Pastor Jonah Sage preached Mark 2:23-3:6. He said that you are safe now, you are loved now, you are family now because Jesus is king and his kingdom is at hand. Lector: Lisa Tant
Pastor Jonah Sage preached Mark 2:23-3:6. He said that you are safe now, you are loved now, you are family now because Jesus is king and his kingdom is at hand.
Lector: Lisa Tant
A few years ago we had a true family crisis. It was a few days before thanksgiving
We were making our travel plans, preparing for one of our favorite days
We received a call I'll never forget.
We were informed that there would be no turkey this year.
No. Turkey. At. Thanksgiving.
I lost my mind. "This is AMERICA. What are we doing? This can't be happening."
What an unholy, unpatriotic, scandalous decision.
I was confused, sad, and furious. Over turkey.
My wife filtered my anger and simply returned the call to say "hey let's have some turkey. It's thanksgiving." It was fine. No big deal. Had turkey. Thanksgiving saved.
I think about that sometimes, though. Why was I so mad?
Have you ever had an experience like this? A tradition violated?
An expectation unmet? So disorienting, and frankly scary.
Turkey isn't scary...but family traditions changing, holidays changing...it's scary
We only get so many, we want to do these days right, and often that means doing them the same...
Because these days mark our lives, they form our families and sense of self.
Traditions have this power. But...if I had been allowed to speak after the turkey scandal... we wouldn't be doing family thanksgivings anymore.
I'm certain my words would have been hurtful, unnecessary, and divisive.
Not because of turkey, but because of what it represented to me
For Jewish people in Jesus' day, there was no more important family tradition than the Sabbath
Scholar Larry Hurtado said that sabbath was "the supremely important demonstration of a Jew's loyalty to God and to his nation."
This day of rest set them apart from everyone else, a visible act of trust
They were proving their devotion to God. The more you did, the better you were.
It was so serious that many rabbis believed God was waiting to send the messiah until every Jewish person kept the sabbath
In other words, God was waiting to save the world until we obeyed the rules.
Entire books were written regulating what they could and couldn't do.
39 specific kinds of activities were regulated.
No fighting, farming, chores...this was the family tradition, the way to earn God's favor
When Jesus forgave someone's sins, the religious people were outraged
Only God could do that.
When Jesus ate dinner with tax collectors and sinners in Mark 2:15, they were outraged. God would never do that.
When Jesus' disciples didn't practice the expected spiritual disciplines like fasting, they again opposed Jesus. No one who takes God seriously would do that.
Back to back to back, mark shows the religious leaders getting angrier and angrier with Jesus changing family traditions.
And now, on this Sabbath day, Jesus goes after the most sacred of them all:
One Sabbath day as Jesus was walking through some grain fields, his disciples began breaking off heads of grain to eat. But the Pharisees said to Jesus, "Look, why are they breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath?"
-Mark 2:23-24
Notice how strict their rules had become: plucking heads of grain=harvesting?
That's like saying blowing a dandelion is gardening
Rules upon rules to prove their loyalty to God.
Rules upon rules to secure the favor of God.
Rules upon rules to earn a rescue from God
But Jesus says they've got it all backwards.
Forgiving sins, meals with sinners, no fasting, and now sabbath breaking.
Jesus' response is absolutely astounding. it's succinct, but incredible depth:
Haven’t you ever read in the Scriptures what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 26 He went into the house of God (during the days when Abiathar was high priest) and broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests are allowed to eat. He also gave some to his companions.
Mark 2:25-26
Notice the initial implication: don't you read the Bible?
Of course they did...but it's possible to read the Bible all wrong, especially if you start with some faulty assumptions...assumptions like God needs us to prove something to him...
Jesus is referencing a story from 1 Samuel 21
David was on the run because king Saul wanted to kill him.
Saul was scared. God had chosen David to become King.
There is an obvious reason for Jesus to reference this story: a certain circumstance allowed David to do what was not allowed...eat a sacred loaf of bread.
But there's something much more profound happening here.
First, the PERSON Jesus references is important.
Jesus identifies himself with King David
He identifies himself with God's chosen one...remember that word MESSIAH?
It means God's chosen one.
Jesus is cleverly, but to the Pharisee quite clearly, saying he is like David.
He's telling this religious leader "think of me like King David"
If David could do this, I can too, because I am like him.
Second, the CIRCUMSTANCE Jesus references is important
David was king in God's eyes, but not yet king in Israel's
David was an unrecognized king here in 1 Samuel 21.
Jesus is subtly telling the Pharisees to be very careful here...don't be like Saul or his men. A new regime is upon you. A new kingdom is at hand, and Jesus is the king.
Like David, Jesus was king of a kingdom not recognized by Jewish people
Third, the TIMING Jesus implies is important
David was on an urgent mission. He was operating under emergency circumstances
Jesus is telling the Pharisees that what he and his disciples are up to are just as important as what David and his men were up to
In two verses, Jesus is telling the Pharisee I am King, a new Kingdom is at hand, and we have work to do that is more important than your traditions
Consider what we've seen in two chapters of Mark
Remember: he begins by saying this is the good news of Jesus
He's trying to SHOW US JESUS so we can see GOOD NEWS
So he shows us Jesus the Messiah, the chosen one, the fulfiller of promises
Shows us Jesus is bringing the kingdom of God here.
What does this mean? Mark shows us.
Jesus goes on a walk and invites two men to follow him.
A walking paced-kingdom marked by relationship. Follow me. This happens again...
Jesus casts out an evil spirit: he is the king and has authority over the spiritual realm
Jesus heals a woman sick in bed: he is king and has authority over our bodies
Jesus heals a leper: he is king and restores us socially and emotionally
Jesus sees a paralyzed man, totally helpless, and forgives his sins
Jesus is KING, he has God's own authority to forgive sin
To prove this, he tells the man to get up and walk. It's a RESURRECTION
This is the kingdom of God: God's chosen one comes not because everyone finally obeyed, but because God had good news to share.
Jesus heals not because people obeyed, but to show them who he is
And the religious people didn't like it.
Jesus is re-orienting all of our expectations for what life with God will be like
He's showing us the assumption we are to start with so we can receive the Bible well
The starting place is this: God needs nothing from us, but God loves us so he comes to heal us.
He initiates this. His plan, his timing, and his methods.
Jesus makes this crystal clear with his final words to the angry religious folks:
The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is LORD, even over the Sabbath!"
-Mark 2:27-28
He leaves no doubt. I am lord, even over your most precious family tradition
Think about my thanksgiving again...do families exist to have thanksgiving dinner? Or does thanksgiving dinner exist to help us enjoy being family?
I was so focused on my tradition that I forgot the whole point
This is what happened with the Pharisees in Jesus' day...they forgot the point.
They wanted to keep God's rules so that God would love them.
But God loved them already. Sabbath was never about making GOd happy or getting the Messiah to come. Sabbath was a GIFT to his family!
It's like thinking your dad is taking you to Disney so you can prove you're worthy of his love. NO! Dad took you to Disney because he loved you already.
God's law was given to the people who were already his family.
The Sabbath was never meant to be something we do to prove our loyalty to God...it was a benefit of being God's child: a whole day free of pressure, a time to delight in the Lord and rejoice in the fact that we are saved
Jesus did not come to give you new things to do to make God pleased with you
He said the kingdom of God is here. The year of the Lord's favor.
He said you're like someone oppressed with an evil spirit, can't control yourself
Like a woman sick in bed: unproductive and helpless
Like a leper: socially outcast and alone
Like a paralyzed man: completely helpless to save yourself
And he did not come to tell any of those people to do better. He came to RESURRECT THEM
Don't get it confused. Jesus came to save, heal, and restore.
He did not bring rules, he brought redemption
He did not come to reinstate tradition, but to restore his family
His invitations are for your sake, teaching you to be human and alive again
They are not to earn your salvation, any more than him telling the paralyzed man to get up and walk was.
If you hear him saying to you today "get up and walk", please know what he is saying
I don't know what tradition you're holding on to
I don't know what behavior or habit or circumstance you keep feeding that you know is killing you
He's not telling you to leave your mat to prove you love him
He's not saying leave that website, leave that bottle, leave that relationship, or any of those things, to prove you love him.
He's saying to you "Oh I love YOU already. And I have good news for you right now. This is killing you. This is not working for you. So why don't you stand up and go home. Why don't you leave this, because in my family, you don't have to do this anymore."
Do you see? Good-news-ministry. Good-news-religion.
You are safe now because Jesus is king and his kingdom is at hand
You are loved now because Jesus is king and his kingdom is at hand
You are family now because Jesus is king and his kingdom is at hand
Let's Pray