Tag: Mark

Morning Musing: Mark 3:6

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“Immediately the Pharisees went out and started plotting with the Herodians against him, how they might kill him.”‬ ‭(CSB‬‬ – Read the chapter)

So, we’ve been talking for the last couple of days about Jesus and the Pharisees debating the rules that governed Jewish life in the first century. Specifically, they were at odds over the Sabbath command. The original command was simple: Don’t work on the Sabbath. In the centuries since, though, much had been added to make clear exactly what that meant. By Jesus’ day, that “much” had come to carry more weight than the original law itself. This new law and the Law in general had come for them to be more important than the people it governed. Well, what happens when the rules become more important than the people they govern? We get a glimpse of that here.

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Digging in Deeper: Mark 3:3-5

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“He told the man with the shriveled hand, ‘Stand before us.’ Then he said to them, ‘Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath or to do evil, to save life or to kill?’ But they were silent. After looking around at them with anger, he was grieved at the hardness of their hearts and told the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ So he stretched it out, and his hand was restored.” (CSB‬‬ – Read the chapter)

Why do we have rules? Sound familiar? We started there yesterday too. But here at the beginning of Mark 3, we find Jesus debating the same issue yet again with the Pharisees. Here, though, things are starting to get a bit hotter. The last lesson He taught them was that the rules are first for our good, not simply to be followed because they are there. Here…He teaches the same lesson but in a much more graphic way. Let’s see how.

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Morning Musing: Mark 2:27

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“Then he told them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath.’”‬ ‭(CSB‬‬ – Read the chapter)

Why do we have rules? What is their purpose? At the most basic level there are two purposes. One is to restrain. The other is to teach. These two are not mutually exclusive of one another. Some rules are intended both to restrain and teach. They restrain behavior that is bad while actively teaching behavior that is good. Good rules do this. Out of balance, though, things can get messy quickly. What we see here is Jesus teaching the Pharisees a lesson on the purpose of God’s rules. Let’s pay attention to it.

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Digging in Deeper: Mark 2:24-26

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“The Pharisees said to him, ‘Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?’ He said to them, ‘Have you never read what David and those who were with him did when he was in need and hungry — how he entered the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest and ate the bread of the Presence — which is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests — and also gave some to his companions?’”‬ ‭(CSB‬‬ – Read the chapter)

One of the standard excuses or arguments kids have always made with their parents when trying to either justify something they’ve done or else plead for something they want is this: “But all the other kids are doing it!” The simple logic here is that if everyone else is doing it, then it must not be a bad thing to do. Therefore, they should get to do it as well. What we know as older and wiser parents (right???) is that right and wrong is not set by group consensus, and so what all the other kids are doing is not going to have any bearing on what we do. Why am I thinking about this today? Because it seems like Jesus was using this kind of reasoning here and I’m not sure what to do about it.

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Digging in Deeper: Mark 2:21-22

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“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new patch pulls away from the old cloth, and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost as well as the skins. No, new wine is put into fresh wineskins.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you ever seen somebody be insulted without realizing they were being insulted? Jon Stewart, former host of Comedy Central’s popular series, “The Daily Show,” was well-known for doing this. He would send out “reporters” to do interviews with unsuspecting individuals which were then edited to make them look stupid at best. Well, Jesus wasn’t doing that here, but He was making an observation about some folks that wasn’t exactly complimentary. In doing so, though, He offers us a good reminder to not fall into the same trap they had. Let’s talk about it.

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