Mark 3:1-6 Looking at Tradition through the Eyes of Jesus

by John Davis

Mark 3:1-6
¹Again 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.

Introduction:

What is happening in these early chapters of Mark is what we might call a paradigm shift – A paradigm shift is a change in the way in which you look at and interpret life and the world.

The most radical paradigm shift is when you move from seeking fulfillment in life though the pursuit of rebellion or self-righteousness to resting in the finished work of Christ on the cross and from living life for your own pleasure and glory to living life for the glory of Christ. This is radical and joyful!

One of the most notable paradigm shifts took place in the Middle Ages.

Can you imagine living in Europe during the Middle Ages – a time when religious and political authorities were wedded together and were generally unquestioned? The church leadership accepted the Ptolemaic view of the world (127-145 AD) that the earth was flat and stationary in the center of the universe and that the sun, moon, and stars all revolved around the earth. They derived from this a system of fixed crystalline spheres which asserted that the farther you moved from earth the less change there was until you finally reached God who is unchanging. Then comes Copernicus in the mid 16^th century who describes a different scenario that is later confirmed by Tycho Brahe, Kepler and Galileo. Listen to Nicholas Copernicus as he writes in reaction to the accepted Ptolemaic views that the earth was stationary:

The great majority of authors of course agree that the earth stands still in the center of the
universe, and consider it inconceivable and ridiculous to suppose the opposite. But if the matter is carefully weighed it will be seen that the question is not yet settled and therefore by no means to be regarded lightly. Every change of place which is observed is due, namely, to a movement of the observed object or of the observer, or to movements of both, naturally in different directions, for if the observed object and the observer move in the same manner and in the same direction no movement will be seen. Now it is from the earth that the revolution of the heavens is observed and it is produced for our eyes. Therefore if the earth undergoes no movement this movement must take place in everything outside of the earth, but in the opposite direction than if everything on the earth moved, and of this kind is the daily revolution. So this appears to affect the whole universe, that is, everything outside the earth with the single exception of the earth itself. If, however, one should admit that this movement was not peculiar to the heavens, but that the earth revolved from west to east, and if this was carefully considered in regard to the apparent rising and setting of the sun, the moon and the stars, it would be discovered that this was the real situation (Copernicus 1543).

When Brahe observed in the unchanging spheres a new star and a comet that went right through the supposedly fixed, unchanging spheres, his view of a perfect unchangeable heaven was shattered.

It’s very discomfiting to have your world shaken – for someone to suggest that the way you look at life and interpret the world is flawed. In 1600 BC Giordano Bruno had been burnt at the sake for suggesting that the earth rotated around the sun. In 1633 Galileo was banned by the Church and put under house arrest. The Decree from Holy Office said that it was heresy to believe the Sun is at the center of our solar system. Galileo recanted to save his neck. (See appendix).

The central issue of life revolves around the question of who Jesus is! Why should I believe Him? Why should I follow Him? Why should I leave the religious tradition of my ancestors? Or, why should I give up my quest for self-fulfillment through autonomous rebellion? Who is He to challenge the way that I think about God and about life? Who is He to question our understanding of what is right or wrong? Why does He rock the boat and disturb the status quo?

Imagine what was going through the minds of these religious leaders. They were the guardians of the law. They interpreted the law and decided what was right and what was wrong. The people revered them as men of authority and superior knowledge.

Now this carpenter’s son, illegitimately conceived is challenging us. He is winning the favor of the people. He heals the sick, causes the blind to see, enables those with paralysis to walk, etc. The common people throng to him. Now he has the audacity to come to our turf (the synagogue) and provoke a confrontation through which he seeks to embarrass us.

You know how it is when you don’t like someone – they can’t do anything right. Our judgment is often clouded by our feelings toward people. We often make the mistake of thinking are enemies can’t do right and our friends can’t do wrong.

Jesus is disliked because he shook the nice safe religious world of the Pharisees by challenging their understanding of the law. People who follow a man-made religion become insecure when their system is challenged and shaken by an outsider.   �

The entrance of Jesus is always like a Copernican revolution. He calls into question the very way that you are accustomed to looking at the world. He calls you to see life from His perspective.

Let me suggest a few things that Jesus might want us to learn from this text, as Jesus confronts a 1^st Century religious world (and our worls) that had the Scriptures but had lost sight of the Messiah and the gospel of grace.

Following Jesus at times means challenging existing religious authority and tradition.

I know we need to be cautious here, because sometimes our rejection of authority and tradition is rooted in our rebellious desire to be autonomous and not because we have come under the power of the gospel in submission to the Lordship of Christ.

The Pharisees are a good example of people who possessed the truth but lost sight of the Messiah in the midst of their traditions.

They are so intent on protecting their way of understanding the law that they miss recognizing the Messiah in the Word of God. Jesus said to the Pharisees: John 5:39
³⁹
You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,

They are so engaged in guarding their influence and authority that even their hateful actions bring shame to them as religious leaders.

They have become like private detectives. They follow Jesus, not to love Him, but to catch him in something for which they could accuse him – so they watched him closely. On the surface they have this intense love for the Law, but deep inside they have no love for Jesus. They were faultfinders who watched the disciples closely and “kept score” of their failures.

It’s an easy and common mistake to make. I see it happen often with people who want to defend their tradition or even when they see themselves as “defending the Word of God.” Somehow we lose sight of the two greatest commandments – love God and love others. Unfortunately, some of the most unloving people on earth are religious people who see their traditions being threatened and who lose sight of Jesus along the way.

Jesus knew exactly what was going on with these religious leaders and he exposed them. He looked at the man with a palsied hand and said – “Stand up in front of everyone.”

This is actually the last of a series of five conflict narratives, the last two revolving around the Sabbath. Here we see Jesus who is so committed to his mission of mercy that he risks facing the hostility of the religious leaders. This is the heart of the gospel – Jesus risks all for our sakes. He boldly and publicly confronts the hypocrisy of those who are spying on Him with risk to His own life.

Let’s face it! None of us our immune to hypocrisy. Even those who follow Jesus can lose sight of him and get so wrapped up in their culture and traditions that even Jesus would be unwelcome.

Illustration:

Some of us remember the Jesus people of the 60’s and 70’s. Maybe you were one of them. The established church didn’t quite know what to do with this group that had a whole new simple, non-traditional approach to Jesus and Christianity. Basically, the established church rejected them apart from a few Californians, like Chuck Smith who saw a genuine hunger to know God through Jesus Christ.

Today we have Generation X churches, postmodern churches, hip-hop churches, churches meeting in warehouses –no organs, no choirs, no dress code. They are simply saying that the traditional church doesn’t hold the corner on truth when it comes to doing church. To them following Jesus means they can break out of any mold that isn’t prescribed by Scripture. (Again, the danger is that when you reject the authority of cultural tradition, you may also reject all authority. Remember, we are free from the law to live under the law of Christ).

When we talk about challenging religious authority and tradition we must distinguish between Biblical tradition – what the bible prescribes (such as Lord’s day worship, ordinances of communion and baptism, preaching the word as central to worship, etc), cultural tradition, some of which is contrary to Scripture and should be rejected, and some of which is consistent with Scripture, though not prescribed (such as Sunday School, times of worship, forms of worship, etc), and traditionalism, which is the worship of and adherence to cultural tradition as if it were prescribed by God. Traditionalism is idolatry.

It’s not enough to say – I resist the authority of religious culture if you are not saying at the same time, I submit to the authority of Jesus.

Following Jesus involves focusing on the deeper issue of redemption.

It would be a mistake to read this text and only see the issue as Jesus conflict with a legalistic interpretation of the law. Though certainly, the Pharisees were guilty of making the Sabbath regulation a burden. The Sabbath was given as a delight to Israel. The Sabbath offered time to stop and reflect on the wonders of God in creating the universe and redeeming the nation of Israel out of bondage in Egypt. The Old Covenant Sabbath was a foreshadowing of our Sabbath rest is in Jesus (Mt 11:28-30) and the eternal rest that God would grant in the restored creation..

Last week John Leone gave a fine exposition of another Sabbath controversy over Jesus’ disciples plucking grain to eat on the Sabbath. In response to the Pharisees, Jesus said this:

2:27-28 Then 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.”

Instead of the Sabbath being a gracious gift to man, the Pharisees, by their minute regulations, had made man a slave to the Sabbath. “As the Lord of the Sabbath Jesus delivers both the Sabbath and man from a state of distress” (Lane 1974, 124).

But the real issue is deeper than delivering the Sabbath from a state of distress! Jesus question to the Pharisees brings out the real issue – “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” Note the parallel in these lines – to do good = to save life; to do evil = to kill.

In other words, Good is that which accomplishes redemption – saving life; Evil is that which works against redemption – destroying life.

 We need to remember that Jesus defined his mission in Mark 1:14-15: After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!”

John’s Gospel most clearly brings out the life bringing mission of Jesus: “I am come that you might have life…, I am the life …, I am the resurrection and the life …, Drink the life-giving water that I give you ….”

Jesus came to announce the good news of the great day of salvation as promised in the Scriptures. He came to make people whole. Because his ministry ushers in a new age, he heals the sick, forgives the sinner, shares a table with tax collectors and sinners, feasts rather than fasts, and violates Sabbath tradition. There are no constraints on Jesus’ kingdom work.

So, the real issue is not the debate over interpretation of Sabbath law, but rather the claim of Jesus’ authority in ministry to conquer sin and death and all the effects of sin and death.

“Jesus was not simply another scribe who advocated an independent opinion; he constituted a threat to true religion and ancestral tradition. When Jesus failed to submit to the scribal regulation of the Sabbath he broke the tradition, and authority confronted authority” (Lane 1974, 124).

Now the Pharisees would not have argued against saving a life on the Sabbath. They would have argued that healing a crippled hand wasn’t a life saving situation. However, from Jesus’ perspective, God’s redemptive role is realized in making a person whole.

The restoring of life to a dead withered hand points to Jesus kingdom message and power to restore all things – including one’s relationship with God. Ultimately to accomplish this Jesus will have to go to the cross where he will bear the punishment for our sins and will triumph over Satan, sin, and death.

Withered hands exist because sin exists. Even this man’s withered hand stands as a reminder of the brokenness of this world due to sin – not that all personal brokenness is related to personal sin, but that all that is wrong in this world is rooted in mankind’s rebellion against God.

Atoning for sin, conquering sin, and removing the effects of sin is the mission of Jesus.

As an aside, it’s helpful to note the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. For some people there seems to be no connection between serving God and treating others humanely. They had piety without any compassion. They could oppose a healing yet plan a murder. Is it all right to think evil and to plot murder on the Sabbath? The Pharisees were guilty of the hypocrisy of external conformity to law that veils an evil heart. We may be also guilty at times.

The Pharisees just did not comprehend God’s purposes in redemption. Their obsession with keeping their tradition blinded them from appreciating what Christ was doing in bringing in the kingdom.

Following Jesus includes enduring opposition.

Jesus is angered at their heartlessness and grieved at their blindness. Nothing makes Jesus angrier than hypocrisy and more grieved than heartlessness. He speaks to the man with the palsied hand: “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.

This infuriates the religious leaders. Jesus’ actions undermined their interpretation of the law, their piety, and their actions (who is the legitimate authority? What is godliness? How do I live a life pleasing to God? – Jesus overturns the answer to all of these questions. Along with those Jews who were pro-Herod, they began to plot his death.

This isn’t just a dispute over interpretation of the law. This is a fundamental dispute over whether God has acted in history through the ministry of Jesus Christ. Jesus words and works call for a decision. But they remained silent!

Jesus is a threat who cannot be easily tolerated or lightly dismissed. He must be ignored, eliminated or surrendered to as Lord. Which are doing?

Conclusion:

I understand the discomfort that comes to someone whose whole worldview is challenged by the claims of Jesus Christ. The thought that I could be wrong; or that my parents and their parents maybe were wrong, especially those who have been nurtured in a long history of religious, ethnic, cultural tradition and whose very identity is wrapped up in that tradition. Their whole conception of sin and redemption, of the world and life’s purpose is being torn apart.

Very often before you experience the overflow of peace that comes when you finally trust Christ as you Lord and Savior, you will suffer the most terrible internal conflict.

The social pressure may be even so overwhelming that you may lack the courage even to act on what you are persuaded to be true. Like Copernicus, though persuaded that the geocentric view of the universe was wrong, he recanted saying, I curse and detest the said errors and heresies… What will it be for you – the courage rooted in faith or the denial rooted in fear?

John Davis

On September 10, 1970 I came to understand the great love of God for me, a sinner and a rebel. That evening I received God’s forgiveness and a new life through Jesus Christ, who died in my place and rose again to offer forgiveness and new life. I have been senior pastor for over 30 years planting two churches in Buckingham, PA and Queens, NY and serving two other churches in Brooklyn, NY and Roslyn, PA. I am currently the lead pastor at Grace Church of Philly.