnant until she went into labor while running a marathon.
Trish Staine, 33, was on mile 9 of the Duluth, Minn., annual Grandma's Half-Marathon Monday when she gave birth to a baby girl, KBJR-TV, Duluth, reported.
Staine's husband, John, said there was no indication his wife was pregnant. She didn't gain weight or show any other symptoms of pregnancy.
The couple named their daughter Mira -- short for miracle. Mira weighed 6 pounds, 6 ounces.
2. Marylu worked with an older woman whose daughter called her husband to tell him their baby was being born…
3. You hear these stories and wonder how people could not know such things. Yet, in a way, this is what happened when Jesus came. He showed all the evidences that the Messiah was supposed to show, but the people by and large did not know who he was.
4. Instead of welcoming him, the Jewish leaders fought tooth and nail against him. Mark takes us to the beginning of the ever-worsening relationship between Jesus and some of the Pharisees.
Mark arranges this section by theme, not necessarily chronology. He shares 5 instances of conflict building between he and the Pharisees, more against the dominant School of Shammai than Hillel, though some conflicts were with both. We are only looking at 4 of the 5 today for time’s sake.
Main Idea: Jesus was controversial because he was aligned with the truth and put God's Word and work above the inherited traditions that had accumulated over the centuries. So we should be bound by Scripture and mission; we might be conservative, but that is not the same as preservative.
I. Jesus Claimed to Forgive Sins: A Messiah Who Is DEITY (1-12)
A. At his crowded HEADQUARTERS in Capernaum (1-2)
B. A paralytic LOWERED from the roof (3-4)
1. Sometimes we have to suffer loss for others to be blessed: Whoever owned the house had to exercise forgiveness himself…he had a hole in the roof!
2. The guy who lost a herd of swine….
3. According to Christianpost.com, “The head of the Episcopal Church has garnered outrage from some in the Anglican Communion over her claim that St. Paul of Tarsus' curing of a demon-possessed slave girl as described in the Bible was wrong. In a sermon delivered before the Diocese of Venezuela on the island nation of Curaçao, Presiding Bishop The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori said that by driving the demon out of her Paul was "depriving her of her gift of spiritual awareness."
4. Sometimes doing the right thing means a loss for someone…
C. Jesus FORGIVES his sins (5-9)
1. A prerogative of GOD alone
2. He does not claim delegated authority, but INTRINSIC authority
3. Raised EYEBROWS: they did not think Messiah would be God
4. This idea that Jesus was blasphemous would build…
D. To prove the greater miracle (forgiveness), he heals his BODY (lesser miracle)
• Think about prayer requests…mostly for healing of body…
• Part of this is concern for offending… like mentioning a person on Facebook…
• It’s not usually till we are on our deathbeds that we appreciate the priority of the soul
E. Application: We can DOWNGRADE the miracle of God's forgiveness (toward others, too)
Jesus was controversial because he was aligned with the truth and put God's Word and work above the inherited traditions that had accumulated over the centuries.
II. Jesus ASSOCIATED with Unsavory Characters (13-17)
A. He calls a TAX COLLECTOR as a disciple, later as an Apostle (13-14)
B. Jesus seeks to reach Matthew's SINFUL friends (15)
1. Those of you who are new believers have an opportunity that long term believers do not have
2. We are trying to begin Shared Activity Limited Term groups (father and son)
3. You are best at reaching people who have common interests with you
C. Instead of praising him, the Pharisees CONDEMNED Jesus for reaching out (16-17)
• Not quite correct; the School of Hillel would have admired this…
D. People who are aware of their LOST condition are easier to reach
1. The hardest person to reach is a religious person
2. People try to hide behind the failings of those who profess faith
3. If we could only get people to understand that God does not grade on a curve but that we are all held against the rubric of God’s holiness, then people might humble themselves & surrender
4.
Jesus was controversial because he was aligned with the truth and put God's Word and work above the inherited traditions that had accumulated over the centuries.
III. Jesus' Claimed His Presence Brings MERRIMENT (18-22)
A. His behavior was UNLIKE John's
1. The Jews believed that fasting and repentance would help bring on the Messiah
2. The Messiah was here: it was time to receive him
B. When Jesus crucified, they would FAST
C. A change of paradigms: WINESKIN illustration
D. Christians with a SOUR disposition suggest knowing Jesus is anything but joyful
1. Joy is not an act that you put on, it’s a way to live life
2. The fruit of the Spirit is love and other stuff, or does the stuff define love
3. Joy comes from spending time with Jesus…obeying him…looking at life his way
Jesus was controversial because he was aligned with the truth and put God's Word and work above the inherited traditions that had accumulated over the centuries.
IV. Jesus Taught Freedom With Restriction, Not Restriction with Freedom (23-27)
A. It is probably RIGHT unless prohibited
B. Different than it is prohibited unless distinctly ALLOWED
C. Debate between two schools of Pharisees: Shammai and HILLEL
Rabbinic affirmation from the School of Hillel in the Talmud (Yoma 85b):
R. Jose son of R. Judah said: Only ye shall keep My Sabbaths,’ one might assume under all circumstances, therefore the text reads: ‘Only’ viz, allowing for exceptions. R. Jonathan b. Joseph said: For it is holy unto you; I.e., it [the Sabbath] is committed to your hands, not you to its hands.
D. Jesus uses the examples of the godly to promote FREEDOM
1. Sabbath was a day of rest for the Jewish people (a blessing)
2. Some Rabbis taught it was wrong for gentiles to observe the Sabbath
3. The humanitarian nature of the Sabbath outweighed the technicality of command
E. Are you a with holder of GRACE? Do you LIMIT with Scripture or follow the culture?
One young atheist represents many non-militant atheists. Here is his typical story:
"Church became all about ceremony, handholding, and kumbaya," Phil said with a look of disgust. "I missed my old youth pastor. He actually knew the Bible." [TheAtlantic.com]
We should not be embarrassed about what God’s Word limits; we should limit out of conviction based upon the Word, not out of the suspicion that anything enjoyable must be wrong.
Jesus was controversial because he was aligned with the truth and put God's Word and work above the inherited traditions that had accumulated over the centuries.
