Following Jesus: Mark 3 Series

Following Jesus (3)

Scott Bayles, pastor

Scripture: Mark 3:1-6

Blooming Grove Christian Church: 1/15/2017

If you were with us the last couple of weeks, you know we recently began a sixteen-week journey that will take us from the banks of the Jordan River to an empty tomb on the outskirts of Jerusalem, and points in between.

The Gospel of Mark will be our tour guide on this journey, as we follow in the footsteps of Jesus. Even though Mark is the shortest of the Gospels, Mark actually records more events than any of the other Gospels—making it a very fast-paced, action-packed biography of Jesus and the ideal starting point for anyone wishing to get to know Jesus a little bit better.

Last Sunday we zeroed in on the first twelve verses of Mark 2, where multitudes of adoring fans flocked to see Jesus and four determined fellas lowered a paralyzed man through a hole they dug in the roof so Jesus could heal him. Of course, Jesus used this as a teachable moment, forgiving the man’s sins and then proving His divinity by telling him, “Stand up, pick up you mat, and go home!” The crowd went crazy and stunned onlookers began praising God!

In the verses following, Jesus attends a party at Matthew’s house—a religious mixer, where saints and sinner rubbed elbows and swapped stories. When the religious elite wondered why Jesus spent time with “such scum,” Jesus reminds them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.”

Later Jesus gets into an argument with the Pharisees about fasting and another argument about picking grain on the Sabbath. That finally brings us to chapter three.

If you have a Bible or an app on your phone, open it to Mark 3:1-6. Since this is such a short story, I’d like to jump right in and read the whole passage:

Jesus went into the synagogue again and noticed a man with a deformed hand. Since it was the Sabbath, Jesus’ enemies watched him closely. If he healed the man’s hand, they planned to accuse him of working on the Sabbath.

Jesus said to the man with the deformed hand, “Come and stand in front of everyone.” Then he turned to his critics and asked, “Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?” But they wouldn’t answer him.

He looked around at them angrily and was deeply saddened by their hard hearts. Then he said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” So the man held out his hand, and it was restored! At once the Pharisees went away and met with the supporters of Herod to plot how to kill Jesus. (Mark 3:1-6 NLT)

As I read this interaction, three different perspectives and personality types stand out to me. The first is, of course, Jesus—who demonstrates a compassionate personality.

• A COMPASSIONATE PERSONALITY

It’s important to notice that the Bible says, “Jesus… noticed a man with a deformed hand” (Mark 3:1 NLT). That is to say, this guy didn’t come up to Jesus and ask for help; rather, the sight of him kindled Jesus’ concern. This is just one of the myriad examples of the love and compassion that Jesus felt for people. Jesus cared about people.

He still does.

We live in a world of hurting people. Americans buy over 3,000,000,000 Tylenol® each year. Jesus knows every headache, every fever. Emergency Room visits reached an all-time high last year of 136.3 million. Jesus knows every stroke, every seizure, and every cist. He chose to demonstrate God’s power by curing diseases, casting out demons, and healing hurts, instead of some pointless feat like moving a mountain or parting the ocean. Jesus was always on the lookout for hurting people and He was always willing to help.

Seven centuries before Jesus was born, the Bible prophesied, “the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the suffering and afflicted. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted, to announce liberty to captives, and to open the eyes of the blind. He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of God’s favor to them has come...” (Isaiah 61:1 TLB).

In Mark 2, Jesus fulfilled this prophesy by healing a paralyzed man. But he didn’t stop there. Now He’s healing a man’s disabled hand. Everywhere he went he took time to heal and to help. The word compassion itself is use at least thirteen times throughout Jesus’ four biographies (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), and every single time it was either spoken by Jesus or it was used to describe Jesus!

If we want to be more like Jesus, then we’ve got to start seeing people through his eyes—looking for helpless or hurting people and reaching out to them with the love and compassion of Christ.