To Be or Not to Be

 

“Jesus said to them (Pharisees), ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.’” (Mark 2:27, ESV)

When we study Mark 2:27, we must first understand what was happening at the time the Pharisees confronted Jesus. Jesus and His disciples were walking through a grain field. The disciples were hungry, so they grabbed a handful of grain seeds to eat as they followed Jesus. The Pharisees challenged Jesus and His disciples about breaking the Sabbath law of not working on the Sabbath. Jesus reminded them what their venerated King David did when he and his soldiers were hungry. They went into the house of God during Abiathar’s leadership as high priest. David and his men ate the bread of the Presence, which Sabbath laws allowed only priests to eat.

With Jesus’ reasoning, the Pharisees would feel challenged if they agreed with Him. so, their acceptance of Jesus’ teaching would mean they accused their venerated king of breaking Sabbath law. If so, then why could not other hungry men eat on the Sabbath? They would not be eating sacred food, just grain. With Jesus’ reminder to the Pharisees, they may have believed if they decided the disciples had not worked on the Sabbath, they would lose power and authority among the people. Yet, if they agreed with Jesus, then that would say their beloved King David broke the Sabbath law. Never back a caged lion into a corner. Let us now learn more about Jesus’ reply to the Pharisees.

The first thought that comes to mind in seeking to understand this verse is that God created the Sabbath day before He created the Sabbath law. God’s intent of the Sabbath laws was to help people remember and focus on God and to rest. The priests of God interpreted the thirty-nine Sabbath laws God gave. Upon writing the priestly interpretations of God’s Sabbath laws handed down through the oral tradition (the Mishnah), The Pharisees codified over six hundred Sabbath laws by which the Israelites were to live. The priests’ interpretations aimed to help people follow God’s Sabbath laws closer. Their Sabbath laws ended up becoming a litmus test by which to compare themselves to one another and to the rest of the Israelites.

Like the first thought, God commanded the Israelites to keep a Sabbath day as holy, just as Moses recorded in the Ten Commandments (the Mosaic covenant). Remember, God created humanity before He gave laws about the Sabbath. so, the relationship between God and people is more important than the Sabbath laws. Recall, the Sabbath laws occurred to help the Israelites remember and focus on God and to rest. Because God called the Sabbath a day of rest, He put people’s needs as more important than Sabbath laws, because people are more important than laws. If someone is hungry, drowning, ill, or anything else, caring for God’s people became more important to God than following laws. Caring for a neighbor is obeying God. God created people for relationship with Him and other people. Relationship means we care for each other. By caring, we show love to and for God, which He intended for the Sabbath laws. Again, God’s intention for His Sabbath laws was to cause humanity to remember and focus on Him and to have a close love relationship with Him.

As we continue to study this verse, we must understand what the word “Sabbath” means. It comes from the Hebrew word shabbat, meaning peace: to rest or cease. Our minds cannot rest and focus on God if we are concerned about a person for whom we cannot care because of the fear of breaking Sabbath laws. Again, a person cannot rest or focus on God because of urgent circumstances. This makes the laws counter to God’s purpose for the Sabbath day.

God created the Sabbath as a day of rest that He set apart and commanded for worship, reflection, and rest. The Pharisees cared more about the institution called the Sabbath. Their rituals were more important to them because they wanted people to see their own piety. The Pharisees cared more for themselves than for other people. They did not focus on God in their worship, but on what people saw them do. The Pharisees broke the first covenant (the Adamic covenant) the intent for which God set aside the Sabbath day on the seventh day of creation. Their intention for the Sabbath was not God’s original intention. The Pharisees' intention focused on themselves, their power, and their authority among the people.

The question Jesus answered, though the Pharisees did not recognize it, was: Who made the Sabbath? If the Pharisees instituted the Sabbath, then the Sabbath laws would be valid in overruling caring for other people on that day. Yet, the Pharisees did not create the Sabbath. God created the seventh day and rested from His work.

Genesis 2:3 states, “So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it, God rested from all His work that He had done in creation.” God blessed the day. He invoked His divine favor, which creates a covenant relationship with humanity, by instituting a day of rest on the seventh day, which He called the Sabbath day. God blessed the Sabbath day as His creation for humanity. He did more than just establish a seventh day and establish it as a day of peace, shabbat. God blessed the day for humanity to rest. With God’s blessings comes rest because His people know God is faithful. This allows people to have peace in mind, heart, and soul, hence, shabbat.

Genesis 2:3 records God sanctified the day. God blessed the day and the people in the day by sanctifying it. Calling something sanctified (holy) means setting it apart as special for significant persons for a purpose. Here, the significant persons for whom God set apart the Sabbath day is humanity. (See the Adamic covenant.) Genesis 2:3 states God’s significant purposes for the Sabbath. God blessed the day and blessed humanity with it by making it a rest day. God set apart the day—He consecrated it—for a sacred purpose, too. He made it holy and dedicated to Himself.

God, by making the seventh day a consecrated day, made the day of peace (Sabbath-shabbat) into a day of worship and devotion. He separated the seventh day from the first six days of the week, so people would use it for His purpose. God gave to Adam, who represents all humanity, a consecrated Sabbath day of rest (from the blessing) and worship (from the sanctification). The seventh day became a day of peace in body, heart, mind, and spirit. God’s seventh created day is a day to rest the body from work and to rest in heart, mind, and spirit as humanity communes with God in worship and meditation, leading to complete peace.

Understanding this makes it easier to understand God made the Sabbath long before He gave the thirty-nine Sabbath laws. From God’s thirty-nine Sabbath laws, the Pharisees created almost six hundred other Sabbath laws. Neither the Pharisees nor any person in humanity created the Sabbath. God created the seventh day, blessed it, and consecrated it for His purpose to bless humanity. Humanity is to rest on the Sabbath and focus on God in worship, praise, meditation, and prayer.

If, while focusing on God, He causes someone to remember a good that person should do to help someone else, even on the Sabbath, then, in doing that good, shows love for God. A person’s action based on impulses/convictions from God, even on the Sabbath, is obedience to God. Obedience to God is an act of worship. In obeying God by doing good for someone, a person is fulfilling the first and second greatest commandments, as Jesus taught in Matthew 22:36-40. The greatest and second greatest commandments are the summation of the Ten Commandments. We love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength when we obey Him, that which God requires.

God created the thirty-nine Sabbath laws to help people abide by His overarching and original intent for the Sabbath: to be in relationship with Him. That overflows into caring for other people (being in a relationship with them). God’s original and primary intent for creating humanity was so He could be in a relationship with them, like the three persons of the Trinity relate to each other. His intent was to be in a loving and holy relationship with people. That is the overarching theme of the Bible and of all time.

Since the Adamic covenant is the primary covenant of God with humanity, every other covenant builds from it to lead people back to a good and holy relationship with God. The covenants appear circular. They each aid humanity by leading them to God—to becoming closer to God and letting Him make them more in His image.

God making people more into His image is a growth process. It involves becoming more perfected, which can only happen when people believe in Jesus and He saves them from sin and death. Merely existing on earth is stagnating and then dying when the body dies. God’s making people more in His image is His growing and perfecting them until death. At death, Jesus perfects the believer—makes him or her sinless and holy, like Himself.

God, who comes from eternity, made the Sabbath. He created the Sabbath and placed it in time, a finite part of eternity. The Sabbath did not always exist. Time did not exist in eternity until God created sun, moon, light, and darkness and called the light and darkness day and night. Because time is a subset of eternity, so the Sabbath day is a subset of time, which God created. so, God’s intent for the Sabbath day, which He stated in Genesis, is the overriding ruler of the Sabbath. Humanity’s intent and laws are not. Hence, God should be the focus of the Sabbath, not humanity or its created Sabbath laws.

Who was the direct object of God’s gift of the Sabbath, shabbat? Humanity. Humanity did not create the Sabbath and has no power to change the original intent of the day. Additionally, humanity is not more powerful than God; they cannot usurp God’s role and rule.

God did not first create the Sabbath, then create humanity and all living things. No, God created humanity before the seventh day, then He declared the seventh day as the Sabbath, a peaceful day blessed by God with rest and consecration. Man sits in time, but man does not sit in one day of time continually. Days rotate within time to come upon humanity, so they may do what God commanded: care for creation. On the blessed and consecrated Sabbath day, God gives rest and reminders so humanity can focus on and worship Him. Work and renewal, a created rhythm God knew that our bodies and our relationship with Him would need for balance and peace.

Adam did not need for God to tell him to walk with Him in the Garden of Eden. That relationship happened because God established it as part of the essence, the inner yearning, of people for connection, closeness, and union. Because God made humanity for His purpose (to be in a relationship with Him), God created His Sabbath laws to cause His initial and overarching purpose. God’s overarching purpose is to have a close love relationship with humanity and to provide rest for them after six days a week of caring for creation.

God created the days and nights for man to give Him a cycle of people, objects, and places to enjoy. He created them for humanity to sustain them while they walked with God daily. God’s love was so comprehensive, He took care of the needs of humanity to work, create, rest, and relate. Why did God create humanity with these innate needs? First, God created people in His image. Just as God enjoyed a close relationship with the three persons of the Trinity and just as God loved to work and create, He created humanity to desire a love relationship with Himself and with other people.

With these understandings, Jesus took the Pharisees in Mark 2:27-28 back to the overarching theme of the Bible. God created humanity to be in a close relationship with Him. Closely following this, He created one day of the seven, which He created, to be a Sabbath day of rest, worship, and meditation for humanity. God did not create humanity for the Sabbath’s enjoyment. Inanimate cannot feel. Hence, the Sabbath laws dictated by the Pharisees take a backseat to God’s original intention for humanity—to be in a loving relationship with God.

To make that possible, God created the Sabbath day for physical rest and to allow the mind of each person to focus solely on Him and his or her relationship with Him. God’s Sabbath laws were an aid to humans for that purpose. The Pharisees Sabbath laws did not always have the love for God as their intention. Plucking grain from the stalk while walking through a field was not work. It allowed the disciples to have nourishment as they followed Jesus. Jesus allowed it because of His love for them of their body, spirit, heart, and mind. His disciples hungered; Jesus loved and did not hinder their plucking grain.

God’s commands/laws give freedom and show His love. The Pharisees’ laws and other laws, which leaders created throughout history, sometimes hinder the wellbeing of people. They steal freedom and leave fear and failure in their place. Human leaders made these laws sometimes just to make the leader feel superior and to make others experience inferiority. Caring and loving other people were not what the impious Pharisees intended with their Sabbath laws. God’s laws give freedom to find and focus on the Father.

The Pharisees did not change or remove their Sabbath laws. Some came to believe in Jesus and He saved them. What personal laws have you created that keep you or others from feeling loved by God and you?

Choose as Jesus taught.

Choose freedom over fear and failure.

Choose a loving relationship with God.

“And Jesus said to them (Pharisees), ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So, the Son of Man (Jesus) is Lord even of the Sabbath.’” (Mark 2:27-28, ESV)

Being Least

 

They (James and John) said to Him, “Grant that we may sit, one on Your right and one on Your left, in Your glory.” But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” They said to Him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you shall drink; and you shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized. But to sit on My right or on My left is not Mine to give; but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” Hearing this, the other ten felt indignant with James and John. Calling them to Himself, Jesus said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles domineer over them, and their people in high position exercise authority over them. But it is not this way among you; rather, whoever wants to become prominent among you shall be your servant; and whoever wants to be first among you shall be a slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:37-45, NASB, 2020)

    This example of hearing something different from what the speaker intended happens often with people. James and John, two of the three apostles in Jesus’ inner circle, asked to have a position of authority forever in Jesus’ glory. Their idea proved they still had the world’s mindset. The other ten apostles heard what they asked with the same mindset and responded with surprise. That misunderstanding led them to challenge the two brothers. The ten apostles wanted people to see them as having authority and leadership, not just John and James. Understanding these things, let’s walk through this lesson.

    Amazingly, Jesus did not get frustrated or angry with his twelve disciples, but was patient and gracious as He taught them and made them to be fishers of men. By this time, Jesus had been with His twelve chosen men for almost three years. The Twelve had seen the miracles Jesus did, heard the teachings He spoke, and watched how He interacted with people. Right before James and John made their request of Jesus, Jesus told His disciples the chief priests would condemn Him to death and hand Him over to the Gentiles (Romans) to be mocked, spit on, flogged, and put to death, but He would rise three days later (Mark 10:33-34).

    This causes later readers and hearers of the disciples’ discussion with Jesus to wonder if the disciples had been listening to Him. Jesus had taught them several things in the earlier verses. To Him, each person is important. Consider the following teachings by Jesus in Mark 1.

     In Mark 10:1-12, Jesus corrected the Pharisees’ interpretation of Moses’ law that they could divorce their wives and marry another woman. The Pharisees only understood the words Moses said and allowed that to guide them in life. They had not recognized Moses and God, who guided Moses’ leadership over the Israelites, had given this law because the Israelites had hardened hearts. They did not want to follow God’s command that each man should have one wife. With the law God gave to Moses to proclaim, God protected the wives from becoming outcasts because of being divorced—a used woman, not a virgin. He protected them from a life of ostracism and poverty. As a married woman, she would have a husband to provide for and protect her. As a divorced woman, she had no one to provide for and protect her, unless she had a son who would take care of her. This law protected the husband, too, by keeping him from being considered an adulterer when he married another woman. The people did not care about God’s intent for the law, just the letters of the law, what was seen and heard. Women and men are important to God. Nobody should be cast off like dirt. Likewise, men should not cast off their wives, just as God would not cast His own people away.

    Next in Mark, Jesus welcomed and blessed the children. His disciples had tried to keep them away from Jesus. Jesus was “indignant” with them for keeping the children away. Young children were nobodies in society. They were trained at home. Children shepherds, carried the day’s water from the well, learned the family trade, were taught the Law and Prophets, and a person spoke to them. With Mark 10:13-16, Jesus saw the children. He welcomed them. Jesus took them in His arms, blessed them, and laid His hands upon them. Jesus’ recognition of them and deep care of and blessing of the children showed all who saw and heard that they are important. People should love and bless children, as Jesus showed by example. Children are not nobodies. God welcomes them into His kingdom with open arms. They are important.

    In Mark 10:17-31, Jesus spoke with a rich, young ruler. The disciples asked questions of Jesus about what He said to the ruler. This young ruler asked a deep question. He asked, “What shall I do so that I may inherit eternal life?” This young man recognized Jesus as a teacher of Scripture. He sincerely wanted to be with God in heaven. When Jesus reminded the ruler of the last six commandments, the young man said he had kept them since he was a youth. Jesus zeroed into the heart of the man and the matter. He knew the thing that would keep the young man away from God and inheriting heaven. Jesus next replied to the young ruler to sell all he owned and give to the poor, then he would have treasure in heaven. Jesus’ answer continued. He added, “then come follow Me.” Mark explained the man left “deeply dismayed.” The young man kept the commandments. He recognized obeying the commandments would not make him sinless to he could “inherit heaven.” His mind knew the laws. Jesus’ words went deeper; they went to the young man’s heart. The young ruler wanted to keep doing things without a change in his life’s circumstances. Jesus knew what kept the man from inheriting heaven. The young man’s things of earth held greater sway over him than being right with God. He made his possessions his god instead of Yahweh. When Jesus confronted this young ruler, the young man understood what Jesus meant; he knew Jesus spoke to his heart, not just his head. This man did not want to go beyond the letter of the law, the words. He wanted to do things without considering his heart. Jesus loved this man, just as He did the children and the Pharisees. He wanted them to understand who they are, who He is, and to believe in Him for salvation.

    Jesus explained this to His disciples after the rich, young ruler walked away dismayed. He said people who are rich have a harder time entering heaven. Poor people enter the kingdom of God more easily, Jesus added. The disciples expressed astonishment at this teaching. They asked, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus explained, salvation comes only by God. People cannot earn salvation by following the commandments or any other law or precept. The rich young ruler was weighed down by the treasures of earth and would not cast them off even to follow Jesus and be saved.

    After hearing this conversation, Mark wrote Peter told Jesus, “We have left everything and followed You.” The disciples each had left everything behind to follow Jesus when He commanded them to follow Him. Jesus heard Peter’s words and understood his unspoken question of, “Will we inherit heaven?” Jesus said, everyone who has left all his possessions and his loved ones to follow Him will get more in this world, including persecution. Inheriting heaven requires more sacrifice than losing earthly treasures. It involves being closely identified with Jesus. That means the follower may be persecuted just as Jesus was. Yet these followers will inherit eternal life. True disciples leave behind all ties in and to this world and follow Jesus, even though they will face persecution. Their reward is greater than what they forsook. The reward is eternity with God.

    One other point Jesus made. His followers should place themselves last, not first (vs. 31). Serving God should be foremost in their minds, hearts, and actions. The rich, young ruler willingly gave his mind and actions up to a point. He was unwilling to give his heart and obedience to Jesus’ leading from his heart’s conviction. Jesus spent time with this young man because he was important, like the children and Pharisees were important. The rich ruler was not a nobody in the world’s eyes and he refused to give away what made him a somebody in his world. Jesus spoke to and about religious leaders (the religious and moral leaders of the Jews, who were important because of their jobs), children (the lowly nobodies of society), and a rich, young ruler (important by wealth and status). Each of these people received their status by human standards. Jesus turned the tables on their understanding of people’s importance. The last (the least/lowliest in people’s eyes) shall be first (the ones who would believe in Jesus and inherit salvation easiest) and the first (the people who see no need for believing in Jesus because they have everything they need) shall be last.

    Jesus spoke to and taught about the greatest and least in society according to humanity’s standards. He explained they each are important, and He came so each person can inherit heaven. With Jesus’ next teaching, He explained how that would be. Jesus foretold the suffering and death He would experience (vs. 33-34). He would be arrested, condemned to death, flogged, beaten, hung on a cross, and die, yet death would not confine Him. Jesus would return to life from death. In Mark’s account of Jesus telling His disciples this, Peter did not rebuke Jesus for saying these things, unlike in Matthew 16:22. Instead, Mark recorded James and John asking Jesus to grant them to be seated on His left and right hand in the kingdom of heaven. John and James believed in Jesus, served Him, and wanted to have a seat of priority and authority in heaven. These two brothers wanted recognition from people. Had they not heard what Jesus had just said about the rich, young ruler? Did they misunderstand leaders would serve and the last would become first by their so doing (vs. 31)? Matthew 20:20-28 records James’ and John’s mother asked this of Jesus for her sons. She did not understand what she requested for her sons.

    Jesus explained what it meant for a leader, one who is first in the eyes of people, to become one of the least. He knew these two disciples of His did not understand what they asked from Him when they desired to be first in His kingdom among all the people. Jesus taught by asking them a question. He began by telling them they did not know what they asked of Him. Jesus then asked James and John in verse 31, “Are you able to drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” Without pause, they replied they understood, but did they? Jesus did not mean they were to drink from the same dinner cup Him drank or to rise from the Jordan River after being baptized in water. Drinking the same cup meant to follow Jesus in the same way He walked, lived, and died. Jesus had explained to them just a moment before that He would be tortured, condemned to death, and die on a cross. Had these two disciples misheard or misunderstood? Did they misunderstand Jesus’ analogy of the cup and baptism? Maybe they were too eager and did not count the total cost of discipleship in their head. Possibly, they were too quick to ensure they received the coveted position of authority. Perhaps these two disciples asked and replied hastily to get done what their mother asked them to do. Whatever the reason, Jesus granted them the servantship of a leader who would become one of the least. He told them, “The cup that I drink, you shall drink, and you shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized” (vs. 39).  Jesus gave them what He intended for them as His disciples. Then He answered them about their request. Jesus said, “To sit on My right or My left is not Mine to give; but it is for those for whom it has been prepared” (vs. 40). Jesus, the Son, knew the Father’s intention about this. He understood God had prepared these seats of authority for others.

    Jesus did not and could not give the seats of recognition, authority, and power to James and John because the Godhead had already determined who would occupy them. In keeping with what He had been teaching, Jesus reiterated the heart of the person is what God requires, not action from position or status. Those who inherit heaven are the meek—the nobodies of society and the ones who serve God by serving other people. Even with these teachings and examples, the disciples feared others would have authority and power over them. How do we know? Mark recorded in verse 41 the other ten disciples became indignant with John and James. Each person understands the feeling these ten disciples experienced. We ourselves may have experienced it in our families or at work when someone who we considered our equal or lesser gets a position, coveted task, or reward we felt we deserved. It can occur when that person tries to get noticed for a position above ours. Our response might be anger and indignation toward that person. The ten disciples may have felt these things toward James and John. Why did James and John think were so special? Peter, of those ten disciples, must have felt this more since he was one of the three in Jesus’ inner circle. Jesus understood the hearts of men and of these twelve men who had lived with him for three years. He realized they were angry in their hearts at James and John, though they did not say so. Jesus reminded them Gentile leaders ruled over them and they themselves had people who ruled over them. The world works in that way. A hierarchy of power exists in the way humanity runs the world and all creation in it. Yet, that is not the God’s way.

    Jesus reminded the twelve disciples that is not the way they are to be. He explained that the prominent one serves the others and the one who aspires to be the first among them must be the slave of them all. Jesus explained that even the Son of Man (the Son of God) did not come to be served, but to serve and give His life as a ransom for people (vs. 45). A true follower of Jesus does what is necessary in life to help/serve other people, not considering if wealth or sickness will come because of serving as God leads him. In this way, the one who is first (the one who has received the promise of eternity in God’s kingdom by his faith in Jesus) is the one who must serve others at God’s command so they will live better lives and come to know Jesus as their Savior, too. Lest we think we are too good to do what God asks, or we have done what He required and now deserve a better job, remember Jesus did what was necessary to provide humanity with salvation and eternity in heaven with Him. He also came back to life and lived among people continuing to teach for 40 more days on earth before His ascension. We are never too good to do what God tells us to do. No matter how often God tells us to do a task, we are only done with it when God tells us to do something different.  

    No person is beneath any other. Christians especially need to make this mental note a permanent part of their lives by living it out through their hearts. Nobody is worthless and unworthy to be saved. No person in the world is a nobody who does not deserve recognition. Jesus saw, loved, and blessed the children. He recognized the hearts of the Jews who wanted to divorce their wives and provided the correct teaching to love and protect wives from becoming outcasts and labels as sinners. Jesus understood the heart and mind of the rich, young ruler who tried to work his way into heaven. He loves them and wants them to recognize Him and receive an inheritance in the kingdom of God. No person is beneath another. We each are sinners who need the Savior. No one is superior to others. The one whom God puts into leadership/authority has responsibility for serving the people who need help, who have less, or who do not know Jesus. God puts each person in positions not to flaunt it over others or drive them into the ground, but to help them and be a channel of God’s blessings to them by word and action. Jesus came to seek and save the lost. His way of living led to condemnation, persecution, and death. His death provides salvation. Jesus’ resurrection provides eternal life to each person who believes in Him. His authority provides all anyone needs in this life and eternally.

     The questions that come from this chapter are: In which position has God placed you? What does God want you to do with your position, authority, and resources He has given you? Today, for whom will you become least so that you can serve him or her?

     James was the first apostle to die for following and preaching Jesus and the salvation He gives. He was killed by the sword. John was the oldest and last apostle to die. He spent his life teaching and preaching. John was exiled from people but continued to teach through his letters until his death. Both men drank of Jesus’ cup and were baptized with His baptism. Are you drinking of Jesus’ cup today? Are you willing to be baptized with Jesus’ baptism? Be like these leaders who became least to serve Jesus and people until their dying breath.

Righteousness or Religiosity?

 

Mark wrote his gospel to tell people about Jesus’ ministry. He did it by first showing Jesus’ power and authority. Mark showed this by telling of Jesus’ baptism, forty-days in the wilderness, succeeding over Satan’s temptations, calling men to follow Him, casting out demons, teaching in the synagogues, and healing people. Through Mark chapter 1, Jesus did not meet any overt challenges to Himself. From chapter two, the religious leaders began challenging Him outright.

In Mark 2:1-3:6, Mark used a teaching method called a chiasm. Because the people learned orally, teaching this way made for easier remembrance. The style used a step method of A, B, C, B’, A’. A and A’ tell about Jesus' healing people. B, C, and B’ relay Him teaching about and using food as an illustrative tool. The middle and last stories, C and A’, emphasize the main point. As Mark taught each level of the chiasm, the people would understand better the main point of the teaching. They would learn about Jesus’ authority and power. The people would learn more and learn to believe He is Deity.

The lesson relayed in the Bible study titled “The Standard” explains Jesus is the bridegroom. Jesus taught the religious leaders that His disciples do not fast when the Groom is with them. Only in the Old Testament does God use the analogy of Himself as the Groom. Jesus took this title when the Pharisees challenged Him about His disciples not fasting like they did. This teaching is the central one of this chiasm because in it, Jesus explains He is God in a way the Pharisees, who were learned men, would recognize and understand.

This lesson comes from Mark 2:23-28. Through this third teaching moment, Jesus instructs people using food for illustrative purposes. The Pharisees openly challenged Him in this retelling of Jesus’ meet with them.

The Setting

And it happened that He was passing through the grain fields on the Sabbath, and His disciples began to make their way along while picking the heads of grain. (Mark 2:23 [NASB])

This verse begins by telling the hearers and readers, “And it happened.” What happened? Mark sets the stage. He leads his audience to set their focus and pay attention to what would be said in this passage. Mark does this by aiming people on the person and occurrence coming up in his retelling of history.

Mark said, “And it happened that He (Jesus) was passing through the grain fields.” Many people, if they are walking somewhere, they will try to take the quickest route. Sometimes that meant they walked through another person’s property. We readers might think that is why the disciples and Jesus walked through a field of grain, because it was quicker. Yet, often, the destination was not the main purpose for Jesus doing what He did. Many times, the journey was more important than, or just as important as, the end point. The disciples may have thought Jesus took them through the grain field because it was quicker, but Jesus knew the Pharisees looked for a way to find fault with Him. Jesus wanted to meet the Pharisees. He wanted each person to believe in Him and receive salvation. This was not an “Uh oh, we’ve been caught moment,” but a planned meeting by Jesus.

Besides the meeting being intentional, let’s consider another matter. In this verse, we notice the disciples picking heads of grain. They did not pick them to harvest the grain for the landowner. The disciples picked the grain to quench their hunger.

Mark made one other point to set the scene for Jesus’ discussion with the Pharisees. Jesus and His disciples walked through the grain field on the sabbath day. They did not walk to go to the synagogue in Mark’s retelling in this verse. They may have already left or were going to the synagogue. Mark does not give us that information. The day of the week was important in this story about Jesus’ ministry. The sabbath day was the focus.

Mark recalled pertinent details for his readers and hearers. He relayed Jesus, and the disciples walked through a grain field on a sabbath day. The disciples plucked heads of grain. The Pharisees laid in wait to catch Jesus and His disciples. What would be the lesson for the listeners?

The Challenge

The Pharisees were saying to Him (Jesus), “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” (Mark 2:24 [NASB])

The Pharisees never seemed far from Jesus. They boldly approached Jesus with their accusation couched in a question. These men scrutinized Him and His disciples so they could confront and accuse Him. When people want to accuse someone of doing wrong, it does not take much scrutinizing to find a fault. Each person is a sinner, after all.

The Pharisees felt their job was to point out a person’s sins so the person could make amends with God. Their idea of holiness came from a skewed interpretation of God’s intent of His laws. God gave His laws, statutes, and commands to lead people to Him, not to drive a wedge between Him and them.

The religious leaders had created 633 laws for the Israelites to live by, based on God’s laws. Instead of making it easier for people to live godly lives, it created a caste system of sorts. The people who publicly lived the laws obviously were holy, according to the religious leaders. To appear holier than the common people, the Pharisees, scribes, and rabbis prayed aloud on the streets and in the city gates. They fasted twice a week instead of on the only day of the year God required. These religious leaders publicly repented with ashes and loud prayers for people to see and hear them.

The only use the Pharisaical laws gave was to create a sense of holiness, which people call religiosity. Doing religious actions do not lead to holiness. Works do not save a person from their sins. They do not convince God a person is holy enough to redeem. Yet, for the Pharisees, the laws they created served a purpose. It showed their pseudo-holiness, a lack of righteousness.

With this mindset, of course, the Pharisees would challenge Jesus. They saw Him as a threat since He daily gained followers. If Jesus became great in people’s minds, people might give fewer offerings to the synagogues and temples. They would be less inclined to follow and obey the religious leaders. The religious leaders would lose stature in the nation.

With this understanding, the Pharisees waited for Jesus and His disciples to make a mistake. To them, plucking grains of wheat on the Sabbath was not lawful. The Pharisees considered their actions and opinions made the sabbath day revered. How they lived—what they said and did—mattered more than the purpose God set aside for the day. Their Pharisees showed the intentions of their hearts with their question to Jesus. Actions determined a sabbath day’s purpose, according to the Pharisees.

Notice, the Pharisees did not say the men plucking grain from another man’s field was wrong. What they pointed out was that they plucked grain on the sabbath day. In Deuteronomy 5:12-15, no work was allowed on the Sabbath. That permitted people to keep the sabbath day holy. Holy means consecrated by God and set apart for Him. The focus of the sabbath day was to keep one’s mind set on God. The focus was not work was disallowed. For the Pharisees, the sin was plucking the grain on a Sabbath.

Is plucking working? Is plucking to satisfy hunger work? Many Old Testament passages teach about this topic. Each deals with “working” on the sabbath day. Is plucking a few heads of grain reaping? This takes us back to the intention of the Ten Commandments and, particularly, the fourth commandment. The fourth commandment states, “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8). The intention of this commandment, according to the wording, is to keep the sabbath day holy. God’s nature defines holiness. For people to keep the sabbath day holy, they must focus on God and set themselves apart only for His purposes. The purposes of a person for the sabbath day sets it apart in their lives as being for him or herself or for God. Those purposes originate in the heart, take form in the mind, and can cause each person to act for God or him or herself.

What were the disciples’ intentions for plucking grain that sabbath day? Did they intend to harvest the grain, or did they intend to quench their hunger as they followed Jesus, the Son of Man? What were the intentions of the Pharisees that day? Did they intend to help a person realign to be in God’s will or to accuse a person so they themselves seemed more holy? What was the intention of Jesus that day? If He meant to catch the Pharisees by setting Himself and His disciples in their path, He succeeded. If He meant to help them see Him as the Messiah, He tried, but the Pharisees' hearts still were stubborn.

God set the sabbath day aside for rest because it was a day of rest for Himself. Instead of focusing on the sabbath day or on what one can or cannot do, people should focus on the One who created it and gave it to them. The sabbath day is not god over Yahweh. Yahweh is God over the Sabbath. On the Sabbath, people are to rest and focus on God because He created it and gave it to them.

For the Pharisees, the laws based on the interpretations of God’s Laws were more important than the words God gave the Old Testament writers. They became inflexible in applying their own interpretations and put more emphasis on them that on God. All the while, God gave the Old Testament to point people to Himself. God judges each person according to His Word, not the rules humanity makes.

God forbade men to work for their profit on the Sabbath, not for gathering a few grains to feed themselves. Jesus’ disciples wanted to know Jesus more and to see Him teach, preach, heal, and cast out demons. They followed Jesus, even on the Sabbath. By following Jesus, they kept the sabbath day holy. They focused on the Messiah. When they became physically hungry, these men ate what they could find, heads of grain near their hands. This action was not harvesting, but gleaning. Deuteronomy 23:25 teaches about this. It says, “When you enter your neighbor’s standing grain, then you may pluck the heads with your hand, but you shall not wield a sickle in your neighbor’s standing grain.”

The disciples’ plucking grain was not work. It did not distract them from God. The disciples’ actions did not make the day unholy. The intention of Jesus’ followers was to continue to follow Him, but they had a need. Their physical bodies required sustenance to continue following Jesus.

The Reminder

And He (Jesus) said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions became hungry: how he entered the house of God in the time of Abiathar, the high priest, and ate the consecrated bread, which is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests, and he also gave it to those who were with him?” (Mark 2:25-26 [NASB])

Jesus continued teaching. He taught with words and with actions. He knew the Pharisees followed Him to trap Him in what He did and taught. Jesus understood the educated religious leaders would learn from His use of history and Scripture. It would be easier for these learned men to discount miracles and harder for them to push aside known historical facts and sacrificial laws. Jesus meets each person where they will listen most to Him.

Jesus did not debate or argue with the Pharisees. He focused the Pharisees upon a man whom they held in high esteem in Israelite history. That man was David, God’s chosen man as king for His people. David had expanded the borders of Israel. The crops and livestock of the nation had increased. David was deeply devoted to God and enjoyed His favor. God had promised David that his kingdom would never end (2 Samuel 7:11-13) and, from him, the Messiah would come (Isaiah 59:20). The Israelites considered David godly. Jesus then reminded the Pharisees of the time David fed his soldiers with the showbread on the altar in the holy place of the temple.

Jesus taught the Pharisees in the method to which they were accustomed by asking questions. This was the rhetorical method where education happens through discourse, orally. He said to the Pharisees, “Have you never read?” Jesus knew these learned men had read about David. He realized they held David in high esteem. To the Israelites, David was the model for being a great Jew. People sought to emulate him. They also had hope in the promise God gave to David about the Messiah coming from his line. Because of this, Jesus showed His disciples’ actions were like David’s men’s actions. This could then be reason enough, according to the religious leaders, for the disciples to pluck grain. David and his men were hungry and so ate from the temple offerings (1 Samuel 21:1-6). Likewise, Jesus’ disciples were hungry and so plucked and ate on the Sabbath. The actions of both leaders’ followers ran parallel.

According to Leviticus 24:5-9, only the priests were to eat the showbread that was in the holy place. Yet, the high priest, Abiathar, offered the showbread to David and his men, if they had kept pure from women. God never condemned this action by the priest. David had not acted in rebellion to God when he asked for food and accepted the showbread. He wanted to meet the immediate need of hunger in a life-or-death situation. God never condemned the priest for giving David the showbread. God considered David just.

Like David and his men had a just reason for eating the showbread, Jesus’ disciples had a just reason for plucking and eating the grain. They hungered while following Jesus. The disciples did not reap and steal a man’s grain. Their intention was to eat while continuing to follow and learn from Jesus. Staunching the hunger was a necessity. Ceremonial law was less important than the necessities of men.

The Pharisees would not dare to say David and his men eating the showbread was inappropriate. They held him in too high a regard to consider saying that. If they could not judge David, then they could not judge Jesus’ disciples. In both instances, the men ate out of necessity. The bread was still holy in that the men received it from God. Likewise, Jesus and His disciples still held the sabbath day in high esteem. The followers did not stop to harvest a field so they could make bread; they just plucked a few grains to eat as they followed Jesus.

To Jesus, ceremonial ritual is not always necessary, but moral duty is. Feeding people. Helping the sick. Caring for the homeless, orphans, and widows. These are moral duties. As Christians, our care for people shows our love for God. This being said, Jesus did not encourage willful disobedience. He considered how God’s Word deals with the issue. Scripture should always guide how we live.

The Lesson

Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27 [NASB])

Jesus helped the Pharisees to realize ceremonial rituals are not as important as giving what is necessary for people to live. He then arrived at the point of His teaching. Jesus reminded the Pharisees of David. He wanted to make sure the Pharisees, and each person, understood this lesson. Jesus understood if a religious leader learned a truth, then his/her followers would learn the truth, too. This model of getting the truth to more people is one reason Jesus trained His followers and made them fishers of people. A quicker way to get the gospel to each person was to multiply the messengers.

Jesus used the sabbath day to teach His disciples and the Jewish religious leaders. He willingly faced the Pharisees’ accusations so He could discuss God’s intentions and His heart. Plucking grain heads on a sabbath day and having the Pharisees see it allowed Jesus to instruct both sets of people about God’s intention for the Sabbath. The lesson about the Sabbath is that God’s faithful ones should serve people, not restrict activities. This promoted keeping one’s focus on God and not on self. This teaching showed the Sabbath say was for serving God by His ways.

The purposes of the Sabbath are about keeping it holy to serve God and providing a rest day to serve people. If we truly serve God, then helping someone on the sabbath day can honor God. It can allow someone to hear the gospel or get needed encouragement and prayer. God instituted the Sabbath as a day of rest and focus on Him.

With this lesson about David breaking ceremonial law, Jesus taught a principle that governed this incident. The “Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” This lesson would help the Pharisees accept the disciples’ actions of plucking grain. The disciples plucked grain because of their hunger. The Sabbath law created by the Pharisees hindered the moral law of meeting the hunger need of the disciples. Ceremonial laws they created were secondary to the necessity of the men. Jesus differentiated between ceremonial law and moral law. He wanted the Pharisees to learn this and believe in Him. Jesus wants each person of every nation, race, people, tribe, tongue, and time to learn about God, His Sabbath, and the salvation He offers.

The Point

So the Son of Man is Lord, even of the Sabbath. (Mark 2:28 [NASB])

God created the Sabbath Law (“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy” [Exodus 20:8].) to keep us focused on Him and to give us regular rest. This Law is for the good of each person. This Law is a divine law, not human created. Since this law is a divine law, the Son of Man, as Daniel wrote in Daniel 7:13, can direct which of humanity’s laws can be interrupted for the moral good. Because of this, plucking grain to feed hungry people is not working. People are affected for good when they are not starving. Jesus’ disciples did not faint from hunger. He explained to the Pharisees and His disciples that He has the authority to suspend law to meet the needs of humanity for his/her spiritual and physical good.

Further, this means it was right to eat with sinners so they would come to know God through the Messiah (spiritual good). It was right to heal the paralyzed man because it was for his physical and spiritual good. It was right to eat with the bridegroom—Jesus—while he was with the groomsmen, His disciples (spiritual good). Each of these was for spiritual and/or physical good. Jesus, as God, had authority to suspend manmade Sabbath laws for the physical and spiritual good of these people and everyone He healed, cast out demons, and ate with during His three-year ministry.

By feeding the disciples grain (taking them through the grain field), Jesus sought to ease their hunger. By forbidding their plucking grain, the Pharisees showed they cared not for the plight of men, but for their own system of godliness, which did not include God. These Pharisees did not argue with what Jesus said. If they did, they would show their stony hearts of not caring for other people. The Pharisees’ pride was bound up in their laws and self-ordained religiosity. They would hate whatever and whoever came up against their standard of faith, yet their faith was not in God, but in their ability to do every one of the 633 Judaic laws. The Pharisees were religious, according to their standards, but not godly, according to God’s standards. Religiosity is following rules and rituals as dictated by a religion, but not necessarily having the faith in Jesus that is the hallmark of being a Christian. Doing things does not make a person faith-filled. Actions do not save a person from his or her sins. Faith in Jesus alone by God’s grace saves a person from his or her sins and eternal death.

Jesus showed His innate power and authority. He did this by healing people, casting out of demons from people, feeding people, and teaching people. His love issues from His being. God is the source and definition of pure love. Jesus speaks, acts, and thinks morally. From Him comes absolute morals for the good of all humanity.

From this time onward, the Pharisees sought to catch Jesus blaspheming so they could add it to His list of crimes. Jesus has been calling Himself the Son of Man. If the Pharisees had been paying attention, they would have realized His statement meant He is Deity and has authority over God’s laws. Jesus’ statement was like peeling another layer of the onion to show more to people that Jesus meant He is the Son of God—the Messiah.

Application and Conclusion

The Pharisees were preoccupied with every ritual of the Sabbath. They did not see Jesus as the Messiah. They put more emphasis on the day of the week than they did on the Savior. Jesus should have been their priority. Instead, they chose the demands of human traditions as their priority.

Jesus suspended a ceremonial law to meet the moral law. He taught the Sabbath Law God gave was to serve God and humanity, so keep it holy by focusing on Him and helping people in need to whom He sends you. Often, people cannot or will not hear a person tell them about Jesus because they are hungry or in pain. Sometimes only when a person receives tangible love from a Christian can or will he or she see Jesus. Often, people are stubborn, like the Pharisees. Other people refuse to see or hear Christians until Jesus shows proof of His love. Sometimes even tangible proof does not move a stubborn heart.

The point of this chiasmic story from Jesus’ ministry is that Jesus has authority over the Sabbath because He is the Son of God, Deity. The Pharisees, after this discussion with Jesus, still refused to believe in Him as the awaited Messiah. They continued doing their ceremonial rituals and immersing themselves in religiosity. We do not have to be like them. At this point, we can choose to believe in Jesus for salvation and cast away the empty rituals we follow aimed at proving our self-proclaimed goodness. This will allow us freedom from sacrificing ourselves on the altar of good-enough-ness. We can know without doubt Jesus redeemed us and set us free to be holy, focus on God and His intentions, and serve Him and other people. The Sabbath Law of God is our law of rest and service.

This leads to questions:

1.     Are you too busy policing others that do not worship?

2.     Are you too busy criticizing the music or sermon that you do not worship God?

3.     Are you telling other people about Jesus, while feeding the hungry, clothing the poor, and taking care of the widow, orphan, and foreigner?

Take your day of rest before God and receive what He offers you-wholeness, peace, joy, renewed energy, and His mission—for you to serve other people.

¹⁷ Whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

²³ Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord and not for people,

 ²⁴ knowing that it is from the Lord that you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. (Colossians 3:17, 23-24 [NASB])

Flask in the Desert

A great number of people heard of all that He was doing and came to Him. (Mark 3:8b [NASB])

Imagine you have been walking in the desert for two weeks and you ran out of water two days ago. You come to a place with nothing except sand in sight then see a bulging flask. You cannot survive without fluids more than another day, so do you determine what is in the flask? Do you tell yourself the flask is for someone else? Do you drink of the water and live to tell the story?

Why all these questions? Because these may be the same types of questions the people in Mark 3:7-12 had. Four groups of beings meet Jesus in this Scripture passage–the crowd of people, the disciples, the Pharisees and scribes, and the demons (unclean spirits). Which of these beings are you like?

The crowd that clamored toward Jesus came from all over Judah, Israel, and from Phoenicia. These people had heard of Jesus healing people by Him touching them and by people touching the hem of His cloak. These people fell over themselves to fall upon Jesus so that His power would heal them. They clamored to see what would happen around Jesus this time. Most of the people did not journey to see the Son of man, as Jesus called Himself in Mark’s gospel. They came to watch the “magic”. They did not trust Jesus was the prophesied Messiah.

The disciples walked with Jesus to the sea because He called them to follow Him. As of that time, many of them did not believe in Him as the Son of man, as Daniel prophesied in Daniel 7:13-14. They followed Jesus because He commanded them and He spoke with authority, healed people, and cast out demons. This man, Jesus, amazed them. Mark often used these exclamations of amazement.

The Pharisees and scribes had watched and listened as Jesus taught with authority, healed with power and authority, cast out demons with power and authority, and challenged them about who He is, the Son of man. Jesus further explained to them He has authority over the sabbath. From Mark 3:1, these Pharisees and scribes sought a way to remove Jesus and His power over the people. They did not want their own power to decrease by Jesus becoming the leader the people followed. The Pharisees determined to arrest Jesus for breaking the law so they could kill Him. They reasoned by doing that, they could regain their power and authority over the people. The Pharisees and scribes did not recognize Jesus as the Son of man or Son of God.

The unclean spirits (demons) from Mark 1:23-3:12 proclaimed Jesus to be the Son of man and the Son of God, then fell at His feet in prostration. Each time they said these things, Jesus commanded them to be quiet and tell no one who He was. It is in His nature to have authority and power over unclean spirits. The demons recognized Jesus was the Messiah. They proclaimed it, but Jesus knew the time had not yet come for people to know Him as such. He didn’t want the demons’ confession. The demons did not obey Jesus. Their father is Satan, and they obeyed him.

Jesus wants the confession of people with changed hearts because of belief in Him as the Son of God. He wants obedience from love of these people. God sent Jesus to earth as a man because of His love for all people. He wants none to be lost from Him eternally. John said this in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Consider this question again. Which of these beings are you like–the disciples, the crowd of people wanting to see or touch Jesus, the Pharisees and scribes who seek to arrest and kill Him, or the demons who recognize who Jesus is, but who don’t give themselves to Him in loving obedience? Or, are you the person who recognizes Jesus as the Son of God, confesses Him as your Savior, and obeys Him because of your love for Him? If you are like this last person, you are the one who sees the flask, recognizes it holds water, and drinks it for continued life?

Will you see the Water and drink for salvation and eternal life?

Jesus is the Water of eternal life.

Lord, I have clamored to go see the healers, the prophets, and the apostles, but I didn’t go to see, meet, and accept You into my life. I was watching the sensational things that happened and praised the man or woman for what he or she did. Please forgive me for seeking things and not You. Please forgive me for hearing about You, but not seeking You. Forgive me for recognizing my life is contrary to Your ways and not wanting to let You have the power and authority over my life. I was wrong in all these things. I wanted to live the way I wanted to live. I wanted to be my own boss, but Lord, I wasn’t my own boss then; Satan was. I’m tired of the fighting in life and tired of trying to live my own way. Forgive me my rebellion, Lord. Forgive me for ignoring You when you came to me. Lord, I do not deserve Your love, forgiveness, grace, mercy, or salvation, but, Lord, I desperately want You now. I accept and confess You as my Lord and Savior. Cleanse me and make me new in Your image. Use me for Your purposes to bring You glory. I will follow You and proclaim You to the world. Amen.

Good Enough or Complete?

Therefore, you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:48 [NASB])

I’ve been in a few cars with flat tires. They happen. The challenge is changing them with the spare. Think about this. If the last time you had a flat, you took your flat tire to the mechanic for repair and he/she filled it with air and gave it back to you. What would happen when you replaced your newest flat tire with that old flat tire filled with air? If the mechanic didn’t find the cause for the hole and repair it, your replacement tire would be no better than your current flat tire. For the mechanic, the refilled tire was good enough. For your purposes, you didn’t need good enough. You needed perfect, a job done completely. Jesus spoke about lives lived completely instead of in a “good enough” way. Consider what He taught in Matthew 5.

In Matthew 5, Jesus began preaching His Sermon on the Mount with the Beatitudes. He began this famous sermon by proclaiming certain people are blessed, people who may not have ever considered themselves blessed. Jesus said these groups of people are blessed: the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the gentle, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, and the people who are insulted, persecuted, and have false things said about them because of their relationship to Him.

We look at this list of people, and we may see one of more of these attitudes to which we can identify and say, “Yes, that happened to me!” If we consider these attitudes closer, we realize, Jesus described His experience on earth with each one of them. This should make us consider again, has what we experienced been like what Jesus experienced? Are we really that much like Jesus?

Jesus, next, in verses thirteen through sixteen, told His disciples what they would be if they closely aligned themselves with Him. They will be salt of the earth. His disciples are to bring flavor back to life by telling people about Him. While Jesus has not returned to earth to claim it for Himself and cast Satan into the pit, Satan roams free in the world. Life is flavorless; no distinction exists between Satan and another way to live. It’s a bland existence. When Jesus came to earth the first time, He called, and continues to call, people to be His disciples. His disciples bring a new flavor, a freshness, to life. Jesus’ disciples are salt in the world. Blandness gets cast away by the new flavor, new Life. Jesus also told His disciples they would be the light of the world. Blandness comes from having just one influence, Satan.  When a new leader enters, new light illumines the darkness of what life was really like before the Light, Jesus, came into the world. Disciples are to be the light, which the Light of the world ignited so the city, the people of the world, can see the things Satan hid in the dark. When the disciples show their light, people will glorify the Father in heaven who sent the Light.

After Jesus taught about the Beatitudes and who would receive the reward of heaven and after He explained the role of His disciples, He made a stunning statement to the Jews. He said He did not come to abolish the Law or Prophets, but to fulfill them. The Jews expected the Messiah to come as their warrior King defeating their enemy, the Romans, and re-establishing the kingdom of David. The Pharisees would have sat straighter at this statement. Yet, Jesus continued by saying, “Whoever annuls one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. 5:19 [NASB]) Maybe it went over the heads of the Pharisees, maybe it didn’t. The Pharisees often required more of the Jews than the Laws of God required. They changed the Laws to make it harder on the people and to show their own holiness as greater than others. What Jesus said next, He stated plainly. The Pharisees could not have missed His meaning in verse twenty. Jesus said, “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” [NASB] Can you imagine the shock on the faces of the Pharisees who listened that day and on the faces of the Pharisees who heard about it? Can you imagine the rage that would have engulfed them for a man born in small Nazareth as a carpenter’s son, to teach the people they had to have righteousness greater than the Pharisees? The hidden meaning of Jesus’ statement was that the Pharisees were not righteous. They were not poor in spirit, gentle, merciful, and all the other descriptors Jesus used of those who would inherit the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus began His Sermon on the Mount describing those who would inherit the kingdom of heaven. He then taught what His disciples must be in the world. By speaking next on the Law and Prophets, righteousness, and the Pharisees, He contrasted the people of the opening attitudes and disciples with the Pharisees. The people might have wondered, if the Pharisees are not to be our standard or goal in life, then who is? What must I do to be perfect? Jesus answered this with verses twenty-one through forty-seven. He teaches the people listening to Him on the mount about going beyond the Law and Prophets. Jesus taught them about loving their neighbor as themselves, as He would in Matthew 22:39. Then He reminded these Jews, even the Gentiles did these things, and they did not believe in Yahweh. So, if the people are no better than the Gentiles and they are to be better than the Pharisees, who are they to be like then? Who is their standard?

With verse forty-eight, Jesus explained to the people who they were to be like. He said, “Therefore, you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Jesus contrasted His statement from verse twenty when He said, “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven” with verse forty-eight. Jesus gave the people a new standard, their heavenly Father, the One who gave them life and gives new life through regeneration, being born again. Our heavenly Father is the standard not only because He’s our Creator, but because He is perfect, the definer of perfect. “Perfect” comes from the Greek word, teleios. Teleios means being complete as in maturity, a going through stages to reach the end goal, like a spiritual journey. For God, He has always been perfect. Our goal is to be made in His image, to be like Christ. That is our spiritual journey; it is having the mind and character of Christ, as Paul said in Philippians 2:5-8. When our spiritual journey is complete, which will only occur when we are in the kingdom of God, then we will be like Christ. We will be perfect, and our journey will be complete.

Just as Jesus gave the attitudes of the people who were like Him, gentle, meek, merciful, etc. in verses one through eleven, and so He was on earth and is in heaven, and just as His disciples are the salt of the earth and a light to the world telling of Him, we, as those whose righteousness surpasses the scribes and Pharisees in our world, will become perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect.

Jesus told the people what their lives will be like on earth as His followers and told them who should be their standard. Today, as people living on the earth as Jesus lived and taught on earth need to realize Jesus teaches us this same message. We will have difficulties and hardships. People will persecute us because of our relationship with Him. But we can rejoice and be glad, for our reward is in heaven and it is great. (Matt. 5:12) When God is our standard, we will suffer at times, but we can know our Father, the One who created us and is re-creating us in His image, calls us His children and gives us hope and joy knowing we have a reward in His kingdom with Him. Our standard is not the world’s standards, not the standards of the scribes and Pharisees. Our standard is God and we will become perfect as He is perfect.

If we choose to live a life according to the world’s standards, it can be good enough according to the world, but it will always fall flat. If we live a complete and perfect life with God as our standard, then our lives will be full of hope and joy. Though we may endure hardships, God will always be there and provide all we need to endure and get through it. He won’t be like the mechanic who just did a good enough job by refilling the tire. He will do a perfect job, fix the problem, and give us all the help we need. Do we want to live by the world’s standards where the answer is good enough and we continue needing air put in our tires because the problem is not remedied? Or, do we want to live by God’s standard, trust God who gives us everything we need for each situation, and live knowing, with God as our Savior, we are complete. We have every good and perfect gift that comes from God above? (James 1:17)

To whose standard do you live?

In whose image do you stand?

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2 [NASB])

Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you; however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained. (Philippians 3:13-16 [NASB])

Lord, I am not perfect; I am not yet complete in You. Lord, thank you for wanting me, providing a way for me, and calling me to Yourself. Thank you that You were willing to provide the sin sacrifice for my sins because of Your love and mercy for me. Lead me in Your paths and for Your glory. Help me walk in Your ways and to Your standard, not allowing the morals of the world to be “good enough”, but instead always seeking You. Use me to be salt and light in this world so people will know there is more to life than what they see and to the limited time of earth. Lord, show people Yourself through me so they want to give their lives to You in faith and by confession. Give them Your hope and love. Thank you for what You have done and what You are going to do. Thank you for being the definer perfect and complete. Amen.

Heart Check

“My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me.” John 7:16 [NASB]

Consider a medieval knight. If he heard his lord call his knights immediately to go to battle, would the knight have time to put on all his armor? Would he go to battle without knowing whom he would battle? Would he blindly hear and answer the call to charge? If he did any of these things, he would be ill-prepared for battle. The places of his body without the armor he left behind in his haste would be the places the enemy would attack most fiercely. The enemy who he thought he might fight wouldn’t be the one who attacked his lord that day and he would fall to their unconsidered strength. This knight is like us. Consider what Jesus told his brothers and other Jews in John 7.

Jesus’ brothers expected that Jesus would go to Jerusalem for the feast week. Why would they expect that? Because He was a Jew by birth, and because they expected He would want to be with the people to preach, teach, and heal. Jesus surprised them by saying He wouldn’t go. He said, “My time is not yet here.” (vs. 6)

We read later in John 7 Jesus went to the feast in Jerusalem. He went up secretly. Now Jesus’ intention for going to Jerusalem contrasted to what His brothers wanted in verses three and four. They said, “Leave here and go into Judea, so that Your disciples also may see Your works which You are doing. For no one does anything in secret when he himself seeks to be known publicly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” Jesus’ brothers did not understand Jesus wasn’t trying to gain fame. His going to Jerusalem would be in secret because He realized the religious leaders were trying to kill Him, but He had not yet completed the task for which the Father sent Him, to preach to all the Jews about the grace and salvation God offers. Jesus didn’t go with His brothers because they wanted Him to go for the wrong reasons. He went secretly so people would listen to Him sincerely, not just gawk at the famed man who came preaching new things and healing people. Those gawking people would have come to see the famous man from Galilee, not to listen to His teaching.

Still, when the people found Jesus and listened to Him, not all accepted His teaching as truth. Some challenged Him, and these were not only the Jewish religious leaders. Verse fifteen says, “The Jews then were astonished, saying, ‘How has this man become learned, having never been educated?’” These people challenged Jesus’ teaching because a rabbi or any man of the Levitical order had not taught Him. His father, Joseph, taught Him just like any good Jewish father teaches his sons. The Jews, with their words, cast stones at Jesus, just like the Jewish religious leaders wanted to cause to happen, but with real stones.

What is interesting is what Jesus said to this statement by these Jews. In verses sixteen through eighteen, Jesus said,

My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent me. If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself. He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. [NASB]

With this statement, Jesus put the Jews in their place. It was a positive, verbal slap. He said if anyone is doing God’s will, he would know what Jesus taught. That Jew would recognize what Jesus taught came from the Father. How is this a slap in the face? Since the people didn’t accept Jesus’ teaching, but challenged Him, they didn’t know God and were not doing His will. Since they didn’t know God, how could they dare to judge Jesus, the man they said was uneducated. They themselves were less learned than Jesus and had no faith in God. With that, as they say now, you could hear the mic drop.

This mic drop compels us to reflect on ourselves by considering two questions. First, do we scramble to be a Jesus follower because of His fame and the fame that we would get? Being a Jesus follower should not occur because we want fame and glory. Any glory should go to God. Jesus showed in Mark 2:12 what should happen when a person encounters the miracles and teaching of God. People should glorify God. If we scramble to be Jesus followers for the fame, we aren’t God followers, but glory stealers. Did you scramble to follow Jesus because of His fame, but not consider the cost it would require? You came answering the call ill-prepared and are not wearing the whole armor. You won’t be able to stand in battle as a follower of Jesus because what you teach and preach is not truth. Seek the Lord with your whole being, He said, and you will find Him, He will save you from your sins, self, and death, and give you eternal life.

Second, do we know God and His will or are we judging God’s servants with a lack of head and heart-knowledge? How can we judge a person for what they know when we don’t know what they declare to know? Saying this, though, we need to realize to the depths of our being, God wants us to know Him, His grace, His love, and His salvation, which He offers to every person. Instead of fearing the change Jesus brings, come to know Him through salvation by giving your heart to Him, and you will find no need to judge and no right to judge Jesus and His servants. You don’t have to be ill-prepared for the battles you will face in this world. Come to know the truths of God. Come to know the battles you will face. Be prepared by the Master and Lord who calls you to Him.

We can be the soldier who goes to fight for our Lord. When we know God in truth with our whole being and love Him that way, we are armored for the battles. We know deeply and personally Whom we follow.

Put on the whole armor. Know the Lord intimately.

By these you will stand strong and God will receive the glory.

Lord, God, I come to You admitting I have failed. Each day I try to walk in Your ways, but at some point, I sin. I know You are disappointed, but You won’t let me go. I am Yours. Lord, teach me Your ways. Make me desire to be in Your presence. Lead me in Your paths for Your name sake. Clothe me completely with Your armor and use me for whatever You will, all for Your glory. You are almighty and I am not. You are Savior and I am a sinner, but one whom You have redeemed. Thank you for Your faithful love, grace, and mercy. I love You, Lord. Amen.

God's Fame or My Name

The Pharisee and Sadducees came up, and testing Jesus, they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. But He replied to them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times? An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah.” And He left them and went away. (Matthew 16:1-4 [NASB])

Consider a boat. What makes it seaworthy? Does the name of the company that owns it give us confidence in the boat or its actual construction? We must consider that with our lives and people who teach us in our world.

The main question that arises from this passage is for what kind of sign are we looking? Do we want a sign so we can tell others the meaning and gain recognition and followers? Or, do we seek a sign so we can praise God and lead others to Him? Jesus raised this question in Matthew 16:1-4.

In this passage, we need to consider two things, the people of the story and the signs of which each speaks. The people include the odd joining of Pharisees and Sadducees to remove Jesus’ power over the people, and then Jesus Himself. The signs in this passage speak of how this group of men sought to trick Jesus and what they themselves did not understand of Jesus’ purpose on earth.

The Pharisees were the Law givers and upholders of the Jewish Law. They believed God provided the Jews with the written Law and the oral Law. The Pharisees were known for their personal piety and their teaching Jews should obey all 600+ laws in the Torah. They were a minority in the Sanhedrin (the Jewish council) yet they seemed to control the decision-making because they had popular support among the people. Because the Pharisees considered the oral tradition as equal to the written tradition, it evolved over the centuries as they added to God’s Word, which He forbade in Deuteronomy 4:2. In Matthew 9:14, 15:1-9, 23:5, 16, & 23, and Luke 11:42, the Gospels give examples of the Pharisees considering their traditions as equal to God’s Word. The Pharisees believed in the resurrection of the dead and an afterlife. They believed in the Messiah setting up His kingdom on earth. Because Jesus came to earth not to set up the earthly kingdom with power and might that would overthrow their current rulers, the Romans, and because His teachings were contrary to theirs, the Pharisees feared Jesus decreased their power and leadership among the Jews, and so wanted Him gone.

The Sadducees were a part of the Jewish leaders and of the Jewish council, the Sanhedrin. They were the aristocrats of the Jews and known for corrupting their religious devotion. The Sadducees controlled the Jerusalem Temple, known as Herod’s Temple. They only accepted the written word of Moses. The Sadducees rejected the oral tradition as being equal to the written word. They rejected the supernatural, including angels, demons, heaven, hell, and bodily resurrection. The Sadducees believed the soul died with the body. They held strongly in ritual purity as prescribed by God through Moses. Because the Sadducees didn’t believe in a heaven, hell, or bodily resurrection, they had no need for a Messiah as spoken of in the works outside the written tradition and as Jesus preached.

With this understanding of the actors in these four verses, let’s consider closer what these men said. The group of men confronting Jesus asked for a sign from heaven. Jesus challenged them on that and spoke of the sign of Jonah. Were these men speaking of the same thing? The answer comes from the ultimate motive of the questions. The Pharisees and Sadducees came to test Jesus. Were they testing Him to determine if He was blaspheming? Jesus will show us the truth of that in verses two and three.

First, consider what the Pharisees and Sadducees asked. They asked Jesus to show them a sign from heaven. This word for sign comes from the same Greek word for sign as Jesus spoke of in verses three and four, semeion, which typically means a miraculous sign to confirm or authenticate something. The motive of these religious leaders was overtly to prove Jesus was a blasphemer, but by doing that, it would prove their authority as the religious leaders of the Jews. The covert reason, Jesus would bring to light with His statement.

What was the real reason for the religious leaders asking for a sign from Jesus? In verses two and three, Jesus asked them, while the surrounding crowd listened, if they knew how to read the sign in the sky telling people when it would rain or be a fair-weather day, how did they not know how to discern the sign of the times? Jesus basically said these leaders of the Jews could read the physical signs of earth, but even as spiritual leaders, they were unable to discern the spiritual sign of the times. This statement by Jesus proved the sign for which the Pharisees and Sadducees asked of Jesus was a way people used to prove the cause they pleaded was God’s when actually they did not do that. The religious leaders asked the question to put them in an exalted place where people would continue to look at them as their leaders for disclosing Jesus as a non-Messiah and a blasphemer.

Jesus’ statement continued in verse four. He not only showed the Jewish leaders’ covert question, but He labeled them for the people who could not see what they did. He said in verse four, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah.” First Jesus revealed the leaders’ covert motive for the question, to raise themselves in the eyes of the Jews as spiritual leaders, and then overtly called them evil and adulterous. These Pharisees and Sadducees were evil and adulterous and leading the Jews to be the same. Jesus made the Pharisees and Sadducees a lesson for the crowds that followed Him and heard about His teachings and signs.

A lesson comes in this sign of Jonah of which Jesus spoke. The only sign the evil and adulterous would get would be what happened to Jonah. What happened to Jonah? Jesus explains this sign in Matthew 12:39-41. He said,

But He (Jesus) answered them (Pharisees and scribes) and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign, and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it because they )the Ninevites) repented at the preaching of Jonah; and something greater than Jonah is here.” [NASB]

The sign of Jonah, Jesus said, was his coming back to life three days after being taken into the deep. Jesus, like Jonah, would be dead for three days and then come back to life. He would be bodily resurrected. Jonah was a sign for the Ninevites sent by God and they repented, though later reverted to a wicked life. Jesus challenged the Jewish religious leaders. He asked how they could be spiritual leaders of God’s people when they could not read the spiritual signs of the time. They we so afraid of losing their fame and followers that they did not see the sign of God in front of them and lead the people to believe in Jesus as the Messiah. The Ninevites who repented would judge the Jews, who though they had the Messiah in front of them did not believe.

The sign of which Jesus spoke was a sign given to confirm His authority to preach, teach, heal, cleanse, and forgive. Its end purpose was to exalt the One giving the sign, God the Father. It authenticated Jesus and His eternal purpose by doing what man could not replicate or that for which man could not take credit. The Jewish leaders asked for a sign to authenticate Jesus as a blasphemer, not to exalt God but themselves so the Jews would continue to follow them. These leaders asked for signs to tell others about their abilities and greatness instead of seeing God and praising Him.

We have that choice to make every day, too. It comes down to what makes our boat seaworthy, the name on it or its Workmanship?

Will we ask so we can tell or see so we can praise?

Not all asking brings seeing God, but all seeing of God comes from asking of Him.

Likewise,

Not all telling brings praising of God, but all praise of God brings telling about Him.

Lord, so often I ask for You to show me Yourself, but then I don’t proclaim Who You are or what You’ve done. Please forgive me. Sometimes, if I am completely honest, I even claim a new insight learned, but don’t give you credit. Forgive me, LORD. I am not so smart to tell of You from my earthly insight. Help me always to see You to proclaim You. Help me realize I am but a created being who always needs to You to keep from sinning. I am weak and You are strong. If it were not so, I would not be saved now and able to proclaim Your goodness, mercy, grace, and love. You, oh Lord, are almighty and I am not. Thank you for Your love of me from the beginning of time. Thank you for Your plan to save me and for saving me from myself, my sins, and my due judgment. Lord, all I can do when faced with Yourself is prostrate myself on my face and praise You. I love You, Lord. Amen.