University Church Meets At:
397 South Church Street
Athens, Georgia 30605 USA
Telephone: 706-546-1923
| Scripture Intro: In chapter
one of Mark’s gospel Jesus confronts the antagonism of Satan and his demons
– teaching as one with authority over scribes, over spirits, and over sickness.
But in broaching chapter two last week we met new antagonists as the scribes
themselves began to accuse and question Jesus. “Who can forgive sins
but God alone?”, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
Now the conflict continues in today’s text as people put two more questions
to Jesus, and Jesus puts three questions back toward his antagonists.
Let’s follow the dialogue closely as we read. – Mark 2: 18 – 3: 6.
Scripture Reading Prayer Intro: Did you know that this year is an election year? Of course you all do know – it’s nearly impossible to avoid in the news. And it is exciting isn’t it? We’re all watching and waiting because we expect a change. We know it makes some difference who holds the president’s office and many are hoping for significant change. “Change” has become the mantra of one candidate, but change has been the promise of every candidate because every candidate knows that Americans are looking for new direction and new vision. People are looking for a renewal of American prestige in the world and a new interpretation of our old dreams at home. We hope that a new man in office (filled by whichever party) will inaugurate a new era for our country. But even as we demand for change and hope for that new era we still get rather uncomfortable when changes actually start coming down the line don’t we. Making policy is a confusing matter after all, and new ideas could bring new problems. The best policies may be those that cause us some discomfort, new agendas may challenge our notions of what is right and best, they may disrupt older conceptions of compassion and redirect our devotions. All of that sounds like a lot of trouble, and many of us (if not most) would lean toward holding the status quo rather than causing discomfort or breaking with familiar tradition. It somehow seems better – easier – to function in our work, in our families, and in our churches according to the way things already are even if it seems God himself is leading us into change. FCF: People don’t always welcome change even when they’ve been asking for it, waiting for it, and hoping against hope for a new era to arrive. We are uncomfortable with the unknown, mistrusting of new ideas, and aggravated by breaks in routine. We like change we can control. (Though we may enjoy some spontaneity in life, still most of us function best with a schedule; we like routine and tradition). Tradition is good, not least, because it helps us to cope with the many changes and disruptions that do come our way in life. God has given us some traditions in sacrament and in Sabbath (for example). But even good (God-given) traditions become bad when they serve as mere props for the status quo. Human tradition, when held with rigid scruples, can replace truth with human devices. Time-honored human traditions, when unquestioned, can build false confidence in human wisdom, and cause a failure to adapt to God-given change. Bond: The Gospel of Mark says that Jesus Christ brought change to Judea. He brought the kind of change that you hope for – healing for the sick, forgiveness of sins. But the action of the Pharisees in Mark 2 and 3 shows us how their confidence in traditions aimed at devotion to God ultimately blinded them to the work of God (himself). Self-confident religion had caused their compassion to atrophy and made them hostile toward the Christ of God, they rejected the master of a New Age. You see… Prop: Because Jesus is master of the New Age, We must hold loosely to human tradition. In our text today Jesus claims to inaugurate a New Age, he claims authority to set the agenda for his New Age, and shows authority to interpret the old age. So… MP1: (Because) Jesus inaugurates a New Age, We must hold loosely to human tradition.“Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” - This is a very reasonable question about religious practice. Jesus goes around proclaiming the Kingdom of God and calling disciples in Judea, that was not altogether out of the ordinary – there were many Jewish teachers calling disciples, expecting the Kingdom – not everyone healed lepers (and paralytics) – but if Jesus is so righteous then why doesn’t he show his zeal by fasting according to scribal tradition? Why should he act differently than the Pharisees or John the Baptist? Jesus acts differently because… SP1: As the bridegroom Jesus inaugurates a New Age.The bridegroom is a personal image which highlights the significance of Jesus’ personal presence in Judea. His coming, like a wedding, calls for celebration not fasting. It’s an Old Testament image. The prophets use wedding imagery to describe the relationship between God and his people. Promising a New Age of Restoration to come Isaiah (62: 4-5) says “You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the LORD delights in you, and your land shall be married. 5 For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.” Jesus claims to be the bridegroom – Israel’s God inaugurating the long awaited wedding feast. Fasting is for those who mourn, not for wedding parties. Jesus effectively claims, “Because I’m here, the New Age has come, it’s time to rejoice.” (Don’t come fasting at my wedding – its rude. The bridegroom will be taken away – you can fast then.) And… SP2: Jesus inaugurates his New Age with new wine.The new cloth and the new wine coupled together with wedding imagery all speaks together of a New Age. The language is very tangible and in it we taste something of parables to come. The new cloth (unshrunk) does not fit an old warn-out garment but tears it worse. Wineskins were made from goatskin (in those days) that would stretch out under the pressure of gases released during fermentation, but skins don’t stretch twice for a second batch of new wine, they become brittle and burst ruining everything – you lose both wine and skin. The implication is that traditional Judaic piety as expressed by the Pharisees fasting twice a week is not an acceptable form for accepting the inauguration of the New Age. You may have properly mourned and fasted in waiting for the New Age to come, waiting for the promises of God, for the restoration of Israel – but don’t go on fasting as if to prove your piety now that it’s here. The coming of the New Age calls for rejoicing and feasting. Illus: Marriage - When Nicole and I were married we had to work to learn about each other’s family backgrounds. We both come from different families and in our union those different familial customs were beginning to clash and to mesh. Our families had done things in different ways; we had different household routines and holiday traditions. Both were rather functional separately but our customs often clashed when put together. For example, both of us were accustomed to eating dinner together as a family. In my family we would all sit down together, pray, eat and then excuse ourselves rather quickly to go about our various business. But in Nicole’s background the custom was for the family to linger together over the table for an extended period after consuming the meal – it’s a much more elegant custom. Now I can tend to get ancy while lingering at the table, I’ve had my meal and I’m ready to get up and go. But Nicole treasures that time after dinner and considers me quite rude and un-civilized when I rise to promptly. So in our marriage we’ve reached a compromise and formed a new custom for our household. We will eat together at an unhurried pace but often excuse ourselves from the table quite promptly and then go to the living room where we can talk (over tea) or we might take a walk together after the meal. It’s a new custom that works well for a new household. Marriage inaugurates a new era for husband and wife in which they must discover new forms and hold loosely to old ones. App: Just as marriage marks a new beginning for bride and groom, so the coming of Jesus Christ marks a new beginning for Israel and for the Judaic people. Jesus claims that in himself God is returning to wed his people. Old customs and traditions must make room for his arrival. New forms of piety will replace the old ones, and Rabbinic traditions will certainly not guide his steps. Jesus invites his questioners to sit loosely to their human tradition of fasting, and so he invites us to consider the times and consider the bridegroom. The application here is rather specific. It means we’re right to understand Jesus as introducing a radical shift from the Judaic religious paradigm. This means, particularly, that we will not find the will of God for his church by reading the early Rabbis, by studying Talmud, Mishnah, Gemara. No, the Talmud is important for historical background studies, we can learn from the Rabbis but Rabbinic traditions do not function as an authority for Christians. You may think this goes without saying, you’re not tempted to go study Talmud, but it’s important for us to know why such texts are not an authority for us. It’s important for us as we relate to our Jewish neighbors, or especially if you have come from a Jewish background yourself. The Rabbi’s are marginalized by the teaching of Messiah. Jesus claimed to inaugurate a New Age which not only superseded Rabbinic tradition, but also claims authority over the Mosaic tradition – with Jesus setting the agenda for the New Age. And… MP2: Because Jesus rules in the New Age, We must hold loosely to human tradition.“Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” In vv. 24 the Pharisees raise the stakes when they spy Jesus’ disciples plucking grain. Jesus may break their traditions by not fasting, but will he also break the law of God. In answering, Jesus again asserts his unique role and position. He rules like David and he rules even over the Sabbath. SP1 Jesus rules like David. It’s important to notice that when Jesus cites the example of David he does not simply make a case that human necessity may demand exceptions to religious observance. He does intend that, showing that Sabbath observance stands relative to human need, but in the process he also draws a direct analogy between David and himself. David was not just an average Israelite in need of food at this point in 1 Sam 21. No, he was the anointed one of God, the true King of Israel on the run from mad King Saul whom God had already rejected. In the story Doeg the Edomite, one of Saul’s men, even spies on David and goes off to tell Saul. You see the parallels run deeper, the Pharisees know their scripture, and (as N.T. Wright suggests) Jesus is inviting them to recognize the role that they themselves are playing in the drama (– they’re like Doeg, spying on God’s anointed). He also invites them to see that he, like David, is King, but unlike David, Jesus is Lord even of the Sabbath. SP2: Jesus rules (even) over the Sabbath. The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. The Pharisees may have recognized this assertion about the Sabbath being made for men. There is another Jewish Rabbi (second century) who records something similar. (The Sabbath has been committed to you and not you to the Sabbath.) In other words, Jesus is yet again speaking on the Pharisees terms and inviting them to give him a bit more of a favorable reading. The Pharisees knew that God’s law is a gift to us for our good. The Sabbath is aimed at protecting rest and worship among men, not at starving the hungry. But for Jesus to make a sovereign claim over God’s Law was exceptional indeed. Though the ‘Son of Man’ language was somewhat ambiguous at this point, Jesus was referring to himself in this way, not to men in general, and setting himself over the Sabbath as Lord was tantamount to claiming the prerogative of God. llus: When Moses climbed up the mountain back in Exodus 19 it was not a average day. The scripture says a thick cloud had descended upon the mountain accompanied by great thunder and lightening and a very loud trumpet blast. The people were gathered round the base of the mountain. (Exodus 19: 18-20) And “…Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the LORD had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. 19 And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder. 20 The LORD came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.” God tells Moses to put a perimeter around the mountain lest the people should come to close. There was an express reason for all these signs at Sinai. Earlier in the chapter God told Moses. “Exodus 19:9 …Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever.” The Lord God proceeds to speak all the words of the ten commandments within the hearing of the people. The whole spectacle is intended to show that Moses is not making this stuff up – the Law comes from God. Ex 31 says the tablets of the testimony were written with the finger of God. The Sabbath commandment comes from God. App: The Sabbath may be given for man’s benefit, but man is not Lord of the Sabbath. This is not something Moses invented in a clever moment. God is the Lord of man, the Lord of Moses, and only God is Lord of Law, Lord of the Sabbath. This was a bold claim, indeed it was Blasphemous for Jesus to speak it – unless he is telling the truth, unless it’s true that in Jesus God himself has taken residence in the flesh of a man. The application here is that Jesus is greater (even) than Moses. Moses was rightly counted as the greatest of all Jewish prophets. He recorded the first five books of the Bible, as God’s appointed deliverer he led Israel from slavery out of Egypt, he mediated the giving of the Law. God spoke to many men afterwards in visions and in dreams, but Exodus 33: 11 Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. Deuteronomy 34: 10 10 And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,. Mark wants us to know who Jesus is, to invest the person of Christ with the right kind of authority. And he makes it clear that Jesus is not merely above scribes, he is greater than Moses – He is Lord of the Sabbath. And if Jesus is Lord even of the Sabbath, we must sit loosely even to the OT observance of Sabbath as Jesus claims authority over the Old Order as well. He can claim the prerogative to redirect Sabbath observance around himself because Jesus also masters the Old Age. And… MP3: Because (in the New Age) Jesus also masters the Old Age, We must hold loosely to human tradition.In the final encounter from today’s text the Pharisees do not ask any more questions, they only lurk in ominous silence. Jesus invites their scrutiny with a question of his own. Mark 3: 4 Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?" Jesus has claimed Lordship of the Law, and in this final encounter he shows his authority to interpret and judge observance of the Law – specifically proper Sabbath observance. Jesus masters the interpretation and judgment of the old Age. SP1: Jesus masters interpretation of the Old Age.When Jesus commands the crippled man to stretch out his hand he effectively answers his own question – by way of immediate example he demonstrates it’s lawful, it’s right to do good on the Sabbath, to heal and to make whole. And this stands in contrast to the Pharisees who are ready to plot the death of the Christ himself for the sake of their tradition. Indeed, their very presence in the synagogue on the Sabbath was saturated with an attitude of accusation. V. 2… Some have noted that the language here hints as though the crippled man may have been even placed by the Pharisees as part of their strategic plot to accuse. It just says He was there, and they were waiting to accuse Jesus. But in mastering interpretation of the Old Age… SP2: Jesus also masters judgment of the Old Age.Following his question the Pharisees are deathly silent. V. 5 says Jesus looks around at them with anger grieved at their hardness of heart. The word for anger is … the same word used to described God’s wrath in the Greek translation of the Old Testament. This is the only place in all four gospels where the word is used to describe Jesus. It’s a dangerous moment for the Pharisees – silence in not the proper answer – Jesus is grieved at their hardness of hear. This is righteous anger, the anger of God against injustice – Jesus has authority to judge, but mercy triumphs over judgment here because Jesus has not come to judge the world but to save it. It’s the kindness of God that can break the heart of stone. Jesus has authority to forgive sins. And if there is any question about whether the Pharisees are sinners, v. 6 clears the air … they did not come with idle accusations, they came with murderous hearts. App: We are reminded that the God of the Bible is a God of mercy who calls us also to be merciful, a God of healing who calls us also to heal. And a day acceptable to him is day that saves life, not a day of destruction. What is your attitude toward religious observance? Are you proud and looking down upon others who don’t follow tradition in worshipping Jesus? What is your attitude in worship today? Jesus loves us, he has mercy on us, and he gives us the grace to worship him in great freedom. Conc. Temporal political change vs. the New Age of Jesus
Christ?
|
University Church Meets At:
397 South Church Street
Athens, Georgia 30605 USA
Telephone: 706-546-1923
| Back to the University Church Homepage |
