“Conflict in Galilee: A Controversial Christ”
Mark 2:1-3:6
OPENING VIDEO: “Jesus Intro”
The church of today has tried everything imaginable to try to portray Jesus in a positive light; to present her Lord as a gentle and nice-kind-of-guy, who is accessible and accepting of everything, the Good Shepherd who accepts everyone and who never rocks the boat… doesn’t stir the pot or upset the apple-cart… A gentle, meek Mr. Rogers-type Savior…
…I mean, don’t we want everyone to come here and have a positive, inspirational, uplifting experience?
…yet the Gospels actually portray Jesus in a more complex light. Jesus offends everyone! He is controversial and embroiled in conflict with a lot of people!
…because at some point—eventually—everyone realizes that it’s not about them. And when that happens—people get mad. I mean, that’s part of maturity: I am here, this church is here, and it’s neither for or about me, and at some point in my discipleship, in following Jesus, I need to see how I fit into this thing that’s happening that’s bigger than me, and that church is not for or about me, and I’m going to have to come to terms with the fact that Jesus is different than almost everybody believes…
VIDEO ILLUSTRATION (humor): “Jesus—Different”
I want us to see what Mark wants us to see in his Gospel; and the 1st thing we really discover about Jesus is that He brings conflict and controversy… Let’s deal with that now…
READ: Mark 3:1-6
Mark begins his Gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God—right from the start—with that image of discipleship; he never even pretends that following Jesus will be a big blessing for me, personally, or that Jesus’ followers are going to have it easy, or that being a Christian is safe or even sane…
…after the introduction and showing the calling of the disciples—they leave their nets, jump out of the boat, walk-away from the old lives (from tax collecting booths and commercial ventures and sinning—and after showing that Messiah comes to baptize in the Holy Spirit, and giving us the “table of contents” (so to speak) in chapter 1, Mark’s Gospel of Jesus Christ actually begins with CONFLICT and shows that the Christ/Messiah / Son-of-God is a very CONTROVERSIAL person. The Son of God, the Messiah, is not here to smoothe things over or straighten our ways… but Messiah came to uncover, reveal, and to shine truth and light into dark places and that is not what anyone wanted… Not what they expected…
Jesus offended a lot of folks then… And Jesus offends a lot of people now…
Mark’s entire Gospel—this whole document, the 2nd “evangelist” Mark—hinges on this fact. Jesus is highly controversial; Jesus is going to bring conflict; this is what Jesus meant when He said, “I came not for peace but to bring a sword” that would cut the strings of sin and set you and me free from sin and death… but also divide-&-distinguish good & evil… Jesus’ sword exposes darkness; it reveals what so many of us wish we could hide…
POINT #1 (of 3)…
1) Peace with God = War with the World.
There’s this biblical saying: “Friendship with the world is enmity with God.” Are you a friend of God?
If you have not been offended by Jesus lately… May I offer-up for you something that you need: You need to know that the Christ is controversial and your discipleship will frequently bring you into conflict despite your quest for peace; healthy people don’t look-for controversy… The world’s religions are almost always trying to contrive a “peace-&-harmonious-spiritual-balance” in their rituals & philosophies… But healthy disciples of Jesus don’t avoid conflict & controversy at the cost of truth, either! …because friendship with God means being an enemy of the world… Onward Christian soldiers!
Mark is incredibly concerned with presenting the Christ/Messiah in the proper light… Hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God means dealing with this:
POINT #2…
2) Jesus’ Truth-Teaching Brought Conflicts & Controversies.
Jesus’ truth should set men free; but according to Mark, it also revealed their slavery to sin…
…Mark’s Gospel begins with a series of 5 conflicts & controversies; we call them “conflict narratives,” i.e., short snippets of the Jesus tradition that had been handed-down for 3 decades until written-down for you & me by Mark the evangelist; but Mark does not add a lot of editorial commentary on these conflicts & controversies; not a lot of extra detail; Mark is not crafting a good story-line or creating narrative interest here or sustaining interest or building suspense for the sake of a good read… He just sets-forth the unadorned facts…
…Mark simply re-creates (re-tells) these events, these controversies, in order to make intelligible the words of Jesus which both informed the church… and silenced Jesus’ adversaries. At the same time, by actually documenting these events as such, Mark is discipling the church (remember: Mark’s Gospel is a “discipleship manual” or “how-to textbook on discipleship that he intended for the early church to use in doing the Great Commission), and Mark is doing for the second-generation of disciples what 1st-hand witnesses had been doing for almost 3 decades: telling the stories that would build-up the church, discipling them, empowering them to believe in Jesus, to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and to pass-on to others a witness or testimony of Jesus the Messiah, God’s Son…
And I wonder: are we doing with this text what Mark hoped & prayed we would do? Are we making disciples?
If you don’t deal with what is happening with this text/document… you’re missing the power of the Gospel… Please let me help you with this… I want the church to get this…
After establishing the basis for the Gospel in chapter 1, Mark launches right-in to the fact that the Messiah brings a truth that is incredibly difficult for religious people (& unrepentant sinners)… But this truth is wonderfully refreshing for sinners who recognize that they need God. Such people are blessed who are “poor in spirit,” or “recognize their need of God’s grace.” But Mark shows that sinners do not know how to connect with God, because the religion of Jesus’ day had become too cumbersome, too complex, too legalistic; so Jesus simplifies and speaks God’s truth…
(the following point, 2a & 2b, were dealt with creatively in the sermon, but can be preached in alternative ways)
a. …And Jesus and His Disciples Were Constantly Challenged by the Interpreters of Their Tradition. Our text says, “They were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus,” and that phrase occurs several times throughout…
i. Openly Challenged:
1. 2:16, “Why does He eat with publicans?”
2. 2:18, “Your disciples are NOT fasting!”
3. 2:24, “Look! (Jesus & His disciples) are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath!”
ii. Covertly Challenged:
1. 2:6-7, “He blasphemes!” (they were thinking “to themselves” because “who can forgive sins but God alone?”)
2. 3:2, “They were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on (break) the Sabbath.”
They were offended by Jesus’ words and by his actions. What Jesus was doing in His so-called “new covenant” was ushering-in something new that no one really understood. And that went against their religio-moral convictions.
Even though this Galilean unit (Mark 2:1-3:6ff.), with the disclosure of Jesus’ controversial ministry, occupies the leading edge of Jesus’ Markan ministry; it occupies an important place in Mark’s Gospel… The fact that Jesus was controversial and shrouded in conflict is absolutely critical for Mark… And we really need to understand WHY that is so important…
…We discover later-on that Mark’s outline is balanced in the 2nd-half of his book by another series of 5 controversies in Jerusalem (chapters 11:27-12:37). We need to see the centrality for our discipleship of the fact that if we preach Jesus… if He is our center… if the heart-&-vision of Christ for His church is to be realized in our discipleship in our church… We’re probably going to offend a lot of people, too, and we need to take Mark’s pattern for discipleship seriously…
Mark is implicitly asking us a question today: is there any religious stuff that we are doing, perpetuating, or accepting—even traditional churchy-programming—our traditions!—even things and sacraments and rituals and events/activities/programs/“ministries”—that do not lend themselves to evangelism and to discipleship? What happens around here that does not lead to the cross? …that does nothing tangible for the kingdom? …that does nothing to bring someone directly into the presence of Jesus the Messiah? Is there ever a moment in our churchy-life when we’re not hearing Jesus address someone: “Stand here publicly in the midst of our assembled congregation so you can put the power & grace & love of God on display for the world to see”??? And would you be offended if things actually got right in-step with Jesus? Would you—like so many in Mark’s Gospel account—be offended or feel scandalized if things changed so that we were actually right in step with the Messiah… if it suddenly became NOT about you… If church was not for you but for Jesus? For the sake of the lost? Would that offend you?
b. When God Is the Focus… Conflict! When Jesus’ ministry is Our Ministry: Controversy! The Messianic Mission Then and Now:
The following sub-points, in my opinion, occupy the most important part of this sermon: showing Jesus’ mission/ministry then, seen in the light of conflict, and now…)
1. Jesus alone has the authority to forgive sins. (2:6-7) It is imperative for the Messiah to deal with sin and sinners… Jesus’ incarnation (God-in-the-flesh) was basically a Holy/Divine Intrusion of a radically new situation that provoked sustained conflict with the “old” traditions & situation that was the historical occasion for the decision that Jesus must be put to death.
2. Jesus calls to discipleship and to ministry those that the world deems unfit. (2:14, the calling of Levi bar Alphaeus, the wicked tax collector)
Mark is very concerned to illustrate the radical character of Jesus’ calling; and that it is the nature of the call, rather than the name & b/g and social status & reputation of the one called… the nature of the calling is of primary importance for Mark. Jesus was calling individuals who were classified among the vilest of men/women; among his followers were those who were detested everywhere! Levi and those like him were outcasts; Levi was a social misfit whose occupation disqualified him from giving a testimony in court or from witnessing in a hearing, or from even entering into a synagogue—he’d been excommunicated—and it was unlawful for him even to engage in a conversation with normal people; he was a disgrace to his family, and there are records of his kind being disowned by their family because of his own choices and his own greed and corrupt moral character and Jesus comes along and says to HIM: follow me! And Jesus breaks the Law of Moses to sit down with him and to eat with him and with his kind…
3. Jesus Eats with Sinners. (2:15-17, “Many sinners were eating with Him…”) In Rev. 3:20 Jesus says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come in and eat with him and he with Me.” It is so important to hear, to open your heart, and especially to feast with the Messiah. Jesus compares His 2nd coming to a great wedding banquet, because this idea of eating with sinners is HUGE—Psalm 23 says, “Thou prepares a table before me…” and I love that Jesus was accused of being “The friend of sinners,” and that is part of Jesus’ Messianic mission now…
4. Jesus Teaches That There Is a New Situation; A New Spiritual and Social Situation. (2:18-22) …Bridal metaphor; new garment; new wine. In these metaphors, Jesus is saying that His new thing is good, and well-designed; but the old thing is bad: the old-school tradition of fasting has no place in the new scheme of the Messiah (NOTE: He does not condemn fasting, but the heart-&-meaning behind it had grown old and inappropriate, because 2: 20b reveals that fasting can/will have merit for those who follow Him); Jesus says the old garment is tattered & not even worth patching-up; the worn-out/damaged wineskins are not suitable for the fermenting/fresh new wine! And He says that it is inappropriate to try to fuse the 2 things together. The Messianic Mission today is the same: the old must pass away; the new thing—Jesus’ controversial mission—that is what we need, now as much as in Mark’s day…
5. Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath. Mark 2:28 says, “…Lord even of the Sabbath,” i.e., the entire Law/Prophets/Writings, all of the OT and traditions and interpretations and rules & religious sentiment and imagine the cultic system of sacrifice and the elaborate apparatus of the priesthood the temple and…and…and everything-else that was held to be high, holy & noble: Jesus says He is more than that. He equates himself with God Almighty… The Messiah is Lord, and His messianic mission today IS to be Lord of all. Phil. 2 says, “At the name of Jesus every knee should bow & every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father,” and a day is coming when that will happen; God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven when THAT happens in our time.
So… The Decision Is Made: Destroy Jesus! 3:1-6 summarize the preceding 5 conflict narratives… The healing of the man with the withered hand forms the “punctuation mark” or emphatic force/focus to Mark’s series of 5 conflict narratives. At this point we see that the old-school religious mindset had been exposed, that they were far from God and doing a good job of hiding that from everyone… But not from Jesus… They feel exposed… The gig is up… And they were terribly upset with Jesus! …but look at 3:5,
“And when he (Jesus) had looked round-about on them with anger, being grieved at the hardening of their heart—it was about them! …and not about that poor soul, not even about God!—Jesus said unto the man, ‘stretch forth your hand’ and he stretched it forth; and his hand was restored.”
This is the high point of the section, and it is not actually about the healing of the man; don’t get caught-up in the miracle (Jesus’ miracles always point toward something greater, theologically astounding/God’s character). Rather, Mark’s focus—and what matters for our discipleship today as well as Mark’s 1st readers—the literary focus is on the conflict between Jesus and His adversaries who are silent before His question!
Jesus asked a question in 3:4, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good… (is it lawful) to heal…? Is it lawful to restore life?” What was their answer?
They did not answer…
They break their own Halakhik Sabbath rules by NOT answering!
Jesus did not mistake the silence of His opponents for agreement that the man should be healed. They still believed the man should’ve remained in his disabled state; maybe they brought him there to the synagogue just to trap Jesus, or maybe he’d been begging there—either way they were simply using him, he was a tool in their self-absorbed concern to accuse Jesus…
…and in their concern for legal detail they had forgotten & missed the mercy and grace shown by God to all humankind when He made provision for the Sabbath! The Sabbath, like people—like the withered-hand guy—was nothing more than an excuse to try to mediate & prostitute the free grace God had provided; they led the people to believe they were slaves to the Sabbath… In the name of “holiness” or religious self-serving piety they had become blinded to both the purposes of God and to the sufferings of people. And Jesus was deeply disturbed—angered!— and deeply saddened with a godly sorrow for those religious men—they were God’s people, of course—but they could not rejoice in the simple tokens of God’s goodness to all humanity…
…they weren’t rejoicing in God’s Sabbath; and they weren’t delighted by Jesus’ messianic mission revealed in the healings and in restoring what was broken & seeking/finding what was lost…
…So in restoring the man’s hand Jesus demonstrated what it means to “do good” and “to preserve life” (or to heal) on the Sabbath. The accusers were doing evil and “killing” on the Sabbath. As Lord of the Sabbath Jesus delivers both the Sabbath and people from a state of distress…
3) It Was Inevitable for Jesus To Experience Conflict from the Moment He Decided To Submit To the Will of the Father…
I am fascinated by Jesus’ commandment to the man with the withered hand. In Mark 3:3 Jesus said to him, “Stand up in front of everyone.”
…because in this scene God’s provision for grace and rest—the Sabbath—as well as God’s heart of compassion and love for the disabled and those with special needs—all of that is being put on trial!
…And the religion and all its accoutrements—summarized in the view of Sabbath-keeping—as well as God’s very nature, divine character and theological attributes… ALL of that, Truth and reality itself is being put on trial. Jesus says, “Stand here in the midst of everyone.” WHY? Because healing, & restoring life, and forgiveness of sins, and calling disciples, and eating with the likes of you & me—that is the Messianic Mission and I have to say…
…this withered-hand-guy is you and it is me, and for some reason Jesus comes and wants to set us up in the midst of this town in this day-&-age and He says, “Stretch-forth your hand” (or expose your need, then the healing grace & presence of Jesus--it's a testimony-thing!), and those withered hands become winning hands, and God’s grace and mercy is put on a public display thru you and this is a portrait of the church…
…How would you like to be that guy??? The guy who, later-on would say, “Hey, look at me, look at my perfect hand… Jesus healed me and that got him killed!” Can you stand-up and say, “Jesus healed me”? And can you acknowledge what it took for Him to do that?
BENEDICTION: May God’s holiness-in-love be put on display—very publicly, openly, in the sight of everyone—through you, through His healing of you, so that His purposes and saving grace will be undeniably experienced and witnessed by all. And may our desire for truth and grace be greater than our fear of conflict!
