October 16, 2013
Mark 2:13-3:6
Jesus Defuses Confrontation
I. Calling Matthew 2:13-17
II. Right-Motive Fasting 2:18-22
III. Sabbath Instruction 2:23-27
IV. Sabbath Healing 3:1-6
A man worked in the carpet cleaning business and had a lot of success selling the pet urine removal process. He carried a heavy-duty black light with him in his van. And when he smelled pet odor, he would ask the homeowner if they wanted to see the extent of the damage. Because it’s composed of proteins, urine glows under a black light. With the lights out and the shades drawn, the homeowner would follow him through the house---Usually there were far more spots of the dried urine present, than the than the owner had a clue about---on the curtains and the walls and the furniture---splattered all around.
The reactions were always quite dramatic. One lady said----“clean it up, I don’t care what it costs and another lady said---I’ll never feel comfortable in my home again.” The black light didn’t cause the problem---it just revealed it. The problem was there all the time, and it caused a bit of an upset, when the extent of the problem could actually be seen----and most people were ready to do something about it, when given the chance.
We live in sin to the point that we get comfortable with it, but when the black light of God’s righteous law shines on our lives, we can see the offences for what they really are and we have a choice----we either have to let the Lord clean it up, or live in squalor. It would be cruel to show homeowners their problem without being able to help them---in the same way---God shows us our violations of His holiness and then He shows us a way for them to be cleaned up----He wanted to help us, so badly, that He sent Jesus to clean up our dirty hearts with His blood------a lot of people heard Jesus and responded to Him-----but not the Pharisees----they were a blind, arrogant self-seeking, and self-serving------and they couldn’t bear to see themselves under the black light of Jesus’ words.
- Calling Matthew: 2:13-17
The collection of taxes is not a new thing-----taxes have been a sore point between every government and their citizens since time began…. And it’s especially rough when one country has been conquered by another one----In Palestine, during Jesus’ ministry, the whole country, as we know was under the dominance of Rome---and Rome collected its taxes through a system, known as “tax-farming”----basically, they assessed a district, fixed a tax figure on it, then they sold the right, to be the tax collector, to the highest bidder. The tax collector, had to hand over the assessed amount, to the government, at the end of the year, but he could keep, whatever he collected, above that. So the potential for extortion and swindling was huge!!!! A tax collector could collect whatever he decided he wanted to. There were no rules and no limits, once Rome was paid.
This system consisted of 2 categories of taxes:
- Stated taxes-----had to be paid to Rome, no exemptions, no questions, no special considerations-----
poll tax---- all men between the ages of 14 and 65 and all women between the ages of 12 and 65 had to pay this, just because they were alive.
ground tax------which required a tax on 1/10 of all grain, and 1/5 of all wine and oil produced. In some places, the Romans had a tax levied against every fish that was caught-----this was probably true in Capernaum, where the fishing industry was so vital.
income tax-----this was 1% of every person’s annual income.
- Arbitrary taxes----- was dictated by the tax collector----there was ample opportunity for abuse---
The people had to pay separate taxes for things like----using the roads and docking in the harbors----there were sales taxes on certain things and there were import and export taxes----- the ability to be able to use a cart to transport things could be taxed----even the individual spokes on the wheels of the carts could be taxed.
This system fostered the exploitation, of power, that the tax collector could wield. They could stop anybody on the road, make them unpack their bundle, and charge them just about, anything they wanted to. And, if the person couldn’t pay, for whatever reason, then the tax collector sometimes, would offer to loan him money, at an exorbitant rate, which only pulled the people, even further into debt.
The collectors were trained extortionists, and without question, their profession attracted a criminal, low-life element of thugs and informers…the scum of society!!!! Honesty was, and is, a-little found-commodity, in our world----(so, as believers, we need to make sure that we are honest in everything----that we let our yes’s be yes and our no’s be no, and that we say what we mean and we mean what we say-----)
The Jewish tax collectors were easily the most hated men, in their Hebrew society. They were considered to be despicable vermin-----they weren’t just hated for their extortion, but they were hated because they were the lackeys of the Romans----
(just like the French people, hated the Nazi collaborators during WWII, almost more than they did their German oppressors.) The tax collectors couldn’t serve as judges or witnesses in their legal system and they were not allowed to attend synagogue services------they were the lowest of the low!!!!!
All this, is why, Jesus’ dealing with and calling of Levi or Matthew, as his name was later changed to (gift from God), was so extraordinary-----Matthew would have been the last person that you would have expected Jesus to pick to be one of His followers, much less one of His most trusted 12-----but that is the way Jesus is, He looked beyond the circumstances and He saw Matthew’s heart----He saw the potential of what he could become----He saw the need that Matthew had, for a Savior, and He saw how Matthew, would grow to be dependent on His Savior and how he would become a blessing to his people, as he spread the gospel everywhere he went, while he was alive, and how he is still spreading the gospel through the written word, because he was willing to take up his pen and write down all that he knew about the Lord Jesus----so that every generation, from his, would know the truth of God.
(centuries ago, a number of workman were seen dragging a huge marble block into the city of Florence, Italy. It had come from the great marble quarries in Carrera, and it was intended to be made into a statue of some great OT prophet. But, it contained imperfections, and when the great sculptor Donatello saw it-----he refused immediately, to sculpt it. So, it just laid in the cathedral yard, a useless hunk of marble. One day, another sculptor saw the flawed marble, and stopped to examine it----and as he walked around it and touched it, an idea of what it could become, and an image of immense beauty, began to take shape in his mind’s eye, and he resolved to sculpt it. For two years the artist worked feverishly on the sculpture. Then, on January 25, 1504, all the great artists of the day, like da Vinci and Botticelli, gathered, to see what had been made of the despised and rejected block of marble----As the veil dropped to the floor, there was a collective gasp and a chorus of praise -----as Michelangelo’s David was revealed and declared to be a masterpiece------and it is still today, one of the world’s great treasures----one of the greatest work’s of art, that the world has ever seen… )
The Lord saw, in the flawed life of Levi, the hated and despised tax collector-----a Matthew, who would be a beloved evangelist and writer of the gospel------
and Matthew, he must have heard what was being said about Jesus and he more-than-likely, had even heard him teach and his heart must have been stirred by what he heard ----so that when the Lord called his name, he didn’t hesitate to leave everything and follow Him.
Jesus still does that----He chooses the most unlikely person or situation, and then He uses them to reveal Himself and His glory----He still sees us with His consummate artists’ eye-----and He still sees what He can create out of us----Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works.” Jesus sees in us, what no one else can see.
Matthew’s life was revolutionized, so he threw a party!!!! He was excited and he wanted to celebrate----he wanted to introduce Jesus to his friends and he wanted to introduce his friends to Jesus-----and he wanted to do something that would honor Jesus for what He had done for him-----this should be a natural outpouring of any soul that has been touched by the Lord-----we should want to celebrate the Lord’s goodness to us every day-------but there are certain times, that we just need to have a party----because we want to share our joy in the Lord with the people that we know and love. That means births and baptisms and weddings and graduations and birthdays and anniversaries----but it also means dinner for two, and coffee with friends and play groups and long stroller walks, and bridge groups and tennis buddies and standing in the back yard visiting with a neighbor-----life is to be celebrated, because God is so good and so faithful and so present , and He so obviously loves us.
The friends at Matthew’s party were other tax collectors and sinners and even Gentiles-----in a Pharisee’s mind, a sinner was anyone who was inferior to them, because they didn’t follow their rules and regulations, to the letter…and a Gentile was especially despised, because they didn’t eat their food in a kosher manner, which made it ceremonially unclean. Matthew’s friends would have been the social outcasts of Capernaum-----and there was Jesus, sitting right in the middle of them, eating and drinking and talking and laughing----having a great time….
It was just too much for the Pharisees, who were the teachers of the Law,----to them, it was an unforgiveable disgrace for Jesus, who also claimed to be a teacher of the Law, to totally disregard their time-honored customs and traditions.
There are Christians, today, who operate on this same kind of principle----if people aren’t like us or don’t worship like we do, or dress like we do, or look different than we do---- we don’t want to associate with them, and we have a tendency to sit in judgment of them------but it’s not our place to judge---its our place to do what Jesus did----to go into the highways and byways, and tell people, who haven’t heard, about the goodness of our Lord Jesus Christ… ( a perfect place to see this at happening, and then see the Lord tear the barriers down, is at a Ladies Retreat------some of us just were at BayLeaf’s Ladies Retreat this past weekend----there were people there I knew and people I didn’t----there were people that were dressed like me and people that weren’t-----there were younger people than me and there were people older than me and there were some my age-----there were new Christians and there were people who had been Christians for 50 years-----and our speaker-----she was so talented and spot on, with what she said and taught and sang-----but she was a bigger-than-life person----she was over 6 feet tall, she was loud, with a vocabulary that matches today’s pop culture---she had her hair highlighted with many different colors and she dressed very casually. Outwardly, she was very different than the majority of our ladies… The first night, people were friendly to each other, but they were reserved and hung out with who they knew and the didn’t really approach the speaker one on one----the next morning after the first session and the 1st small group, people were feeling a little more comfortable and a little freer----- and after the 3rd meal with a speaker, who ate in the midst of us, like she was our girlfriend, and hung around to talk after each session, so that you couldn’t tell her from us -----people began to open up to her, one at a time-----by Saturday night----everybody was calling everybody by name, and by Sunday morning, we were rocking-----there was a big party going on----there was laughter and tears and a lot of hugging----and people had stopped sitting, just with whom they had come with, but were enjoying worshiping side by side, with brand new friends or maybe even, rekindled friends-----it was a wonderful thing to watch and even more, to experience-----
We have to remember, that we’re called to be like Jesus-----He didn’t just stick with people who are just like Him-----he actually chose to associate with people who were nothing like Him----
We come to the Lord, and in our desire to be godly----we seek out people who are just like us-----most of us, for the most part, arrange our lives, so that we are with non-believers as little as possible-----not only do we spend most of our time with our church friends, but we try and choose Christian dentists and doctors and plumbers and veternarians and we want Christian coaches for our children and Christian teachers-----
I’m the same way---I found out Monday that one of the physical therapists I’m working with is a believer----I was thrilled-------but how much better would it be, if she was someone I could share the love of Jesus with------we miss so many people, and so many opportunities, where we can tell somebody about Jesus----none of us are Pharisees philosophically, but practically speaking, we may all have a little Pharisee in us .
(We need to reach out to people----we need to extend ourselves to people who are hurting----we need to volunteer at a pregnancy life care center, or at an alzheimer’s facility, we need to open up our homes and our guests rooms to the multiple cultures around us, we need volunteer at the prison, or teach student or adult literacy, to immigrants, we need to serve food at the soup kitchen or help with our own Helping Hands Ministry, as they make dolls and loveys for Africa’s children-----t
There are many ways to get involved with the people in our community and in the world----even if it means giving up a church job or committee, to do it. When Jesus prayed for us in John 17:15, He told the Father, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.” The great missionary, C.T. Studd loved to say---“Some want to live within the sound of church or chapel bell; I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell.” That should be our philosophy too!
Jesus heard what the Pharisees were saying as they were whispering to His disciples about His dining with sinners-----He responded with 2 answers----First—“-it isn’t healthy people who need a doctor-----sick people do”-----that is common sense----
And Second----He said “He had come to call people who knew they were sinners, not people who thought they were righteous”-----The Pharisees were just as needy as the publicans and the sinners but they couldn’t see it. Jesus didn’t spend time with people who were lost, because He was a sinner at heart----He spent time with them, because He loved them, and because He knew that they needed what He had to say… He spent time with them because, they realized they had a need, and they welcomed Him and what He had to offer them…they sensed their own sin, and they knew that they weren’t good enough for God.
In order to come to God and to be received by Him, we have to repent-----but in order to repent, and renounce our sin, we have to recognize it for what it is. Sin is Sin------there is nothing that can change that and only Jesus can help us when we come to Him and admit that we are helpless without Him----only He, the Great Physician, can heal us.
- Right –Motive Fasting 2:18-22
The Pharisees zealously followed the Old Testament Laws, and legalistically obeyed their own traditions ------- instead of seeking and hearing the words that Jesus was trying to touch their hearts with.
They were highly feared, by the regular every-day Jew, and highly respected by the other religious leaders and the Roman peace-keeping troops, in the community ------ and they should have been welcoming Jesus, and accommodating Him, and pointing others to Him, and hanging on His every word, and worshiping Him------but as a whole, they weren’t, they hated him, because he challenged their proud attitudes and their dishonorable motives.
The Pharisees, had almost constant clashes with Jesus, from this point forward, all the way to the cross---the confrontation about fasting, was just an example of the many ways the religious leaders, tried to thwart Jesus and His authority. It was because, what Jesus was saying and doing, was challenging everything that the Pharisees thought was true, about who they were and their behavior and who God was, and what He wanted. They lived by their appearance, but Jesus questioned their heart motives; they constructed elaborate behavior patterns to indicate their holiness but Jesus taught that even good actions, done for the wrong reasons have no spiritual effect-----He wanted them to see that if you love the Lord, your God with all your heart, soul and mind and you love you neighbor, as if you are loving yourself, then nothing else will matter-----everything will all fall into place-----that there’s nothing else, in this world, that matters, compared with those 2 things…
Picking on Jesus about fasting was a ridiculous thing-----but they were trying so hard to trap Him with something-----
John the Baptist had 2 goals: to lead people to repent of their sin and to prepare them for the coming of the Messiah… John’s message was sobering, so he and his followers fasted. Fasting is both an outward sign of humility and regret for sin, and an inner discipline that clears our minds and keeps our spirits alert. Fasting empties our bodies of food, just like repentance empties our hearts of sin.
Jesus disciples didn’t need to fast to prepare for His coming----He was with them, in the flesh.
Fasting is not a bad thing---Jesus didn’t condemn fasting-----we know that He fasted for 40 days and 40 nights while He was being tempted in the desert. But Jesus emphasized fasting with the right motives-----not to draw attention to yourself-----it should be done very contemplatively and without fanfare------and you need to be led by the Lord to do it. Jesus said in Matthew 6:16-18,” And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth,----that, is the only reward they will ever get. But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face. Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your father, who knows what you do in private. And your father, who sees everything, will reward you.“
The Pharisees fasted twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays, to show others how holy they were, even though the Law only required it one time a year, on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. But Jesus explained, that if people fast to only impress others, then, they would be twisting the purpose of fasting.
The Pharisees had the mindset, that true religion, was a solemn, joyless, ritualistic endeavor-----it had nothing to do with love or redemption or even God-----it was all about what the Pharisees could achieve, not what the Lord could do or who He was. They actually whitened their faces, and put ashes on their heads, wore their clothes in disarray, refused to wash and looked as forlorn as possible. They didn’t think they could be spiritual, unless they were uncomfortable. They thought to be truly religious, you had to do things you didn’t want to and not do things that you did want to do. They totally missed the truth about the difference in having faith and practicing religion----having faith is about having a relationship----practicing religion is just going through empty motions, with no substance.
(Gladyce.. a widow, attended church faithfully, every Sunday. She would get there about 20 minutes early and sit there and pray. This was her ritual, just her and Jesus. She had been doing this for years. Then, one Sunday, a new family sat behind her. This was disturbing to her. She thought about it and said---oh well, they’re visitors and they may not be back next week anyway.” She thought she could put up with the small feet kicking at her back and the toy cars being driven on the top of the pew and loud whispers for lifesavers and trips to the bathroom that interrupted her prayer time, for one Sunday. But, much to her dismay, one week turned into 2 and 2 into a month and she realized that all those children were there to stay. She weighed her options ---she could change pews but “no, that was she and her husband had always sat together to worship. She wasn’t willing to give up her pew. She could turn around and glare at them--- She could stay home, an extra 20 minutes, and pray there----She had to think about it. The next Sunday morning was especially bad----she looked back to stay something stern to the parents of the squirming children----and she realized how tired they looked---“Perhaps I should let them be”, she thought. And instead of yelling, she managed a small smile. The next Sunday she took lifesavers and offered them----The next Sunday she asked the children their names----She found out that the oldest liked horse, the middle one liked cars and the little one liked books. The next Sunday they weren’t there, and it didn’t seem like church, without the tap of little feet at her back. The next week, she invited the family over for Sunday brunch, and from there on, a fast friendship grew!!!! )
Being a believer should bring us immeasurable joy-----no matter what our circumstances are----knowing that nothing can separate us from the love of God that is provided to us by the Lord Jesus----helps us take our focus off of the circumstances and put our gaze on Jesus, where it belongs.
Jesus compared Himself to a bridegroom, just after an ancient Jewish wedding. The happy couple didn’t go on a honeymoon----they stayed home for a week of Open House, in which there was continual feasting and celebration. It was considered to be the happiest week in their lives-----they were treated like royalty, they were attended by chosen friends, their guests were exempted from all fasting------ because by rabbinical law, they were relieved of all observances, which could lessen their joy----so the Pharisees would have understood what Jesus was saying when He declared Himself to be the bridegroom. Jesus’ coming was a time for celebrating, not mourning and fasting.
And Jesus went on, to try and explain why the Pharisaical way of doing things was not going to work any more----He told them that He didn’t come to patch up the old religious system of Judaism with it’s rules and regulations and traditions----His purpose was to fulfill it, by starting something new-----He came to offer complete and perfect forgiveness and reconciliation with God for eternity----The new Good News didn’t fit into the old rigid legalistic system of religion.
It needed a fresh start and it will always stay new, because it has to be accepted and applied in every generation. (I have tried to put on a new patch on an old pair of pants many times, and it never works----Lizzie is a horseback rider and her pants , which are made of cotton and a stretch lycra, wear out, over time in the area of her inner thighs, cause that’s where her legs grip the horse-------lizzie can wear them the first time I patch them, but when they are washed and then allowed to air dry-----the new patch shrinks up and pulls apart from the old pants, creating an even bigger hole…)
The new patch is Christianity----the old garment is Judaism----and trying too sew one on the other would never work---so Jesus came to replace the old garment forever.
And as if that wouldn’t a good enough explanation, He went on to explain even further---- that a wineskin was a goatskin, sewed together at the edges, to form a watertight bag. New wine, expanded, and as it aged and fermented, would stretch the wineskin. New wine couldn’t be put into an old wineskin, that had already been stretched, or the taunt skin would burst. The Pharisees and their legalism had become rigid like old wineskins. They could not accept the fact that faith in Jesus, would not be contained or limited, by man-made ideas or rules. The wine is the Holy Spirit, and the wineskin represents believers.
The Lord came, to make us new and fit vessels, for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. We have a new life in the Lord Jesus----the Holy Spirit could not and cannot be poured into an old life----He would tear it to pieces. The Lord didn’t come to improve our old nature; He came to provide us with a new nature, capable of handling the baptism, indwelling, filling and anointing of the mighty Holy Spirit of God.
(My friend Sally, had suffered from anorexia, as a teenager----she recovered and went on to live her life---marry, birth and raise 5 children, all the while ,serving the Lord alongside her preacher husband---but that whole time Sally suffered with guilt, over having had, what she perceived to be, a yielding, to anorexia-----she tells the story of how she begged and begged for the Lord to take that guilt from her----well 30 years went be----and a lady in her church came to her and shared with Sally her worry ,that her daughter, was suffering from anorexia, and she begged Sally to give her the name of someone that she could talk to, who had experienced it----and Sally says, she honestly could not remember the name of a single person----until she thought “its me, its me” and she realized the Lord had taken her guilt away.…)
When the Lord fills the wineskins of our lives, the Holy Spirit within us, stretches us to new limits. The inner pressure swells, and expels unneeded things, and fills every aspect of our lives----the Lord fills us so fully, that every aspect of our lives, from our intellect to our emotions, is totally changed----He takes our previous experiences, our present level of growth, our intellectual formation, our cherished customs, our prejudices, the familiar and the comfortable and He tears it up and gives us a completely new heart----because it’s the only way that we are able to hold the richness and the volume of His Spirit.
III. Sabbath Instruction 2:23-27
The reason that the Pharisees were repeatedly colliding with the Lord was because they were the old wineskins----and they couldn’t handle the richness of His teaching and the glory of His presence----they were popping all over the place. That’s what brought them to the fateful collisions over the Sabbath.
Jesus and His disciples were not stealing when they picked the grain that Sabbath day----Leviticus 19:9-10 and Deternonmy23:25 say, “that the farmers were to leave the edges of the field unharvested, so that their crops could be picked by travelers and by the poor----just like walking on a sidewalk is not trespassing on private property, picking heads of grain, at the edge of a field was not stealing.
In Exodus 34:21, Moses said that God did not want crops to be harvested on the Sabbath-----He wanted them to refrain from working on that day so that the farmers wouldn’t become greedy and ignore God on that day------It also protected laborers from being overworked.
The Pharisees interpreted the action of Jesus and His disciples----picking and eating the grain, as they walked by the field, as harvesting, so they judged that Jesus and the disciples were lawbreakers. But Jesus and His friends were clearly not harvesting the grain for personal gain-----they were just looking for something to eat-----they recognized it as God’s provision---the Pharisees were so focused on the letter of the law that they missed the intent of the law, they missed it’s mercy and grace.
Jesus used the example of David and the 12 loaves of shewbread in 1 Samuel 21:1-6, to point out how ridiculous the Pharisee’s accusations were. David and his men were hungry----David knew that the bread would be out on the table----it was offered to the Lord every Sabbath, to represent the 12 tribes of Israel----when it was changed from week to week, it was given to the priests to be used for their meals----David asked for it for his men and the priest recognized that the lives of the men were more important than the weekly ritual, so he gave the bread to David to feed them.
But for the Pharisees, the Sabbath rules, had become more important than Sabbath rest---and they had become more important than nourishing the strength of a fellow Jew. Both David and Jesus understood that the main intent of God’s law, is to promote love for God first, and then promote that love, for others.
Jesus clearly says that we were not created for the Sabbath but that it was created for us----it was created for our benefit----when we take the time to focus on the Lord and to take time from our day-to-day activities to rest----then we will be restored both physically and spiritually. Christianity involves many rules that are meant to be governed by love and by grace and mercy----
Which makes love the rule above all rules----and when we allow love to be our rule of thumb---then it moves us toward personal sacrifice, discipline and responsibility. My bible commentary says that when we are confronted with rules of our own or of someone else’s making---we should ask ourselves 4 questions before we yield to them----
- Does the rule serve God’s purposes?
- Does the rule reveal God’s character?
- Does the rule help people get into God’s family?
- Does the rule line up with the scripture?
Good rules will answer all 4 questions in a positive way…we need to make sure that we don’t impose harsher restrictions on the Gospel, than the Bible requires. We have to be careful that we don’t add rules, programs or policies that make the Lord and following Him--- a burden for people. We need to make sure that we are loving people into the kingdom, not judging them there…
A wise and benevolent heavenly father, had planned for the Sabbath, to be a weekly blessing for His children. One day in 7 was to be a holiday from work----the body could rest----and the soul and the spirit could be refreshed by the worship of God. The gift of the Sabbath goes all the way back, to the creation of the world, because Almighty God, Himself, worked hard for 6 days and on the 7th one, He rested.
The Lord had created the Sabbath; He could do whatever He wanted to with it----it had always fallen on the 7th day of the week----but after Calvary, things began to happen on the 1st day of the week. Jesus rose from the dead on the 1st day; Pentecost came on the 1st day; the Holy Spirit came on the 1st day; the early Church met for worship on the 1st day----the 1st day abolished the Jewish Sabbath, because we don’t need in the same way any more--- because now our rest is not in a day anymore----it’s in a person----the Lord Jesus. We still worship one day out of 7, but hopefully it is with the right mindset and motivation----to spend time with the Lord.
- Sabbath Healing 3:1-6
The Pharisees and the scribes, as a whole, had turned against Jesus more and more, after each encounter with Him, and they had quickly become his enemies. They were jealous of His popularity, of His miracles, of the authority, in His teachings and His actions; they resented His ability to speak the scripture and put them in their place; they didn’t like the way they felt after their confrontations with Him---they felt convicted and guilty and scared…
They valued their status and their opportunity for personal gain too much to surrender themselves to Him----and they had lost sight of their responsibility as religious leaders, which was to point people to God----of all the people, the Pharisees, should have been able to see that Jesus was the Messiah-----but they refused to see it, because they were so afraid that they would lose their status and power----they couldn’t see that they had already lost it, and so much more----with their wrong attitudes exposed----they began to look for a way to get rid of Jesus. They were watching Him like hawks so they could catch Him in a wrong step----
In the synagogue that day was a man with a withered hand----a lot of bible scholars believe that he was a plant----and that the Pharisees were waiting for Him to lure Jesus into their trap…because, handicapped or diseased people didn’t usually go into the public places and especially they didn’t go into the house of worship---because their condition might have been caused by their own sin----they would have been ashamed---it was another Pharisaical rule----but we don’t know----but we do know that Jesus felt compassion for him and healed him….so it doesn’t matter----He changed that man’s life forever.
Jesus had a special place in His heart for the handicapped----and the Pharisees were smart----they played it cool, calm and collected and waited to see the drama unfold----they knew that Jesus wouldn’t be able to resist helping the man----they just never counted on Jesus being able to read their minds and call them out on it------
There were 3 things that set the Jews apart from the rest of the world; that helped to keep their racial purity and their religious purity, in spite of the fact that they were scattered far and wide:
- rite of circumcision
2.) strict dietary laws
- weekly observance of the Sabbath
The need for all 3 of these distinctions, was taken care of by the Lord----Jesus broke those barriers down, and made the way to God, accessible to everyone, through their hearts…
The Pharisees were not about to let the young prophet from Nazareth jeopardize
their survival as a nation, by a lax attitude toward the Sabbath---especially the Sabbath-----because that was such a visible thing-----they had added countless rules and regulations to the simple instruction to “remember the Sabbath and keep it holy” to insure that it couldn’t be ignored without severe penalty. (a man was supposed to stand by, and watch his neighbor’s house burn down, without lifting a finger, because it was the Sabbath; a doctor was supposed to refuse to administer aid to a child who had fallen and broken his leg, because it was the Sabbath; a man was supposed to stand on the bank and let a stranger drown, because it was the Sabbath----all of that would have been work and it was forbidden.)
The Lord wasn’t intimidated----He could have told the man to come over to Peter’s house after the service and He would take care of him privately----but He didn’t----He intended to put the Pharisees in their place---not just because they needed to be rebuked, but because----the people who were watching the exchange needed to see that Jesus’ way was the right way and that to follow what He taught and did, was a new order of things----but that it was an order that they had all been looking for--- (We should always do the right thing, not just for our sakes, but for the sakes of the people, who are watching us…we want to lead them in the right way----we never want to be responsible for leading someone away from the Lord.)
Jesus was angry about the Pharisee’s uncaring attitudes----anger itself isn’t wrong----it depends on what makes us angry and what we do with our anger----way too often we express our anger in selfish and harmful ways----in contrast Jesus expressed His anger by correcting something---He healed the man’s withered hand-----using anger to be a part of the solution and not a part of the problem is what we should do---its what Jesus did----it’s what a person with a servant’s heart would do…
The Pharisees didn’t say a word-----they just sat in silence, but it was a pregnant silence ----full of anger and malice----it was a silence of rejection and unbelief, and they were each vowing in their hearts to find a way to destroy Him…so they allied themselves with the Herodians, a group, they normally wouldn’t be caught dead talking to---and began plotting the Lord’s death.
(When Lizzie was in middle school, I was the president of the PTSA----there was a fellow officer who challenged me, at every turn, I don’t know why--- but it was even to the point, that I had to rebuke her, for being out of order at one of our school-wide meetings----it was awful----I got to where I couldn’t even speak to her hardly---until we got to high school and both of our girls played volleyball, for a man coach who was not from heaven (if you know what I mean) it wasn’t long before we saw that we had to join forces, not to destroy him, but to just help our girls survive----it was an uneasy alliance and we never became best friends, but our collusion served a purpose… )
The Herodians were a Jewish political party that hoped to restore Herod the Great’s line to the throne. They grew to hate Jesus too, because He challenged their political ambitions-----they were afraid He would gain the political power that they wanted. They were normally at odds with the Pharisees, but He had become a common enemy----so they joined forces with the Pharisees and plotted to kill Jesus, they were willing to get rid of Him, at all costs-----ironically----the Pharisees were breaking their own law, by plotting to commit murder, at all, much less on the Sabbath. When religious fanatics join forces with political extremists, there will be an explosion----and Jesus was in the very center of the controversy---and He didn’t waver---He kept walking forward---loving and teaching and healing----He never faltered, not for an instant…
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