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Mark | Chapter 2

“The Healing of Forgiveness”

2:1-12

  1. Introduction
  2. Vs. 1-5  Unorthodox faith
  3. Vs. 6-12 Right logic, wrong answer 

Introduction

    In chapter 2 Mark records for us another day in Capernaum with the Son of God and the authority of His word. The story breaks apart into two sections:

    1. Vs. 1-5 The healing of the paralytic
    2. Vs. 6-12 The opposition from the scribes to the healing
    3. Vs. 1-5  Unorthodox faith

    Vs. 1-2 Mark tells the reader that this story again has a familiar place as Jesus was in THE HOUSE in Capernaum. The only house that we have been introduced to so far in Mark is Peter’s home. So many had come that they spilled out into the street, clearly as chapter 1 verse 28 had indicated Jesus’ fame had spread throughout the region. Yet with that said notice that Jesus’ method had not changed in spite of His fame and popularity as we see Him employed at “preaching the word to them”. The word “preached” in the Greek is different word then a public proclamation, instead it is a word that means a conversation and it is in the imperfect tense which emphasizes a continuous action. So Jesus taught conversationally for an extended period of time. Mark’s point is again is to show the focus of our Lord upon preaching the word.

    • No adapting His method to fit His popularity
    • No change of direction to accommodate the pressing demand of the needy people

    Many come to Jesus for varying reasons, they may be lame in this area of their life, or blind in that area, some may like the leper by rotting away but still their greatest need hasn’t changed which is to be transformed by the word of God. Jesus is never interested in just restoration, He want’s recreation through our transformation and that can only happen though our receiving His word. 

    Vs. 3-4 Into this determination by Jesus to “preach the word” come five men one of them the paralytic equally determined to reach Jesus with their pressing need despite the program. I say THEIR “pressing need” deliberately as it is never the afflicted that suffer alone they have family and friends who “carry” and “bare” the burden of ther friend and loved one. That doesn’t make the friend of family less of a person or less loving to say that, carrying a burden for another is difficult. Oh I’m sure they wanted to see their friend healed and mobile but it doesn’t make them any less of a friend to say that that his healing would liberate them as well. Anyone who has cared for another knows that the friend or loved ones disability becomes yours as well to a degree.

                I have no doubt that these five had faith as Jesus tells us in verse 5 and that Jesus is the object of that faith. What I want us to look at is three unorthodox traits of faith as some times we don’t think we have faith or enough of it. I suggest to you that you may have more faith than you realize and just haven’t recognized it as it was manifesting it’s self in a different way:

    1. Dares the difficult: The first thing I notice about these men is the degree of difficulty they were willing to go through for just the opportunity for their friend to meet Jesus. We are not told how far they have travelled carrying their friend but if it was any length greater than a few 100 feet the degree of difficulty would increase with each passing ¼ mile. It is safe to think that this man weighed 150 pounds or better and carrying him on a homemade stretcher even with four men would have been quite a difficult challenge. Yet their faith is visible in the fact that they were willing to undergo such a journey without any real guarantee. I can only imagine what they must have gone through their minds as they drew nearer to Capernaum and witnessed an increased amount of people, perhaps they didn’t even know where Jesus was at and asked directions only to find out that everybody they asked was going there as well for the same kind of reasons. They struggle through the crowds to see a glimpse of the house and in front of it as chapter 1 verse 33 said the “whole city gathered at the door”. Through all those difficulties they didn’t quit but continued to press forward where others would have said, “There are way too many people here, we are never going to be able to even get a glimpse of Jesus let alone get in front of Him”! Then whose idea was it to climb up to the 2nd story of the house and start tearing off the roof? The point I’m making is that when we in spite of the challenges and difficulty continue pressing forward to get to the place and possibility of change we are demonstrating that we have faith!
    2. Does what is demanded: The 2nd on orthodox sign of their faith is that they did what was demanded for the situation. They didn’t limit their actions by what was normal or customary, like waiting and go through the front door! The construction of the ancient roofs reveals quite an amount of work to accomplish the task. The Greek word for uncover is a word that means to dig out and in Luke’s account of this same story he informs us that they let the paralytic down through the removed tiles. Typically these were flat roofs made up of a composition of mortar, tar, ashes and sand spread out on the roof with stone tiles placed on top. They instead did what was necessary to accomplish the task of getting in front of Jesus in spite of what I can only imagine would have been disapproval by Peter as it was his house that was losing a roof. Amazingly we see that Jesus never rebuked them, He doesn’t even seem to be disturbed at the interruption. Clearly these men did what was unorthodox, risked criticism and weren’t afraid to do so. Faith is evident when we are doing what is demanded, risking rejection and overcoming obstacles to get to Jesus!        
    3. Carless about the cost: The final unorthodox sign of faith is that they must have realized that tearing apart a large whole in a roof and lowering their friend in front of Jesus was going to cost them something. There was no “home owner’s policy” for paralytic roof damage. Neither do I believe that this was going to be a larger scale of the children’s game of “doorbell ditch” where they tar a whole in the roof lower their friend in front of Jesus and everybody then run like mad. These 5 were carless in the face of the cost and that is another example that you have faith, they had excepted that and realized that even if unsuccessful they were still going to have to pay for the damage.

    Saint’s I think the church could all use more people that exhibit this kind of unorthodox faith where they will”

    • Dare to do what is difficult
    • Willing to overcome obstacles
    • Castaway counting the cost

    Vs. 5 That brings us to Jesus’ response to their three examples of unorthodox faith as Jesus said, “Son, your sins are forgiven you”. There are those that suggest that Jesus’ pronouncement was based upon His knowledge that this man’s paralysis was based upon some moral failure. Other’s go so far as to say that this man’s paralysis was psychosomatic, or all in his head, and that Jesus removed the moral failing which lifted the paralysis. Though indirectly all disease and the things that cause for human suffering are “sin related” the context of the passage is in verse 2 where we are told that Jesus was “preaching the word to them” and in fact these 5 interrupted that message. “Forgiveness is the greatest miracle that Jesus ever performs. It meets the greatest need; it costs the greatest price; and it brings the greatest blessing and the most lasting results.” What good was it if the man had two whole legs, and walked right into hell with them? One wonders if the four friends were not initially disappointed in Jesus’ words and thought, “He’s not here for forgiveness! He’s here for healing, that’s why we tore apart the roof and he is on a bed!”    


    Vs. 6-12 Right logic, wrong answer

      Vs. 6-7 The scribes logic was correct the flaw in it was the fact that Jesus held claim to the logic as He was God the Son and could alone forgive sins.  The scribes observed a rabbi teaching but what they were unable to see was the Son of God standing before them, they were blind as to His identity and Jesus was going to reveal that to them twice:

      1. Vs. 8 The first revelation Jesus offers as to His identity is that “Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves”. They were correct in their internal reasoning “Only God can forgive sins” and His knowing of this though they said nothing should have revealed to them that God the Son was in front of them. God spoke to the prophet Jeremiah in chapter 17:9-10 saying, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? I the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind…”  In psalm 139:4 we read that “There is not a word on my tongue but behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.”
      2. Vs.9-11 In the 2nd revelation Jesus offers a more practical reasoning as He proposes a question that He then demonstrates the answer to so that they could not come to the wrong conclusion by evidence, only by hardness of heart. Notice how carefully Jesus words the question: “Which is easier,” “TO SAY to the paralytic, your sins are forgiven you” “OR TO SAY, Arise, take up your bed and walk?” Jesus did not phrase the question in terms of action, “which is easier TO DO?” They had already concluded that though both would be difficult but ONLY GOD can DO the act by forgiving sins. Any charlatan could SAY “your sins are forgiven you”. The only true proof of forgiveness of sins lies with God as there is no immediate outward sign or indication that it has happened. Jesus is saying to the scribes, “You question my identity to forgive sin? Let me demonstrate to you My identity and as such My power to forgive sins as it comes from the same source to heal.” It is then the Paralytic became part of the sermon as Jesus turned to him said, “I SAY to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”

      Vs. 12 The outcome of this was that all except the scribes were amazed and rejoiced praising God saying, “We never saw anything like this!” They stood amazed at the authority of the Word even though they didn’t fully comprehend His identity which was the lesson.                         


      “The company He keeps”

      2:13-17

      1. Introduction
      2. Vs. 13-14 From judged to joined
      3. Vs. 15-17 The retirement party 

      Introduction

        Mark records four great controversies of Jesus time and location marked by the religious leader’s verbal complaints and Jesus’ response to them. In the first two complaints they are leveled at the disciples about Jesus, the last two are spoken to the Lord about the disciples. We will only take a look at the first one today but here they are in their entirety: 

        1. Vs. 13-17: “How is it that Jesus eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners”? What to do with the traitorous collaborators of the occupying Romans known as the Tax Collectors? Religious leaders had decided to be exclusionary and treated their treason by having no contact with them.  
        2. Vs. 18-22: “Why do the disciples of John and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” What place does joyous daily living have in religious life, religion is serious and solemn business? Here they had decided to be inclusionary as these opposing groups saw religion the same way.
        3. Vs. 23-28: “Why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” What is the ultimate goal of religion, to liberate humanity or to control humanity? The religious leaders had taken the position as separatists but such action made them arrogant as they pick and choose history that supported elitism.
        4. Vs. 1-6: “They watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath..” What is the true test of religion? The religious leaders had forgotten the standard that is at the heart of God, to do-good to His creation, to save and make whole humanity. This made the religious leaders legalists and used religion to be heartless towards humanity.                  

        When it comes to Jesus, generally speaking, we see that He was not a fan of religion, even the one that prophesied about His coming that His Father in heaven placed Him in. And by religion I mean to say the manmade expression that sought to displace intimacy with an institution and grace with the grunts of human activity.


        Vs. 13-14 From judged to joined

          Vs. 13 Israel is the land bridge between Europe and Africa and in the ancient world all traffic must go through her. It was said that Galilee was the road to somewhere!

          Preaching with Jesus was a passion not a profession and it appears that He was the founder of seaside services.

          Vs. 14 Of the first 5 men that took up Jesus command to follow Him, (four fishermen and one tax collector) two of them directly wrote a gospel and a third (Peter) influenced Mark. Jesus didn’t choose PHD’s to accompany Him, to write His story to the world but common men who most of academia would consider unqualified. The great truth is that Jesus and His call upon a life is the “great ordination”. In the last section we read of a man who was sick with paralysis that had hindered his progress in life. Here in this story we read of a different type of paralysis that was equally debilitating, this paralysis came from a life style that manifested in an occupational choice! It too had hindered this man’s progress in life and he too is given a choice to “take up his bed and go out in the presence of all.” Jesus wanted the people no one else wanted, He offered Himself and friendship to people no one else would ever call a friend. Matthew must have been a man with an ache in his heart, he had to have heard Jesus message from a distance, an outcast on the outskirts and something must have caused him to have hated what he had chosen in life. Jesus was looking for opportunities, He was never off duty, if there was only one man Jesus would find him. What a lesson for us “soul gathers” if we would look for people as we walk through life as Jesus did.

          The Romans collected their taxes through a system known as Tax Farming, they assessed a district a fixed tax figure and then sold the right to collect to the highest bidder. The buyer had to hand over the assessed sum at the end of the year and was allowed to keep whatever they had gathered above that. The potential exploitation and extortion was compounded because the people had no idea what they actually owed except from the tax collector’s statements. It was a four tiered system:

          1. Poll tax: All men 14-65 and women 12-65 had to pay because they were alive
          2. Ground tax: 1/10th of all grain and 1/5th of all wine, olive oil and fish produced
          3. Income tax: One percent of a person’s annual income
          4. Taxes and tolls: Separate taxes or tolls for using roads or harbors, sales tax on certain items for import or export duties. There was even a transportation tax on carts as each wheel was taxed

          Most tax collectors made their wealth from the fourth category as they had the largest room to extort people. The Tax Collector under the full authority of Rome could stop anyone at any time and make them unpack their carts and force them to pay a tax on the spot. If the person was unable to pay they would sometime offer them a loan at a high rate of interest gaining them even more money. They were so hated that they were not only excommunicated from the synagogues they were not allowed to serve as a judge or witness in court.     

          The Greek word for “follow” means to “walk the same road”. The verb tense is in the imperative mode present tense which means that it more than an invitation it was a command. Jesus was saying, “Start going on the same road as Me and continue on this road”. Matthew understood this command and that the road he was on was a far different road then the one Jesus was walking on, of all the disciples Matthew truly left all he had to follow Jesus. The others could go back to their boats and fish but Matthew burned his boat having left his tax collectors job he could not go back to it, there would be no turning back for Matthew. For his decision Matthew gained three things:

          1. A chance to look people in the eye: He would not have to look down when asked what he did for a living. He may be poor fiscally but he was wealthy relationally. Because his hands were clean, his heart was now at rest.
          2. A better job: His tools were still the same, pin and parchment, but now what his ledger recorded wasn’t what was owed him but what he owed others because his debt had been paid.
          3. A different reputation: Locally everyone knew Levi the “hated” tax collector but what the world knows now is far different because of his decision that day to follow Jesus; they now know Matthew the “gift of God” gospel writer.                     

          Vs. 15-17 The retirement party

            Vs. 15 Luke’s account makes it clear that the party was at Matthew’s home and the crowd that gathered were those that were not allowed at the synagogue nor near a rabbi but on this occasion Mathew’s home became the synagogue as the Rabbi made a house call. What happened after Matthew’s call most likely came about after some time but Matthew filled his home with people who were just as paralyzed in sin as he had been that they might have the opportunity to be set free. Jesus was not invited to make toasts, He had been invited to make the same offer He had to Levi, “Follow Me”. But the place was not just filled up with quests as there were close by critics who would diagnose the illness but offer no cure! The name “Pharisee” means “separated ones” as they separated themselves form anything and anyone they considered unholy.

            Vs. 16 Their observation was correct Jesus did sit among tax collectors and sinners and He still does! Jesus never views people as rejects or outcasts He sees them as patients! C.T. Studd who gave up his fortune to serve in the jungles of Africa once said: “Some like to dwell within the sound of church bells, but I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of Hell!”

            Vs. 17 In Jesus’ reply as to why He ate and drank with tax collectors and sinners he says He was there not to partake, He was there to liberate! Jesus’ answer is in two parts:

            1. First a proverb: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick”. Jesus was not implying that the Pharisees were spiritually healthy or were righteous only that they thought of themselves as such. Their problem was twofold: Their blindness to their own condition was seen first in that weren’t engaged in the spiritual healing of others. Second since they saw themselves as spiritual healthy and righteous they remained outside of Jesus as their cure!       
            2. Second the application: “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” They had questioned His ethics and Jesus said that they had misdiagnosed His physical presence as condoning sin instead liberating people from sin. None are more sick than the diseased who think themselves as well and none are more manifesting sin as those who think themselves as holy!                        

            Jesus said, “You’re right on with your diagnosis, these are sick and hurting people, but your remedy of exclusion and isolation isn’t the answer. A doctor needs to be among the sick if I they are going to administer the remedy.” That’s the marvelous truth about Jesus, “You would always find Him amongst the hurting.” Jesus spoke as the cure for moral failing and His reply makes two things abundantly clear:

            1. The self-sufficient are the sickest: Jesus indicates that those that see themselves as without a need are in actuality the social outcasts and have the greatest need. There is never a treatment, not even from Jesus, for the person who fails to recognize that they are ill. It is a terrible tragedy for most of humanity that we have to hit bottom before we will look up to Jesus to be healed. Most people have to have the bottom drop out of their dreams of importance and self-reliance before they will even consider Jesus.
            2. People are more important than religious prejudices: We all have prejudices, notions formed either before we have sufficient information or because we have adopted mistaken ideas. Many of these are passed down from our ancestors. Placing people before prejudices doesn’t mean that we except sinful destructive behavior any more than we except cancer! No it means that we don’t allow our preconceived views to get in the way of introducing the person to the Great Physician.

            Jesus is the perfect doctor to heal us of our sin.

            • He is always available.
            • He always makes a perfect diagnosis.
            • He provides a complete cure.
            • He even pays the bill!

            “From sobbing to song”

            2:18-22

            1. Introduction
            2. Vs. 18-20 To joyful
            3. Vs. 21 To new
            4. Vs. 22 To expansive 

            Introduction

              We move into the second of the four questions asked about the purpose of religion that Jesus answered. Reading this section causes me to believe that if most literate people in the world would just carefully read the Gospels we would probably witness the greatest spiritual revival. I say this for two reasons:

              1. First it would clear up the distortions and mischaracterizations that have been unfortunately taught and displayed by Christians and the church that bears His name.
              2. Secondly, people would discover for themselves how absolutely gracious, loving and irresistible Jesus is in the Bible.

              Jesus was ever the master illustrator, for Jesus earth was crammed full of heaven as everything spoke to Him of the Father. In these three illustrations Jesus would have us understand Christianity is not “patched-up” Judaism or “New Look” religion. You cannot tack Jesus on to rituals or rules; to use the “New” to fix the “Old” is a sure fire way to ruin booth! What Jesus offers in these three illustrations describes three characteristics of Christianity that cannot be placed into old tired warn out religion of rules and rituals, for Christianity according to Jesus is: 

              • To Joyful
              • To New
              • To Expansive

              Vs. 18-20 To joyful

              Vs. 18 Pharisees were of the sect of Levi and involved in regulating the service of the temple, this was propped up by added ceremonial and ritualistic observances during the week and with John the Baptist being placed into prison his disciples had not heard their leader when he had called them a “brood of vipers” and instead joined with the Pharisees disciples in their criticism of Jesus and His disciples. The complaint was that not only did Jesus and His disciples eat with the wrong people (verses 13-17) they did so at entirely the wrong time (verses 18-22)! There are special days in which the law spoke concerning a fast such as Yom Kippur also known as the Day of Atonement. But the Pharisees loved to show how religious they were above others and designated more and more days for fasting as a way of getting both God and man’s attention. They fasted two days a week every Monday and Thursday from 6 AM – 6 PM after which they would have a meal. They would put on clothing of sackcloth or burlap, rub ash on their face, suck in their faces to look as if they hadn’t eaten in weeks and make loud prayers to elicit attention. Jesus wasn’t against fasting and neither is the New Testament as there are many reasons for a person to go through a fast, most importantly to draw nearer the Lord as a person would forgo something and replace the time normally spent doing that activity with the Lord. But in the case of the Pharisees it was for self-display that they may present themselves as being spiritual. Religious people likes rules that make them stand out and outwardly appear better than others especially if these rules make them “nonconformists” to the world around them. But inevitably their “conformity” to the religious rule is designed to be flaunted as a way of demonstrating superiority to the very people they are called to reach. Essentially it is, “Why don’t you religious people keep OUR self-imposed traditions to appear holier-than-thou, like we do.” What is at issue is that one group that is attempting to stand out isn’t standing out as much because others who simply love God are standing out by not standing out!

              Vs. 19 The word “friends” describes guests not the groomsmen as we must not impose our traditions on the biblical text. After the wedding the Jewish couple didn’t go away on a honeymoon they stayed at home for a week with their friends and had a party. In a hard life that they had during biblical times it was easily the best week of the couple’s life. The closest friends of the newlyweds were called the “children of the bridechamber” and this is who Jesus likens His disciples too, the chosen friends of the bride and groom. According to the Talmud there was only one time a man was absolved of religious duty and that was at a wedding. The only duty a man had at a wedding was to rejoice! This was such an important time that there was an actual rabbinical ruling that said, “All in attendance on the bridegroom are relieved of all religious observances which would lessen their joy.” Jesus was always pushing the spiritual over the ritualistic elements of religion as he like the spontaneity of relationship above the confines of ritualistic religion.

              Jesus, doesn’t condemn them for “fasting instead of feasting” He doesn’t even question the sincerity as these two groups He only questions the timing of fasting. The problem as Jesus put’s it is, “You are questioning WHY Me and My followers are fasting? I just want to let you know that you are at a wedding not a funeral!” The problem, as Jesus explained it, was that those two groups didn’t know what kind of gathering they were at and even though they were a part of the majority that was fasting instead of feasting. It was the “fasters” and not the “feasters” that were acting inappropriate, albeit ignorantly. Ffrom the perspective of these two groups that the situation and circumstances that they were living warranted a “fast at a funeral” and I believe that is in part why Jesus uses illustrations to explain what He and His disciples knew that the Pharisees and John’s disciples were apparently unaware, namely that the Bride Groom was at the wedding.

              Vs. 20 Jesus went on to explain that as far as His present disciples were concerned there would be a time for their mourning and fasting when He would temporarily be taken from them. Jesus would further explain this time in John’s gospel in chapter 16 verses 16-24. He said in a little while that they wouldn’t see Him as He was going to the Father. He told them that it would be natural for them to weep, lament and be sorrowful even as the world would rejoiced. But He said that their sorrow will be turned into joy. He promised that they would see Him again and they would have joy that “no one will take from them.” Jesus had already told them in John chapter 16 verse 7 that it was better that He go away because if He didn’t the Helper would not come and that His departure meant that Jesus would send the Holy Spirit to them. Hey saints, Jesus has died and rose again, the Holy Spirit has come and indwelt us as Christ abides in His disciples, the Holy Spirit is available to fully immerse and empower our lives. So are you “feasting at a wedding” because we have “Joy, that no one will take from us” or are we the church acting like we are “fasting at a funeral”? It is clear that the relationship we now enjoy with Christ is what ought to change not just our outlook on life but our entire disposition from fasting to feasting, from sobbing to a song.  Saints the life lived in Christ cannot be lived any other way than joy! Jesus said something that ought to be understood and repeated each time we gather the truest character of Christianity is that it is a wedding not a funeral, a feast not a fast, a song not a sob!


              Vs. 21 To new

                Vs. 21 It take no imagination to see that Jesus grabbing up first a piece of clothing that had been patched by an unshrunk piece of cloth then a new wine skin both to illustrate what having the bride groom meant relating to fasting turned to feasting. Jesus illustration is common sense and natural! The word “old” in the Greek is a word that describes its age NOT in reference to time but usefulness. The garment wasn’t merely “out of date or fashion” rather it had “used up its purpose” and patching it up with the new cloth would only make the differences more noticeable. The “New cloth” is a reference to Jesus and His ministry which by definition in this illustration wasn’t meant for the purpose of mending but a “new garment” all together. Jesus hadn’t come to reform Judaism, to “patch it up” or “pour new wine into old wineskins”. Countless people try to do with the “Royal Righteous Robes” of Jesus as they try to sow them onto the rags of either their former life or some belief system that never fully covered them! Listen, you do not add Jesus to your life, you must not try as you will only make your attempt obvious and the holes in your life more visible. To “Put on Jesus” you must “Put off” your former life! It has become popular to purchase clothes that by design look like they should have been tossed years ago. I can’t find a better illustration of our modern society than people preferring to identify more with what is the worn out rags of self-worship and yet its continual appeal to a society that is so trapped and obsessed by it that they will pay 10 times more for something that has already not only been proven but by designed to: Not last, not cover and be more expensive! 


                Vs. 22 To expansive

                Vs. 22 Again the word for old is the same as above “worn out for its original purpose” and the Greek word for “New” is a word that means “in point of use”. This 2nd illustration takes a little more understanding as the ancient world didn’t use glass it used animal skins or bladders for the fermentation process. New wine would be early in that process and would give off more gas that would require the flexible characteristics of a new wine skin otherwise the old wine skin would have been too brittle for the process. Wine is always used of joy symbolically in the bible and to try to contain joy in the brittle inflexible nature of the religion of the time would have ruined the wine and destroyed the religion. The principal Jesus is using is that: “Religious tradition must never trump relational triumph”! These stories speak of what the Son of God came to initiate an entirely new order of spiritual life and experience which of necessity make necessary new expressions which was best understood in fasting instead of fasting. Our attitudes ought to reflect a wedding and a funeral, feasting and not fasting. The presence of Jesus is not at our gatherings if joy isn’t visible. Psalm 144:15 says, “Happy is the people whose God is the LORD!”


                “Rest verses rules”

                2:23 – 3:6

                1. Introduction
                2. Vs. 2:23-28 The sacred secular
                3. Vs. 3:1-6 Restored hands and weathered hearts

                Introduction

                  The final two questions asked or implied by the Pharisees concerning religious life and its place in society both focus in on the Sabbath. The Sabbath in the hands of religious leaders had 39 different categories and thousands of rules imposed upon it which had caused it to no longer be a day of rest, instead it had become a day of restrictions. The Sabbath was God’s idea to restore a person, to give them a time of rest, recuperation; a day set aside where they would have time to reflect upon their relationship with Him! When observed as intended it was a joyous time of family, fellowship and feasting all with God at the center. By as often happens religious authority had with their 1000’s of interpretation of what constituted “work” stolen the day of rest and transformed it into a day of restrictions and burdens to keep. For instance you could spit on a rock but not on the dirt as you would be making mud which was used for mortar and this would constitute work. The law on the Sabbath was never meant to be full of burdens but rather blessings, they weren’t given as punishments, but for protection. As Jesus will imply in chapter 3 verse 4, evil and death don’t observe the Sabbath, they take no day of rest! So why should that which is good and life giving take a break? Hosea the prophet said in chapter 6, “God wants mercy before sacrifice”.  


                  Vs. 2:23-28 The sacred secular

                    Vs. 23-24 The 3rd charge against Jesus was aimed at His seeming inability to distinguish between the sacred and the secular. The plucking of wheat and breaking the hulls from the nut was not sinful but normal on any other day. What they took issue with was that they were engaged in do so on a sacred day, the Sabbath. It was Pharisaical tradition not to pick grain of the Sabbath; Deuteronomy 23:25 which doesn’t offer a prohibition against plucking grain on any day so long as you only picked and did not use a sickle. Of the 39 different categories the Pharisees had classified work under, four of centered on food “reaping, winnowing, threshing and preparing a meal” and as far as the action of the disciples were concerned in the Pharisees eyes they had broken all four. The ancient biblical languages of Greek and Hebrew are exact languages, geared for the reader and when studying texts they offer a completed picture of the scene. For instance Mark choose a Greek word for “said” that relates to the Pharisees conversation with Jesus that is a verb in the “imperfect tense” which means continuing action. Had Mark under the inspiration wanted to say that the Pharisees had simply asked Jesus, “Why, do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath” Mark would have used the verb in an aorist tense but the fact that he doesn’t means that his intention is to show that these Pharisees kept on asking and badgering Jesus about the matter until He finally answered. So in their eyes as they observed the disciples reacting out of their hunger it would have been better for those boys to have growling stomachs then to have working hands.

                    Vs. 25-26 Jesus’ response as to why they were doing what was considered secular on a sacred day is very simple, “they were hungry”! As a illustration of this Jesus offers another story in their history in 1 Samuel chapter 22 verse 18. The area of Nob was were 85 priests plus women and children lived taking care of the tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant. “David”, Jesus said, “When he was hungry entered the tabernacle and ate the showbread.” (Jesus says that it was Abiathar the High Priest but in 1 Samuel chapter 21, Samuel records for us that the High priest was Abimelech. The critics will take this as a clear sign the Bible is full of contradictions as both can’t be right. Ah but according to 1 Samuel 22:20, 2 Samuel 8:17 and 1 Chron. 18:16 we are looking at father and son as Abimelech was the son of Abiathar and apparently both were involved in this decision to give the bread to David.)  We are told that they have no “common bread” and only “holy bread” which tells us two very important things:

                    1. “Common bread” was bread that was brought into the tabernacle by way of the offerings and the fact that they have no “common bread” tells us that this was a spiritually lean time for the nation as well for David and his mighty men.
                    2. “Holy Bread” was the 12 loaves (one for each tribe) that was placed on the table of “showbread” on the right side of the tabernacle opposite the lampstand. It was to be kept fresh and was replaced once a week with hot bread and the old loaves were to be eaten by the priests. The words “Showbread” literally comes from the words meaning “bread of faces” and spoke of being in the Lord’s presence. The idea behind the showbread was that of being invited over to the Lord’s House for a meal in which He supplied everything necessary for continual fellowship. Upon eating this bread the priest was saying, “I love you Lord and I’m in your presence fellowshipping with You by that which you have supplied to sustain me!”

                    What is sacred according to Jesus is not TIME but PEOPLE! The Sabbath’s holiness is derived from its purpose and its purpose is the wellbeing of mankind of which ministering to their needs is part of its sacredness! The Sabbath therefore is to serve humanity, not humanity serving the Sabbath.   

                    Vs. 27-28 Mankind was created before the Sabbath, he was not to be either a slave or a victim of the laws concerning the Sabbath. The best way to use sacred things is to use them for the benefit of mankind. The showbread was never more sacred than it was that day when it went to hungry men. The Greek word for Lord is kurios which in the Greek means “He who a person or a thing belongs too, the owner”. In the Septuagint the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures it was the word chosen by the scribes to be the word used for Jehovah and as such it was meant to imply deity. Thus Jesus is saying that He is the Creator who brought forth the Sabbath for the sake of mankind! They had accused Jesus and His disciples of being Sabbath breakers and Jesus says in essence, “I am the creator and I created the Sabbath for man, not man for the Sabbath and we aren’t breaking the Sabbath you are by altering its intent!”


                    Vs. 3:1-6 Restored hands and weathered hearts

                      Vs. 1-2 Here we note a departure in the questioning of the religious leaders about the purpose of religion in society, they no longer use words to express their dissatisfaction at Jesus and His disciple’s departure from their rules and rituals. The word “watched” is in a tense that means a continuous action as they “kept watching Jesus, bent of finding fault with Him concerning the Sabbath”. They are not curious as to His opinions, they are not questioning to see what He thinks. No they are looking to entrap and condemn as they have come to the conclusion that Jesus is their enemy. Indirectly by their entrapment they pay Jesus a great compliment as a man came into a synagogue with a withered hand and they were certain that Jesus would heal this man on the Sabbath. Luke the doctor turned historian tells us it was the man’s right hand and the Greek word for “withered” indicated that his condition was not a birth defect but an affliction do to either and accident or disease. The law was very detailed as to what medical attention could only be given and it was only if the life was in danger. A bandage could be put on but no ointment, a broken bone couldn’t be set, a sprain attended to by even placing in cold water. You could only keep things from getting worse but could do nothing to make them get better. Clearly this man’s life was not in danger, he would have been no worse if left until another day and they saw him as a perfect case to entrap Jesus.  Amazingly these keepers of rules had no doubt of either Jesus’ ability to heal or that would He chose to do so. Their prideful blindness could not see what they readily admitted by their entrapment, that before them was the “Sabbath” and their only concern was that He would violate ther rules and upsert their authority!                            

                      Vs. 3-4 Jesus called the man with the withered hand forward so as all wouldn’t miss the priority of the day of rest. Jesus then asks two parts of the same probing question:

                      1. Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil..
                      2. To save life of to kill

                      In effect Jesus contrasted the intentions of His heart towards others compared to the intentions of their heart towards others, (the others being himself) all on the Sabbath. The question paraphrased was, “You are concerned about the “day of rest”, whose heart is nearer the purpose of the Sabbath yours or mine? I want to do good to this man while you want to do evil to me, I want to save this man’s life you want to take my life. Which best represents the intentions of the Sabbath?”

                      Vs. 5-6 In the Pharisees zeal to maintain the Sabbath they had not only altered it, it had killed its benefits! Their silence angered out Lord the hardness of their heart towards truth, grieved that though they were clearly in the wrong with regards to the Sabbath and yet they still wouldn’t repent. These men were more motivated to maintain the practice of a lie that they could clearly see was evil and life taking then they were to embrace the truth that was good and life giving. Jesus always drove out evil, He would drive it out of a person or at very least He would drive it out in the open as he did with the Pharisees.                  

                      By words and action Jesus answered His own question: He had come to facilitate the CURE for whatever ails humanity and through that He created the reason for abiding and abounding joy. His presence enlarged the area of sacredness and it encompassed the secular including all the self-imposed sanctions of religious leaders. He had come to save them; not to harm or kill them!               


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