Mark 2 v 18-20
Now the followers of John and the Pharisees often gave up eating for a
certain time. Some people came to Jesus and said, “Why do John’s followers
and the followers of the Pharisees often give up eating, but your followers
don’t?”
Jesus answered, “The friends of the bridegroom do not give up eating while
the bridegroom is still with them. As long as the bridegroom is with them, they
cannot give up eating.
But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and then
they will give up eating.
Notes
Some people love to show off to others how committed to God they are. They make
a show of it so nobody misses the fact they are a super saint. Normally this
involves telling you all about the things they have very proudly put behind them
and how much better they are for it. Something similar was going on here. The
most strait Jews would fast twice a week, on Monday and Thursday. They not only
went without food, they would often whiten their faces and wear tattered
clothing so both God and the people next door could not miss how devoted they
were - and of course they made a point of being miserable about it. Jesus is a
real contrast, his followers don't go in for this show off practice at all
(don't get the idea Jesus was against fasting - later in the bible we read Jesus
saying 'when you fast......' and about how the early church fasted and prayed).
Jesus makes a strong contrast between the misery team and his follows. In Jewish
culture a bride and bridegroom did not go away on honeymoon, they threw an open
house party for their friends for a whole week. Those friends who were invited
were called the children of the bridegroom and the normal rules of fasting did
not apply. What picture do you get when you think of a wedding party? Jesus is
saying the mark of his followers is to be joy not religious misery! That is a
real challenge to many of us.
So what do people make of your faith? Do they know more about what you are
against than they see the joy relationship with Jesus gives you?
Mark 2 v 21-22
“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth over a hole in an old coat.
Otherwise, the patch will shrink and pull away—the new patch will pull away
from the old coat. Then the hole will be worse.
Also, no one ever pours new wine into old leather bags. Otherwise, the new
wine will break the bags, and the wine will be ruined along with the bags. But
new wine should be put into new leather bags.”
Notes
Change - some people love it and others would love for things to stay as they
are. Here Jesus is simply saying this message of joy and new life that he offers
are too big to fit into your old ways of thinking and doing things. My daughter
is 9 months old, almost ever day she learns to do something new, this week it
was waving, a couple of weeks ago she started to crawl, teeth are pushing
through her gums and in a week or so she will have 4 of them. I can see how she
is changing day by day. The question is am I growing day by day because of my
faith? How has it changed me?
As we grow in faith things will not stay the way they were. Some things seem to
change without us knowing about it or doing anything as we spend time with God
(a bit like teeth coming through - when they are ready they do) other changes
take determination and hard work on our part to work with God (even if we feel
our progress is like learning to crawl). Ask God to daily be at work changing
you. As you are filled with his spirit the old ways of doing things will have to
change to hold what he has given you. Ask - you will be amazed at how you grow.
Mark 2 v 23-28
One Sabbath day, as Jesus was walking through some fields of grain, his
followers began to pick some grain to eat.
The Pharisees said to Jesus, “Why are your followers doing what is not
lawful on the Sabbath day?”
Jesus answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and those with
him were hungry and needed food?
During the time of Abiathar the high priest, David went into God’s house
and ate the holy bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And David also
gave some of the bread to those who were with him.”
Then Jesus said to the Pharisees, “The Sabbath day was made to help people;
they were not made to be ruled by the Sabbath day.
So then, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath day.”
Notes
Isn't it amazing the way people can argue about the Bible, or the way they can
find something in it to back them up with almost whatever they want to say? Here
again the rule keepers are on the look out for the broken rule and they find it.
The disciples by picking some ears of corn and eating it had broken a whole book
load of rules as far as the Pharisees saw things. On the Sabbath you were not to
harvest, to prepare food or any of a whole list of things.
Jesus simply reminds the Pharisees that the point of the laws are to help us.
God understood that people can not be always working without it crushing the
life and vitality out of them, rest is important for us to be fully functioning
humans. However Jesus never tells us the laws of God can be picked and chosen
between. God gave us ways to live to protect us, the problem is when we lose
sight of the fact God gave us those rules to keep us safe they look like a set of
prison bars that stop us from expressing ourselves. We need to not just follow
the ways of God but to keep in touch with him, knowing his love. If we don't
keep in touch with him we can grow to resent the rules or be governed by the
letter of them alone. Then, before we know it we are Pharisees ourselves. Avoid
becoming a Pharisee - ask God to make love the reason you want to obey him, not
pride, position or power.
Mark 3 v 1-6
Another time when Jesus went into a synagogue, a man with a crippled hand was
there. 2 Some people watched Jesus closely to see if he would heal the man on
the Sabbath day so they could accuse him.
Jesus said to the man with the crippled hand, “Stand up here in the middle
of everyone.”
Then Jesus asked the people, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath day: to do good
or to do evil, to save a life or to kill?” But they said nothing to answer
him.
Jesus was angry as he looked at the people, and he felt very sad because they
were stubborn. Then he said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” The man held
out his hand and it was healed.
Then the Pharisees left and began making plans with the Herodians about a way
to kill Jesus.
Notes
Do you ever feel that people are out to get you? Especially if they know you are
a Christian and want to see you get it wrong! Many of us know the embarrassment
of losing our temper or letting down our principles only to have someone say 'I
thought you were meant to be a Christian?' Sometimes they are right, we have let
ourselves and our faith down - at other times they simply don't understand and
what we have failed to meet is their prejudice about what a Christian is. Here
in this incident we see people out to get Jesus. It doesn't matter what he might
do, they were going to find a problem with it. They had no care about the man
with the crippled arm, he was simply a pawn in their game.
What we need to learn from here is the reaction of Jesus. He was angry and sad -
angry because the needs of the crippled man were ignored in a fight to catch
Jesus out and sad because these people could not see who he was and what he
offered. Too often we are angry at people who have a go at us and feel sorry for
ourselves! If were really want to be followers of Jesus that attitude won't do -
instead Jesus says we must love and pray for those who our out to get us that
the Holy Spirit will bring light and love into stubborn hearts.
Mark 3 v 7-12
Jesus left with his followers for the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee
followed him.
Also many people came from Judea, from Jerusalem, from Idumea, from the lands
across the Jordan River, and from the area of Tyre and Sidon. When they heard
what Jesus was doing, many people came to him.
When Jesus saw the crowds, he told his followers to get a boat ready for him
to keep people from crowding against him.
He had healed many people, so all the sick were pushing toward him to touch
him.
When evil spirits saw Jesus, they fell down before him and shouted, “You
are the Son of God!”
But Jesus strongly warned them not to tell who he was.
Notes
The crowds flock to Jesus - and who can blame them. Sick people get better,
those attacked by evil spirits are set free and each day new amazing stories are
spread about this man. They came because of what Jesus was doing. They wanted to
say they too had seen him, and to know if the show was really as good as they
had heard. Yet it is not long before the crowds vanish as they see behind the
wonders is a way of life that is costly.
So if you follow Jesus why do you do it? For that matter why get these notes? Do
you follow because your friends do or read this so you don't miss out about what
others in your youth group read? Jesus didn't want to impress crowds, he wanted
and wants today to reach into the lives of individuals and to make them whole.
In others words he wants to get to know you and be involved in your life even
now as you read this. If you are following Jesus for the amazing things try
asking him to show you who he really is - don't follow along with the crowd,
invite Jesus to make his self know to you as he did to his friends the
disciples. what does Jesus want? Does he want you to be impressed by him? No -
he wants you to know him, to be friends with him and to live your life with him
in the way he knows is best. So what is stopping you say yes to him today?
If you would like to know how to say yes to Jesus for the first time, to really
know him, talk to a Christian you know who can help or drop us an email.
Mark 3 v 13-19
Then Jesus went up on a mountain and called to him the men he wanted, and
they came to him.
Jesus chose twelve men and called them apostles. He wanted them to be with
him, and he wanted to send them out to preach and to have the authority to force demons out of people.
These are the twelve men he chose: Simon (Jesus named him Peter),
James and John, the sons of Zebedee (Jesus named them Boanerges, which means
“Sons of Thunder”),
Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus,
Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot, 19 and Judas Iscariot, who later turned against
Jesus.
Notes
Imagine Jesus sitting with the crowd on the hillside and calling your name.
Imagine the way other people might suddenly look at you, maybe wondering 'why
them? what have they done?'. Then imagine hearing him say I want to get to know
you, come with me, hang out with me, eat with me and chat with me along the way
I am travelling. I really want you to come with me, I value your company. I
enjoy being with you. Then imagine he says I want you to be part of my team, I
am going to trust you with my work. I believe you have got what it takes, come
and be amazed at what we will do together. I trust you - and when you get it
wrong we'll get together and sort it out, take risks with me. You can do more
than you imagine, you are more important to me that you can understand. You
matter to me and I love you.
You don't have to imagine anymore - Jesus says all of those thing to you right
now - he is simply waiting with open arms for your response.................
Mark 3 v 20-30
Then Jesus went home, but again a crowd gathered. There were so many people that Jesus and his followers could not eat.
When his family heard this, they went to get him because they thought he was out of his
mind.
But the teachers of the law from Jerusalem were saying, “Beelzebul is living inside him! He uses power from the ruler of demons to force demons out of people.”
So Jesus called the people together and taught them with stories. He said, “Satan will not force himself out of people.
A kingdom that is divided cannot continue, and a family that is divided cannot continue.
And if Satan is against himself and fights against his own people, he cannot continue; that is the end of Satan.
No one can enter a strong person’s house and steal his things unless he first ties up the strong person. Then he can steal things from the house.
I tell you the truth, all sins that people do and all the things people say against God can be forgiven.
But anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of a sin that continues forever.”
Jesus said this because the teachers of the law said that he had an evil spirit inside him.
Notes
Well here is a passage worth a whole week of notes!
Jesus is getting hassle from both his own side (his family) and those who decided they were his enemies (the teachers of the law). His family thought they were doing the right thing because they heard their boy was so busy he was skipping meals. Meanwhile his enemies were saying his power came from the devil! So lesson one from today’s reading? Good motives can still take us to the wrong place. It wasn’t wrong for the family to worry about Jesus, it was wrong that the worry let them to try to stop God’s work. When we worry do we take things into our own hands and decide we know best rather than trusting God?
Interesting the passage has no criticism for Jesus’ family, his energy goes for those teaching he is of the devil. Basically Jesus says to the critics – ‘you say my power is from the devil – let me show you why that is a daft idea that doesn’t make sense’ and he does. The worry many people have is about this ‘unforgivable sin’ but basically if you look carefully at the passage you see the unforgivable sin is seeing God at work and calling it evil – if we decide what God is doing is evil how can we ask for forgiveness from him? The teachers of the law couldn’t see God at work because they did not want to and were not willing to! That closed mind put them in the unforgivable place – so stay open to God, and rest assured that even if like Jesus’ family you get it wrong, God can work through it and you can be forgiven.
word-on-the-web uses the Scripture text taken from the Youth Bible, New Century Version (Anglicised Edition) copyright 1993 by Word Publishing Milton Keynes