What Is Most Important Series

What is most important?

Jeffery Anselmi / General

Criticizing Jesus: The Words of Jesus / Sabbath-breaking Man; Love / Mark 2:23–3:6

Jesus shows us that the law should encourage us to treat others well.

INTRODUCTION

• Have you ever got so caught up in procedures and rules that you lost sight of what you were doing and why?

• The nation of Israel did just that.

• The nation got so wrapped up in the rules that they lost sight of their mission.

• Once we cannot see the forest for all the trees, we lose sight of what is essential in life.

• Once we forget what is essential in life, everything we do gets messed up.

• When we turn following Jesus into a bunch of rules, those rules can be used as an excuse to divide people, judge, and look down on people.

• The film Mississippi Burning (directed by Alan Parker [Orion Pictures, 1988]) reveals a world in which people who should know better refuse to do the right thing and help others.

• Their inaction often results from fear of reprisals from their peers or even the authorities.

• The social pressure to conform is so great that when a woman finally breaks down and tells a police officer about a crime she’s aware of, several people go to her house, beat her up, and destroy her property.

• One of these people is her husband.

• When a society is dominated by laws and rules that meticulously lay out exactly how you are to act, and even when you are to act in specific ways, it can create a culture of fear.

• The world Jesus entered was one in which rules governed every aspect of life: what you ate, what types of clothes you could wear, whom you associated with, when you were allowed to work, and when you were required to rest.

• In the finale of our Criticizing Jesus, the words of Jesus series, we will see yet another example of how Jesus got in trouble with people because they lost sight of what was important, what God valued.

• God has always been about loving people.

• What Jesus did on the cross for us was the ultimate example of how that love looks.

• Jesus was a disrupter, so unsurprisingly, he received criticism throughout his ministry.

• The criticism we’re looking at in the message today is found in Mark 2:23–3:6.

• In Mark 2, Jesus and his disciples walk through the grainfields, and as they walk, they pluck heads of grain to eat.

• The Pharisees see this, and because this action is classified as “work” on a day when no work is to be done, they ask Jesus, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”

• Also, on the Sabbath, Jesus enters a synagogue and sees a man with a “withered hand” there.

• The congregants watch Jesus intently to see what he will do.

• So intense is their scrutiny that Jesus feels compelled to defend his actions (Mark 3:4).

• The criticism comes down to the behavior of Jesus and his disciples on that sacred day known as the Sabbath.

• They are guilty of working on a day when no work should be performed.

• Remember that Jesus NEVER sinned, He NEVER violated a single one of GOD’S commands, He did not adhere to the man-made additions to God’s Law.

• The religious leaders took a simple 10 Commandments and added another 603 to those ten (for a total of 613).

• When you think about it, the more laws, the less freedom one enjoys.

• The 603 additions to God’s Law made following God more of a burden than a joy.

• Today we are going to focus our attention to Mark 3:1-6 as we see how Jesus, once again, offers us a glimpse into the heart of God.

• Let’s turn to Mark 3:1-3 to begin.

Mark 3:1–3 (NET 2nd ed.)

1 Then Jesus entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand.

2 They watched Jesus closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they could accuse him.

3 So he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Stand up among all these people.”

SERMON

I. The test.

• Before this event was recorded, Jesus had another run-in with the religious leaders when He and his disciples were walking through a grain field on the Sabbath, and His disciples were eating some of the grain in the field.

• By the way, what they did was lawful; they were not stealing.

• The Law allowed one to pick grain in a field to eat, so long as one did not use tools to harvest grain.