Jesus, the new age and the new Israel

If I asked you where Israel is, what would you say?

You might answer that it is an independent nation in southwest Asia, located on the south-eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea. It has land borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan on the east, the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip to the east and west, respectively, and Egypt to the southwest. 

Now, if Jesus came to visit us today and I asked Him where Israel is, how do you think He would answer? The same?

Here is what I think He would say based on our passage this morning … He would answer that Israel is wherever you find people who submit to Him as King no matter who they are, or where they live geographically.

Let me show you that in the passage we are looking at this morning (Mark 2: 18 – 3: 35) and how it is in any way relevant to us here this morning. Other than the obvious thing that it is great to know who Jesus is and what He did in relation to Israel and our salvation.

(Pray)

We have already seen in Mark’s Gospel that Jesus is God’s promised King with the authority to cleanse and forgive sinners as He preaches.

We have seen human and satanic opposition to Him.

What is surprising about the human opposition is that it is strongest amongst the people Jesus came to save first, as promised, Israel.

Jesus has clearly demonstrated that He is the long-awaited Messiah. He does what only the Messiah (God’s King) can do. He exercises the authority of the Messiah … authority over people, demons and sickness. He has the authority to forgive people their sins.

The people of Israel should be jumping for joy, praising God, throwing parties, the Messiah had arrived at last! They should also be submitting to God’s King as their King.

Instead they oppose and reject Him.

They question His leadership

• 2: 18 Why aren’t your disciples fasting?
• 2: 23 – 24 Why are your disciples breaking the Sabbath?

His family think He is out of His mind

• 3: 20 - 21

The teachers of the law think He is possessed by the Devil

• 3: 22

And this is where some of them are going with this…

• 3: 1 – 2
• 3: 6

But King Jesus is not going step down from His mission in the face of this opposition and rejection.

He knows the truth. He is the author of truth. He is the truth. And so, He engages the opposition with truth.

Why are His disciples not fasting and breaking the Sabbath?

You might find it interesting to know that around the time Jesus was on earth, there was Messiah fever. People desperately wanted the Messiah to come back and rescue them from the occupying Roman forces and make them a great political entity again.

They believed that fasting (showing their sorrow for their sinfulness that had led to this occupation) and Sabbath keeping (showing God that their true rest came from a relationship with God alone) would make God send the Messiah sooner rather than later. And that failing to fast and breaking the Sabbath would make God drag out sending the Messiah.

Now with that in mind, let’s look at this fasting and Sabbath issue, which is about…

Jesus issuing in a new age (the Messiah has arrived)

The fasting issue 2: 18 – 20

• My disciples are not fasting because the Messiah (the Bridegroom) is already here. “I am here”. Now is not the time for mourning for sin hoping for forgiveness from somewhere. Now is the time for rejoicing because He who forgives sin is here as promised.
• A time will come when the Messiah is “taken from them” and crucified (and that will be a time of mourning and fasting) but for now, it is a time of rejoicing and not fasting.

And you know what … 2: 21 – 22

• My disciples, by not fasting, are responding appropriately to my arrival as Messiah. You fasting (mourning for sin and longing for the Messiah to come when I am already here), is not responding appropriately.
• In fact, it is stupid.
  • As stupid as putting a new patch of unshrunk cloth on clothing that has already shrunk from being washed many times. When they get washed the next time the patch will shrink and damage the clothing even more.

• As stupid as putting new wine in an old wineskin. Old wineskins would be stretched to capacity by the wine that had been in them fomenting. Putting new wine, which still had to foment into old wineskins would then stretch them beyond capacity and break ruining the wineskins and wine.

• So, wake up and do what is appropriate and obvious. Use shrunk material. Put new wine in new wineskins. Stop fasting and rejoice in my arrival as Messiah. It is so obvious I am.

The Sabbath issue 2: 23 – 28

• The Pharisees are being totally ridiculous and legalistic here. All the disciples are doing is picking some heads of grain to chew on as they go along. What was prohibited was harvesting grain on a Sabbath, doing a normal day’s work. That was unlawful. They were hungry and grabbing a few snacks.
• Jesus says it is a similar thing to what David did back in the day (1 Samuel 21). David and his companions were also hungry and ate consecrated bread that was supposed to be eaten only by the priests. No one moaned because this was not the norm or done in rebellion to God. David and his companions were on a mission for King Saul and they were hungry. There was no normal bread and so they ate consecrated bread and could carry on with their mission. No problem. They were free to do that.
• And now, Jesus (a greater King than king Saul or David) and His disciples were on God’s mission here and were hungry. They were free to grab a few snacks on the Sabbath.
• And anyway, you are missing the point about the Sabbath, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” … in other words … the Sabbath was always meant to be a blessing to God’s people not a burden. It was to remind them of the blessing of their relationship (rest) with God. The Pharisees with their legalistic mindset had made it a burden that crushed God’s people with all the extra rules and regulations they had added to try force God’s hand to send the Messiah.
• If only they would wake up and see that the Messiah was standing in front of them. There was more than enough evidence. And in Jesus’ words He is the Lord of the Sabbath. His interpretation of what can or can’t be done on the Sabbath is truth. And more than that (we will learn) Jesus is the fulfilment of the Sabbath. He brings rest with God.

Jesus, the Messiah, God’s King, was issuing in the new age. But Israel and its leaders don’t like what they see. They had built up their own expectations of what the Messiah would be and do for them.

And the leaders of Israel, are not going to be told they are wrong, especially on this Sabbath issue.

3: 1 – 6

• Jesus shows His authority as Lord of the Sabbath, who understand what the Sabbath is all about and does good that glorifies God on the Sabbath. What could be a more appropriate thing to do on a Sabbath than to heal someone. God is bringing His healing and rest to people.
• But the leaders will not recognise His obvious authority. Their hearts are stubborn. They don’t get what they want from and in Jesus and would rather kill Him.

But it is not just the leaders. Israel do not accept Him for who He is and what He does.

And so, Jesus is going to choose a new people (A new Israel)

As we have already seen, Jesus is about preaching about the kingdom. The kingdom which is about cleansing from and forgiveness of sins.

But Israel? 3: 7 – 12 (vs 8 a geographical area that matches that of the Israel of old)

And then Jesus appoints His 12 disciples 3: 13 – 19.

Mark is very deliberate in how he sets out this material.

He sets up a contrast between those that are known as Israel (the religious leaders and the people) but who reject Jesus or don’t accept Jesus for who He is. Ironically the demons know better than Israel’s leaders who Jesus is (3: 11).…

A contrast between them and the new Israel that Jesus is establishing. The new people of God.

• With its new leaders, those that are wanted and called by Him and obey Him (3: 13 – 15). Note it is done on a mountainside (just like Israel of old was constituted as a God’s people on mount Sinai through Moses).
• And with new people, those who do His will 3: 31 – 35.

Israel and its leaders reject King Jesus. And so, King Jesus establishes a new Israel.

Their leaders have gone too far 3: 22 – 30.

• I am driving out demons because I am possessed by the prince of demons? Are you listening to yourselves? Satan does not work against himself. That’s ridiculous. Not even Satan is that stupid.
• I am casting out demons because I am against them and their prince. I am the strongest man who enters the strong man’s house (Satan’s house) binds him up and plunders his house casting all his demons out.
• But by saying that I drive out demons because I am possessed by the Devil, when in fact I do all this in the power of the Spirit, you have gone too far. And you will never be forgiven that. It is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

And whoever that applies to, it is certainly clear that by the time Paul writes Romans 9, that Israel (God’s special nation) is cursed and cut off from Christ (no longer God’s special nation) because they had rejected Christ.

Jews (like Gentiles) can be part of Israel but it is a new Israel citizenship if which comes in submitting to and following Christ.

So, Jesus the Messiah issues in a new age of God’s salvation plan. Israel should respond appropriately to Him… But they don’t and Jesus establishes a new people.

What does this mean for us?

Jesus is the Messiah that God promised Israel and the world.

He is the only one who can forgive and cleanse us from our sin and bring us into a right relationship with God again (rest in peace) free from judgement.

How you respond to that (to Him) determines the trajectory of your life from now on through all eternity.

Don’t be stupid like the Pharisees thinking you can work your way into God’s good books by good works. Your good works, no matter how good, aren’t even vaguely good enough to get you into God’s good books.

All that is needed is to trust in Jesus, the good Messiah that God has already sent to save us.

Rejecting Jesus is a dangerous game.

It is still possible to blaspheme against the Holy Spirit and then never be forgiven.

That is, to have a heart that eventually becomes so hard in rejecting Jesus (in what you think and say about Jesus), that God says … that’s it. I am done with you.

Please respond to Jesus appropriately today. Believe in Him, who He is and what He has done. Submit your life to Him. Call out to Him for salvation from sin.

True Christians can never and will never blaspheme against the Holy Spirit, they have new hearts and minds and love Jesus for who He is and what He has done (if you worry about committing the unforgiveable sin you haven’t, those who do don’t care).

But it is worrying that this was committed in Mark by the leaders of God’s people, by religious people…

People who attend church regularly, lead in church, are involved in ministry in church, read the bible, study the bible, believe that the 10 commandments are a guide for how to live life and try hard to do so, they can be very ethical.

But they are not doing God’s will. Their lives are not all about Jesus the Messiah. Following Him. Living for Him. Making disciples of Him.

As a pastor…

• I am concerned about people who don’t know Jesus that they get to know and love Jesus
• I am concerned that those who know Jesus grow in that knowledge and love of Jesus
• But what is really worrying are those who think they are right with God but there is no fruit in their lives to prove that they know and love Jesus. It is clear from how they live that they do not really know and love Jesus

What category do you fall into?

Paul says to people professing to be Christians in Philippians 2 that they should work out their salvation with fear and trembling. Please do that?

And the main thing to evaluate is this … is your life all about Jesus? Listening to Him. Doing what He says. Telling others about Him.

Without that at the heart of it, we are no better than the doomed Pharisees, no matter what else we do.

For those of you who accept Jesus as Messiah and strive to do His will…

Do you still rejoice in that truth?

• Rejoice that you were called by Him to be His disciple, part of His family, in His kingdom, not because He needed you but because He loved you and wanted you and called you.
• Rejoice that your salvation is not about your performance but because of His love for you. His performance for you and given as a free gift.
• Rejoice that in that salvation you are forgiven your sins. Washed clean of your sin. No longer under any condemnation.
• That you are resting in peace with God through Christ and you will for all eternity.
• That to be part of God’s kingdom, to be part of Israel to whom God has made many wonderful eternal promises, you don’t have to go through some lengthy process to become Jewish … you simply have to trust in Jesus Christ and all spiritual blessing are yours.

Questions:

Read Mark 2: 18 – 3: 35

1. Regarding the fasting issue:
   1. Why was it a good thing that Jesus’ disciples weren’t fasting?
   2. Why was it stupid for others to be fasting when Jesus was around?
   3. Can we fast today? Why?
2. Regarding the Sabbath issue:
   1. Why was it not a big deal that Jesus’ disciples were picking some heads of grain on the Sabbath?
   2. Why was it great that Jesus healed on the Sabbath?
   3. Why were the others so legalistic about the Sabbath and how did that show that they didn’t understand the point of the Sabbath?
   4. Should we be keeping the Sabbath today? Why? (Hint – Colossians 2: 16 – 17)
3. Jesus establishes a new Israel in chapter 3:
   1. Why?
   2. Who are the new leaders?
   3. Who are the new people of God?
   4. Why is that good news for us?
4. What is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, and can Christians commit it?
5. How should we live as Christians to demonstrate that we fully believe that Jesus is the Messiah (God’s King) and that we have submitted our lives to His rule?