Mark 2:18-22 - Not so fast!

I'm probably not someone people would describe as being 'traditional'.  The fact is there are some things about certain traditions that are valuable and well worth hanging on to whereas other aspects are well worth leaving behind because their time has passed.  In today's passage, Jesus mentions the tradition of fasting (which usually means going without food to make time for prayer)...

Mark 2:18-22

Jesus continues to arouse people's interest by his actions and teachings and he seems to enjoy receiving people's questions here, even when they suggest that he's got it wrong by not towing the line.  He's not fitting their religious mould very well and Jesus seems to be quite deliberately different.  For some reason it's as if he thinks the religious rules and expectations don't apply to him.  Well, that's probably because they don't!  And Jesus doesn't mind explaining why...

When they ask Jesus why his followers don't fast, he says it wouldn't make any sense because of who he is.  The main reason people fasted (if they had the right motives) was to make a special point of drawing close to God in prayer but if God is standing right next to them, why bother?  They'd be mad to try and get any closer to God by missing meals when God himself is having dinner with them!  This is a special time in history where God has turned up in the flesh and for those who had realised it, it was a time for awe and celebration.  Their usual habits and traditions pretty much went out the window because all they could do was watch Jesus' every move and hang on every word he said.  They didn't want to miss a thing.

Interestingly (although this is far from the main point), Jesus isn't saying the tradition of fasting is a bad thing.  He says there will be a time for fasting when he leaves (v20).  Presumably this is because fasting will be useful and appropriate once more and this does make sense bearing in mind what we've already said.

Jesus then illustrates what he's saying about the place of traditions now that he's here.  Just as they would not have poured new wine into old wineskins, they would be unwise to try and make Jesus fit their old traditions because Jesus is a brand new part of God's plan that was being revealed.  What they needed to do was stop everything (even their religious traditions that had plenty of value if done with the right motives) and follow Jesus.  It's as if Jesus is saying, "I'm like new wine and if you try and fit me into your tiny old traditions, I'll just burst right out of them and leave them in tatters like old wine skins.  Look - I'm God.  Are you really going to tell me what my followers should be doing?" What they need is a brand new understanding, a brand new frame of reference - brand new wineskins for this new wine.

We have our own traditions too.  Everyone does.  Our culture does.  I heard one person recently describe our culture's traditions as 'the sausage factory'.  Everyone's on a production line that goes from school, to college, to uni then work then maybe marriage (but not necessarily) and family, etc.  And there's this urge to be as wealthy as possible along the way and end up having lots of cool stuff.  Lots of people's decisions seem to be automatic because it's what's expected and does anyone stop to ask - 'Isn't there a better way?'  How many people are stuck in their jobs, waiting for 5 o'clock every day and waiting for the weekend when their life begins?  How many people would do their jobs for free if they didn't need money?  Would you?

I'm not saying all these things are bad.  They're just some of the most common things that we're expected to do in our culture and if that's what God wants for you then that's great (really it is)!  But what if it isn't?  What if God wants to break into the cycle and do something new, something bigger, something better?  What if your life is more important than just another sausage in the factory?

Let's make sure we're watching God's every move rather than trying to inflict our expectations on him.  Let's watch what Jesus does next and be ready and willing to drop things if that's what we need to do!

Mark blog

Mark 2:13-17 - Sick and stuck!

I'm training for the Great West Run (a half marathon) at the moment.  You can even sponsor me if you like!  Or at least, I'm supposed to be training but at the moment it's all had to stop because I've got these chest pains left over from a nasty cough I had and they won't go away.  Training was going well.  I'd done a couple of 9 mile runs and it was all feeling good.  But now these chest pains mean I can't even jog a few yards without feeling pain.  It's infuriating, worrying and beyond my control but will I go to see my doctor?  I haven't yet.  Typical bloke!

Mark 2:13-17

This word 'sinner' needs explaining and we need to understand how it's used in the passage too (where it's synonymous with 'tax collectors' because they were seen as 'selfish traitors' working for the Romans and cheating to get rich in the process).  'Sin' is the problem that ALL humans have where we are trapped by our own desire to be selfish and do things our own way instead of God's way.  Sin is the stuff we all think, say and do wrong.  It's the stuff we ought to think, say and do but don't!  But these things are just symptoms.  Sin is also the sickness we all have that causes them!

So if we're all 'sinners', why does Mark use this word to describe only certain people (verses 15 and 16)?  Well it's partly because he's describing the 'sin symptoms' of the people he's talking about.  These people Jesus chose to spend time with had more obvious problems with sin than others.  But mainly, it's because these people were seen and judged by others as 'sinners' because their symptoms appeared to be worse than the rest of society.  They were seen as second class because their struggles with sin were clear to all rather than hidden away secret.  Wrong, unfair and cruel?  Absolutely!

Jesus spends time with these people who are sick with sin and stuck without hope.  Actually it's true that everyone's in this situation without Jesus but the thing that made Jesus want to hang out with these particular sinners is that they REALISED they had a sin problem and wanted help!  Everyone else was maybe not as desperate for help or too stubborn to admit they had a problem. 

I think the teachers of the law and the Pharisees must have thought that Jesus (if he really was someone special) should have been spending all his time with them.  After all, they were the religious ones who'd got it all figured out.  Surely Jesus would want to be friends with them!  But Jesus isn't interested in the self-righteous or the stubborn and instead he makes a priority of those who are ready to ask for his help because they realise they're stuck in sin and see Jesus as their only hope.  And is there a worship song that's cheesy but hits the nail on the head for this one?  Yes there is.

So who are you more like?  The religious people sitting in judgement on others and not admitting they have a sin problem?  Or are you like the so called 'sinners' who were only too quick to realise their need of help from Jesus and trust him?  And if you're a Christian reading this and you want to be like Jesus, think about the people you invest the most time in - Is it other Christians or people who really need the good news?  Would Jesus be hanging out with you and your mates or would you be left where you are because he's busy with people you don't bother with because they're not like you? 

And will I suck it up and go to the doctor?  We'll see!

Mark blog

Mark 2:1-12 - Forgiving sin and proving it!

Have you ever had to forgive someone who did something wrong to you?  I know I have.  It's inevitable isn't it (unless we want to hold grudges against everyone we know)?  It can be hard to forgive someone that's wronged us but it is possible.  To say 'I forgive you' is hard but Jesus does something even more amazing than this in today's passage...

Mark 2:1-12

When Jesus says, 'Your sins are forgiven', he's not just saying 'Your sins against me are forgiven' - he's saying 'ALL of your sins against ANYONE EVER are forgiven' or in other words, 'ALL your sins against GOD are forgiven' or to put it still another way, 'I (God) forgive you!'

When Jesus heard their thoughts, he knew they were right - it IS only God that can forgive a person's sin.  The only one who can make a person right with God is God himself and Jesus is claiming to be able to do it and so he's basically claiming to be God.

Jesus knew the crowd would need more convincing about this (!) and so that's why he then heals the man physically (he'd already healed him spiritually but that's invisible).  When the paralysed man gets up and walks for the first time in his life, the crowd realise several things beyond the shadow of a doubt (although I expect some were still managing to explain it away and complain about it as there always are)...

• A man's sin had been forgiven and he had been made right with God!
• A man who couldn't walk had been healed right in front of them!
• A man who they thought was just a man was saying and demonstrating that he was God himself!

 A couple of things to dwell on...

1. What's your reaction to Jesus' claim here to be God and to forgive sin and why?
2. If you believe Jesus is God and can make people right with God, how much effort do you go to in bringing people to him?  This paralysed man was lucky enough to have some gutsy friends who were willing to go to ridiculous lengths to present him to Jesus and this came before their concerns for themselves, for property and for social politeness!  How gutsy are you in sharing your faith and why? 

Mark blog

Mark 1:21-45 - The mission kicks off!

I'm an activist.  Lots of people are.  But it's so common for people to get so busy that they eventually burn out.  Doing lots of good is no good if it doesn't last.  In the rest of chapter 1 of Mark we see something like the first 24 hours of Jesus' ministry.  He's incredibly busy doing incredible things but with incredible strength.  You'll see what I mean...

Mark 1:21-45

Verses 21-28...  So right after calling a few followers they head off to Capernaum and then the sabbath comes and ironically that's when Jesus starts to get really busy!  He starts teaching people and what he says has a ring of authority about it (it would do I suppose!) and the people notice there's something different about this teacher.  And when they see him order a demon out of a man and it leaves him, they know this authority is real (as did the demon).  The news of Jesus' teaching and authority start spreading fast and it's still day 1! 

Verses 29-34... Straight after synagogue it's back to Simon and Andrew's house and Jesus heals their mother-in-law of a fever and spends the rest of the day healing the sick and driving out demons.  News had spread so fast since that afternoon at the synagogue that there was a stream of people arriving to ask for help already!  This is an incredible first day.

Verses 35-39... Here we see the source of Jesus strength.  You would think he'd want a lie-in after the night before but he's up while it's dark and gets some uninterrupted time alone with God to pray.  Jesus needed to draw strength from his Father and depended on him for guidance and power for everything he was doing (see John 5:19).  When his followers find him, they set off for another full day of teaching, healing and driving out demons from people (and Jesus is ready for it).

Verses 40-45... And then we see one example of someone Jesus healed that day - a leper.  The word 'indignant' (v41) is that strange Greek word 'splagchnizomai' which means the strongest kind of emotion like a gut-wrenching compassion or righteous anger.  This is Jesus' reaction to seeing this leper and hearing what he says: 'If you are willing...' (v40).  Of course Jesus is willing(!) and this is why he came - to heal broken people and rescue them from the mess that sin has made in this world.  His heart is breaking about it and it drives everything he's doing.

So it's a crazy first 24 hours or so and Jesus is mostly teaching, healing and driving out demons.  Word is spreading about him like wildfire around the region.  Jesus is relying heavily upon his Father and his heart is breaking for all the people he's with.

The first point for us is to notice is that these are the actions of someone unique that we should pay close attention to.  That's why we're reading Mark's gospel I hope.  What strikes you about Jesus so far?  Imagine you were there when this stuff was happening.  What would you be thinking?  Who would you be telling about it?  Don't just read through this quickly - stop and think about it for a few minutes!

The second point is for those of us today who are following Jesus.  What are our busy days like?  Are we drawing our strength from time alone with God?  Are we busy doing the important things his heart breaks over?  Do our hearts break too?  Is the news of Jesus spreading like wildfire because of our daily actions?  If the Spirit of Jesus is in us, maybe our Mondays should be like this one!

Mark blog

Mark 1:9-20 - Drop what you're doing!

Dropping what you're doing to do something else can be an easy thing to do.  For instance, right now I've dropped redecorating the bathroom to write my blog (well actually I haven't even started the bathroom yet but I will later on, I promise!).  Other times, it's hard to get me to drop something, like when there's music on and Chrissi's trying to say something to me!

The people in this next bit of Mark drop everything to follow Jesus and it's quite ridiculous, weird and brilliant...

Mark 1:9-20

Mark skips right through a few things that the other gospel writers (writing later) spend more time on.  He mentions the baptism of Jesus where the trinity shows up (voice of the Father, the Son in the water and the Spirit on his shoulder) and the big public confirmation of Jesus' identity is there for all to see.  Jesus then heads straight off 'at once' (one of Mark's favourite phrases for moving things on swiftly in his gospel) and is tempted by Satan (again the other gospels mention more on this).  Mark spends little time on the launch of Jesus' ministry and gets quickly to the action he's excited about...

It starts with a message.  Jesus is telling everyone about the good news of God's kingdom and that this kingdom (and God himself) has drawn near to them.  It's a special time and they shouldn't miss it!  He tells people to ask God for forgiveness, turn from their selfish ways and follow him.  This is not the message of someone who's trying to just be nice, kind and a decent teacher of life lessons.  Nor is it an optional take-it-or-leave-it adventure for those who've got nothing else better to do.  This is an urgent rescue mission to a world drowning in sin and Jesus is shouting to everyone to grab the only rope they're being thrown.  Jesus is all about himself and inviting people to follow him.  He's absolutely self-centered, which can only be a good thing if he is who he says he is.

And then we get to Simon, Andrew and then James and John.  They're busy at work (fishing was their living) and Jesus (who they've probably never met) tells them to follow him... and they do!  We need to stop and realise what a weird moment this was.  They're basically leaving their work and family behind at the drop of a hat because of a stranger who tells them to!  It doesn't make much sense at all unless God was involved and he was convincing them of the urgent need to follow this 'Jesus'.  I think that's what must have been happening.

The situation isn't much different today.  There's still a world full of people who desperately need God's forgiveness and it's still a matter of life and death.  There's still the message of good news about Jesus and an invitation to be part of God's kingdom.  And every day there are still people who have a 'God moment' where they drop what they're doing, realise the good news is true and start following Jesus!

What have you done with this invitation from Jesus to follow him?

If you feel you need to know more before you decide then keep reading Mark's gospel, see what happens next and ask me anything you like along the way.

If you've said yes to this already, are you still putting him first in everything you put your hands to or are you wasting your time 'trying to catch fish'?

Mark blog

Whale Boy Whale!

My good chum Nathan Lechler is also blogging his way through a Bible book... Jonah!

Check out 'Whale Boy Whale!'