Study inMark’s Gospel

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A Collision Course With

ChristChap 1v1-8

Presentation 08

Presentation 08

TemplateWe have seen the growing tension between Jesus and the religious establishment. They are set Inevitably, on a collision course. In practice the Pharisees’ religion was deadening, crippling, damning, leading men away from God. In contrast, the ministry of Jesus was quickening, transforming, life-giving, drawing men to God. It is not enough to ask if a man is religious or sincere. What is of fundamental importance is to ask where a man’s religion is taking him. As we examine the religion of the Pharisees we will find it to be first, separatist and superior, secondly, external and formal, and finally negative and burdensome. We are challenged to ask in what direction is my religious life leading me?

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Separatist Or SuperiorThe call of Levi [Matthew] to join the disciple band and its consequences are recorded in v3-17. Tax collectors were viewed as many view lone sharks today. But more than that for they were seen as quislings, traitors in the employ of the Romans.As far as the Pharisees were concerned, it was bad enough that Jesus should rake the gutter of society to find a disciple but then to attend a party made up exclusively of such persons, challenged all they held dear. To be a Pharisee was to be a member of an exclusive holy club. To qualify for membership you had to subscribe to their laws and conform to their behaviour. That involved no social contact with the Matthews of society who along with all other non-members were regarded with contempt.

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Separatist Or SuperiorThe Pharisees’ separatist judgmentalism is recoded by John, “but this rabble does not know the law accursed are they” Jn.7.49. The Pharisees believed they could keep themselves pure by withdrawing from sinful society.

Their smug, self satisfied ghetto mentality was of no use to a world in need. Holiness which is dependent upon withdrawal from society is a fragile and suspect thing. It influenced the church in the past giving rise to the monastic movement. It has also influenced much of the communal Christian living of our own day. This wall of separation can be an invisible one – a refusal to mix with or talk to certain types of people lest we become contaminated is as real as a stone wall. It is foolish to believe that our wall will keep sin out and keep us holy.

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Separatist Or SuperiorTrue holiness is not external but internal and becomes possible only as we allow God to deal with our sinful hearts.

The ‘holy club’ which keeps itself separate from others can so easily breed pride and contempt. But more than that, it blinds! It blinded the Pharisees to the needs of their own hearts.

As long as they could compare themselves favourably with odious sinners, they reckoned they were in good shape spiritually. Look at the studied irony of v17 “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

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Separatist Or SuperiorIn contrast, Jesus mixes with the worst of men and has their eternal salvation at heart. He did not limit himself to showing interest in “nice people”. Now ask how would you react if a group of punk rockers came along to your church fellowship?

A word of caution is also necessary. Some have cited Jesus’ attendance at this party as justification for attending morally compromising events saying they are there to do others good. The Bible rightly calls the human heart deceitful. It can persuade us that we are serving God, when all we are doing in gratifying our own lusts. Jesus mixed with the disreputable without giving even tacit approval to their evil practices.

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External And FormalPeople hate change and are suspicious of non-conformists. Both the Pharisees and John’s disciples placed a great deal of emphasis on fasting. Why did Jesus’ disciples not fast v18? In the O.T. fasting was invariably connected with sorrow. The Jew fasted once a year on the day of atonement, thus expressing his sorrow to God for his sin. However, it was inappropriate for guests to fast in the company of a bridegroom! The constant companionship of Jesus did not provide the disciples with grounds for sorrow but for abundant joy. What a feast to be in his presence, watch him at work and hear him speak. Often the most genuinely joyful are those who are most conscious of having feasted in Christ’s presence.

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External And FormalAnswering his critics Jesus lays down an important principle. Religious practice should reflect the true state of our hearts. For the Pharisees, the practice of fasting bore no relation to an inner sorrow for sin. It had become an external thing, a means of bolstering their religious reputation, [cf. the Pharisse and publican Lk.18v9-11].

Whenever religious practice is purely external, it masks our true spiritual state and encourages hypocrisy. We need to assess constantly our religious practice and ask, “Does it reflect my true religious state or, is it just an external, formal thing? Does my worship reflect a worshipful spirit? Does bowing my head in prayer express a real submission to God’s Lordship?

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External And FormalJesus. brings the whole argument to a devastating conclusion in v2lff. It simply won’t do to try and patch up a man’s external formal religious life. Jesus won’t be stuck on like a patch to an empty formal religion.

Indeed, its inappropriate to mix what wont mix -that’s what Jesus is saying. The vital life-giving power of God can’t be united to a dead formal religion. Jesus wants to make new men and women out of us and not simply to patch up our old religious life. Indeed, its pointless to do a patch up job for it can have no lasting worth.

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External And FormalThe new abundant life that Jesus offers to men is potent stuff. You may know something of the process of fermentation which takes place in new wine. Tremendous power and energy is released, so much so, that the wine could not be contained by old dry wineskins.

In the same way, the new life that Jesus imparts cannot be contained in a deadly, external, formal religion. The tragedy was that so many of the religious leaders were so used to the taste of the old wine that they have no taste for the new! They clung to a dead, formal, useless religion rather than ask Jesus to pour a dynamically powerful and vital new life into their hearts.

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Negative And BurdensomeIt was extremely difficult to relax with the Pharisees around. They made life unbearable for people by burying God’s law under a mountain of human tradition, which consisted of 100s of little things you couldn’t do. Picture them posted on the top of watchtowers, binoculars in hand and indignantly blowing a tin whistle when one of their petty rules was broken.

One day the whistle blew v24 as Jesus and disciples took a recreative walk in the country. The disciples had picked some ears of corn and rule No.39 specifically forbade that sort of reaping! How petty! How does Jesus respond to their criticism?

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Negative And BurdensomeHe appeals to an event which took place 1000 years previously. David was being pursued by King Saul and was in need of food. Visiting the tabernacle he ate consecrated bread which the law allowed only the priests to eat.

Now Jesus argues, “if you think that God’s law could be set aside to meet urgent human need, how much more can your man-made laws be set aside for the same reason?” So obsessed were they with their petty little human traditions that they had become hardened to real human need. Are we like that?

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Negative And BurdensomeIn v27-28 Jesus expounds the function of the Sabbath. And who more qualified to do so than the one who designed it? The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. The Pharisees had reversed the order. They had turned the Sabbath into a cruel tyrant and man into the tyrant’s slave. The Sabbath had been designed to be a gracious blessing. The Pharisees had debased it into a grievous burden. For them the whole duty of man was to observe a multitude of Sabbath rules. ‘But you’ve missed the point’, says Jesus. The Sabbath is a gift designed for man’s good. It is a day provided by God for mans physical, metal and spiritual refreshment. Jesus was not repealing the Sabbath but protecting it from abuse.

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Negative And BurdensomeAfter the Russian revolution in 1917 there was an attempt by the Communist government to introduce a 10 day week. This move was designed to break the mould of religious observance and increase productivity.

But to the government’s consternation, this action resulted in a drastic decline of productivity and they were obliged to revert to a 7 day week tacitly acknowledging the wisdom of God’s provision.

Man is a more efficient worker when he has a rest day after 6 working days. God had man’s good in mind when instituting the Sabbath.

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Negative And BurdensomeThe Pharisees’ perversity concerning the Sabbath reaches an awful climax in ch. 3. Jesus had the opportunity to heal a poor man with a withered hand. Unmoved by human need the Pharisees are perched like vultures waiting to swoop should Jesus step out of line v2.

What a joyless Sabbath they had. It was spent waiting for something to criticise. Jesus attempted to shame their hard hearts by telling the man to stand for all to see before asking the Pharisees the simplest of questions v4... which even a child could answer.

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Negative And BurdensomeThey refuse to reply and not surprisingly Jesus was angry at their silence. They were plotting evil on the Sabbath but were not prepared to see him do good. They hated him! Heart-hatred is the same as murder and they see nothing amiss as they proceed to plot his death, on the day which they held so dear! By healing the man, Jesus showed that the Sabbath brings no holiday to works of mercy, that is a perpetual obligation laid on us all. To think otherwise is to lose our sense of perspective and to end up hard, critical and uncaring. We need to guard against allowing little pieces of man-made tradition from becoming more important than the physical and spiritual well-being of others.

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ConclusionIn almost every church fellowship religious men and women are set on a collision course with Jesus. The witnesses that testify against them are separatism, superiority, formality, obsession with the external, and a negative, critical and burdensome outlook. Are you thinking of someone like that right now? Instead, ask are these witnesses are pointing the finger at you? It can come as a terrible shock , if throughout life we have thought we have been walking with God, only to discover that we are on a collision course with him. When that consciousness dawns, we can do one of two things. We can come humbly before him admitting our sin, seek his forgiveness and submit to his Lordship or, we can obstinately, and to our eternal ruin, maintain our collision course with him.