Hello friends, thank you for joining me in our daily reading from God's holy word. Today we're reading Mark chapter 3. In this lesson we see Jesus heal people because he's good and God and the Messiah. And we also see what people think of him.
Now before we read let's pray. Our Father in Heaven we need you. Please speak to our hearts and teach us the truth in Jesus name. Amen.
Mark chapter 3. Again he that is Jesus entered the synagogue and a man was there with a withered hand. And they watched Jesus to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man with the withered hand, come here.
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 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.
The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him how to destroy him. Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea. And a great crowd followed from Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem and in Omia and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing they came to him.
And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd lest they crush him. For he had healed many so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him. And whenever the unclean spirit saw him they fell down before him and cried out, You are the Son of God. And he strictly ordered them not to make him known.
And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired and they came to him. And he appointed twelve whom he also named apostles so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and to have authority to cast out demons. He appointed the twelve, Simon, to whom he gave the name Peter, James, the Son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom he gave the name Boandur Boanur, Boanur, that is, Sons of Thunder, easy for me to say. Andrew and Philip and Bartholomew and Matthew and Thomas and James, the Son of Alpheus, Ifanius and Simon of the Zealot and Judas Iscariot who betrayed him.
Then he went home and the crowd gathered again so that they could not even eat. And when his family heard it they went out to seize him for they were saying he is out of his mind. And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying he is possessed by the Eels above and by the Prince of Demons he casts out the demons. And he called them to him and said to them in parables, how can Satan cast out Satan?
If a kingdom is divided against itself that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided he cannot stand but is coming to an end. But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man.
Then indeed he may plunder his house. Truly I say to you all sins will be forgiven the children of man and whatever blasphemies they utter. But whoever blasphemies against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness but is guilty of an eternal sin. For they were saying he has an unclean spirit.
And his mother and his brothers came and standing outside they said to him and called him and the crowd was around him. And they said to him your mother and your brothers are outside seeking you. And he answered them, who are my mother and my brothers? And looking at about it those who sat around him he said here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does the will of God he is my brother and sister and mother. And this is God's word. So once again we see Jesus heal. He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath as was his custom.
He was a regular observer of the one day in seven set apart by God for our blessing. A day for us to meet with God to meet with his people. It has stopped our normal work so that we can worship and rest. They ask him, are you the Messiah?
His answer is indirect. He doesn't simply say yes. He pushes them to draw a conclusion by what he says and what he does. He invites a man with a withered hand to come close.
And Jesus asks, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill? The religious leaders remain silent. They wouldn't answer him. See the religious leaders have very strict rules about what you could not do on the Sabbath.
You couldn't miss worship unless you were providentially hindered by things like childbirth or leprosy or other contagious diseases and various periodic issues that required people to stay. Social isolation for a time. But otherwise they had added all kinds of strict rules to Sabbath observance. And a lot of them was you couldn't heal on the Sabbath.
For that would be a work and you should stop working on the Sabbath. What does Jesus do? Jesus tells the man with a withered hand to stretch it out. And as he does, he is healed.
Jesus heals him. And so Jesus breaks their man-made rules in order to observe God's command for the Sabbath in the way that God wants. Which includes not only works of piety like public worship, but also works of mercy, healing the sick. Because it is good to do positive good and to heal on the Sabbath.
And not merely to refrain from doing harm or killing. This is one reason we believe that many of us should cease working our normal jobs on the Lord's Day, yet we're glad many doctors and nurses and healthcare workers are working on Sunday to show mercy to patients. They are not breaking the Sabbath. They are doing what Jesus did.
Now the rest of us should want them to attend worship as often as they can, maybe by rotating shifts so that those who want to worship can do so often. And we should want them to get a different payoff because everybody needs rest and nobody should work all the time. But in principle, doing good and saving lives rather than doing harm or killing others is part of the right way to observe the Sabbath. And this is an issue.
Churches across the world are wrestling with right now, weighing the positive command to worship and to do good to people's souls by gospel ministry in public worship, with a need to be cautious about inviting people into potential physical harm in light of viruses. That would urge us all to be sympathetic to leaders wrestling with these issues. Not all are in the same circumstances. Not all are making the same choices.
Yet we should be very reluctant to believe that our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world are making their decisions out of anything but love. And then let me remind anyone who is sick with a dangerous communicable disease, you should go out of your way to not pass it along to the vulnerable. Now when Jesus saw the religious leaders' reactions and their silence to this question, he was angry. He was grieved at the heart of his heart.
They had turned the point of God's good law upside down. They oppressed people instead of helping them. And so while they watched, what did he do? He healed the man.
Now what did the various people think of this powerful healer? Well the crowd liked him. They certainly wanted the healing he could give. We understand that.
Nobody likes being sick or injured. God doesn't ask us to enjoy that or want that. It's not how life was intended to be in the Garden of Eden. And it's not how life will be in the new heavens and new earth.
And we grieve for loved ones who are sick or injured. We seek help where we can get it. And Jesus can't help. We've already seen Jesus make a leper clean, which meant he could leave social isolation and live in close contact with others.
Jesus took away the fever of Peter's mother-in-law and gave her energy to serve her family and he made a prayer-wise man to walk. Don't be shy about asking Jesus for healing. But did you notice how others thought of Jesus? The Pharisees.
They hated him. The Herodians, the political party of Herod, they hated him too. They conspired together with the Pharisees to destroy Jesus. And then there were the unclean spirits or devils.
They knew Jesus was the son of God, but they didn't love him or worship him or trust in him. They resented him. And then his own family. They thought he was nuts.
Mentally deranged. Here's Jesus healing people and his own family thinks he needs to be healed. Never be surprised when you're serving the Lord and your family thinks you're crazy. Brainwashed and a fool.
The scribes concluded something else. He's possessed by Satan or in league with Satan. By the Prince of Demons he casts out demons, they said. So Jesus asked them, how can Satan cast out Satan?
If I'm on Satan's team, why am I fighting against him? No, no. I'm the strong man who binds the evil one. So do you see?
There was so much misunderstanding of Jesus. Some thought he was demonic. Some thought he was delusional. Some thought he was worthy of death.
He's not the Messiah, they said. He's not good. He's not God. And it's tragic, but true.
Many people think the same way today. They think Jesus isn't real. Or he isn't truthful. Or he isn't good.
He isn't God. And so they ignore or despise him as the Messiah. And that's in, Jesus says, is the sin against the Holy Spirit. Because the Holy Spirit has come to bear witness to Jesus.
And if we reject Jesus, we reject the Spirit. And so we reject the only way to be saved. But there were others. Some who are drawn to him.
And not just for healing here and now. The disciples were drawn to him. He called them to himself and they came. Whoever desired, he desired to be his follower.
He drew them to himself. And Jesus is still doing that today. He's calling people to himself to be his disciples. And so I ask you, are you?
Do you believe he is the Messiah? That he's good and God? Jesus says in John chapter 10, my sheep hear my voice. And I know them.
And they will follow me. I give them eternal life. And they will never perish. And no one can snatch them out of my hand.
Let's pray. Father, Heaven, thank you for Jesus the great healer. Thank you for Jesus the true Messiah. And thank you for the promise that nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Help us then to follow you in Jesus name. Amen. Well, thank you again for listening in. I hope you'll join me the next time.