GOSPEL OF MARK: GOD’S SERVANT IN ACTION
LORD OF THE SABBATH
A. Mark 2:23-24 (READ)
1. Over the years STATES and CITIES have had some very strange LAWS on their BOOKS.
a. In Florida, a woman may be fined for falling asleep under a hair dryer.
b. In Indiana, citizens are not allowed to attend a movie within four hours after eating garlic. (That
seems like a pretty good law to me.)
c. In Iowa, a man with a moustache is forbidden from kissing a woman in public.
d. In Moline, Illinois, ice-skating at the RIVERSIDE POND during the months of June and August
is strictly prohibited. . . . . . (You can ice-skate in July all you want.)
e. In Normal, Illinois, it’s against the law to make a face at a dog.
f. In Wisconsin, it’s against the law to serve apple pie in restaurants unless there is cheese on top.
(Anything to boost the cheese industry in Wisconsin.)
g. And, it’s probably a good thing that I’m not a preacher in Nicholas County, West Virginia because no member of the clergy is allowed to tell jokes or humorous stories from the pulpit. (Or, maybe
that wouldn’t apply to my weird sense of humor.)
COMMENT:
I am pretty sure that these LAWS are not ENFORCED today (although, I wouldn’t take chances with the GARLIC law). However, at one time STATE and CITY legislators thought these LAWS were important enough to be put on the BOOKS, and were probably ENFORCED.
2. Jesus had to contend with something similar when it came to what was known as the Sabbath Day laws.
a. The Sabbath Day Law as was given to Moses by God on Mount Sinai was the 4th LAW of the Ten
Commandments- Exodus 20:8-11 (READ).
b. The Hebrew word for Sabbath is “Shabbat”, meaning: “to cease, to end, to rest.”
COMMENT:
The Sabbath Day was given to the Jewish people as a Day of Rest from their LABOR and to focus on the GRACIOUSNESS of God. It was associated with God’s CREATION of the Universe
in six days and resting on the seventh, which is our SATURDAY.
c. The Sabbath was a GIFT from God meant to RELIEVE the BURDEN of MAN and BEAST.
B. However, the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law, to ensure that no one VIOLATED the Sabbath Day Law, added 39 CLARIFICATIONS, with each having multiple SUBDIVISIONS, making for over 1500
PROHIBITIONS on the Sabbath.
1. Here are some of the stipulations that were added to the Sabbath Day Law by these Jewish Leaders:
a. It was unlawful to search your clothes for fleas, or even to kill one if landed on your arm.
b. If an ox fell into a ditch on the Sabbath, it could be pulled out, but if a man fell in, he had to stay.
c. If a tailor accidentally carried a needle with him, he was in violation of the Law because that was
the tool of his TRADE.
d. If someone died on the Sabbath, the body could be washed and anointed, but couldn’t be moved.
e. If a fire was burning in a room, a person can gather clay vessels and stack them to help keep the
fire from spreading, but he could not put the fire out.
2. The Sabbath Day Law became inundated by LEGALISTIC demands turning God’s “Day of Rest”
into a Day of Slavery.
COMMENT:
All of the TRADITIONS and MAN-MADE-RULES that the Pharisees BOUND upon the people were an attempt to “PLAY IT SAFE.” They were so afraid of DISOBEYING God’s LAW that they would CREATE their own LAWS (traditions) and surround God’s LAW with them. These TRADITIONS were known as “SEYAG,” a Hebrew word meaning “FENCE.”
3. Jesus came TEARING DOWN these FENCES and setting people FREE from LEGALISM.
-John 8:36- “If the Son of man sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
MESSAGE:
I. JESUS VS. LEGALISM
A. Picking GRAIN on the Sabbath- Mark 2:23-28 (READ)
1. The Pharisees and Teachers of the Law are ramping up their ATTACKS against Jesus—they are just
LOOKING for something of which to ACCUSE Him.
a. So, when they see Christ’s disciples plucking GRAIN on the SABBATH, immediately they cry
“FOUL”. “Why are your disciples doing what is UNLAWFUL on the Sabbath?”
b. Luke records that “the disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands
and eat the kernels”- Luke 6:1.
COMMENT:
As people were TRAVELING from one destination to the next, it was quite common to cut through FIELDS to get to where you wanted to go. While foreign to us, if you were HUNGRY it was okay to PLUCK the ripe grain, RUB it in your hands to BREAK open the husks, and then EAT
the kernels.
2. This was perfectly legit under the Law of Moses.
a. Deuteronomy 23:25- “If you enter your neighbor’s grainfield, you may pick kernels with your
hands, but you must not put a sickle to his standing grain.”
COMMENT:
I wouldn’t try that today. Your neighbors just might FROWN on you cutting through their BACK YARD and STOPPING at their GARDEN to PLUCK a few EARS of CORN. However, this practice in Israel served as a public welfare system so no one would go hungry.
b. The Pharisees are not concern with the disciples eating the GRAIN but with them PLUCKING and THRESHING the grain with their HANDS, which they believe constitutes WORK on the
SABBATH.
3. Notice that Jesus doesn’t AGREE nor DISAGREE with their INTERPRETATION of the LAW.
a. He simply appeals to Scripture to show there is biblical evidence that HUMAN NEED transcends
RELIGIOUS RITUAL.
COMMENT:
Jesus refers to 1 Samuel 21 when “David, on the run from King Saul who was out to KILL him, went to the town of Nob and entered the House of God to find FOOD for he and his men who were STARVING. The PRIEST said that he didn’t have any ordinary food but did have CONSECRATED BREAD, which the LAW forbade anyone to eat but PRIESTS, and gave it to David and his men.”
b. Now, King David was deeply respected by the Jewish Religious Leaders, and yet Jesus pointed out that he and his men BROKE the LAW by eating CONSECRATED BREAD that was meant
only for the PRIESTS, all because they were HUNGRY.
COMMENT:
Jesus reasons that if God overlooked David’s clear violation of His written Law to care for his and his men’s immediate need of STARVATION, then surely Jesus and His disciples can disobey a MAN-MADE RULE to satisfy their HUNGER. God is more concerned with meeting people’s NEEDS than with protecting TRADITION.
3. Then Jesus reminds the Pharisees of what the Sabbath Law is all about.
a. He said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath”- v. 27.
b. They had taken a Law that God had given to His people to RELIEVE BURDENS and had made
it so BURDENSOME that no one could live under it.
c. The SABBATH became more important than the MAN, but Jesus the “Lord of the Sabbath” came to CHANGE that.
B. Healing on the Sabbath- Mark 3:1-6 (READ)
1. Upon entering the Synagogue on the Sabbath, as had been His practice, Jesus notices a man with a
SHRIVELED HAND.
a. Knowing of Jesus compassion for hurting people, the Pharisees begin to wonder if Jesus is going
to BREAK the Sabbath by RESTORING this man’s hand.
b. Luke records that Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked the man to STAND UP in front
of everyone.
COMMENT:
I believe that Jesus wants the Pharisees to see that this is a PERSON and not a THING to be used as PLOY in their LEGALISTIC scheme.
3. Jesus asked, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath; to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?”
a. Jesus is trying to help these RELIGIOUS LEADERS to realize that they have EXPLOITED the Sabbath that was meant for the GOOD of people and made it so OPPRESSIVE. But they don’t
SAY a WORD.
b. Mark 4:5- “Jesus looked around at them in anger and deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out, and his hand was
completely restored.”
c. Three was no concern whatsoever for this poor man; only for their LEGALISTIC RULES.
4. And now the PLOTTING begins to get RID of this RADICAL RABBI once and for all.
II. LEGALISM TODAY
A. Although Christians are not under the Sabbath Day Law, sadly there are still LEGALISTIC demands
placed on us by those who try to BIND their regulations and traditions on us. (LEGALISM IS
BINDING ON OTHERS WHAT GOD HAS NOT BOUND)
1. While growing up in the Church of Christ, there were so many LEGALISTIC RULES in place.
a. The most obvious, we were taught that it was SIN to worship with an INSTRUMENT because of the misapplication of Ephesians 5:19 that states: “We are to make music in our hearts”,
not on an organ, piano or guitar.
b. We were not allowed to celebrate Christmas and Easter as spiritual holidays, but only as secular
holidays, because of a misapplication of Galatians 4:10 where Paul rebuked the Galatian
church for “Observing special days, months, seasons, and years.”
c. Because of the misapplication of 1 Tim. 2:12 where Paul said that a “woman is not permitted to have authority over a man”, women were not allowed to lead prayer, lead worship, sing a
solo, serve communion, or serve a ministry position that also included men.
d. Some churches of Christ would not allow a KITCHEN and FELLOWSHIP HALL in their building because of the misapplication of 1 Corinthians 11:22 that states: “Don’t you have
homes to eat and drink in?”
COMMENT:
I am sure that the Independent Christian Church had their share of LEGALISTIC RULES and
TRADITIONS as well.
2. Now, there is nothing wrong with TRADITIONS, as long as our TRADITIONS do not become
LAW and we CONDEMN those who do not adhere to our TRADITIONS.
a. Sunday School is a TRADITION.
COMMENT:
There is no Scripture that mentions the early church as having Sunday School. There is nothing WRONG with this TRADITION. In fact, it can be very BENEFICIAL to one’s spiritual growth. But if we CONDEMNED other churches for not having a Sunday School or condemned
individual Christians for not attending Sunday School, then it becomes LEGALISM.
b. Christmas Eve Candlelight Service is a TRADITION.
c. Fellowship Meals.
d. Vacation Bible School.
e. Small Group Bible Studies.
B. Prior to these two Sabbath Day incidents, Jesus taught that the GOSPEL would REPLACE the OLD
LAW- Mark 2:21-22 (READ)
1. Jesus came to USHER in the “NEW” not to UNITE with the OLD.
a. John 1:17- “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth through Jesus Christ.”
COMMENT:
Jesus fulfilled the Law of Moses by living under its RULES and REGULATIONS PERFECTLY, and, therefore, becoming the PERFECT SACRIFICE for our SINS.
b. “At the death of Jesus Christ, the LAW with its COMMANDMENTS and REGULATIONS
was ABOLISHED and NAILED to the CROSS”- Ephesians 2:15 and Colossians 2:14.
(We no longer live under the Law of Moses, but under the “Law of Christ” – Galalains 6:2).
2. Jesus uses two examples to ILLUSTRATE how the GOSPEL and the LAW cannot CO-EXIST.
a. New PATCH on an old GARMENT.
COMMENT:
Any seamstress will tell you that if you took a NEW patch of CLOTH and SEWED it on an OLD GARMENT, it will SHRINK upon washing and TEAR both the PATCH and the GARMENT.
Jesus did not come to PATCH UP the Old Law, but to FULFILL it through His perfect OBEDIENCE and then ABOLISH it by His SACRIFICE upon the CROSS.
b. New WINE in old WINESKINS.
COMMENT:
An old WINESKIN could not STRETCH any farther than it already had. However, if you put new FERMENTING wine in an old WINESKIN it would BURST and ruin both the WINE and the WINESKIN.
3. Jesus is making the POINT that “it would be DANGEROUS to try to CONTAIN the NEW, FERMENTING WINE of the GOSPEL of the Kingdom of God in the OLD WINESKINS of
RELIGIOUS TRADITION.”
a. The WINE represents the BUBBLING, CHURNING GOSPEL.
COMMENT:
It is the ever-arriving-yet-never-fully-realized-on-Earth KINGDOM of GOD. It is the POWERFUL PRESENCE of the Spirit of God among BELIEVERS.
b. The WINESKINS represents the points of CONTACT between the GOSPEL and CULTURE.
COMMENT:
They are the MINISTRIES and PROGRAMS we implement to help the church MEET the
NEEDS of people.
They are the ever-stretching, ever-changing PROCEDURES used by the church to
ENHANCE our WORSHIP—our PRAISE to God and EDIFICATION of the WORSHIPPER.
They are the INNOVATIVE IDEAS that are put into ACTION to help make the MESSAGE of God RELEVANT to our TIME and PLACE.
c. Yet, there are those within our churches who are under the DELUSION that when any CHANGE is implemented in the church, we are CHALLENGING the TEACHINGS of the
Bible.
COMMENT:
Therefore, we actually have a BUILT-IN RESISTANCE to anything NEW that we haven’t EXPERIENCED.
4. The PHARISEES were INFLEXIBLE—they had their ways of doing things and they didn’t want
to do anything DIFFERENT.
a. Jesus is teaching that the GOSPEL is forever FERMENTING
COMMENT:
When you put the ever-fermenting GOSPEL in OLD WINESKINS of TRADITIONALISM and LEGALISM, you lose the EFFECTIVENESS of the GOSPEL to the WORLD. TIRED FORMS will not work with an EXUBERANT MESSAGE.
b. The GOSPEL MESSAGE never CHANGES, but METHODS must CHANGE if we are to
REACH the LOST in the 21st Century.
OBJECT LESSON:
BOTTLE OF WATER, OLD POTTERY PITCHER, PLASTIC
PITCHER, WATER BOTTLE, and BABY BOTTLE.
CONCLUSION:
AREN’T YOU GLAD THAT WE ARE UNDER GRACE, AND NOT UNDER LAW?
