Mark 4:21-25 — Burning Baskets & Beds

Mark 4:21-25

And he said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” 
And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

Comments:

In reading this passage, Jesus’ question in v.21 jumps out at me, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? What a great rhetorical question! No one would ever answer “Yes” to this one. If a lamp was put under the bed or the basket it would have one of two results. The first possibility is that the lamp would go out and would no longer shine forth any light. The second possibility is that the lamp would catch the basket or the bed on fire. How appropriate to apply this image to the Christian life and witness of the Gospel. If a Christian tries to hide the light of the Gospel in their life, they will either quench the Spirit and smother the new life within them; or, they will find that they can no longer contain themselves—as Jeremiah learned long ago,

Then I said, "I will not make mention of Him, Nor speak anymore in His name." But His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, And I could not. (Jeremiah 20:9)

Which will it be? It is a fearful thing to tempt the Lord in this matter. However, God knows the hearts of his people and I believe that he will gently blow on their lives until they burst into the flame of holy, faith-filled, zeal!

Jesus continued his teaching by pointing out that nothing was going to be hidden. He also continued to encourage those who have "an ear to hear" to do so. Do I have an ear to hear today? Can I apply the parables to my life honestly and with a heart desiring to be more like Jesus, to trust and obey? We must be careful to listen in order to understand correctly. For it is with the measure that we really hear what God is saying that he will speak to us and guide us. Here, the context of the measure has nothing to do with material things, but with a heart that is carefully tuned in to God's station.

v.25 "For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him."

There is a further application of the lamp analogy and the parable's purpose. If we have a burning lamp the Lord will cause it to continue to burn brighter and brighter as we follow him faithfully. If we have a lamp that is not burning any longer but has been tucked away under any convenient basket or bed, then even that lamp will be taken away from us. Why should God waste a perfectly good lamp? Further, how could anyone sleep with a lamp under their bed? Well, that is what too many seem to do, although they really shouldn’t sleep too soundly knowing that they have to give an account before God.

These parables remind me of the 1970s short film Music Box. While we might not be confronted by singing angels in the middle of the night, I am thankful that transformation is not something that we can hide for long!

Lord, if I have not been displaying my lamp appropriately then please cause it to burst into flame, rather than go out, that the wraps of this world might be burned away and my testimony might provide light and heat to many.

Mark 4:10-20 — Hearing Tests & Heart Checks

Mark 4:10-13 "Hearing Tests"

And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. 
And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that

“they may indeed see but not perceive,
    and may indeed hear but not understand,
lest they should turn and be forgiven.”

And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?

Comments:

The disciples asked Jesus about the parable of the sower. They picked out this parable, in particular, this day. In answer to their question, Jesus explained why he spoke in parables. Those who desired to hear and understand would do so (v.24), but those who didn't want to hear what Jesus was saying would not understand his message. They would not repent and return to the God who loved them. At this point, Jesus was committed to the cross and God was committed to sending him for the salvation of many. There would be no national change of heart of the part of Israel until after the crucifixion of Christ (at the earliest). The parables were a filter to weed out the insincere and impenitent. Jesus taught the multitudes, he ministered to all who came, but, he did not "throw his pearls before swine." (Matt. 7:6)

Mark 4:14-20  "Heart Checks"

The sower sows the word.

¹⁵ And these are the ones along the path, where the word        
               is sown:

            when they hear,    Satan immediately comes

                                                   and takes away the word
       that is sown in them.

¹⁶ And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who,

           when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. ¹⁷ 

                      And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then,

                                              when tribulation or persecution arises

                                                      on account of the word,

                                                   immediately they fall away.

¹⁸ And others are the ones sown among thorns.

                                    They are those who hear the word, ¹⁹ but

the cares of the world and

the deceitfulness of riches and

the desires for other things   

                                              enter in and choke the word,           
                                                                            and it proves unfruitful.

²⁰ But those that were sown on the good soil

                                        are the ones who hear the word
                                                                and accept it and bear fruit,

                        thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

Comments:

Jesus loves to answer questions, although he seems to have been a little dismayed that they didn't understand this one. Remember, this is the Parable of the Sower, the Sower who went out to sow…sows to all kinds of soil. His voice goes out still to all kinds of people. How will they respond?

West Bank Israel, Photo: Greg K. Dueker

Hard heart—If we have hardened our hearts by repeatedly walking down the path of rebellion and sin, we make it easier for the devil to snatch away any hope for our producing a harvest of righteousness with our lives. Jesus sows to us nonetheless. He keeps asking, we need to stop letting the birds steal our hope.

Shallow heart—We agree enthusiastically that Jesus’ way is right and good. In fact, it is something we have been waiting a long time for. However, things get tough and because we have not really sunk our roots down into God and his Word, we are dried out and overcome by the heat of persecution. Yes, we want to follow Jesus, but how much can he expect from us, after all, we're only human, or so the popular thinking goes. If we faint under pressure, it is an indication that we didn’t plow up the rocks ahead of time, so that we might have resources to draw upon when the enemy turns up the heat.

Photo by Alek Kalinowski on Unsplash

Distracted heart—If our loyalties and desires lie in more than one place we will soon become tangled in all the attached strings and become choked by them. We cannot grow freely as God would intend when we have to give attention to other matters. It reminds me of Jesus’ teaching that where our treasure is then there our heart will be as well. This is the heart that starts strong for God, but soon other things begin to divert some of their heart away from the Lord toward other things. Then those things begin to grow more rapidly than their spiritual life and crowd out the good crop and replace it with nothing but briars and weeds. In this part of the country, it is not uncommon to see entire houses, which when left unattended are swallowed up by wild blackberry brambles.  

Oregon Wheat Feld, Photo: Greg K. Dueker

Faithful heart—Of course we intuitively know that this is the heart that bears much fruit. It is encouraging to me that while the good soil takes some work to be ready to receive the seed, the main thing is to allow the seed to do its work in our lives. What great joy and reward!

Lord, please let me know when there are rocks I need to remove, thorns I need to pull, and seeds of your Word I need to receive. Let me really hear what you are trying to say. Let me be a part of the harvest you were looking for when you first went out to sow!

Mark 4:1-9 — Little-Bitty Seeds Scattered All Around?

Mark 4:1-9

The Sower, Vincent van Gogh / Public domain

Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. ² And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them:

³ “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow.

                  ⁴ And as he sowed,
   some seed fell along the path,
                                and the birds came and devoured it.
⁵ Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil,
                               and immediately it sprang up,
                                                            since it had no depth of soil. ⁶ 
                                              And when the sun rose, it was scorched,
                               and since it had no root, it withered away.
⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it,
                              and it yielded no grain.
⁸ And other seeds fell into good soil
                              and produced grain, growing up and increasing
                              and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”
⁹ And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Comments:

Today I would like to focus on v.2-3 "Then He taught them many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching: "Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow."

Plowed Field in Israel

The Parable of the Sower is very well known. Jesus explains its meaning later in v. 14-20. The question I ask myself today is, "Why did Jesus share this parable?" Certainly, it taught spiritual truth in a very simple, earthy, way and yet few teachings could be as profound as this parable about a sower, some seed, and four types of soil. 

1) Jesus was explaining what he was doing as he taught the multitude. Its very title indicates something of its purpose—it is called “The Parable of the Sower.” We talk a lot about the seed and a lot about the four types of soil represented in the parable, but, historically it has been known as the Parable of the Sower. This is a point that we have often lost in our recent interpretation.  Why do we sing the songs about “Little-Bitty Seeds” instead of “A Sower went out to Sow”? The parable is about him! The religious people wanted to know why he spoke to the sinners and the tax collectors. Could it be that we, like Jesus, are likewise supposed to sow seeds everywhere regardless of our opinion of the condition of the soil?

2) Jesus was explaining why some people heard him and eagerly believed in him while others scoff or follow him only temporarily (until persecuted or until Jesus' teachings hit too close to their worldly desires). I suppose that some people must have been wondering how there could be so many different reactions to Jesus' teachings and miracles. This parable would have answered their questions. Our response to his loving word is an indication of the condition of our heart.

3) Jesus was using familiar imagery to teach unfamiliar truths. Jesus' use of imagery such as the sower, seeds, and soils, was not merely for illustration for he was a master of metaphorical theology. I have much to learn from him in this regard. As a pastor, I could be much more effective by using vivid and familiar images to illustrate and teach spiritual truth. However, this raises in my mind another question about this parable. Did Jesus use a familiar image from nature to encourage introspection and greater fruitfulness in his hearers? Was it an ingenious bit of educational storytelling or was the seed created for such a time as this? Jesus was not just a rabbi; he was the Creator of the entire universe! He was the One who had created the seed as a means of reproduction. Did he invent the seed to be a type of Christ, his word, and his work? Or was it just a convenient, albeit cleverly used, metaphor?

God is being honest with us through this parable of Jesus. Honest about who he is, what he does, and the various results of our response to his loving message. “The sower went out to sow.” He doesn't come to take, but to give, too plant, to bless!

Whatever the condition of the soil, God’s purpose remains the same. Will we receive the message he desires to plant in our hearts? Will we let it sink its roots deep down into our soul or will we hold it at arm’s length for the birds to snatch?

This passage starts out with the admonition, “Listen, Behold!” and ends with the common conclusion to a parable, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” So are we listening for his voice in the Bible each day? Are we thinking about what he has said and taking it to heart? I hope so. Yet I wonder if sometimes we pick up the message he has sown and instead of planting it, we put it in our pocket to consider later and forget about it until like melted chocolate it is too late. Pockets weren’t made for chocolate; chocolate was made for eating. So too, God’s message is one which is sown to be heard, considered, and lived—by those who have ears to hear! Are we listeners? Are we receptive to the message of amazing God's love for us? Sadly, not everyone is.

Mark 3:31-35 — My Mother and Brothers?

Mark 3:31-35

Western Wall in Jerusalem Photo by Sander Crombach on Unsplash

And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him,

   “Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.”
 And he answered them, 

    “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

Comments:

Jesus was fully involved in his Heavenly Father's work. There was no social-distancing going on. His earthly mother, brothers, and sisters showed up and wanted to see him but couldn't get there due to the crowd. Jesus’ unusual response to them teaches me at least three things.

First, Jesus’ reply made the point that the spiritual reality of the family of faith (that of the new birth) supersedes that of the family of our birth. We should also remember that Jesus was not denying his family or his responsibilities towards them, nor showing any lack of care. This becomes even more obvious later when Jesus hung dying on the cross for the sin of the entire world. As he hung in excruciating pain, one of the last things we see him do was an act of great love for his mother, as he charged his faithful follower John with her care (John 19:25-27). He entrusted her to his "brother" John. 

Secondly, Jesus shows us that the calling of our Heavenly Father is more important than the calling of our earthly family, especially when they are asking us to return to our old life. These were the same people who had just a short time before thought that Jesus was crazy (v.21). Sometimes our families want to go back to the way things were before we answered God's call upon our lives. They don't understand the change in us, in our dreams, our desires, our time commitments, and our giving patterns. In many places in the world today (as throughout history), it is one's own family that persecutes newly converted family members even to the death. Jesus knows how we feel in such situations, for it was not until after he died on the cross and rose from the dead that his birth-family believed. However, this is not an excuse for us to neglect our families. We should be above reproach in our love and care for our families as an important part of participating in the mission of God. May they join us on the journey!

Thirdly, the message of this passage is that the influences and ideas that raised us, and those we grew up with, to the degree that they are out of synch with the kingdom of God should no longer control our lives—though they will try—for they don't understand that we are different now. 

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Cor. 5:17)

We have a new purpose to our lives—that of doing the will of God—and only those attitudes, habits, actions, and ideas, that contribute to that should be a part of our lives.

"I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." (Eph. 4:1-3)

We are to love and care for our natural families, but we are to love and serve our Heavenly Father first. Now we have a larger responsibility and calling. Jesus had been the eldest son and had been responsible for his mother as well as bringing up his brothers and sisters after his foster-father Joseph's death. Now, Jesus had many more sheep to shepherd in addition to that little family in Nazareth/Capernaum. Ultimately, Jesus knew that the path which he took was in his family's best interest, and ours! 

Mark 3:28-30 — An Eternal Sin?

Mark 3:28-30
“Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

Comments:

I used to get questions about this all the time. People would call thinking that for some reason they had committed the unpardonable sin and were beyond the reach of God’s grace. Of course, that spiritual concern is evidence that they hadn’t committed that eternal or “unpardonable sin” and that they didn’t really understand the grace of God.

Those who commit the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit never have forgiveness because they never repent. They think that the conviction and other work of the Holy Spirit are of the devil; so they don't respond, they don't repent and return to God, and thus they never experience redemption. They die without a saving relationship with Christ and their sin is not forgiven. The only sin that is not forgiven is that which is not confessed in believing faith to the Lord Jesus Christ.

For many years, psychologists have tried to convince people that the conviction and guilt that they feel is the result of some kind of religious brainwashing—turning people against the work of the Holy Spirit. Naturalistic scientists have long tried to persuade people to disbelieve creation and other miracles—believing only in evolution (a much more ridiculous idea than the supernatural). Deep down, most people know they are not all that they were meant to be. They know they need forgiveness for the wrongs they have done and the right things they have left undone. The good news is that forgiveness is available through the work of Christ to anyone and everyone who asks in faith.

And for me as a Christian, the lesson I draw from this is that I should not resist the work of the Holy Spirit in my life. I should not grieve the Holy Spirit, by continuing to live as though I had not been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.

Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:25-32 ESV emphasis mine)

The Holy Spirit is the Christian's power for godly living and witnessing as we respond to the love of God. I need to be careful that I don't become so systematic, self-confident and settled in my religious expression of my faith that I deny the present work of the Spirit in my life and in the church.

Mark 3:20-27 — Crazy, Conflicted, or Christ?

Mark 3:20-27

Bread Alone. Photo: Joshua Mitchell

Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”
And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” And he called them to him and said to them in parables,

Divided House in Ruins, Photo: Greg Dueker

“How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.”

Comments:

Even though Jesus had called twelve men to be in special relation to himself, he did not isolate himself from other people. He was so busy caring for the hurts and needs of the crowd that he didn’t even have time to eat a piece of bread! Their press and demands were so great on his life that his family said that he had lost his mind because he was so selfless. At that time, his brothers and sisters didn't understand who he really was.

Are there times when we think that the Lord must be crazy because he doesn't do things in a way or at a time that makes sense to us? Yes. So what do we do when this happens? Do we rage and accuse, wheedle and whine, or turn away like some did in those days long ago in Galilee? Or do we lean forward and begin to trust a larger understanding of who he is? This is no pocket-deity like a Ricky-Bobby Jesus, nor is he a mentally ill messiah wanna-be. Over my 34 years of ministry, I have experienced both. Jesus knew who he was and what his mission was and he was committed to it. He was the Creator of the universe come in the flesh…and they were fussing over his calorie count? Does Jesus really need us to micro-manage his agenda? 

In John 4:31-34 Jesus himself would address this concern directly,

Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.”

But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.”

So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work…”

Despite my own cognitive dissonance with some of his methods and his timing, as I read through the gospels, Jesus did everything according to the will of the Father. His house was not divided against itself. He was not distracted from the plan. He was no “lord of the flies” (the meaning of Beelzebub), he was Jeshua (meaning “Yahweh is salvation”).

Garden Tomb, Jerusalem

Despite the religious leaders’ efforts to demonize (literally) Jesus for his miraculous works, he was the faithful Son of God doing the will of the Father. Jesus was, in effect, tying up the strong man and plundering his house (i.e., liberating lost souls). There was nothing that the devil could do to stop Jesus. Jesus was knocking down the walls of sin, sickness, and dead religious traditions.

Most of the religious leaders couldn't stand it, and Jesus’ family couldn’t understand it… at that time. What do we do when others don't understand? Are we willing to come across as someone out of their mind for Jesus or will we pretend to "know-it-all" as a fool? Paul Louis Metzger once summed up this section with the insightful title, "Better an Idiot than a Fool." 

So…are we a kingdom divided? Remember, Jesus warned that we cannot serve two masters (Luke 16:12-14). Or will we in faith join Jesus in humble strength to plunder the house of oppression and injustice for the good of the world? That was Jesus' mission which he revealed in the Nazareth synagogue. 

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
    and recovering of sight to the blind,
    to set at liberty those who are oppressed,to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. (Luke 4:18-19)

The people liked the socially acceptable "good parts" but when he mentioned that the Gentiles were also to be included they wanted to kill him. Now, who seems like the crazy party in this story? The one who forgoes his own meal times to serve to needy crowds, or the religious leaders who didn't want the Messianic work to include people they deemed unworthy?

In times like this, we need to think outside the box and participate in Jesus' care for the needy crowds, together, as one church in unity. 

Mark 3:13-19 — That They Might Be With Him and…

Mark 3:13-19

“And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons. He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Comments:

Out of the larger group of disciples, Jesus carefully selected those whom he wanted to be apostles. Many followed him but after a night of prayer, he called, chose, and appointed twelve to be apostles. He gave those men the power to heal and to deliver people from affliction whether it came from disease or demons. He sent them out to preach and the power was apparently provided out of concern for the hurting people they would encounter as well as to add validity to the message being preached. Time was short, Jesus, willingly limited to place and time, couldn't be everywhere at once so he sent out the twelve. But Jesus’ call to these men was first a relational one before it was to a task.

It challenges me to read, in verse 19, that though Judas was given the same power and commission as the others, three years later he could fall so far as to betray Jesus. It makes me wonder, could I get so irritated with Jesus’ way of doing things that my love for him could grow so cold that I would sell Jesus out for the month’s rent? 

Jesus called ordinary men, imperfect men, and inconsistent men, to be with him, to learn from him by sharing his life. He still does so today. When Jesus died and rose again, the remaining 11 were filled with the Holy Spirit and their lives were changed. They were no longer such a prideful, quarrelsome, ignorant lot; they were made new in Christ! How about us?

Jesus still calls sinful, imperfect, unworthy people to repentance (2:17). This repentance is a relational turning from our old distractions to be with him, to learn from him along life’s journey. In this calling to come to him, he comes to us, and at the right time, he sends us out to preach the good news to the lost and empowers us to live as his ambassadors. The cool thing about this is that when Jesus sends us out, he goes out with us! 

What is Jesus calling us to do together with him today? How is He empowering us together as a community of Jesus followers?

Mark 3:7-12 — Have a Boat Ready

Mark 3:7-12

Cove Where Jesus Likely Taught Crowd From a Boat...
Now planted in Olives

Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him, for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him. And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” And he strictly ordered them not to make him known.

Comments:

Jesus became very popular because of what he was doing. He was healing the sick, delivering the possessed, and preaching hope to the lost. He didn't turn anyone away. It is an interesting side note that he had his disciples prepare a small boat to use to escape the press of the crowd. Mark's inclusion of such a detail smacks of an eyewitness' account (i.e., Peter’s memoirs).

However, we need to see that the Lord was not seeking the popularity of recognition for he openly rebuked the demons for revealing his true identity—the Son of God—and he regularly distanced himself from the crowds (after meeting their needs) in order to minister to those that crowds might prevent. What a contrast it is to so many of our popular leaders today that Jesus was as accessible as he was. He didn't slip out the back as soon as service was over, nor did he ride around in a bullet-proof "pope-mobile" or a multi-million dollar corporate jet, but the people pressed around him to touch him. They might not have known who he really was or why he came but they knew that he had what they needed and that he was willing to share. On this occasion, the little boat was there to prevent his being crushed by the crowd. Perhaps the boat was also kept ready for times of teaching so that it would settle the crowd from pressing around him as well as aid in the projection of his voice over the water to the large crowd. Jesus was as practical in ministering as he was accessible. Yet, it should be repeated that in being accessible to those who sought him, he did not seek the crowds and the cult of celebrity. His work was with his disciples and with those in the margins.

Do I make myself accessible to those in need or am I closeted away with my books, computer, house, and family? Where does the devotional meet the practical?

Lord Jesus, help me to follow your example, yet I cannot do so in my own strength. You are God the Son, and I need your strength if I am to have any lasting positive impact at all upon my family and upon the world. Yet keep me focused on your approval rather than that of the crowd that so quickly can change its mind.

Mark 3:1-6 — Stretch Out Your Hand

Photo by Phil Goodwin on Unsplash

Mark 3:1-6

Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

Jesus continued to be assaulted by the religious leaders in the area of ceremonial and legal righteousness. What the Pharisees didn't understand was that God was more concerned with the hearts, souls, and even bodies of his people than he was with the Pharisees' interpretation of the Sabbath. If the Sabbath was a day unto God as the Pharisees asserted, then one must be about the things of God. The Lord God wants to heal, deliver, and forgive. It is a time for doing good. Not doing good for someone, when it is in your power to do so, is evil. Shocked into silence, they wouldn't even answer Jesus' easy question.

Jesus was angry with the Pharisees for their stinky attitude. He manifested the heart of God and all its emotions as well as its reason. He was also grieved at their hardness of heart. He healed the man knowing that the Pharisees would be angry but also knowing that the man's need for healing was more important than his own personal popularity among the Pharisees.

He asked the Pharisees to be honest with him..."but they were silent."

Ironically, Jesus asked if it was right to save a life or to kill on the Sabbath and then after He touched a man's hand in compassion and healing, the Pharisees plotted with their archenemies the Herodians (representatives of a godless and brutal regime) to kill Jesus.

Both the outwardly righteous and the outwardly wicked joined forces to develop a plan to destroy Jesus. I look at the cultural landscape today and see just such strange bedfellows joining forces against the followers of Jesus around the world.

The Pharisees had forgotten the words of the prophet in Micah 6:8, what amounts to a kind of Four Spiritual laws of the Old Testament,

"He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?"

God extends his hand to us in invitational mercy, and as we respond to his love by coming to him in faith, he further asks us to stretch out our "withered hand" and he makes us whole in the process.

Are we stretching out our hands to him? He is gently, persistently, calling to us...

Mark 2:23-28 — In Need and Hungry

Mark 2:23-28

Photo: Bald Peak Oregon, by Greg K. Dueker

In this passage, Jesus' disciples were criticized for picking heads of grain to eat as they went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. The Pharisees still didn't get the "new garment" concept of the Kingdom of God. They were still trying to force Jesus and his disciples through the Play-Doh press of the Mosaic law. In response, Jesus defended his followers by quoting from the account of David and his men eating the showbread in a time of need.

v. 25-26 But He said to them, "Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him: "how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat, except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?"

It is interesting to me that the showbread was a sign of man's continual dependence upon God for everything. In that sense, it was like an OT sign of the NT prayer "give us this day our daily bread" (Matt. 6:11; Luke 11:3). I process this passage through three questions...

1. Why shouldn't God provide bread to the righteous when they are hungry and in need?
2. Why should the priest eat what they probably don't need when others are hungry and in need? Does entitlement trump compassion?
3. Why should this historic fact pass un-condemned in Scripture? It was because the law of need outweighed the law of the ceremonial. Does this open the door to situational ethics? I don't think so.

Then, after citing the history of David's and his men,  who had been fleeing the unjust persecution of Saul, Jesus made an astonishing declaration,

And He said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath." (v.27-28)

Photo by Sheri Hooley
on Unsplash

Jesus reminded the Pharisees that the Sabbath was given to man out of God's mercy and grace, to provide rest and refreshing. The Pharisees were making the Sabbath a burden, a hardship, the opposite of God's intent. God didn't make man to somehow conform to a myriad of arbitrary ceremonial customs. God made the ceremonial requirements to minister to people, to protect humanity from exhaustion, overwork, disease, harmful (sinful) practices and attitudes, etc. Jesus also claimed to have the right to over-rule Sabbath ceremonial requirements because he is God and it is his day anyway!

Do I get caught up in the ceremonial enforcement over against the real issues? Do I value religion (man's efforts to please God) more than a relationship that responds to his love? I hope not, yet I pray that the Lord Jesus would not let me not dispense with righteous/just requirements for my personal comfort or gain. However, let me help others to walk in the liberty of your gracious provision. You are the gracious God who gives! May our souls find just what we need in your word, and may we be transformed!

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven

    and do not return there but water the earth,

making it bring forth and sprout,

    giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;

    it shall not return to me empty,

but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,

    and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:10-11)

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A few years ago, when our church was studying through the Gospel of Luke, I posted the following SOAP journal entitled, “Sabbath Trail-mix” from Mark 2's parallel passage in Luke 6. It expands on the brief account in Mark.

If you are not familiar with the term, we used the SOAP acronym as a devotional guide... which stands for:

• Scripture—what verse or short section caught my attention today? 
• Observation—what can I briefly notice that the passage specifically says?
• Application—what will I do differently as a result of having read this today?
• Prayer—what will I ask the Triune God to do for, in, and through me today?

S = Luke 6:1-2, 5 “On a Sabbath, while he was going through the grain fields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” … And he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

·         Mark 2:27-28 “And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

O = Jesus and his disciples were walking through grain fields and the disciples became hungry. The Pharisees accused them of breaking the law. (So we must observe that they were also there… hmmm…so why were the Pharisees walking through grain fields on the Sabbath?) The issue here was not the actual eating of the gain, it was that the rubbing of the grain in their hands was considered “threshing” and thus working on the Sabbath. Jesus defended the actions of his disciples (though I note he did not appear to be eating) with a story from the life of David and a “sin” they would have considered worse…that of eating the bread from “the house of God.” In Matthew 12:6 Jesus says, “…something greater than the temple is here!” It just seems to be an object lesson to reinforce the “new wine/new wineskins” pericope just stated in Luke 5. Jesus was telling them to get a new bag, to put on a new garment—the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath! 

The Pharisees persistently tried to make Jesus disciples fit into their own ideas of what was the right way to do things. In the process, any new wine they may have received from Jesus' teaching was spilled on the ground of their hard hearts, like so much blood, as it soon literally would be.

A = Do I put my rules, my sense of the way things should be, above the real physical, emotional, and spiritual, needs of people? Do I oppress others by my rash vows like Saul did to his army by imposing a fast in the midst of a battle (1 Sam. 14:24-46)? Since Jesus declares that the Sabbath was for humanity—what does this teach me about the heart of God? He wants what is best for us, but do I want what is best for others?

P = O Lord, let me clearly see your heart for people… let me not heap legalistic burdens on those whose heart is simply to be with you and learn from you. May I be one of those disciples in relationship with you, rather than one of those Pharisees always finding fault and looking to bring the hammer of the law down on your followers. May we follow you wholeheartedly, innocently, lovingly, thankfully…doing good, giving life…Amen.