Sermon Series: The Good News Is Why He Came 

The Good News Destroys 

Mark 2:13-3:16 

PSBC 12/23/01 AM

In a nutshell: Jesus came to demolish man-made religion. He was revealing a relationship with God that was unlike anything humans had ever known. It was radical. It involved reaching out to "sick" people; joy; a new authority; and service.

I. Introduction

A. Demolition story

This time of year, my thoughts usually go back to something that happened when I was a sophomore in high school. Just a week before Christmas, as I was coming home on the school bus, I saw smoke in the distance near our home. As we got closer, I realized the awful truth-something sizeable on our farm was on fire. As we got nearer, the bus driver couldn't go down the road to our home because the road was closed by the police. So, I got out of the bus and ran almost a mile to our house. As I got closer, I realized that it was our warehouse that was on fire-the warehouse that was filled with all of that year's crops.

The loss was devastating to my dad. Over the next weeks, he would have to decide if he'd continue farming or do something else with his life. Eventually he decided to stay in farming, and decided to use the insurance money and start all over.

Since in our family's type of farming the warehouse is the central focus of the farming operation, the first order of business was to demolish the remnants of the fire-damaged warehouse, and begin designing and building a new one. It was a lot of work. Some of the things we tore down had fond memories attached to them. Most of the work though, was dirty and difficult. But eventually all the rubble was hauled away, and we were left with a slab of concrete on which to begin building. And by the time the next year's crops were ready, we had a brand new, state of the art warehouse that met our needs far better than the old one.

B. Transition

And I was thinking this week, that's the way it is with most things. To get something better and more useful, you generally have to demolish the old and build something new.

Well, that's in essence what Jesus is doing in the passage we're going to take a look at today. During this advent season we've been looking in depth at the good news of Christmas-which is not a story, or a feeling, or a spirit of giving-but it's all about a person whose name is Jesus. And on this Christmas Sunday I'd like to look at one more part of the good news of Jesus Christ, and that's His destructive nature.

Now, destruction or demolition doesn't sound very "Christmassy" does it?. But friends, that's one of the reasons for the good news that we can't deny-Jesus' mission was and still is to destroy man-made human religions, and in it's place set up a new Kingdom or paradigm where an intimate relationship exists between God and people-a relationship that saves from sin, gives abundance in living, and is attractive to those who don't yet know God . So, let's find out how Jesus began to demolish what humans had set up, by looking at four destructive forces He set into motion. If you have your Bibles, turn with me to Mark 2. And we'll start at verse 13…

II. Four Destruction Forces

A. The Sick Get A Doctor

Mark 2:13-17 13 Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. 14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him. 15 While Jesus was having dinner at Levi's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the "sinners" and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: "Why does he eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" 17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

In this first story, Mark tells us about Levi, or Matthew, who was a tax collector. A tax collector was a person who had a legal license to lie, cheat, and steal from any body who lived in his territory, with the full authority of the Roman government.

The Roman tax system was a complicated thing. It was full of corruption and deceit. And as you might imagine, it fostered a lot of hard feelings on the part of the people who had to pay taxes. Tax collectors were considered by most people to be just above someone with leprosy, on the social scale.

And it was to this social outcast, cheat and thief, that Jesus came. And He said, "Follow Me." And to the amazement of the crowd that was following Jesus, this tax collector left his post, left his livelihood, left his security, and followed Jesus as one of His disciples.

To celebrate this life-changing decision to follow Jesus, Matthew held a party, so his social outcast friends could meet his new master. Now, can you imagine what kind of friends a social outcast would have? People like Roman politicians, more tax collectors, prostitutes, thieves and loan sharks. And it must have caused quite a stir, because the Jewish leaders went to take a look. And while the party was in full swing, we read…

Mark 2:16 16 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the "sinners" and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: "Why does he eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"

Jesus' reply shows the first way that He intended to demolish the man-made religion of the Pharisees…

Mark 2:17 17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

Jesus hears what the Pharisees are saying, and He agrees with them. In effect He says, "You're right, these are sick, hurting, troubled, sinful people. Their style of life had damaged them deeply. They see life through sin-tinted glasses. They are covering up their evils. They are thieves and scoundrels. You're right, these are sick folks. But where else would a doctor be?"

C.T. Studd was a Christian young man from England who gave up a vast fortune to become a missionary to Africa in the late 1800's. He said the words on the front of your WIG's this morning…Some wish to live within the sound of church and chapel bell. I wish to run a rescue mission within a yard of hell. (Charles Thomas Studd, 1862-1931.)

That's Jesus' point. Lost people matter to God. Jesus came to rescue sinners! So, you don't have to be without sin in order to come to God. He stands ready to establish a relationship with you, just the way you are! So, there is one of the destructive forces of the good news. But let me show you a second one…

B. Joy

Mark 2:18-20 18 Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, "How is it that John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?" 19 Jesus answered, "How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. 20 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.

The Old Testament scriptures required only one day per year as a day of fasting. That was the Day of Atonement. On that day, the entire nation of Israel stopped to confess their sins and receive forgiveness through sacrifices.

But during the time between the Old and New Testaments-a period of about 400 years-additional religious rules were set down by teachers of religion. One of those was that if you were to be considered really devout, you had to take part in a fast on Monday and Thursday of each week-I'd call it a "mini-fast", though. These weekly fasts started after breakfast, and ended before dinner. So, in reality, only lunch was skipped on those two days.

But, the Jews of Jesus' day added to their fasting another practice. They would paint their faces white. They'd put on old and tattered clothes. And they'd suck their cheeks in, so their faces would look gaunt and hollow. The idea was to call attention to themselves so people would recognize how pious they were. And they did it at a time when it would get them the most attention-right during business hours.

Well, Jesus' disciples didn't take part in this practice. So, Jesus was asked, "Why not?" To answer these critics, Jesus used a word picture of a Jewish wedding celebration…

Illustration: After a Jewish wedding at that time in history, the couple did not go away for a honeymoon. Instead, they stayed at home. Basically, for a week, they held a continuous "Open House" for all their friends and relatives. It was a continuous week of feasting and rejoicing. For many couples of that day, this week long celebration was the most joyous week of their entire lives. In fact, there was a rabbinic teaching of that day which said that people who were in attendance at a wedding feast were exempt from all religious observances that would take away from their joy." And fasting was one of those practices.

And Jesus was saying, "My disciples are like the friends and relatives of the bridegroom at this week-long party."

The point Jesus is making is that the characteristic attitude of people who follow the good news will be joy. Why? Because the things that weigh a person down, rob them of joy, and cause despondency and gloom-things like sin, and sin's consequences-are forgiven and removed in the kingdom that God rules.

Through the good news-through a relationship with Jesus, where He forgives our sin when we repent, and His amazing leadership guides our lives…, joy will take the place of sorrow. That's quite a contrast to the Pharisees trying to impress people with their false humility and sadness. They didn't have the joy that Jesus was promising. That old way of thinking had to be destroyed, and that's just what Jesus was doing, here!

C. New Authority

A third destructive blow that was leveled against man-made religion had to do with authority-who are you supposed to obey?

Mark 2:23-24 23 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grain fields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. 24 The Pharisees said to him, "Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?"

Illustration: When I was about 10 years old, I can remember getting into the care with my dad on a Sunday afternoon, and driving around to look at our fields. It was late summer. The onion sets weren't ready for harvesting yet, but the start of tomato harvest was going to start the next day. Since it was a Sunday, our strict Dutch, Christian values required that we did absolutely no work in the fields.

Well, we drove past one of our fields that we called "Meyer's Field", and there on the side of the road was a man, with the trunk of his car open and at his feet were four bushel baskets filled to the brim with tomatoes he had just picked from our field.

My dad stopped the car and got out. He proceeded to walk into the field and pick a few tomatoes for our family to use. When the man who had just picked our tomatoes saw this, he resumed loading his trunk with the bushel baskets of tomatoes, thinking we were doing the same thing he was. After he had the four bushel baskets in his car, he turned to my dad and commented on how convenient it was that these "Wooden Shoes" left their fields unattended on Sundays. To which my dad replied, "I'm the "Wooden Shoe" who owns this field. And you, sir, are stealing my tomatoes."

The man started to make excuses, and was obviously embarrassed that he had been caught stealing our crops. So my dad decided to take control of the situation and he said, "OK, I won't call the police. But you owe me $20 for those four bushels of tomatoes." The thief became indignant, "$20! Why that's highway robbery." To which my dad replied, "No that is," as he pointed to the man's trunk. The man reluctantly gave my dad a $20 bill, which I saw my dad put into the offering plate at church that night.

Now, what we have here is not the same as that man who was picking our tomatoes. Jesus disciples weren't stealing. What the disciples were doing was very legal under Jewish law…

Leviticus 19:9-10 9 "'When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God.

Since Jesus and His disciples were traveling, and obviously didn't have any provisions with them, it was permissible for them to take a few heads of grain from the field, crush the husks and eat the grain. The criticism Jesus received for this was not over the picking of someone else's grain. The issue in the religious leaders minds had to do with keeping the Sabbath holy. Picking grain on the Sabbath was not allowed under Jewish Sabbath law. But look at Jesus' answer…

Mark 2:25-26 25 He answered, "Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? 26 In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions."

He compares the situation of He and His disciples to a situation David faced before he officially became King of Israel. David and his men were hungry on a day when they approached the Tabernacle. In the Tabernacle was some bread, called the "shew bread". This bread was only to be eaten by the priests and their families…, and this only after it had been on display in the Tabernacle. But because of their overwhelming hunger, David broke this rule and gave the bread to his men to eat.

What was Jesus saying by referring to this time in David's life? Was He just saying that if David can break a law, so can I? Obviously not, our understanding has to go deeper than just what we see on the surface.

At the time of this shew bread incident, David had already been anointed king of Israel. The throne was rightfully his. But as long as King Saul was still alive, he was not recognized by the people as the true king. So, he lived as a warrior, traveling the land on a mission to fight the enemies of God (and avoid being killed by Saul in the process). So, being God's anointed king and doing God's mission, David had the right to do what ever was necessary to keep his mission alive-in this case he and his men broke a ceremonial law to eat bread and stay alive.

Now, friends, what Jesus is doing is putting Himself in this same position. He and His disciples are on a mission-this mission is to proclaim that a personal relationship with God is possible; when you repent you can receive forgiveness for your sin; and you enter into this relationship through belief in God's Messiah-Jesus, the good news. And while He and His disciples are on this mission, the day of the week doesn't matter. Time is short. Jesus only has three years to get His good news out to people. So, if the disciples are hungry and they don't have food, they must eat to keep up their strength. And so they did, on a Sabbath day.

I hope you see the significance of Jesus comparing Himself to King David. -Both leaders were on a mission from God, but it was not recognized by most people. -Both men viewed their mission as being so important, that they saw nothing wrong with breaking accepted religious practice to accomplish their goals. -And both men set themselves up as the final authority in what they did.

And it is this authority issue that Mark highlights in the next verses…

Mark 2:27-28 27 Then 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."

From this point on, the authority of the Pharisees and teachers of the Law was under demolition by Jesus. They had pushed Him and pushed Him, so finally He seized the moment and says, "Not anymore! Now, I'm the leader-I'm the Lord."

And make no mistake about it, the Jewish leaders saw what Jesus was beginning to do and they drew a line in the sand-this guy was going to have to be eliminated. So, from this point on, the Jewish leaders began to plot to kill Him.

Now, let me show you one last area of destruction that Jesus brought against man-made religion…

D. Service

Mark 3:1-3 1 Another time he went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. 2 Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. 3 Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, "Stand up in front of everyone."

The Pharisees were now out to get Jesus. So on this Sabbath day, they used a needy human being to try and trap Jesus into breaking another religious law. Rabbinic law stated that you could do no more than what was absolutely necessary to save a life. If a person's condition wasn't life threatening, then it had to wait. Obviously, a man with a shriveled hand wasn't a life and death issue. But the religious leaders wanted to see if Jesus would heal the man anyway, and therefore violate Sabbath law.

Look at what happened next…

Mark 3:4 4 Then Jesus asked them, "Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" But they remained silent.

Fascinating! People who were charged with the oversight of God's faith community, remained silent on a question about good versus evil; and of saving a life or taking it. Wow! How far these religious leaders had moved from understanding God's love. Look at Jesus' reaction to their silence…

Mark 3:5 5 He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.

To Jesus, the most important thing in the world was not the correct performance of ritual or religious practice. Rather to Him, it was a spontaneous and loving answer to the genuine needs of human beings. We call that service. Meeting people's genuine needs by serving them is a part of following Jesus.

III. Conclusion

Friends, this section of scripture from the book of Mark blows the lid off of most Christmas celebrations. The baby born in Bethlehem's mangers wasn't this meek, lowly, namby-pamby little kid. -He is God-the central figure of a new Kingdom. -He came to destroy religion, -He set up a new system where He expects His followers to value what He values; and live as He lived; and prioritize their lives with His priorities.

That baby born in Bethlehem's manger was a bomb waiting to go off. This idea about a relationship with God was so radical that it had to destroy the myths and religions that had grown up around the worship and obedience of God, just like "daisy-cutter" bombs destroyed the caves and forests of the Taliban.

1. He blew apart the notion that you have to be perfect first, to be accepted by God. Instead He came as a doctor to people who are sick with sin.

2. He obliterated the belief that following God is painful and hard. Instead He said there is joy in the Kingdom of God.

3. He challenged the ineffective religious authority of the Pharisees with their rules upon rules upon rules. Instead He established His own authority by healing, loving and forgiving human beings.

4. And He annihilated the ineffective and empty practices of human religion. Instead He established the fact that people are the most important thing to God, and serving people is at the core of what God wants His followers to be doing.

I had a dream one night, a few years ago, about this time of year. I dreamed that I lived in a world where Jesus had never come. I walked to my car and drove around town to look at the decorations and lights on the houses, but there were none. While I was driving, I was flagged down by a young girl. She said her mother was dying-could I help? I grabbed my Bible off the seat of the car, and she led me to her home. Once inside I opened my Bible to share some comfort, but I was dismayed to find my Bible ended with Malachi. I had none of the truth from the New Testament available to me. I couldn't offer any comfort to that dying woman. All promises of heaven, an eternal relationship with God, and forgiveness of sins had disappeared. And I began to weep uncontrollably, because I couldn't offer that woman any hope beyond the grave.

Friend, what is your hope built upon? Is it built on the good news of Jesus, or are you following a religion of your own making? You see, Jesus isn't tolerant of other religions. It's either His way, or Hell's way. Which have you chosen? Amen.