What is most important?
Jeffery Anselmi / General
Criticizing Jesus: The Words of Jesus / Sabbath-breaking Man; Love / Mark 2:23–3:6
Jesus shows us that the law should encourage us to treat others well.
INTRODUCTION
• Have you ever got so caught up in procedures and rules that you lost sight of what you were doing and why?
• The nation of Israel did just that.
• The nation got so wrapped up in the rules that they lost sight of their mission.
• Once we cannot see the forest for all the trees, we lose sight of what is essential in life.
• Once we forget what is essential in life, everything we do gets messed up.
• When we turn following Jesus into a bunch of rules, those rules can be used as an excuse to divide people, judge, and look down on people.
• The film Mississippi Burning (directed by Alan Parker [Orion Pictures, 1988]) reveals a world in which people who should know better refuse to do the right thing and help others.
• Their inaction often results from fear of reprisals from their peers or even the authorities.
• The social pressure to conform is so great that when a woman finally breaks down and tells a police officer about a crime she’s aware of, several people go to her house, beat her up, and destroy her property.
• One of these people is her husband.
• When a society is dominated by laws and rules that meticulously lay out exactly how you are to act, and even when you are to act in specific ways, it can create a culture of fear.
• The world Jesus entered was one in which rules governed every aspect of life: what you ate, what types of clothes you could wear, whom you associated with, when you were allowed to work, and when you were required to rest.
• In the finale of our Criticizing Jesus, the words of Jesus series, we will see yet another example of how Jesus got in trouble with people because they lost sight of what was important, what God valued.
• God has always been about loving people.
• What Jesus did on the cross for us was the ultimate example of how that love looks.
• Jesus was a disrupter, so unsurprisingly, he received criticism throughout his ministry.
• The criticism we’re looking at in the message today is found in Mark 2:23–3:6.
• In Mark 2, Jesus and his disciples walk through the grainfields, and as they walk, they pluck heads of grain to eat.
• The Pharisees see this, and because this action is classified as “work” on a day when no work is to be done, they ask Jesus, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”
• Also, on the Sabbath, Jesus enters a synagogue and sees a man with a “withered hand” there.
• The congregants watch Jesus intently to see what he will do.
• So intense is their scrutiny that Jesus feels compelled to defend his actions (Mark 3:4).
• The criticism comes down to the behavior of Jesus and his disciples on that sacred day known as the Sabbath.
• They are guilty of working on a day when no work should be performed.
• Remember that Jesus NEVER sinned, He NEVER violated a single one of GOD’S commands, He did not adhere to the man-made additions to God’s Law.
• The religious leaders took a simple 10 Commandments and added another 603 to those ten (for a total of 613).
• When you think about it, the more laws, the less freedom one enjoys.
• The 603 additions to God’s Law made following God more of a burden than a joy.
• Today we are going to focus our attention to Mark 3:1-6 as we see how Jesus, once again, offers us a glimpse into the heart of God.
• Let’s turn to Mark 3:1-3 to begin.
Mark 3:1–3 (NET 2nd ed.)
1 Then Jesus entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand.
2 They watched Jesus closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they could accuse him.
3 So he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Stand up among all these people.”
SERMON
I. The test.
• Before this event was recorded, Jesus had another run-in with the religious leaders when He and his disciples were walking through a grain field on the Sabbath, and His disciples were eating some of the grain in the field.
• By the way, what they did was lawful; they were not stealing.
• The Law allowed one to pick grain in a field to eat, so long as one did not use tools to harvest grain.
• The problem the religious leaders had was the timing.
Mark 2:23–24 (NET 2nd ed.)
23 Jesus was going through the grain fields on a Sabbath, and his disciples began to pick some heads of wheat as they made their way.
24 So the Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is against the law on the Sabbath?”
• We will touch on the response from Jesus in a bit.
• The religious leaders were out to get Jesus.
• But that did not stop Him from doing good.
• His disciples were hungry, and He did not let the man-made rules stop Him from allowing them to eat.
• Now let’s get back to verses 1-3.
• Jesus enters the synagogue, and there is a man with a withered hand.
• Mark tells us the people were watching Jesus like a hawk to see what, if anything, He would do for the man.
• The word WATCHED implies closely watching with sinister intent.
• Another way to state the thought is that the opponents of Jesus were lying in wait.
• By this time, the religious leaders were following Jesus, seeking ways to entrap Him.
• We do not know why this man was there; he was there either by habit, or the leaders brought the man in as bait to trap Jesus.
• What would Jesus do?
Mark (5. Controversy over Healing on the Sabbath (3:1–6) College Press Commentary Series- Mark)
In the Gospels there are several occasions when Jesus is criticized for healing on the sabbath (Mark 3:1–6; Matt 12:9–14; Luke 6:6–11; Luke 13:10–17; 14:1–6; John 5:1–18; 7:21–24; 9:13–16).
Among the Jews of Jesus’ day there were differing opinions about what could be done on the sabbath with respect to the health of humans and animals.
Luke 14:5 indicates that even Jesus’ opponents would rescue a son if he fell into a well on the sabbath.
Other Gospel passages indicate that many of them would accept watering a domestic animal on the sabbath (Luke 13:15) or rescuing a domestic animal who fell into a ditch or well (Matt 12:11; Luke 14:5).
• The withered hand was not life-threatening, so if Jesus were to heal the man, He could not claim He saved the man’s life; therefore, He had to do it.
• Many in the crowd would have agreed with the religious leader's contention that there were six days for work, so why heal the man on the Sabbath?
• Jesus asks the man to stand up before the crowd.
• When you are faced with a situation where doing right might cause other problems with people, what do you do?
• There was tremendous pressure on the people of Israel to keep all the rules, not just the ten God stated, but the other 603.
• Those rules put people in a mental prison.
• In our society, people who say they are for freedom seek to make more rules to make sure you follow what they want you to do.
• If we do not go along with the false narratives the media jams on people, we will be attacked from all sides.
• Jesus asks the man with the withered hand to stand before the crowd.
Mark 3:4 (NET 2nd ed.)
4 Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath, or evil, to save a life or destroy it?” But they were silent.
II. The question.
• When the man stands up, Jesus has a question He is posing to the religious leaders.
• Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath or evil, to save a life or destroy it?
• Their response they were silent.
• Let’s go back to Mark 2:25-26 for a second as Jesus answers the question as to why his disciples were “working” on the Sabbath.
Mark 2:25–26 (NET 2nd ed.)
25 He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry—
26 how he entered the house of God when Abiathar was high priest and ate the sacred bread, which is against the law for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to his companions?”
• Jesus pointed out an incident found in 1 Samuel 21:1-ff when David and his men were hungry after being on the run from King Saul, they entered the House of God ad asked for the showbread to eat.
• The showbread was 12 loaves of bread placed before the Lord in the Holy place every SabbathSabbath.
• The Law commanded that the 12 loaves were fresh-baked upon the Sabbath and were placed, hot, in two rows upon the show-bread table.
• The loaves, when removed, were to be eaten by the priests and no one else.
• No one condemned David for eating the bread when this event occurred.
• Now back to the question from Jesus.
• Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath or evil, to save a life or destroy it?
• Why do you think Jesus asked this question?
• Jesus puts the question in the true light.
• To refuse to do good is to do evil.
• It could not be right to do evil on the Sabbath!
• The religious leaders made the sabbath question wholly a matter of doing or not doing.
• Jesus made the question about doing good; His question implies that a failure to do good when one is able is harmful and sinful.
• For Jesus to sit back and do nothing because it was the Sabbath would not be good.
• Back to the previous encounter.
• For the Priests, their most busy day was the Sabbath, yet they were not condemned for working.
• Jesus also knew the hearts of those questioning Him.
• These “holy” men were plotting to kill Jesus.
• The question had to sting them, why do you think they did not respond?
Mark 3:5–6 (NET 2nd ed.)
5 After looking around at them in anger, grieved by the hardness of their hearts, he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.
6 So the Pharisees went out immediately and began plotting with the Herodians, as to how they could assassinate him.
III. The response.
• How does Jesus respond to this criticism, and what does his response teach us about the heart of God?
• Jesus points to Scripture as a precedent for his behavior.
• His response in Mark 2:25 is a reference to a story in 1 Samuel 21 about King David.
• His actions are defensible, Jesus argues, because of the precedent of Scripture.
• And then he turns their criticism into a teaching on God’s law: “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath” (2:27–28).
• In the encounter in the synagogue, Jesus appeals to Jewish interpretations of the law to show how his actions are justified.
• There are not too many times we read about Jesus being angry.
• This is one of them.
• The anger was rooted in grief.
• Jesus was grieving the hardness of their hearts.
• They cared more about rules than people.
• These people had no heart for people; they were rooted in pride.
• Both in His actions that bring criticism and in his response, Jesus again teaches us something about God.
• When Jesus encounters someone suffering, He doesn’t use the Sabbath as an excuse not to help them.
• God made it clear that the law is summed up by the double commands to love God with all our being and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:30–31).
• In his actions in Mark 2 and 3, Jesus shows us exactly what that looks like: someone who loves God by practicing the Sabbath and yet is willing to heal someone or provide food for someone who is hungry on the Sabbath.
CONCLUSION
• As this series concludes, it’s good for our souls to remember that Jesus’s ultimate response to criticism was entering into death.
• What was the criticism?
• The criticism was directed at God, and it’s the criticism we are guilty of whenever we sin; it’s our way of telling God that we think we know what’s best for our life.
• And Jesus’s response to that criticism was to enter this world, take on flesh, live a life that doesn’t criticize God through sin, and instead die on the cross so that we can be forgiven and live eternally with God.
• As Jesus hung on that cross and declared forgiveness (Luke 23:34), we see the ultimate response to criticism: a demonstration of grace for all of the critics assembled that day.
• The main point of this series is that God loves people, and so should we.
• We are called to love the Lord or God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love our neighbors as ourselves!
• God’s laws are not to be used as an excuse not to show our love for people and to help them.
