MPC
1st November 2020.November 1 - Mark 2:18-3:6 - "The Real Jesus"
MPC
1st November 2020.
Doug Wannenburgh
There are several books entitled Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Pp?
Popular title. Because there's so many different Jesus' out there. People seem to pick and choose what they wish to believe. Like a patchwork - piecing together what they like about Jesus.
Which means society makes Jesus very respectable. Very nice. Caring. Kind. A sort of sweet Jesus, meek and mild. Who doesn't get angry, or offended. Never judges anyone.
We may tend to think that if Jesus was amongst us. He'd be a conservative sort of person, rather like us. He'd approve of what we approve of. Condemn what we condemn. He'd vote the way we vote. He'd live the same lifestyle. He'd be in our circle of friends.
Which means the Jesus of the Bible, the real Jesus, is quite a shock. Because Jesus is highly offensive. He treads on toes, puts people's backs up, and it does it deliberately.
In the Bible, people either love Him or hate Him. If He came to Brisbane today, it'd be no different.
And who'd Jesus offend the most? Here's another shock.
The people who hated Jesus the most were religious people! religious people, who under the banner of 'Christianity', want to re-invent Jesus. To make Him more likeable, More acceptable to society. More respectable.
Why? Because they don't like the real Jesus.
Now, our passage today has 3 episodes where Jesus comes face to face with religious people. And He gets in their face. And offends them. And as a result, there's a growing hatred and hostility towards Jesus.
So, as we look at these stories, let's ask What is it about the real jesus that turns religious people - people who read the Bible, pray, go to church, have 'morals' - what is it about the real jesus that turns religious people into people who want to kill Him?
Episode one. That has to do with a bridegroom.
And the issue is fasting. Which was popular back then. As an expression of sorrow or mourning over sin. Though it wasn't required. Except for one day a year - on the day of atonement. But it did become widely practised. The Pharisees even fasted twice a week.
Verse 18. "John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people [ask] Jesus, 'how is it that John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?'"
The issue is not whether fasting is good or bad. The issue is why when everyone else is fasting. Why are Jesus' disciples feasting? Tucking into a Big Mac with a large fries?
Now, it's clear some are not watching what they eat. They're watching what others eat. They're watching Jesus and His disciples feasting, not fasting. And ask why?
Jesus doesn't back off. He gives an in your face answer in the form of 3 punchy parables.
I love weddings. In part Because I love wedding food.
I've never been on a fast, but if I did it'd certainly not be at a wedding. If there's a bride and a groom I take it it's a celebration. Time to party. Time to eat.
Jesus says, vere 19.
"How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while heis with them? They can't, so long as they have himwith them."
Jesus, the bridegroom, is here. Time to party. Don't miss the extraordinary claim Jesus is making. In the Old Testament god describes Himself as the bridegroom of Israel. The relationship God and Israel is seen as a marriage.
What's more, God said that a new age would dawn, when His promised King would come to rule and rescue, and sadness and mourning and fasting would be replaced by joy.
You see what Jesus is claiming. The new age has dawned. the time has come. the king is here. Jesus claims to be god come to earth. The bridegroom come for His bride. Which means everyone should be happy, not sad. feasting, not fasting. Though, there will be fasting. When, verse 20, the bridegroom is taken away.
And that's the first hint in Mark's gospel of the cross. When Jesus dies, then people will fast; and not just in sadness at His death, but because it'll be the real Day of Atonement. The day when God will Himself atone for our sins.
Now remember who Jesus is answering. The 'religious' leaders. And what Jesus is insinuating here is, You're blind to who is among you! Blind to who I am! Blind to what's happening.
And the next 2 parables emphasise it further.
21 "No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse."
That comfortable old pair of jeans. If they get a hole, you don't patch the hole with a new piece of denim. The old jeans has done it's shrinking. The new piece is unshrunk. So when you wash the jeans, the new piece will shrink, and the jeans will tear even more.
Likewise, you've got old wineskins and new wine.
22 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins."
No wine bottles back then, so animal skins were the wine vats. An old wine skin had done all it's stretching and had no more give. So if you put new wine in an old wine skin, then as the wine ferments and the pressure builds the skin can't expand with the pressure. It bursts. So wine-makers always put new wine in new wineskins.
Jesus says something new is happening. Some-one new is here. The new age has dawned, God's King is here. So don't fast.
But the Pharisees, the religious leaders, they're blind. It's not like they haven't seen the evidence - healings, miracles, teaching with authority. But they can't add it up. They put 2 and 2 together and get 5. They fail to see what's literally staring them in the face.
Now, there are people like that today. All the evidence is in front of them, but they can't, won't, see what is blatantly obvious. They just don't get it.
What is that blinds them? Well, surprisingly, one big thing that blinds people to Jesus is religion. religiosity.
It's easy for people to be very religious. And, like the Pharisees, do all kinds of good religious activity. And yet miss out on knowing Jesus.
Episode two. Verse 23.
It's Saturday, the Sabbath - Israel's day of rest. Which for the Pharisees means you don't lift a finger. Not even to flick channels with the TV remote. No work allowed.
Jesus and his disciples, They're walking through a field and picking some ears of corn. The Old Testament laws allowed for that. What wasn't allowed was a full scale harvest.
But the Pharisees reckon Jesus' disciples are harvesting, and thus working on the Sabbath. So, verse 24. They say.
"Look, why are they doing what's unlawful on the Sabbath?"
Jesus' answer is once again in their face. And it's got to do with King David. Who's the famous king all Jews looked back to saying, 'those were the good old days.'
Well, Jesus gives them a little history lesson. From 1 Samuel [c.f. chapter 21] There's the old king, Saul. And then there's David, the one anointed to be the new king. And David's on the run. Because Saul wants him dead.
In which case, Jesus says, verse 25, remember what David and his men did. They were hungry, so they dropped in to the tabernacle and ate the consecrated bread that only the priests were meant to eat.
See the point Jesus is making? His only doing what king david did. And His got a right to do it. Because He is a King, like David. He is the new king.
Jesus says 'work it out. David was hungry with his friends, so was I. He was the anointed king. So am I. And under the circumstances we've overlooked a few of your ritual rules because we're hungry. You Pharisees ought to be celebrating the fact that the bridegroom's here. You ought to be partying Because the King has come. And all you're doing is nitpicking over a few bits of grain.'
Besides which, verse 27, laws like the Sabbath weren't given to be a burden. It was meant to be a pleasure. And the harsh unloving way the Pharisees apply it just misses the point. Verse 27, Jesus says.
"The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath "
The Old Testament law was given as a blessing, not a burden. The Sabbath day was to be a delight. The Pharisees made it drudgery. They turned a gift from God into a burden.
But Jesus isn't finished. Verse 28. He makes a staggering claim.
"So the Son of Man [that's the promised Messiah, Jesus] is lord of the Sabbath."
Who was lord of the Sabbath? Who made the Sabbath rules? Who was meant to be remembered by the Sabbath? God. God is Lord of the Sabbath. And yet, Jesus now says 'I am'.
Jesus says. 'I'm bigger than your rules. I'm bigger than the Sabbath itself. I'm bigger than king David. Because I am the lord God.
And yet the Pharisees just want to criticise and complain.
Not much has changed. Today. People still want to criticise. Nit-pick. In exactly the same way. Even about things like sabbaths.
It's the religious who turn the good gifts of God into drudgery. Adding extra traditions to obey. Making lists of do's and don'ts. Making it all into outward behaviour that gives an appearance of godliness but which is merely religiosity.
Ok, Jesus has certainly turned up the heat.
The leaders have seen the evidence, the miracles, the authority. They've heard the claims, to be the Bridegroom, to be Lord of the Sabbath.
So will they love Him? Or hate Him?
Episode three. And chapter 3. It's Saturday again. Sabbath. Jesus is in the synagogue. There's some poor guy there with a shrivelled up hand, fingers all twisted and withered.
Verse 2. All eyes are on Jesus. The hidden camera is filming. The Pharisees are out to get Jesus. They want to catch Him doing something wrong. Verse 2.
"Some of [the religious guys are] looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched Him closely to see if He would heal on the Sabbath."
The shrivelled hand guy looks like a set-up. Like bait in a trap.
A friend of mine used to work in the bomb disposal unit in South Africa. Specifically removing 'limpet mines' from service stations!
Wouldn't want to have been him. But I wouldn't want to be Jesus either! This situation is explosive. One wrong move. And boom.
Verse 3. Jesus goes public. He tackles the religious guys, not behind closed doors, but out in the open.
"Jesus [tells] the man [verse 3] 'stand up in front of everyone.'"
Exhibit A. And He asks everyone, verse 4.
"Which is lawful on the sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?"
In other words, What's the intention of God's law? What's the Law designed to do?
It's a rhetorical question. That leaves the Pharisees tight-lipped.
It's a catch 22. If they answer that the law says they should do evil or kill they'll be committing 'career suicide'. They'll be exposed as bad teachers, who don't know the Law. But if they say the law says you can do good and save life, then Jesus will heal the man and they'll be admitting His right.
In one question Jesus exposes their religious bankruptcy!
And, verse 5. He is angry. He is "deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts"
That's an Old Testament term. Like Pharaoh in Egypt, like Israel in the wilderness. Despite the evidence before them their hearts are hard, stubborn. Evidence? Pharaoh had the plagues. Israel had the Red Sea, the manna, quails, so much else. Yet they ignore the evidence, and harden their hearts.
Same here. And Jesus is furious at their stubborn hearts dressed up in the cloak of religion.
And so, verse 5. Jesus heals the man completely in full view of everyone.
And as He does so, Jesus signs his own death warrant. Verse 6.
"The Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus."
The Herodians and Pharisees hated each other. The Herodians worked with the Romans. The Pharisees didn't. But they get into bed with each other because they've got a new common enemy.
For these guys, it's not okay to eat some grain or heal a hand on the Sabbath, but it's okay to kill the son of God.
They ignore the evidence for Jesus being God. Their eyes are closed, their hearts are hard, their minds made up.
And as Mark's gospel unfolds, we're going to see how the opposition keeps growing. Whenever Jesus does something, there's always the pharisees. And Chief Priests. And Teachers of the Law. Looking to kill Him. To silence Him for good.
And so? Let's get personal. The real Jesus? Do you love Him? Or hate Him?
We might not think we hate Jesus. Though it's worth lining up how you think of Jesus with what the Bible says about Jesus. If it doesn't match, we've subtly, even unwittingly, re-invented Jesus. We've, even unconsciously, given Him a make-over to our liking.
Now here's the warning Jesus gives you and I. Jesus don't change for nobody.
And the real Jesus is a shocking Jesus.
Are you shocked like I am, at how early in Mark's gospel people plot to kill Jesus. What led these 'good moral' people to have murder on their mind? Why are they so blind to the evidence that backs His claims? How can 'church-going' folk want to kill someone whose doing good? Why reject Jesus with such hate?
But that's no different today. Some people refuse to look at the evidence. Some couldn't be bothered. Some go to great lengths to have nothing to do with the real Jesus. Some religious people, like some well loved Bishops and some highly respected pastors, don't actually believe Jesus is God. They deny the resurrection.
Why does Jesus evoke such strong reactions?
I think the answer lies in the alternative? The alternative is to accept who Jesus is, and what His done. The alternative is to acknowledge you've got it wrong. You're not the boss. You're not in charge of your life. You won't get away with it. You will face judgement. The alternative is to agree that Jesus is God's king. The alternative is to bow the knee to Him, and let Him take charge.