Tradition or truth, Jesus says: "Follow Me"

Mark 2:13-3:6 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

¹³ And He went out again by the seashore; and all the people were coming to Him, and He was teaching them.

¹⁴ As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, “Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him.

¹⁵ And it happened that He was reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners were dining with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many of them, and they were following Him. ¹⁶ When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they said to His disciples, “Why is He eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners?” ¹⁷ And hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

¹⁸ John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and they 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, “While the bridegroom is with them, the attendants of the bridegroom cannot fast, can they? So long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. ²⁰ But 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 patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; otherwise the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear results. ²² No one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost and the skins as well; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.”

²³ And it happened that He was passing through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples began to make their way along while picking the heads of grain. ²⁴ 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 he and his companions became hungry; ²⁶ how he entered the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the consecrated bread, which is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests, and he also gave it to those who were with him?” ²⁷ Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. ²⁸ So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

3 He entered again into a synagogue; and a man was there whose hand was withered. ² They were watching Him to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. ³ He said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and come forward!” ⁴ And He said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill?” But they kept silent. ⁵ After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. ⁶ The Pharisees went out and immediately began conspiring with the Herodians against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.

In today’s text Jesus contrasts several areas of religious thinking and actions with kingdom thinking and actions, giving a model for us of true righteousness.  The first thing we see is Jesus calling a tax collector to follow Him and to actually become one of His inner circle of disciples. Much of what Jesus taught as He traveled from town to town was about contrasting the truth of the kingdom of heaven with the teachings of man. Those with formal religious training, in Jesus day, were so steeped in the traditions and regulations of man that it was difficult for them to understand and accept the kingdom principles Jesus taught. Jesus knew that even before the cross forgiven sinners were made new in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says:    Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.     Jesus message from the beginning was:   “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”    When Jesus was criticized for associating with tax collectors and sinners He answered saying:   “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”   It was not the company of sinners which Jesus preferred over the company of religious people as some would try to make it seem. Rather, in the company of sinners Jesus sought and called those who recognized their need of a savior. Jesus didn’t associate with sinners to participate in and condone their sin. He called them to repentance, to change and become new in Him. When the church today embraces sinners it should be for the same purpose, not to embrace and tolerate their sin, but to call them to Christ, to become new in Him.

Next, Jesus was questioned about why His disciples did not practice the religious ritual of fasting. The text says: “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?”  Jesus answered: “While the bridegroom is with them, the attendants of the bridegroom cannot fast, can they? So long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. ²⁰ But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.    The purpose of a fast is not to exhibit righteousness through denial. It is to remove things which take our focus and time from being in the presence of the Lord. A fast is really not about what is given up, it is about seeing Jesus more clearly by removing distractions. If we, like the disciples are walking every day in the presence of and in the teaching of Jesus, then we have no need for a religious fast. Isaiah 58:5-12 describes what a fast in the presence of Christ will look like.

“Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to humble himself? Is it for bowing one’s head like a reed And for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed? Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the Lord? ⁶ “Is this not the fast which I choose, To loosen the bonds of wickedness, To undo the bands of the yoke, And to let the oppressed go free And break every yoke?⁷ “Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry And bring the homeless poor into the house; When you see the naked, to cover him; And not to hide yourself from your own flesh? ⁸ “Then your light will break out like the dawn, And your recovery will speedily spring forth; And your righteousness will go before you; The glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
⁹ “Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; You will cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you remove the yoke from your midst, The pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness,
¹⁰ And if you give yourself to the hungry And satisfy the desire of the afflicted, Then your light will rise in darkness And your gloom will become like midday. ¹¹ “And the Lord will continually guide you, And satisfy your desire in scorched places, And give strength to your bones; And you will be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail. ¹² “Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins; You will raise up the age-old foundations;
And you will be called the repairer of the breach, The restorer of the streets in which to dwell.

The purpose of a fast is to remove the things which distract us from seeing and walking with the Lord. Jesus says: Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (Matthew 11:29) The rest that we find in Christ’s yoke is not a rest of slumber and inactivity. It is a rest, a peace and contentment we find in walking and working with Him. In Christ’s yoke we remove all other yokes of oppression.

Rest for our souls in the yoke of Christ leads us to the final contrast Jesus makes in today’s text. Jesus says: “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. ²⁸ So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”     Jesus was criticized for not upholding the religious traditions of the Sabbath, even to the point in today’s text that after healing a man on the Sabbath:   The Pharisees went out and immediately began conspiring with the Herodians against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.       Today there is little focus on the Sabbath and the real purpose of the Sabbath. The Sabbath was made for man, as a day set aside from the normal work and routine, a day to rest and a day to focus on the Lord. It was never intended to become something that binds or restricts. Jesus said:  “So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”  In truth, Jesus is our Sabbath. He is the place where we find rest. It is in Christ that we come to the Father. Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. He is the Lord of peace, rest and the presence of God.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit, my guide help me to walk in the truth of the kingdom of heaven. Thank You for loving me even while I was a sinner, loving me so much that You died on the cross that I could become new in You. Help me to put on your yoke Jesus, that I might rest in You. In that rest may I also walk and work with You, loving, serving and calling others to repentance and a new life in You, Lord Jesus.   Amen.