The Essential Jesus as

Revealed in the Gospel of Mark

Deuteronomy 8:3Man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

Sharpening Our Focus on Christ!

Five passages each week to help us “fix our eyes upon Jesus!”

The Essential Jesus as

Revealed in the Gospel of Mark

Yr of Obscurity(Early Judean)

Yr of Popularity(Early and

Middle Galilean)

Yr of Opposition (Later Galilean, Later Judean,

Perean)

The Pharisees

Mark 2:14-3:6

The Pharisees appeared approximately 150 BC.

The Pharisees are mentioned

four times in our text for

today. . .

Mark 2:14-3:6

Mark 2:13-14He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. 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.

Mark 2:15-16And 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. 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?”

Mark 2:17And 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.”

To be “holy” you need to avoid those who are “unholy!”

Pharisees’ misconception #1

To be “holy,” certain rituals have to be done religiously!

- Fasting

- Sabbath

Pharisees’ misconception #2

Ritual of fasting

Mark 2:18Now 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?”

In their zeal the Pharisees “raised the bar” and fasted two times EVERY week!

Luke 18:12 I fast twice a week . . .

Ritual of fasting

Mark 2:18Now 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?”

Ritual of fasting

Mark 2:19-20And 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. The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.”

Ritual of fasting

Mark 2:21No 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.

Ritual of fasting

Mark 2:22And no one puts new wine into oldwineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for freshwineskins.”

Ritual of fasting

Jesus is saying to the Pharisees:

“I have come not to simply give some additional insights to your ‘religion,’

but rather I come with something radically new!”

“the new covenant in my blood” (Luke 2:20)

Ritual of fasting

In their zeal to protect the truth given by God in the Scriptures, the Pharisees had heaped so much of their own man-made tradition upon the Scripture, that it got

lost under the pile!

The rituals they performed religiously had blinded them to the true path toward

a living relationship with God!

To be “holy,” certain rituals have to be done religiously!

- Fasting

- Sabbath

Pharisees’ misconception #2

Ritual of Sabbath

Mark 2:23-24One Sabbath he was going through the grain fields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”

Ritual of Sabbath

Mark 2:25-26And 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: how he entered the house of God . . . 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?”

Ritual of Sabbath

Mark 2:27-28And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

Ritual of Sabbath

Bottom line: Jesus declares HIS

authority over the Sabbath . . . And

then proceeds to display that

authority!

Ritual of Sabbath

Mark 3:1-3Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.”

Ritual of Sabbath

Mark 3:4-5And 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. 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.

Ritual of Sabbath

Mark 3:5The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroyhim.

To be “holy” you need to avoid those who are “unholy!”

To be “holy,” certain rituals have to be done religiously!

Two misconceptions of false “religion”

1. How much interaction do you have with the “unholy” people in our

world?

Today’s Takeaways

“There is no impact without contact!” (Joe Aldrich)

2. Are you seeking God’s favor as the Pharisees were, through their own

efforts as they practiced empty rituals?

Today’s Takeaways

ORAre you seeking God’s favor TOTALLY through your faith in Jesus Christ as

Lord and Savior?