Mark 2:23-3:6

1. Read Psalm 8
2. Ask about sermon from Sunday
a. What is the bad news of Ephesians 2:1-10?
b. What is the good news of Ephesians 2:1-10?

Mark 2:23-3:6
23 One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” 25 And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: 26 how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” 27 And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. 2 And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3 And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” 4 And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. 5 And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

Verses 23-24
1. An accusation is made against Jesus. He is accused of breaking the Sabbath.
2. Sabbath was one of the 10 commandments.
a. Exodus 20:8-11
3. “Work” was left undefined by the Torah.
a. In verse 24, the question being asked is not actually legitimate because there was nothing clearly stating that what they did was wrong.

Verses 25-28
1. Jesus responds by reminding them of a story about David.
a. 1 Samuel 21:1-6
2. Jesus’ point in telling the story is not to state whether or not what they were doing was a violation of the Sabbath. His point is that their actions were justified by reference to a higher obligation. The higher obligation is not the satisfaction of their hunger; rather, the focal point of the story is about David and his role in Israel’s history. The Jews believed that David’s violation of the law is permissible only because of his special place in God’s place for Israel. Jesus is implying that something greater than David is here in their midst.
3. With Jesus alluding to the fact that something greater than David has arrived, the question inevitably follows: If David was justified in his actions of violating the Sabbath, how much more would someone greater than David be justified in his actions?
4. Jesus is also declaring that the Sabbath was made for the benefit of people, not people for the benefit of the Sabbath.

Verses 1-6
1. This section follows out in more detail what Jesus mentions at the end of Chapter 2. Jesus is declaring that the Sabbath was made for the benefit of people and was not meant to be a burdensome command.
2. The overall message of this section is pretty easy to grasp, but there are some very important details in this section that can easily be missed.
3. In verse 2, Jesus is being watched so that people can accuse Him of doing wrong.
4. In verse 5, Jesus has a very strong reaction to the people watching him. Jesus is angered and grieved by their hardness of heart.
5. Jesus heals the man despite the protest of the hard hearts around him. In response to his healing the man, the Pharisees go out and even make alliances with the people they absolutely hate in order to destroy Jesus.
6. This section is the real beginning of the tension that will develop between Jesus and the religious and political establishments. The tension that has begun here will inevitably lead to his death.


Questions for Mark 2:23-3:6
1. How does Jesus’ announcement of Him being greater than David affect the attitude of the Pharisees?
2. Why do the Pharisees respond the way that they do?
3. Why does Jesus respond the way He does in 3:5?
4. How does viewing the Sabbath as a gift from God differ from viewing it as a burdensome command?
5. How does Romans 13:8-10 relate to this section in Mark?
a. 8 “Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”

Mark 2:18-22

Read Psalm 7

Review from previous Saturday on Mark

Mark 2:18-22
18 Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, “Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 19 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20 The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. 21 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. 22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”

Verse 18
A question is given as to why the disciples of Jesus do not fast. Fasting “from food was highly valued among Jews as an expression of religious devotion. Individuals fasted in order to demonstrate repentance for specific sins and thus to win God’s favor” (Douglas R.A. Hare, Mark, p.40).

Verse 19
Jesus responds in a way that shocks his questioners.
“He justifies the non-fasting of his disciples by means of a parable: Would it be proper to fast at a wedding? The celebration must continue as long as the bridegroom is present! Those who heard Jesus proclaim the good news concerning the arrival of God’s rule would get the point. This is not a time to lament God’s absence but to celebrate God’s presence [with them]!” (Douglas R.A. Hare, Mark, p.40)

Verse 20
This verse contains Jesus’ first mention of His death. His disciples need not mourn while He is still with them proclaiming the Kingdom of God. The time for mourning will come quickly enough. The disciples have not yet understood the cost that the Son of God must pay in order for the Kingdom of God to be able to come upon the world. Soon enough, the disciples will be awakened to this reality by watching their leader die an agonizing death as an innocent man. For now, while the time for Jesus to die has not yet come, the disciples need to be focused on staying in the present moment where God is at work.

Verse 21-22
Jesus gives two more parables regarding the reason as to why his disciples do not fast. “Both parables stress the incompatibility of the new with the old and the irresistible power of the new…The good news about God’s active presence is incompatible with the gloomy stance of those who are [still] waiting for God to do something” (Douglas R.A. Hare, Mark, p.41).

Overall Message
The time of waiting for the Messiah to some is over; there is no more need to try to beckon the Messiah’s coming with empty rituals done for the purpose of earning God’s favor. The Messiah has come, He has arrived. It is not that people should not mourn their sin; it is that there is great hope to be found in Jesus because He would be the one to bear the full weight of their sin. In Jesus they have hope because He is the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. He is there is the midst of Israel beckoning people to leave behind their self-reliance and activity done for the purpose of trying to earn God’s favor. Jesus is telling people to leave the old things behind and for them to embrace Him and what God is doing through Him in the world.

Questions for Mark 2:18-22
1. In what ways has Jesus relieved us from trying to earn God’s favor?
2. Do Christians experience sorrow in the same way as unbelievers do?
3. 2 Corinthians 7:10 tells us “For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.” How does this verse relate to Mark 2:20?
4. In His answer regarding why His disciples do not fast, why does Jesus stress that the old is incompatible with the new?
5. What are some of the implications of Jesus’ stressing that the old is incompatible with the new?
6. What are some practical things to take from this passage? What has stood out to you in this passage?

Mark 2:13-17

Read Psalm 6

Mark 2:13-17
13 He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. 14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

15 And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Read Mark 2:13-17 section from Tom Wright’s book

Questions for Mark 2:13-17
1. Levi works for the people that the Jews view as being the very ones that are preventing the kingdom of God from coming. What might have been some of the people’s perceptions of Jesus’ befriending Levi?
2. Both Jesus and the Jews want to see the kingdom of God manifested, with the result being a radical transformation occurring in the world. However, Jesus and the Jews have very different ideas as to how this radical transformation will be brought about.
a. In what ways do the way of Jesus and the way of the Jews differ in how they believe radical transformation will occur?
b. In what ways are we as Christians much like a lot of the Jewish people in Jesus’ day in how we believe the world will be transformed?
3. What does verse 17 tell us about what the mission of Jesus was when He was here on earth as a human?
4. Is the mission of Jesus the same today as it was while He was still on earth as a human? Why or why not?
5. What are some practical things we can do to be used by God to share Christ with other people in our daily lives?