#14 The Gathering Storm Series

#14 The Gathering Storm

Series: Mark

March 29, 2020

Chuck Sligh

NOTE: PowerPoint or ProPresenter presentations are available for this sermon by request at chucksligh@hotmail.com. Please mention the title of the sermon and the Bible text to help me find the sermon in my archives.

TEXT: Please turn in your Bibles to Mark 3:1-6 - "And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand. 2 And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him. 3 And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth. 4 And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace. 5 And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other. 6 And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him."

INTRODUCTION

Well, we’re still in lockdown because of the coronavirus. Hopefully too many of you are not climbing the walls yet.

JOKE: In the midst of all the bad news, I do have one bit of good news: WHO, which stands for the World Health Organization—WHO—has announced that dogs cannot contract COVID-19.

Dogs previously held in quarantine can now be released.

So, to be clear, WHO let the dogs out.

JOKE: I saw a meme this week that made me laugh. It showed a picture of a T-Rex, which as you know, had tiny little arms and hands. The caption for the meme said: “Couldn’t wash hands. Is now extinct.”

So, let’s all be sure to cooperate and keep our hands washed. Hopefully, with a lot of patience and a little humor, we can get through this thing safely.

In our series through the Gospel of Mark, from time to time it’s important to get our bearings and see the big picture of where we are in Mark’s narrative. Mark begins by laying the foundation that Jesus is the Son of God by telling several incidents that begin to reveal who Jesus is. Chapter 1 describes a twenty-four-hour period in the ministry of Jesus where He preaches the Gospel, heals the sick and casts out demons. Chapter 2 sets the stage for the coming storm of opposition Jesus would face that would lead to His crucifixion by relating five dramatic stories of confrontation between Jesus and the religious leaders of Israel:

• In verses 1-12 Jesus forgives sins and heals a paralytic man, earning Him the ire of the religious mafia as a blasphemer, for it is blasphemy to claim for oneself a prerogative reserved only for God.

• In verses 13-17, by calling Matthew into his circle of disciples and hanging out with tax collectors and sinners, Jesus is accused of associating with the dregs of society instead of with good and upright people, a big no-no with the Pharisees.

• In verses 18-22, Jesus shows contempt for man-made religious rules about fasting that were put on a par with God’s Law, and practically superseded God’s Law, and His defiance of their rules enraged the Pharisees and scribes.

• Then in verses 23-28, Jesus flaunted silly man-made Sabbath rules of these self-righteous religious leaders and went a step further by claiming to be the “Lord of the Sabbath,” confirming their charge of blasphemy.

It is in this context that Mark’s fifth story is set, which seals Jesus doom, and leads ultimately to our redemption through His death on the cross.

I. Verses 1-2 set the stage for our story. – “And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there who had a withered hand. 2 And they watched him, to see if He would heal him on the sabbath; so that they might accuse him.”

Jesus again enters the synagogue on the Sabbath. This was a courageous act, the act of someone who refused to seek for safety and ease and who was determined to stare down a dangerous situation.

In the synagogue that day was a man with a “withered hand.” The Greek word used seems to indicate a condition the man was not born with. Most interpreters think that because of some disease or injury, his hand lost functionality, causing its muscles to atrophy and shrivel up over time.

Illus. – When I was in high school in Okinawa one of my classmates had had polio as a child, causing him to lose the use of his legs completely. He could walk on his hands as easily as I can walk on my legs, and he did so frequently to get around, giving him extraordinarily huge arm muscles. But his legs and feet were thin as rails whose muscles had withered up and never grown, requiring him to use hand crutches to get around on foot.